Hi everyone! After weeks of overwhelming research and headaches I finally found a PS I'm thrilled with and am scheduled for surgery April 6th!!!! I'm excited and down right terrified. Terrified because like a moron I repeatedly watch TT YouTube videos and trust me when I say they are horrendous looking, and I work in healthcare. So I'm scheduled for a full tummy tuck with muscle repair. My surgeon says I have about 3 inches of muscle separation. Also a breast augmentation. I'm going big but I'm Italian and have the large Italian boobs complements of my Nonna! Well deflated boobs now. We decided on 750cc as of now. We are hoping to avoid a lift by using a larger implant to fill the space. I originally had a 40 DDD bust so the size is not a factor for me. I prefer it. Any advice about either procedure would be greatly appreciated. Anything....maybe what you feel was necessary to have at home to help with recovery? Any tips or tricks. I know it's going to be painful. "I think I'm going to die" (see already prepared) I've had 3 c-sections and of course VSG so my stomach has been through it! She's also taking out all 3 of my c-sections scars. I'm not worried about the TT scar. I can't believe it's time for all of this already! Thank you for any and all help you can provide!

Oh yes...I'm 62! Sleeved at 58, breast lift at 60 and just had the admoniplasty 3 weeks ago! It's never too late!!!

Sounds so good to me!! Wonder if ins. will foot the bill for new boobs?

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@@cherri2082 I am 53. Had my sleeve at 50, and had 3 plastics procedures in the past 18 months. I do not feel too old at all. I feel like this is completing what I started. I've had some pretty good results, and I'm thrilled with them. Even my family, especially my parents, who didn't want me to take the risks associated with elective surgeries, agrees with me that is was the right decision for me. They can see how much of an impact it made on my life.

@@Queen of Crop My seroma was in my inner knee. It took about 4 months, weeks of twice weekly visits to drain it, injections with medications to try to dry it, and 3 surgeries to heal it. Ultimately the last surgery included a 4 inch incision with about 12 inches of tunneling opened up inside, that had to be packed, and I had a wound vac. Once we did that, it was healed in about a month.

I think mine was like a close to worst case scenario. Like I said, I'm prone to complications. I don't know why. I don't smoke and I eat well. In this case, I feel like I contributed to it in because I didn't stay off my

feet, but I didn't even know I had a problem for at least 3 weeks and things seemed to be healed. Also, the drain that was in that leg never put as much out. Who knows.

@@BethinPA also had an abdominal seroma, and ultimately healed fine, too. You can search for some threads about seromas - we were commiserating about them for a while. Take heart, even the worst of them will eventually heal when properly treated. While it is unfortunate, I viewed it as a bump in the road. Hope you are better soon.

@ Michiganchic: how long did your seroma last and is there any advice you can give to help it go away?

@ Michiganchic and @ Elode I very much appreciate the comments on the seroma....I feel better this morning knowing all of this information. I go back to the dr. on Thursday to have it drained again. I have a feeling that sleeping on my side after the first week without my compression garment is what caused it. And although uncomfortable, I am in any pain and I'm encouraged with time it will heal. So my advice to those who are having this done, wear your garment always for the first month and sleep on your back if possible.

I had a tummy tuck last december a few things I would like to mention are:

-prepare for pain, it sucks. You don't realize how much you use your ab muscles in a given day.

-throw modesty out the window, your doc and nurses will be all up in your business along with whoever is helping you at home.

-prepare to be grossed out. I had drain tubes for ten days that had to be cleaned out and you just feel gross.

-do NOT freak out about the swelling or the scar. It is going to look pretty narley and puffy and bruised. The swelling will go down and the scar will fade.

Edited February 29, 201610 yr by Katnroyal

@Elode... First off..... wowwww girl that orange dress.... HOTTT... I think that size is perfect. I was fortunate in that my breast stayed full. I was a 44H and now im a 34H. Anyway, you asked for tips.

I had my TT Feb 2012. Hip to hip with muscle repair. I like you had had 2 c sections, and a few other surgeries. I was expecting the worse with the pain from the tt.... But i have to say, it really never came. I didn't even finish the pain meds he gave. You can expect to feel the same as how you felt after the c sections. I spent one night in the hospital with a morphine pump. went home the next afternoon. I'm going to try and remember things that helped me.

A great Dr. is key... i had his personal cell if i needed anything. My dr didn't do drains which i loved... most problems and pain i have seen came from drain tubes. He also didn't use stitches on the outside... he glued. Some dr. do lovenox injections for clotting... mine did, i was lucky that my son and DIL are both RNs and came twice a day and gave me the shots.

Make sure the dr. gets you a great compression garment

I slept in my recliner for the first week... If you have one... make it your home for the first week or so.

Walk Walk Walk as soon and as much as you can. you being a RN know how much this helps.

I read some place that pineapple juice helps with swelling... i drank it and it did seem to work.

I bought the jumbo Kotex pads and taped them together like a train and put them across my incision.

Be prepared for how it will look the first few weeks... Yes your stomach is swollen, the incision is dark and if your dr. does Lipo... you will have bruising... but all that goes away and you will have a nice flat stomach and look banging in a bikini....

