My Cosmetic Surgery Journey Archives

Post Op – Day 48: Freedom!!

August 4, 2016 13 Comments

August 4, 2016

Wow – it has been a long time since I’ve posted. Between getting back into-the-swing-of-things at school & 3 children recovering from hand-foot-and-mouth disease, I have been extremely busy to say the least. But things have finally calmed down in my crazy household and I have some free time to give y’all an update.

large_bikini As of last Friday (July 29^th) I am free!!

I no longer have to wear the life-sucking binder (even though I grew a little fond of it towards the end).
I am finally allowed to sleep laying on my sides (which means I can get back into my own bed and get out of the recliner chain – hubby is definitely happy about this).
I can finally go swimming & sit in a bathtub (You know what this means – BIKINI SHOPPING!!)
I can finally exercise again (with the exception of any chest exercises to avoid the implant shifting into the armpit).
AND …. I can finally lift my children (but don’t tell Dr. Soto that I was actually lifting my 16 month old at 4 weeks post op …. Shhhhhh)

However, with all of my new freedoms, I still have to:

Take 2 Vitamin E pills a day
Do my breast massages 3x a day
Wear surgical tape over my incisions until my scars become flat and light in color.
And apply the super expensive wrinkle cream on my scars after every shower.

Speaking of my scars, I think they have improved drastically!!! What do y’all think? The first photo was my scar on day 12 (which was the first day that I had my surgical tape removed) & the second photo is my scar today. So far I am extremely pleased. Luckily, I scar quite nicely. In fact, after 3 years, I couldn’t even see my C-section scar; so I am confident that these scars will heal in the same way.

Also, take a look at the freckle I’m pointing to in the 2nd picture … Can you believe that my freckle was once near my original bellybutton? And now it’s way down there? I am simply amazed (and a little amused). And yes, my skin is as tight as it looks. My skin is so tight that you literally cannot pinch the skin on my stomach (many people have tried with zero success)!!! It is a strangely awesome tight feeling and I LOVE IT!!!

tummy tuck scar

I also tried running for the first time on Monday and it wasn’t that bad. While running I could feel the tension & pull in my abs and on my tummy tuck incision, but it wasn’t painful at all. It just feels different & tight, and I’m sure it will just be something that I need to get used to. I seriously cannot wait to start getting some of my muscle tone back. Hopefully it will be easier to get back some of my muscle tone then it was to originally achieve it in the first place.

My Cosmetic Surgery Journey

Post Op – Day 32: Spitting Stitches

July 19, 2016 3 Comments

July 18, 2016

Just when I thought things were going smoothly, I discovered multiple holes and 1 pimple-looking-bump on my incision lines. Apparently, my body has decided to reject some of the internal permanent sutures and has begun spitting them out of my skin !!! Except one of my sutures got stuck underneath my skin and created a suture-abscess on my breast.

I first noticed the abscess while changing my incision tape on Tuesday evening; but I didn’t think much of it because it didn’t look irritated/red & and it didn’t hurt. However, by Friday evening, it looked very irritated, and I was afraid I may have had an infection under the skin. So I immediately took a picture of the disgusting bump and e-mailed it to one of my favorite nurses at Dr. Soto’s office. She quickly responded to my e-mail and told me to come to the office first thing Monday morning; and in the meantime, to keep a clean, dry gauze pad over the area. She also informed me to not be surprised if the abscess pops and starts oozing blood and puss. Gross right?

Well, that’s exactly what happened by Saturday morning. While doing my breast massages, the abscess popped! Luckily, I had my gauze pads on while doing my massages, and the gauze absorbed a lot of the initial blood and puss. Sorry if this is grossing anyone out – but that’s what-cha get when you sign-up for a big surgery.

Anyways, after I cleaned the area and reapplied some fresh gauze, I informed my favorite nurse via e-mail that it had popped & that I’ll be there first thing Monday morning.

Then what-do-ya-know, by Saturday evening I had popped 3 more sutures. Except this time, it didn’t create an abscess – but it did create three small holes in the incision line in which I could see the suture sticking out of the hole. Again, I’m sorry if this is grossing you out.

