35 Yo Mom with 1 Child; Tummy Tuck and Hernia Fix. West Orange, NJ

Just wanted to add some before and after pics. My 1 yr Post Op Is coming up soon. I'll share more pics then. As for how my body feels. All is well. I don't have any real complaints. I still feel the popped stitched in my upper abdominal area and it hurts sometimes especially massaging it but it's not terrible. I covered my scar with a tattoo as soon as Dr gave me the go ahead which was 6 months Post-Op. I did have some keloiding but the dr gave me an injection that dissolved the keloid tissue and now my scar is pretty much flat. My waist is much smaller now which has given my hips a lot of definition. I just have to work on my abs a little. Dr said I need to work out to get the cuts I'm looking for. I do some times have pain in the lower abdomen if pants/belts are too tight and the button presses in too hard. I do feel like my stomach is crazy tight and it's still pretty numb. I am still so happy to have my beautiful post baby tummy back... well I do still have some faint signs of my stretch marks but it's a drastic improvement from where I came from. I've referred several friends/family members to Dr. Lala because I love my results and everyone does too.

Background I opted for a tummy tuck bc I wanted a smaller waist and line and remove stretch marks I had a lot of stretch marks after pregnancy. I had a big weight gain and rapid loss due to Graves' disease related to hyperthyroid disorder. I gained 60 lbs. during pregnancy, went from 125lbs -185 lbs. Then loss 75 lbs in 2 months after giving birth. 8.5 years later after the stretch marks have faded as much as they were going to and getting my thyroid under control and weight at a steady 150-155 lbs I began to notice a bulging waistline and lower abdomen pouch. I tried working out and had gotten in to really good shape but had no definition in my waist and although my stomach wasn't flabby it protruded. I consulted with Dr. Lalla an immediately he recognized I had a hernia behind my navel. He advised that I had very little fat and my stomach issue was lax abdominal muscle most likely that was detached from pregnancy. The only fix was to go in and stitch the muscle back in to place and let it heal. He would lipo the small amount of fat that I had and confirmed that he would probably be able to remove about 2-2.5" (width) from hip to hip, of stretch mark scarred skin from my abdominal and waist areas and also repair the hernia and look of my navel. I had my 3 week post op appt this past Thursday and was measured. My waist has gone from 36" to a little less than 29". 7 inches in 3 weeks 3 days! I am very excited and very happy with my results so far. I will warn a tummy tuck is a major surgery and is painfull! As soon as I woke up after the surgery I was in pain. I was given more pain meds and went back to sleep. I had to be woken up and was so sleepy but had to get up and get home. However before you leave the hospital you have to urinate. I COULD NOT PEE!!! I tried for 2 hours to pee and just could not. Finally I tinkled out a couple drops and they released me. Getting in my car was excrucitating getting out was a little easier but was so painful I just can not explain. Getting in my bed was almost impossible. I had to just allow myself to fall in to the bed on to my shoulder with assistance from my mom. You will absolutely need someone to help you for the first few days up to a full week. Esp if you have little ones. The first night was rough. I was desperately thirsty, throat was killing me and was sick on the stomach. About 2 hours after falling asleep I woke up having to pee urgently. My mom was asleep and couldn't help me get out of the bed. I barely made it to the bathroom and pee'd for the longest time. I got up thinking I was done. Nope as soon as I stood up, I had to sit right back down and pee'd some more. Went back to bed laid down for 5 mins and had to get up again and pee for another 7/8 mins. Went back to bed same thing. This went on all night long. My body was so sore and strained the next day. I reported this to the dr and was advised that it was due to the IV fluids I was given during the surgery and also the fluids I had been given trying to get me to pee before leaving the hospital. The day after was more of the same but slowed and by the morning of day 3 I was back on a normal urinating schedule. It was around day 3 when the coughing started becoming repetitive. Now I was advised that there would be some coughing after surgery because of the tube they put down your throat during the surgery. I was told to just press a pillow against my abdomen and bare in to it when coughing. It was normal to bring up a little mucus as well. Well the pain in my abdomen and diaphragm area when coughing is unexplainable. Well after having several coughing fits I thought possibly it was allergies. I took my allergy pill and used my asthma pump and started feeling better almost right away. I began showering after day 5 and started feeling better. I had my 1 week follow up And had the draining tubes removed which was comparable to having hot knives shoved in to you except in the opposite direction. My dr. did it as quickly as possible but it's horrible and no way around it. Afterwards there was soreness but it was a relief to have those tubes out. (I had a little trouble with my left side, clogging, swelling around the tube entry, a broken stitch) by day 8 I was getting back in to the swing of things and feeling a lot better. Cleaning up, helping my daughter with school work, getting up and ready, just normal stuff. By Christmas Eve, day 10 post op I was excited to go to a family get together. I wore a full body corset with boning (until then I had been wearing a waist corset only). On the way to my family's house I started feeling queasy. By the time I got to my destination 1.5 hour ride, I had started my menstraul. SMH I was like really?! But I made the best of it and was having a good time. That night on the way home I started feeling like my throat was hurting and felt feverish. My mom was sick so I thought I might be coming down with something too. I started taking vitamin c and Zycam right away. I woke up Christmas Day with a fever a runny nose and dry cough. I coughed so bad all day and night. Terrible uncontrolled coughing fits. Felt like I was choking and couldn't catch my breath. I woke up early Saturday and went to see my PCP because she's 5 mins from my house. I was diagnosed with laryngitis and an upper respiratory infection. I was given anyibiotics and was to use my inhaler daily along with my allergy pill and Flonase once per day. I coughed for days and felt like I was doing damage to my self inside. I communicated with my surgeon and was told it wasn't really anything more that could be done. The cold passed within a week. I went back to work 21 days post op. (This past week) it was rough but I managed and felt good being back to my normal routine. I had my 3 week post op on 1/7 and my dr was very happy with my results but was surprised to realize that I had broken a stitch in my upper diaphragm area, right under my rib cage. I think from the coughing due to my cold. The dr said it will dissolve over time and just massage it. I have since started massaging my abdomen, lipo'd areas, navel, and scar. The abdomen area doesn't hurt, the scar is a bit uncomfortable but not bad. My dr advised that I put a marble in my navel, and start using scar treatment such as mederma and silicone scar treatment patches. I have done all as directed starting yesterday, Friday 1/8. I will post more pics as time goes on. Sorry I don't have before pics of my stomach I was very strategic when taking pictures before surgery. I used waist clinchers and body shapers, wide belts and took mostly booty pics. Lol I'll see if I can get the per-op pic my dr took right before the surgery. I hope this post is informative and helpful!