Question:
Any special way to prepare for abdominalplasty?

My abdominalplasty is scheduled for 8/11/04 and I am beginning to wonder if I should be doing anything special to prepare for this. My surgeon gave me a list of medications and supplements to avoid prior to surgery, but what about food. Should I try to eat heathier meals or liquids prior to surgery? Before WLS we went out to dinner for the last meal two days before surgery. I am planning on cleaning my house really well because I don't want to be looking at a dirty house as I recover. I have ordered some girdles to switch too from the binder after I get the ok from my surgeon. Should I being doing anything else? What did you do to prepare for your abdominalplasty?    — ckreh (posted on July 5, 2004)

July 5, 2004
The only food limits you have is DONT eat after midnight of your surgery; as far as eating anything else - thats up to you. Having TT has nothing to do with your eating. Now on to the TT. I would save your money on the girdles - the binder they give you works GREAT after surgery and its adjustable. After you no longer need a binder you dont need a girdle either. As for having things on hand... buy a box of "old fashion' thick santitary pads.... these work GREAT to place on your incision. 3 can cover you every where. My surgeon thought they were 'great' and recommend them to other patients now. I also used my recliner after surger for a few days that helped too.
   — star .

July 5, 2004
Check with your surgeon, but mine mandated that I take arnica (homeopathic medicine, available at Vitamin Shoppe) and Bromelain (from Vitamin Shoppe also) for three weeks prior to surgery. I took the Arnica (small pellets you dissolve under tongue) and the Bromelain. The two together prevented any bruising whatsoever from the surgery. Good luck to you.
   — Steve B.

July 5, 2004
Hi Kristin. I just had mine on June 16th, so feel free to email me directly. The only other thing I can think of is to fill your pain killers prior to surgery so they are ready to go. My doc gave me the prescription at my pre-op appointment. I also had to make sure my birth control was filled and I had everything ready for my son's first birthday party....LOL it was 1 1/2 weeks after surgery. I also bought a new body pillow to have under my knees as I slept on the couch. That was really comfortable since I couldn't sleep flat out. I tried to eat a little bit more prior to surgery since I am way below goal weight....I heard that you don't have much of an appetite afterwards and I didn't want to lose any more weight. I did actually drop just a few pounds because I didn't feel like eating the first two weeks. Other than that, you may want to have some guaze (sp?) at home, although the hospital will give you most things. I went out and bought those super huge bandaids and very small guaze pads to put on the drain sites after they were removed and a small section of my incision that opened a little. Feel free to email me and good luck!!
   — emilyfink

July 5, 2004
Remember to stop anything w/ vitamin E. The best advice I ever got was to take the pain pills faithfully the first week or so. Don't be a martyr! :)
   — mom2jtx3

July 6, 2004
Aloha! Congrats on your TT date! I hope that you will be as happy with your results as I am with mine!! There are several things you can do to prepare for your tummy tuck. First off, make sure that you are not taking anything that could potentially act as a blood thinner. Even though you may not be taking aspirin, there are lots of homeopathic remedies such as Ginko that can act as anticoagulants. Talk to your surgeon before hand to see if he has a list of medications/over the counters that you should avoid. One thing I found to be very helpful was to bump up my Vitamin C before to boost my immunities. Also, I was an avid exercise buff so I worked on my abdominal muscles quite a bit before surgery. Within a few weeks of my tummy tuck, I could actually see the beginnings of a six pack muscle pattern going on! It totally astounded me!!! Never in my life had I had defined muscles! Know that for the first couple of months you will experience swelling. Don't go and buy a bunch of new clothes because you will either be swollen to a size that is larger than normal on certain days or you will end up buying clothes that will only fit you for a few weeks. Don't get discouraged if you leave the hospital weighing more or wearing a larger size than you did when you went in. This is NORMAL!! They removed about 10 pounds of skin/tissue when I had mine done but when I left the hospital, I weighed about 8 pounds MORE than I did when I went in and was able to wear 2 sizes larger. This all normalized within a few months. I am currently five months post-TT/hernia repair and I have gone down about 4 sizes and about 16 pounds. Even to this day, there are times at night or when I over do it that I am a little swollen. Wear your binder!! It became my best friend and really minimized the swelling a lot. Hope this helps! In case you want to see some post-TT pictures, feel free to go to my Picturetrail album (http://www.picturetrail.com/kathleendjones). GOOD LUCK! Trust me! You will be thrilled with your results if your surgeon is anything like mine! Definitely worth having it done! Hugs, Kathie (in Hawaii) Open RNY 08/07/2002....Down 189 Pounds!
   — KathieInHawaii