Pre-op abdominoplasty with hernia repair

Dropped 100lbs over 2years ago and keeping 80lbs off for the entire last 2years, with healthy and active lifestyle. Have always loved my curves at any size. My intense workouts created a hernia in my umbilicus which lead me to research getting rid of the excess skin at the same time...leading me to interviewing 3 surgeons and locking in on Dr.Derek Ford. Who by the way will win your heart in the first 1minute. I met him virtually because of COVID-19 and his technical and professionalism came thru and he is very sensitive to your concerns and questions but is relaxed as he performs abdominoplasty routinely and only needs word of mouth to drive his referral base. I have friends and colleagues that have been to him and his work is really artistic but firstly safe. He will not sacrifice safety ever.

We aligned on abdominoplasty with hernia repair scheduled for Oct1 2020 understanding the Covid related risks as well if we land into a second wave and the extra quarantine that would be required for my safety during recovery. 

I thankfully work from home and have a huge support system for my family, so I prepared by taking my multivitamins and doing lots more exercise to strengthen my legs and arms so that recovery would be easier and took 1 hour daily walks until the day before surgery.

Here are some pics that motivated my decision to go forward, knowing full well my confidence in these pictures was already present and my choice was more related to the health benefits.

Surgery went as planned, overnight stay was amazing. I had 2nurses that took care of me for the night. I was thrilled that I was approved for in-home nurse visits for the first week of healing even during the COVID-19 second wave so they could clean and change my dressings. I came off all pain killers within 72hours and was consistent with all other Meds and guidance from Dr.Ford. These pics are from day2 and day8. I had the drains in for a full week and Dr.Ford removed them easily on my first week day7 follow up. I am healing better than anticipated and was advised to start the scar cream at 3weeks. I had some questions about swelling and bruising and Dr.Ford was so quick to reply via text (did I mention they take such good care of you) I am writing this review on Day13 post-op and I really feel great. I am getting up every hour and walking around my house. Today I ventured outdoors and walked around the block. They only thing I notice is that you get exhausted quickly, so listen to your body. Also, I had insomnia for the first week, an apparent side effect of the anaesthesia but since back into my sleep rhythm by day8. Currently on no meds but taking multivitamins and extra vitaminC+zinc to promote healing
Total weight loss from surgery is 3-5lbs depending on swelling from day to day and I can’t wait to get back into the gym but I will wait for the full 6weeks as I did have diastasis repair as well.
Some of my tips:
1. wedge pillow for your legs and back, easily found on amazon, no need for toilet raiser, the feeling you have is similar to a c-section
2. Make sure to move and walk every 1-2hours to get things flowing
3. Food - I am low carb lifestyle so during healing phase, I intermittent fast and sip on broth all day, love flow alkaline water and made a probiotic packed shake with spinach and blueberries daily. Keeps me energized and ‘regular’ also have salmon, turkey (from thanksgiving) and eggs.
The only tough part is the quarantine for 2 weeks and everyone in your home needing to wear masks around you but we quickly made it fun. I returned to work from home on Day5 only because I was feeling great but was getting pretty exhausted. So far so good. I will post another update in November. I hope this helps those thinking about this surgery and this surgeon.

Feel like this is a milestone, not sure why just feel better and energized. Some swelling on he right side of the belly button above the Incision line which fluctuates from day to day but otherwise great! Here are pics from today.