Yep, Tummy Tuck, here I come!!!

I am on the schedule for May 20th---less than 2 weeks now. I am so excited it is truly hard to believe.

The plan as it stands now, is for a Full Tummy Tuck, with mons lift, and minimal lipo.

I am getting close to goal weight, and as we have followed through with appointments, I have continued to drop additional pounds, but my belly measurement does not change.

He said he plans to do some muscle repair, as we know I have a torn muscle (mean a$$ ex husband) and also stretched muscles from pregnancies.

I have BCBS of TX, and they approved it as a medical necessity. I have documentation of the muscle tear, as well as several skin breaks -- it literally just tears from the weight of itself---so nasty!!! I also had documentation of rashes under the pannus. I have had it for years, and hated it with a passion, I am so blown away to think soon it will be gone!!!!

Thank you Steph, and Julie, and everyone who has been there lately sharing all your steps with me---I look forward to sharing mine with those following me.

I will post pics after it is done....I cannot imagine I am saying that I will show this monstrosity!!!

I am going on a mini vacation, to meet up with my fellow Shrinking Violet bandsters from the 16th to the 19th of May, come home the night of the 19th, and have surgery the morning of the 20th! I figured it would keep my mind occupied!!!

I have no children at home, and no job to get back to, so when I clean before leaving on my trip, my DH will keep it that way....he is much neater than I am!!!

Will update as I see the surgeon the last times before the big day!!

Let the FUN begin!!!

Kat

Kat

I know how the stir crazy thing goes. Amazing you even get it when you are in pain and drugged up! lol...

I have never heard of this pain ball thing, how do they take it out of it is THAT big? I ended up on 5 mg od oxycodone, made me feel much better. My dr feels as well that you need to be out of pain to heal. I can tell you it does get better!

Hugs to you!

Yes it does get better. Take your pain meds regularly! they will help you heal. I went a bit stir crazy too but time flies and before you know it you'll be feeling much better. I'm almost 4 weeks out and I'm still swelling. I come home from work and put my binder on for the night, it seems to help. I also have the upper ab fat but I don't even care, I love my tummy tuck and would do it again tomorrow. I posted a pic of me on my thread that I took this morning. Anyway I'm thinking of you, take it easy and heal.

Steph, I am not sure if I'm happy with my tt nor not. I do still have some upper abdomenal fat. I know you said you have the same. My pannus is completely gone however. If I were to take my hands and pinch the fat on my abdomen I can gather probably 1 1/4 inch still. How much do you have? I am thinking about a lippo revision in 6 months. It will cost me $3k.

I can't pinch any, its tight as a drum! My upper abs, under my ribs are fatty tho, but I'm still not able to pinch any fat. Maybe a little on my hips where the scar is but not enough to worry about. But I still swell like mad at night. I've stopped wearing my binder or spandex during the day, it drove me crazy. So when I get home I throw it on while I puttz around the house and sleep in it too. I think it helps with the swelling. I noticed that the more swollen I am the more I notice the numbness.

Hi everyone---sorry I went MIA---had a rough yet busy couple of days. Pain is managable---nothing much at all unless I cough or something now.

I saw the Dr. this morning again, and got my drains removed----I feel HUMAN!!! The drains were painful---everything rubbed on them, the stitches holding them in place kept catching on my clothing. But they are gone!!! I am reacting somehow to the dissolving inside sutures, there is no infection present, they even tried to see if it would grow a culture, but it is causing my incision to bleed as it tries to expel the stitches. So he gave me a round of antibiotics to be preventative, and has me putting some ointment on the incision itself. It isn't painful though.

Belly is flat, upper ab swelling is going down much better now. I was 184.5 the morning of surgery. The day after surgery I was 198!!!!!!!!! Today in the Dr.'s office I used his scale, and I was 177. So it is coming down steadily. He removed 12 pounds he said so I have a ways to go.

Let's see-------this pain ball. It is referred to as a pain bolus at times. It is EXTERNAL. Mine was by a company called ON Q. It was about the size of a baseball, maybe a bit smaller, had a solid core, but liquid pain medication inside a soft plastic--like a small round IV bag. Mine had 2 very thin tubes running from it, that went directly into my incision, about midway in, where the incision angles up to the hip bones. It slowly seeped the pain meds directly into the incision....and was made to naturally empty itself in 48 hours. Which it did, and he slid the tubes out and just disposed of it. I carried it in a little fanny pack type bag they put on me to hold my drainage tube bulbs.