I also bought the expensive lotion and it works... but so does the cheaper stuff... as long as you keep it moisturized.. that's all that matters. (after your dr says ok)

I feel i was very lucky. my pain was minimal, my healing went great, the muscles in my stomach is still tight, and my scar looks great i think. No, it's not perfectly straight across... but its not visible most of the time unless i point it out. I'm thrilled with the out come. I was back to work in 12 days.

Stop watch the youtube vids..... This is the garment i had and it worked wonders.... i wore it for the first 8 weeks... I took it off only to shower... This is what my scar looks like as of this past weekend which is 4 years 2 weeks. Hope it's not to much... to show here... but i hope it helps.

You already look hot as hell... i can only imagine after... Good luck sweetie..

@@Elode

Haha, yeah I don't have any pictures up. I can though completely understand not wanting a lift. I was very bummed when I was told I would need one, especially since you end up with that lollipop anchor scar. As it turns out I think they use either a different suture method or some type of adhesive because at 1.5 years post-op on that surgery I can barely see the scars running from my nipple down to the under-boob scar, so that was a relief.

I think if that is what you want, then you should go for it. This was my favorite surgery- boobs and stomach, and I still wake up everyday, get naked to step in the scale, and checkout my plastic self in the mirror, lol. I'm sure you will love your results.

@@AvaFern ha! I am excited and then I see another YouTube video of TT with muscle repair and freak out. I know I should stop watching them but it's like a train wreck! I can't help but watch. Did you have muscle repair done too?

I dreamed all night that I had my boobs done and the silicone flipped. I kept trying to flip it back around. It was a horrible dream! If I were just doing the boobs I wouldn't be scared, maybe I'm delusional in thinking they won't be bad. It's the TT that has he scared to death!

@@bayougirlmrsc Wow that looks awesome!!! I hope mine looks like that! I don't get to stay in the hospital with a pump. I go home the same day as surgery with pain pills and muscle relaxers. That seems pretty brutal to me. I don't know how this is all going to go. I'm not going to lie, I keep having to look at before and after pictures or else I'm afraid I'm going to try to back out out of fear. I'm excited one minute and then think what the hell am I doing??! I moved my date up today to April 4th instead of the 6th so my husband can spend an extra day with me. I'm basically going to be on my own after the second day. My husband has to go to work and the kids will be at school. I hope I can do this. How do you survive on just pain pills and muscle relaxers after such a brutal surgery?!

Did you cry?! I'm going to cry aren't I??! Should I just start now?

@@Elode

Yep, I didn't even know my ab muscles were pulled apart, lol, I thought that only happened if you had kids! Honestly, it just feels like you had a good day of abs at the gym- it's more of a muscle soreness from that part of the surgery than a stabbing or ripping pain like you think you'd feel from sutures. I didn't really see a difference but the first time I went back the gym a girl goes to me "oh your waist got smaller!" haha, so I guess the muscle repair worked!

HI ladies....thanks for all the recent tips on the TT; I am 3 weeks out today and I am not freaking out about the scar or even the swelling and I have had no pain, just discomfort. But I am so swollen and hard in my tummy because of the seroma that my stomach is bigger now than when I went in. So I'm keeping the faith that it will go down...I have another appt on Thursday for him to drain more stuff....but I have to say I am so happy with the area above my tummy (smooth and not wrinkly) and the pubic area below. I can't get that scar creme here so I'm putting Vit E oil on the scar each day.

I am sooooo following this thread!!!! First off, thanks for all the great advice. I'm 51 and have been planning on a TT since I had my third child at age 22, and she was born 15 months after having twins.

I'm meeting with the plastic surgeon this Wednesday. I've been watching videos, looking at magazines and researching all this for almost three decades. I originally only wanted the TT, but now that I too have the deflated fun-bags, we shall see what the surgeon has to say. I already love my body shape, have realistic goals and am so excited to start this next process.

Good luck!!!!!

Did you cry?! I'm going to cry aren't I??! Should I just start now?

@@Elode i promise you baby girl... it's not as bad as you would think. you survived 3 c sections.... it's the same thing. you can do this and will be soooooo happy you did. I really wish you could stay one night... but most dr. send patients home right after.... I was glad mine didn't. That one night stay was key i think. I can't talk on the boob part, as i still have the ones God gave me... lol.... My husband only had one day with me too... but he didn't want me to have the TT... but i did it anyway... I did have a friend that came for the first night at home and like i said my son and DIL came and checked on me twice a day for the shots. I even lost a few lbs after due to me not having any hunger at all. sleep in the recliner if you have one...get the pads...

I walked like the Evolution man for a while... you know started off all hunched over, then each day i got better and better and more upright...

STOP!!!! watching the vids.... they are scary as hell..

@@Queen of Crop I just read what you posted and i have to say.... a slimmer "kitty" was an unforeseen bonus. I didn't think that when they pulled up... that the kitty would trim down... but it did... I freaked out the first time i went to the toilet and things were not going straight down, but more forward should i say... and now with out the stomach flap.. i can shave kitty without any problems...

So Elode... yet another reason to do this.... trim kitty.. lol