Full abdominoplasty two weeks ago - so far, so good!

Hi folks 

I thought I would share with you that I had my full abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) two weeks ago today, Saturday, Aug 10. I didn't think MB Health would approve me to have it done (I have no skin issues whatsoever) and I really needed it done at this time for personal reasons, so I just paid for it privately. Not cheap, but not much is! I paid for my original surgery in Mexico and decided I really wanted to complete the whole process. My husband supported me 100%.

So far everything is going great. The surgery was done in Dr. Dolynchuk's office operating room with no overnight stay (thanks to MB Health rules & regulations). My surgery started around 8:30 in the morning and I was home by around 3:00 p.m. By 10:00 p.m. that night the worst of the pain and side effects from surgery had decreased dramatically. By the next morning I was up and around almost normally. Dr. Dolynchuk came to my house Sunday morning to remove the drain and said I was doing really well. I had a follow-up Thursday that week and he was really happy with my progress. I see him again in mid-September.

Unfortunately it looks like I've got a bulge of extra fat left on one side. Dr. D. wasn't too happy with that as he was sure he had done both sides the same. Hopefully it will smooth out more as time goes on.  I'm still really early out from surgery and it will be months before everything is at it's final appearance. I had some liposuction in a few spots and those areas are still very hard. I still have quite a bit of excess fat in my upper abdomen, but my weight has been stable for over 6 months so I suspect it is there to stay unless I work harder at losing more weight. 

All in all, the surgery wasn't as bad as I had expected it would be and so far I'm happy with the results, which should get better as time goes on. It's pretty amazing to realize that all the skin from above my belly button down to my pubic hair line is just gone. I've read several posts where women say they've had to walk bent over for a couple of weeks, but I didn't experience that. I was standing almost upright within a couple of days without any sensation of pulling in the abdominal skin.

The sensation is a little weird from having my abdominal muscles tightened, but it's feeling more normal every day. (The muscles were plicated with the extra muscle just tucked inside and a long continuous stitch pulling the two pieces tighter together.) I'm still wearing a compression girdle almost 24 hours a day, which I can start to decrease now.

Also very surprising to me is the small amount weight-wise that was removed. Dr. D. said he removed just under 4 lb of fat and skin, plus whatever was lost from the liposuction. He said it will be a few weeks before I actually see that weight loss on the scale. So far I'm at the same weight I was the day of surgery.

Clothes fit better already. That was my real issue. I had a "blob" of skin and fat on my abdomen that left it bigger in proportion to everywhere else. I've lost weight in places I don't care about and not as much in the places that really matter! Now my stomach is pretty much flat when I'm standing (still kind of blobby when I'm sitting) and shirts and jackets that fit my shoulders will now button across my tummy. I will never be as thin as many of you have managed to accomplish, but I'm happy with where I'm at compared to where I started.

I took 5 weeks of sick time off work, but will be "officially retired" as of Sept 30 and actually won't be going back to my job after my sick leave. However, I will be starting a new job hopefully early to mid-October. I work in health care and have reached my Magic 80 so I can collect my pension. I have a desk job and can't imagine I would be ready to go back to work any sooner than 4 weeks minimum. 

If anyone has any questions, ask away!

Congratulations Dianne on the successful surgery and your retirement! I hope you continue to have a pain and trouble free recovery!

 

Karen

Thanks, Karen. I start my new job at the end of September! I can work four days a week thanks to my new pension income. Good luck to you with your journey towards surgery.

Thank you for sharing! I'm still wanting to lose the last 20 lb ... it's all in my tummy and toying with plastics... For some reason getting lipo/panni/tummy tuck scares me more then the vsg... more pain , more stress....

Yes, it was more painful than the VSG, but definitely worth it. It wasn't really all that bad.

Dianne that is so awesome. I am glad you are feeling well and everything is going good for you. Happy Retirement! I see the PS this Thurs but suspect that I will be doing my PS in Mexico. I need pretty much a full body life and one of the Dr's there specializes in PS for people who have had massive weight loss.

Good luck with your plastic surgeon appointment. You are one of the people on here I really admire for losing such an amazing amount of weight.   I considered going to Mexico, but really wanted the comfort of my own home after surgery. For what I had done, the price difference wasn't that great. Best of luck with whatever you do.

Wonderful news! Very happy for you and glad that it went so well. And super good news on the magic 80 (so jealous) part of me is still wanting the full tummy tuck but I have so many other things needing "financial r esponsibility". Right now that justifying spending thousands on me isn't in the picture for a while and I don't want to wait as things are getting harder and harder to manage at the gym and I am having alot of skin breakdown related to that. Best case scenario is that the panni will give me what I need to comfortably exercise and fit clothes better. If not, I'll take off to mexico for a mommy makeover in a couple of years for a retirement gift to myself as I could really use a new pair of "girls"

Or would that be classified as a granny makeover? Thanks for sharing Dianne! All info is apprciated

Thanks D. The Magic 80 is good...I have another job already, though, starting in October! This has been my plan for many years. The pension income is allowing me to work four days a week now instead of five, although they would like me to work more to start with until their dictation is caught up. I am so looking forward to that.

Good luck with your plastic surgery. Isn't it only a couple of thousand extra for the full abdominoplasty? I really don't see a lot less protuberance of my upper abdomen, so, as you said, maybe the panni will be all that you need. Since I was paying the whole shot, I just had everything done at the same time. Once is enough! 

Good for you Dianne!!! It sounds like everything is going perfectly. One tip I can offer you from back when I had mine done with some lipo as well..for me, massaging the hard spots really helped the blood flow. Not a light touch massage but a good firm circular motion.  I could tell a difference in the texture and feel  the very next day..like everythng `broke up`and now my body just had to woo**** away! I walked hunched over for a few weeks but its not unbearable. You will be so amazed once you heal completely. Im very happy for you.