My drainage tubes (I had 2) were put in the pubic mound, one on either side, and held in place by a couple of stitches. IT was 1/4 inch rubber tubing it looked like---standard, I am sure. They were each about 30" long and on the end of each tube was a bulb, similar to the pumping bulb for taking blood pressure. They had open/close valves in them like in a childs blow up toy. You open the valve, Squeeze the bulb, and while holding it in the squeezed position you close it....which creates the suction as the bulb tries to reexpand itself. For the last 3 days I was getting less than 25cc's a day from the 2 combined. So they removed them today. That hurt some, but was SOOOOO worth it!! Now I can much better dress and see the awesome results!!

I feel like a whole new person----this is incredible!

I have noticed feeling clothing rub against my upper thighs and pubic area -------my stomach had barracaded that for so long it feels strange to have anything touch me.

The mons lift, is very noticable as well, the fat pad is gone.

Haven't found anything not to like yet.....100% worth it!!

Kat

Kat, So glad to hear you are doing well since the surgery. I haven't been on the forum much the past two weeks but I check in once in a while. Sounds like you got great results from the surgery, no more wearing long shirts and tugging on them! Hurray!

Take Care.

Kat - Its great to hear you're doing so well. And a big thanks for all the details. I'm waiting to hear from the insurance company and your post (and others) really helps to educate us. I've had quite a few surgeries in the past, but for some reason this is the one I'm most nervous about. Posts like yours just confirms that I really can do this. Thanks so much.

The mons lift, is very noticable as well, the fat pad is gone.

Haven't found anything not to like yet.....100% worth it!!

Kat

Hi Kat, Congratulations on your TT, and all the details. :lol:

One question tho, the mons lift, do they lipo it, cut it and then pull it up?? Or just pull it up tight?? Just curious as mine needs help and just pulling it up wont do the job I don't think...

Yes the mons lift was lipo'd and lifted----tender-----but not terribly painful, he said lack of underlying muscle leads it to be less painful, it is also why we cannot regain any tone.

At least piece by piece a bit of my girlish figure is reappearring, of course this is one only DH, the PS and I can appreciate!!!!!

Kat

Hey Kat, I haven't been around much lately, but wanted to say hi and congrats. Glad your doing so well.

Hi Kat,

How wonderful to see your rapid progress!!! That's very encouraging for those of us about to take the plunge.

You sound SO well, just 8 short days after surgery, and it's great to hear how pleased you are with the results!!!:thumbup:

:smile::huh2:

((((Kat))))) I'm just so happy for you!!! Sounds like you're finally getting to feeling a bit normal again. Amazing recovery! Well done!

Well--------life jumped up and put me in my place last night. I believe the combination of the antibiotics, and the tight compression, I refluxed SERIOUSLY about midnight, into my lungs----which automatically send you into coughing spasms. But with all these stitches and surgery, I thought I was dying.

I am mostly worried about my belly button, the pain is centered there now as I am STILL coughing. I cannot begin to share the total misery. I choke, cough, cry and repeat all night long.

Waiting to hear from my surgeon who is out of town doing a surgery he told me about yesterday. I have been in contact with my PCP since he is available, and he has offered minor helps.

It is better, I can breath----shallowly----without coughing. But deep breathing is still not an option. I am contemplating taking one of my pain pills and seeing if it relieves it at all.

I am hoping this is a minor set back--but it feels anything but minor at this point---it just hurts like hell.

Will update as things hopefully improve.....

Kat

Well--------life jumped up and put me in my place last night. I believe the combination of the antibiotics, and the tight compression, I refluxed SERIOUSLY about midnight, into my lungs----which automatically send you into coughing spasms. But with all these stitches and surgery, I thought I was dying.

I am mostly worried about my belly button, the pain is centered there now as I am STILL coughing. I cannot begin to share the total misery. I choke, cough, cry and repeat all night long.

Waiting to hear from my surgeon who is out of town doing a surgery he told me about yesterday. I have been in contact with my PCP since he is available, and he has offered minor helps.

It is better, I can breath----shallowly----without coughing. But deep breathing is still not an option. I am contemplating taking one of my pain pills and seeing if it relieves it at all.

I am hoping this is a minor set back--but it feels anything but minor at this point---it just hurts like hell.

Will update as things hopefully improve.....

Kat

Good grief Kat!

Take good care of yourself and I hope you're feeling better very soon.

Be careful to take some deep breaths every now and then, or you risk atelectesis (tiny air sacs in the lungs collapsing / consolidating.....can very easily lead to pneumonia). If it hurts to breathe deep , try doing a few deep breaths after you take a pain pill.

In general, you need to try for 2-3 deep breaths every hour or so. Did the office give you an incentive spirometer ( weird looking breathing exerciser thingy)? They help.