It's been a while!

It has been a while since I have posted... I am doing GREAT! I quit wearing my compression garment around week 5 because I don't feel like I need it! I only wear it if I am going to be out and about and doing a lot of walking .  Here is me at 5.5 weeks Post op.

Here is a side pic...

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Here is my Scar... the vertical part that will need to be revised...

It actually doesn't look that bad in this pic... but right under the BB and ABOVE my scar is lumpy and sticks out. My PS said that he could extend the scar a but upward and smooth it out... which will look A LOT better!

I am SUPER happy that I had my TT. I LOVE my new tummy. I have been watching what I eat and have lost 5 pounds since surgery. I started working out again 3 days ago... I joined a gym! I still cannot run because all the bouncing pulls on my tummy and it is uncomfortable, but I can do classes if I modify them. On Thursday I did a turbo-kick and a power lift class back-to-back. It felt GREAT!

My tummy is hardly sore at all unless I really over-do it. My Browlift also looks GREAT!!!! When I put a before and after pic side-by side of my face it has taken about 7 years off my appearance!

I over-did it.

July 4th the family and I went on a "shark tour"... we drove to the North Shore, got on a boat which took us 2 miles off shore and then got INTO a cage with snorkel gear and watched several very large sharks swim all over the cage. It was AWESOME!  I was 19 days po and feeling pretty good. I put waterproof tape over my scars and my belly button- I didn't want them to get sea water into any microscopic tears in my incision .

I had a fun time swimming in the cage for 15 min... and I use the term "swimming" loosely. Mostly I just hung onto the cage... However, once I got home my stomach was SOOOOOO sore. I was most sore in my upper abdomen... about an inch above my belly button and the the side of my belly button. I took it easy the rest of the day and now, 2 days later I feel much, much better. So I learned that you use your stomach muscles for a lot more than you think!

16 days Post Op

These past few days I have been feeling very, very close to normal. I have been lifting the baby very carefully out of her crib and very short distances if I have too. I still rely on my son and husband to do most of the lifting. And when I DO lift her I make sure to use my arm muscles and place her on my hip.  She weighs about 18 pounds.  I am sleeping in my bed with no problems... and it feels good again. I still put a pillow under my knees to sort of keep my legs bent.... so they are not laying totally straight. Sometimes in the morning when I wake up I go to stretch and then my tummy feels a pulling sensation... so I quit stretching, lol!

My last Dr. apt with my PS was 4 days ago... they removed the staples from my head -finally! And that felt soooooo good. I was then able to comb my hair out and I can now use the blow dryer. I still need to be careful with my head and my forehead because if you PULL on it too much you can un-do the browlift. The skin is re-attaching in its new position and it takes about 2 months to fully attach.  My browlift looks better and better everyday. I am very happy with it. It is a very small difference... people say that I just look "brighter" and "really good" and they don't know what I have had done. My eyebrows are a tiny bit higher... which is awesome because my eyes lids were very droopy and now my eyes look a bit more open... very slightly. And also my forehead is wrinkle free- fabulous! This takes about 5 years off my appearance!

My belly looks AMAZING. On Monday the tape was removed and I could see my scar for the first time- the lower horizontal scar looks great- the upper vertical scar beneath my belly button looks worse... and there is a puckered area that I am concerned won't go away... sort of like a small "dog ear". My PS says it will look better and better but if that particular area does not go away in 6 months he will revise it.

The area of concern is still covered with tape... I will get a pic of that when I change the tape in a couple days.

Above:After.

                                                                                      Below: Before

I am very pleased with my results! What a big difference. I am still also a bit swollen, and that will go down with time.

11 dpo

I can't believe it's only 11 dpo! It feels a lot longer than that! Yesterday I drove for the first time since surgery... I drove the kids to gymnastics. I had my 8 year old lift the baby into her car seat and also get the stroller out of the back of the van.... I don't want to lift anything too heavy and damage my awesome muscle repair! People who see me are probably thinking I am one lazy Mom making my 8 year old do all the heavy lifting, ha ha!  Anyway, the last couple night I have been back in the recliner.... it is just more comfortable than the bed... I like being semi-reclined, less stress on my belly.
Here is the newest pic from this morning:

I finally have a WAIST! I have never had a waist, I have always been "straight down" and I hated it. I LOVE my new belly!  Here is a close up:

I will have a small vertical scar, but I think it will fade and not be that noticeable.

I slept in a real bed last night!

Last night , at a 8 dpo, I finally felt good enough to sleep in my bed again. Ever since my TT I had been sleeping downstairs in our recliner. The recliner was a necessity that first week after surgery. 

