Full Tummy Tuck with Muscle Repair - Wilmington, DE

After my third baby my stomach never went back. I am 110lbs, but if I don't suck in I look three months pregnant. If I do suck in, I have a wrinkly old lady belly. Looks bad either way.

I also have an umbilical hernia which will be corrected at the same time. This portion is being billed to insurance and I am unsure of the cost.

I met with a couple Doctors, and I had the most confidence in Dr. Chang. I felt like he was very conservative in his recovery times, and didn't candy coat the procedure.

The morning of surgery I checked in at the hospital and was taken back to pre-op. After 10 minutes of getting changed, and being asked a few questions, my husband was allowed to join me. Dr. Chang came in and drew on my stomach with a black marker. He put a dashed line down my midsection, and a solid line where my incision would be and a solid line around my belly button. [At my initial consultation I was told I would have two options with my belly button. It could be floated, where they cut the belly button away from the abdominal wall, and pull it down with the skin. Or I could have the traditional tummy tuck where they cut around the belly button, pulled my skin down, and cut a hole in the skin to pop my belly button back in place. However, at my pre-op Dr. Chang told me that I could not do the belly button float because my belly button would end up too low on my body and look strange. But with the umbilical hernia there was a higher chance my belly button could die with the traditional method] I was given something through my IV, then wheeled back to the OR.

It is my understanding that in the OR I had a breathing tube through which the anesthesia was administered to me. I was also catheterized, and my pubic hair was shaved.

In the recovery room I was moaning and I remember saying that, on a scale of 1 to 10 my pain was a 6. (I gave birth 19 months ago, and got my epidural at the last possible moment, so I knew what a 10 felt like!). I was asking for water and pain meds, but they would give me neither until I got to my room.

Dr. Chang went to the waiting room and spoke with my husband after surgery. My husband was told that everything went well. My husband had just met Dr. Chang for the first time that morning in pre-op, and really liked him. If you knew my husband you would know that was a big deal, he isn't the kind of guy to really like someone. I thought this spoke volumes for Dr. Chang.

The first 12 hours after surgery were worse than I would have imagined. I was wheeled up to my recovery room where I was to stay the night. I had to walk from the bed in the hallway to the bed in my room. I was pretty sure I wasn't going to be able to do it, but I did! It was a slow process, and more scary than painful. I was feeling pretty good, talking and giggling with my husband. I needed to get something in my stomach before I could get pain pills so I munched on some crackers. My mouth was so dry it was like eating sand. I took my percocet, and was so sick for the rest of the day and night. They thought it was from the anesthesia so I was given more percocet. Throwing up after having your stomach sewn together was frightening and painful. I had to be given morphine and anti-nausea medicine through my IV. My friend who had a mini tummy tuck told me that days 2 and 3 post-op were even worse. I was pretty sure if it got any worse I would die. A tummy tuck was not worth it. I would advise anyone against getting one.

Dr. Chang came and saw me before I was discharged. My biggest concern was my belly button. He thought it looked great and was going to live. I had so much extra skin that the hole in my stomach where my belly button was cut out was pulled down below my incision. Basically, all the skin from the top of my belly button to my incision (where a c-section scar would be) was removed. He confirmed that my distasis was 2.5 centimeters.

After the nausea went away I felt so much better. Days 2 and 3 were not worse for me. Each day gets a bit easier. I'm relatively pain free when sitting down. The main problem is getting up and moving around. I'm hunched over and slow. I have two drains that are to be emptied three times a day, and I have to change the pads under my compression garment. I'm on anti-nausea medicine (as needed), pain pills (as needed), and an antibiotic. I go back to the doctor on Monday.

I had my first post-op visit yesterday. The nurses removed my binder and pulled off all the tape that was covering my incision. Then they left me to wait for the Doctor. Thankfully the wait was not too long. I've grown quite attached to my binder (compression garment, whatever you want to call it). I'm pretty sure that if I'm not wearing it, my stitches will rip apart and my guts will all fall out. Sure, it doesn't sound very reasonable, but it freaks me out to have it off. Plus I forgot to take my pain meds before I left (on the bright side, how much pain can I be in if I don't even remember I need pain meds). So when the doctor came in and started talking I almost fainted. Twice. They made me lie back and put wet compresses on my head. So the rest of the appointment was a bit of a blur. They took my drainage tubes out (I knew it wouldn't hurt, just some tugging and strange pulling sensation) and told me to come back in a week. I still can't drive and I'm not supposed to do anything more than get off the couch to use the bathroom.

I did remember to take a photo the night before I went to the doctor. The tape covering my incisions came off of my belly button but I was too freaked out to take it off.