Post OP Day 4 – The Big Reveal

June 20, 2016

As expected, I did have 1 morning episode due to nerves – which only made my hemorrhoids feel that much better (for those of you that didn’t know, that was sarcasm). Honestly, the throbbing hemorrhoid pain is worse than the pain from my surgery.

Once I cleaned up from my morning episode, my Mom and I decided to leave early for my first follow up appointment. We were expecting to encounter another red-tail-light-party on Interstate 4.

As we pull into the parking space at my doctor’s office 30 minutes early, I was praying that there wouldn’t be any other waiting patients in the main lobby area. I didn’t want anyone seeing me. I looked absolutely terrible. I haven’t showered since last Wednesday, my hair was a mess, I was wearing my husband’s cut-up button-up shirt and a pair of his basketball shorts, and I was still walking hunched back like a grandma.

Luckily the receptionists saw how un-presentable I was and brought me into a private waiting room away from the other patients. As much as I appreciated their gesture, I’m sure they didn’t want me scaring the potential patients coming in for consolations. One look at me and his future patients may have just changed their minds – haha.

Within a few minutes I was taken back into an exam room and my doctor and nurse came in and starting taking off my garments and dressings. It was the moment of truth. I was about to see my new self. Here it is folks !!!

I must say that I love the way my new boobies look. But I – as well as my surgeon – was concerned about my stomach. Although it is difficult to see in the image above, I have a bulge in my muscles right below my breasts. Dr. Soto said it could be a results of 1 of 2 things.

1. It could be swelling. Dr. Soto said that my stomach compression was not as tight as it should have been. In fact, he seemed extremely disappointed as he undid my compression garment saying “you didn’t follow our instructions”. This really brought my spirits down. I could swear I was doing everything correctly. But, if the issue is swelling, then it should be an easy fix.
2. It could be that I ripped up upper abdominal stitches. This would be the worst case scenario. If this is what happened, it could have occurred when I was couching the fluid out of my lungs or it could have happened by the overuse of my core muscles when trying to balance myself on the toilet.

Unfortunately, my surgeon really won’t know what the issue is until a few days after proper compression.

The other issue I’m having with my stomach is below my belly button. It seems that I now have a vertical skin crease. I know I’m being too picky, but it looks like I’ve got an extra vagina lip on my lower abdomen. Dr. Soto said it should resolve itself as my swelling decreases over the weeks of healing.

I’m sure I’m being extremely picky and sensitive about my new body – and I know I need to give my body time to heal before I make any final judgement, but I do wish my stomach looked better. I think I had such high expectations. My Mom keeps reminding me that it will look better over time. It takes 6 – 12 months to see your true final results. And in this instant gratification world, I see myself already being impatient only 4 days into recovery.

I definitely still have a long way to go; and I pray for quick healing and patience as I go through these next few weeks.

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