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.
As of last Friday (July 29th) 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!!!
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.
13 Comments
You are healing amazingly well! I’m so proud of your persistence to document the progress. God bless.
Thank you Janey 🙂
It looks great. I had my on done Thursday and sore as ever. I’m like you living in a recliner. Glad you are doing good, your given my hope.
Nice Ellen!! Day 2? It gets easier … Hopefully in a day or 2 you can get off your pain meds … Have you looked at yourself yet? I refused to look for about a week … I just kinda closed my eyes … Lol
I looked today and it looks crazy. I hope to be be off the meds soon. How did you sleep in a recliner? It’s so hard.:(
I had to sit up straight .. I didn’t have the strength to lean the recliner back and keep it back .. The recliner Imhad required too much pressure from me to keep in leaned back … I also has 2-3 pillows under my knees which helped … With in out 1-2 weeks I wa able to lean the chair back using my own strength .. I also only spelt 2 -3 hours max at a time … It was definatley challenging … good luck … Every day gets easier 🙂
Congratulations!! You look awesome! Just a suggestion, have your hubby do the breast massages, lol!! I’m sure he would be better than you! ❤️❤️❤️
When were you released to go back to work? I am considering a tummy tuck and I know the full recovery is about 4-6 weeks, but wanted to know when I would be able to return to my desk job.
I’m a teacher and luckly had 8 weeks off for summer. But I wouldn’t recomend going back to work for 3-4 weeks … It wasn’t until 3.5 weeks that I could finally standup straight …
I second that. I just passed 4 weeks and I’m finally able to stand up straight.
Hi there! I just wanted to say thank you so much for this blog! I’ve been doing months of research and this was the most informative thing I have read. Like you, I am petit and very fit, but pregnancy and breastfeeding had wreaked havoc on my body. I am hoping to have my mommy make over in the next month or two! Do you have any recent photo’s you can update us with?! Also, what size and type of implants did you end up getting?
Hi! I would love to see updated progress photos!!
Thankfs for sharing your recoery with us.
People who might be interested in plastic surgery.
Because by seeing your recovery. Even though I believe it´s a very personal process. I think it´s a generalized process with similar characteristics.
I hope the process was easy for you