Anyways, by Monday morning my favorite nurse had pulled out all the sutures she could see. Strangely enough, she couldn’t see the stitch inside of the hole created by the abscess. She dug around in the hole with her tweezers (ouch), but couldn’t find anything; so she thinks that my body may have spit-it-out when the abscess popped. I sure hope that is the case – otherwise, that hole will have a difficult time healing if there is still a suture stuck inside.

Moving away from the grossness factor, I was finally given the go-ahead to go bra shopping!!! Yey!!! No more ugly medical bra for me !!! So I treated myself to a Victoria Secret shopping spree !!! While out-and-about, I also found myself some new outfits for my new body. All I have to say is DAMN DR. SOTO, you fixed me up real-good. Now when you find me on rate-my-professor.com, I should have a red-hot-chili-pepper-symbol next to my rating because this professor is smoking – haha. Conceded much?

For those of you that were wondering if I was awarded any more privileges besides my freedom from the medial bra, the answers were all “no”.

Still no lifting the baby.
Still no swimming until all incisions are healed.
Still no exercise. Not even 2 lb weights.
Still no sleeping on my sides.
Still wear your life-sucking-tummy-binder 24/7

Ugh …. But in 10 days I’ll officially be 6 weeks post-surgery; so hopefully all of these NO’S will turn into “YES”. At least one can hope.

My Cosmetic Surgery Journey

Post Op – Day 24: I Can Stand-Up Straight!!!

July 10, 2016 2 Comments

July 10, 2016

I am so excited!! I can finally stand-up straight!! No more walking like a hunched-backed-grandma. As much as I have complained about my life-sucking-tummy-binder, this tight-itchy-contraption has been my solution to standing 100% erect (yes I typed erect … hehe. Forgive me as I am sex deprived for 6 weeks during the recovery period). But seriously, when I’m not wearing my arch-nemesis-stomach-compression I find myself walking hunched over; this stupid thing does give me the back support I need to stand up straight without feeling too much tension in my stomach. Don’t get me wrong, my skin and muscles always feel like someone is pulling them in two vertically opposite directions, but the tightness doesn’t bother me as much when I’m wearing the compression.

In regards to my slight complication last week, my surgeon said that I technically didn’t rip open my tummy tuck incision. Apparently, my body was rejecting some of the internal stitches and the stitches were popping out of my skin – which caused that small opening. He said that this is completely normal and it should heal in a matter of weeks without leaving a thicker scar. He also said to not be surprised if more internal stitches begin to pop out in other spots. So yey !!! It wasn’t my fault !!!

Unfortunately, as fast as I am healing, I am still uncomfortable sleeping in my bed; so I am forced to continue sleeping in my reclining chair. Last night I tried for the first time to sleep in my bed, and that did not go so well. If I turn on my side, or stretched out my legs, my stomach muscles would spasm and strain. I needed so many pillows behind me head, under my knees, and on my sides for me to even feel somewhat comfortable; so around 4:00 A.M. I gave up and had my husband help me back into my recliner. Maybe in a few more days I’ll give it another try.

Some other interesting changes this week:

The skin on my breasts are shiny!When I signed-up for a shiny-new-body, I didn’t think it was literally going to be shiny. Why are my boobs so shiny you ask? Well, the skin on my breasts is pealing and flaking off. If I scratch the skin around my breasts (which I do a lot because it itches so badly), it literally looks like snow is falling from my boobs. Apparently, this is a normal reaction from surgery and possibly the paper tape I use to cover my incisions (and yes, I am already using the sensitive tape & lotion and it doesn’t make a difference).
The scars on my blisters are looking much better!! Look at the difference between week 1, week 2, and week 3 !!!
I’m losing my muscle!!Since February of this year, I have been working-out really hard. If I wasn’t running 3 – 4 miles in the evening, then I was doing the Insanity max interval training videos or the P90X DVD’s. Aside from visibly achieving zero results on my stomach area … my arms, legs, and butt were looking great – very sexy and toned. But now I’m losing the muscle I worked so hard for because my doctor doesn’t want me to do any exercise for 6 weeks. It amazing how quickly you can lose something you worked so hard to gain. NOT FAIR!!! But that’s life.
Although I’ve lost my muscle tone, I feel much stronger in my core!!On a few occasions I had to lift my 16 month old daughter (21 lbs). Normally, I have help in my home 100% of the time because my surgeon told me that I am not allowed to lift anything heavier than a gallon on milk for 6 weeks – so I have organized help between my family, friends, and nanny for this time period. Unfortunately, there have been a few instances this week when no one was around to help me (everyone was occupied doing something else). You see, my little Amy is a climber!! She climbs everything imaginable!!! I always joke with my husband that Amy will be the boy he’s always wanted. Anyways, on a few occasions this week, I’ve had to lift Amy off of some of the things that she climbed onto. I swear my little Amy is going to give me gray hairs one day. But when I picked her up, I felt no strain at all!!! My core felt solid !!! So I guess that’s a good thing.