It felt sooooo good to be able to lay down (mostly flat). I am off all my pain meds now except at night I take 1 Advil PM to help me sleep. Yesterday I was feeling good, but I think I over-did it during the morning hours. I had a friend and her 2 small children over for a play-date... so even though I didn't lift anything I was sitting on the floor... getting up... sitting down, bending over... by the time they left I just had to sit down in my trusty recliner and RELAX. My whole tummy felt sore. After relaxing for a bit the whole family went to Target yesterday evening. I walked around with them sipping my Starbucks Americano and then was suddenly very tired. And my tummy HURT. It hurt right above my new belly button... So we left and I came home and took a nice shower and got settled back into my recliner.

It is soooo hard for me not to exercise! This is the LONGEST I have gone without exercising since I was 12 years old! Even after giving birth to my children,  I was up and power walking less than a week afterwards!  I rely on working out to help me feel good and burn off stress. Today I will get outside and walk around the neighborhood for some fresh air.

Overall I am SOOOOOOO happy that I did this. I finally have a WAIST. It looks fabulous and I cannot wait to be fully healed so I can wear a swimsuit and go to the beach!

It's been a week!

A week ago I was walking up to the Ambulatory Surgery Unit and I was so nervous and so excited! I couldn't believe that I was actually going through with my Tummy Tuck and Brow lift... something I have wanted for so long! I had really struggled with the guilt-  Guilt about the amount of money it was costing....  of the time I would be laying around and out of commission, and therefore not 100% available to my children...

But now that this past week is in the past, the worst is behind me and I am so happy. I no longer have the guilt because it was WORTH it!!! My stomach is still swollen and sore, but I can still tell the final results are going to be amazing. And I feel the same about my brow lift- now my face looks like it SHOULD for someone my age, and not 10 years OLDER, like it WAS looking! I don't feel self-conscious about my wrinkles anymore. It is wonderful.

Yesterday I was up and about and I did quite a bit- I puttered around the house in the morning- swept the floor and cleaned the bathroom. I made my kids lunch and washed the dishes... I did some "school work" with them at the dinning room table. Then after lunch  I was WIPED OUT! I laid down in my recliner and took a much needed nap. My Husband came home around 3pm and took the kids to their gymnastics class so I could relax even more without the kids around. When he got home I walked to my neighbors house- probably a little under a mile total of walking yesterday. Then we took the kids to the bowling alley. No, I didn't bowl (are you crazy?!) I sat in the chair and watched everyone having fun. By the time we got home I was ready to get into my recliner! I let my husband put the kids in bed and give the baby a bath. I nursed the baby before she went to bed and then after I nursed her I took a much needed Vicodin and relaxed!

6 dpo

Yesterday I went to an appointment with my PS. He  finally took that horrible wrap off my head.... oh my gosh, my hair looked so nasty- greasy hair filled with dried blood... gross!  He gave me the go ahead to shower! and it was AMAZING!!! BUT, I still cannot "wash" my hair- I can rinse it out, but I need to be very careful not to disrupt the skin on the top of my head and "knock it off" the tiny embedded hooks that are holding up my forehead.  At first I was afraid that my eyebrows had not been lifted at all-  but now that the swelling has gone down- and is still going down, it will probably take a couple weeks to be swell-free in my face- I can see they HAVE been raised and it looks very natural and nice. My Dr. told me he raised my forehead skin about 1/2 inch! WOW! And now forehead is wrinkle free- I look so much nicer!  My husband has even commented on how much younger I look!



 
My forehead is SMOOTH and wrinkle free. My eyebrows have been lifted and my eyes lids are no longer weighing down on my eyes. There is still swelling my my eye area, and I think it will continue to look better and better.

 Now I think I just look "refreshed" and a bit younger. I am very happy with the outcome. 

As for my tummy tuck- my belly is NON-EXISTENT! I have such a tiny waist! It is crazy! Of course there is still swelling- but I can see the final outcome will be amazing. My belly rolls are GONE!  And since he tightened the muscles, he pulled everything in towards the middle- I finally have a little waist. I measured myself last night, and even with all the swelling I have lost a good 2 inches in my waist already- crazy!

Yesterday was my first day home alone with all the kids- it went pretty well. My son is helping me a lot with the baby- carrying her around for me and lifting her. Of course it is MUCH nicer with my husband home during the day, but he has to work for a few hours during the day now so I guess I will suck it up and deal with it. Thankfully the baby naps a couple times a day which means that I can nap a couple times a day! I am still sleeping in my recliner at night in the living room- I need to rest in an inclined position for my stomach and also have my head elevated, so it just works better.