Tummy tuck surgery

I will be having my tummy tuck surgery on Monday .  I'm very happy to have this apron removed from my stomach area..  I will have part of my surgery paid for with my insurance.  it was deemed medical, with the rashes and creams that I have applied.  I would like to know about  recovery with this surgery.  I'm single and I have a dog and a bird to take care of.  I will have someone with me to drive me from the hospital.  I will be alone .  I will stock up on everything that I need to have in the home. Wish me luck.  Glenda in Georgia.

First, is this outpatient, or will you be an overnight?  If outpatient, do not let them hasten you out the door.  Stay untill you are comfortable and confident that all is ok.  Also ask the staff to call you at least once a day the first 2 days.  Let them know you will be by yourself.  Get your table by your chair all ready and have phone, numbers, water, remote, food- right there so you have it handy.  I kept a clipboard and logged for several days.  It was easy to keep account of meds, water intake, activity- reminded me to get up and walk around--the clipboard was my nanny for a while.  I encourage you to see about having a friend  stop by to check up on you or at least call in to check periodically.   I'm sure everything will be just fine- but having a real person have your back as it were is a comfort as well as a safety factor.  I wish you well and a speedy recovery.  Go gentle- priorities (you-dog-bird) in order.  Everything else can wait.  Enjoy your flat tummy.

Thank you so much for the advice.  I'm going out shopping for all the things that I must have in the house.  I will be renting a recliner from rental center.  I hope to get it on sat.  Anything else you can remember that help you with recovery please feel free to share it with me.

My doctor said to me at pre-op that I should be able to go home that same day.  I know that my insurance is covering part of the surgery.  I know that an overnight stay should be included.  I will tell him on the day of surgery that I'm planing to stay the night.  I will feel better being monitored by the medical staff for observation.  I can be discharged the next morning. 

With the pets, birds are easy.  You have to get up and walk (and pee) every now and then anyway, and taking care of the bird during one of these times is pretty simple.  Dog - depends.  How physical do you have to be to deal with it?  How quickly do you have to get up to let it out to do its business?  You'll be walking, but getting up and down takes some time.  And you'll be tired.  So if you have a pet that has to go RIGHT NOW, it could be a problem for the first week.  I have multiple animals and had a petsitter come in once a day to get everyone fed and cleaned up after.  But it was mostly because of the cat litter boxes - no way I could bend down to keep those cleaned.  If it had just been feeding or letting them out every now and then, I would have been fine.

Get a grabber - one of those poles with a hook on the end.  Many things end up on the floor, and bending down is not going to happen without extreme discomfort/pain.

And best of luck to you!  You'll probably have moments or days of regrets that you did the surgery during recovery, but it really is worth it in the end.

Good luck with your surgery, Glenda. Sure hope everything goes well. Will be waiting to hear how it goes and how you're doing. 

Thank you so much, Susan I will be in touch soon. Surgery is 8:00 am Monday morning.  I' m doing the clear liquid and hydrating with 3 liters of water until them.  Taking all vitamins in shakes. But no food.