At my next post-op appointment on Thursday 7/14, I plan on asking my doctor if I can do a few more things now that I’m feeling stronger and standing completely straight.

I want to lift my baby – but only when necessary (in & out of the crib, up & down from her high chair, in & out of her car seat, etc.)

I want to start walking/jogging. I have become addicted to exercise since I began in February, and I cannot stand sitting around the house doing nothing. And walking is too boring.
I want to take my kids swimming. Hopefully my incisions will be healed enough for me to go into a pool. And then that gives me an excuse to shop for my first bikini in 5 yrs !!!!

I want to wear a normal bra. I want to feel sexy again – and not like some chopped-up-put-back-together-raggedy-woman who looks like she ran away from the medial supplies factory. I’m also interested to see what bra size I am.

Thank you all for your support thus far. Y’all have been amazing. Keep looking out for the next update. See ya!

My Cosmetic Surgery Journey

Post Op – Day 17: Slight Complication

July 4, 2016 No Comments

July 3, 2016

I’ve been home for exactly one week, and I think I may have pushed myself a little too hard. Since I’ve been home, I’ve been back on duty so-to-speak; I sweep the floors, do the laundry, vacuum the carpet, clean the dishes, etc. While doing the chores I have yet to feel any pain. Obviously I do have some level of discomfort since I’m bound so tightly by this life-sucking-tummy-compression, but I have not felt any extreme discomfort – so I figured everything was fine. I convinced myself that this was normal.

Begging Thursday (June 30^th), I started forcing myself to stand up straight, even though I still felt the need to hunch over. I figured that if I wasn’t standing up straight at my 2 weeks post-surgery date, that I should probably start stretching-out my muscles & skin. According to what I’ve read online, many tummy tuck patients stand up straight between 1 – 2 weeks. Since Thursday was officially my 2 week post-op day, I figured that I better get practicing. It wasn’t too uncomfortable to stand up straight; I could feel my muscles stretch and my skin tighten. When standing up straight my skin gets so tight that I can’t even pinch it together. But again, I was told this was normal.

incision seperation Well, maybe I shouldn’t have pushed myself too hard with the chores and trying to stand up straight because it seems that I have opened up my tummy tuck incision. Luckily, it isn’t a big opening; luckily it started bleeding when it first opened. You are probably wondering: Why is it lucky to bleed if an incision gets reopened? Well, bleeding is a sign of good blood flow to the area, which is important so that the tissues and skin can heal properly. If you don’t have decent blood flow to the area – which happens a lot to the lowest area of the tummy tuck – then you are at risk for necrosis (dying skin that turns leathery-black).

So here is what my incision looks likes now. Currently, it is still a very small opening. I just need to keep it small by taking it easy around the house and NOT forcing myself to stand up straight. The doctor also told me to keep it dry and to NOT put paper tape on this part of the incision – just simply cover it with gauze.

In addition to my re-opened tummy tuck incision, I am also experiencing a lot of swelling below my belly button. Usually adding a few pads under my binder for added pressure to the area will do the trick – but not this time. Again, it’s probably a result of me pushing myself too hard. I’m just hoping I don’t get scolded by Dr. Soto on Wednesday. So in the meantime, I will be tightening my tummy binder even more, drinking extra water, doing gentle circular massages to the area, and continuing to stay off my feet as much as possible.

blisters 2 On a good note, my blisters are healing wonderfully !!! I am surprised at how quickly they healed !!! So yey for that !!

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