omg, it bought tears to my eyes. I did cop a little bit of holier than thou judgement from several people, not least my usually lovely lapband surgeon, because i didnt have a big flappy tummy. The before pics i took were on my phone and dont really show clearly what a mess my belly was, but oh, my, has it been cleaned up!!! I feel like the evidence of my brush with cancer has been erased, gone are the hernias, the ileostomy scar, the misshapen almost hernia behind the ileostomy, the ruined bellybutton, the adsortment of at least a dozen scars and punctures, the weird curtain of skin on my upper belly. The flatness of my new tummy is a bonus, at present with swelling, im about the same measurement as i was before, so my midsection is going to be very slender, unfortunately my ass is still the same size, lol. But without going into detail why did nobody tell ne how much better my, ah, bits would look? DH's eyes nearly popped out of his head! And my inner thighs are so smooth! Wowzers.

So...... Gone are all signs of one of the darkest periods of my life and in their place, one lovely smile on my tummy to remind me how lucky I am to be here and to be healthy. I didnt quite realise I would feel tjis way about it, and Ive been off the drugs for days, lol

Thanks for sharing your photos! You look great! How much time off work did you need?

Im a teacher, and timed it for the week before school holidays so that Id have three. Ive decided to take this week too, making four. Teaching is a surprisingly physical job, for a desk job two to three weeks would have been ample.

I'm a vice-principal of an elementary school so I hear you loud and clear I was once told it would take about six weeks to recoup. I still have a ways to go before considering this surgery. I must say that you are inspiring. I'll get there hopefully in a year or so.