ONE YEAR POST TUMMY TUCK UPDATE

So, it's been one year to the day that I had my tummy tuck. I thought I'd share with you some of the things I've learned in the year and, of course, photographs. I'll leave those to the end so you'll read the lessons learned part first.

#1. My weight itself has not really changed all that much from the before picture to the end. I'm literally within about 4 lbs of where I started based on WEIGHT.

#2. It has been EXTREMELY difficult for me to lose weight. I'm not sure if this is because what I see in the mirror doesn't match the number in my brain so I don't focus on getting smaller, but I can REALLY see how much I "weigh" in my FACE. So its bothersome because there's a bit of a disconnect. Make sure that you're committed to weight loss in ADDITION to the surgery.

#3. I don't feel like the breast lift has really "stayed in place". I'll have an appt with my doctor soon about this, but I do feel like gravity is pulling me down again.

#4. My scars look pretty good but they've not disappeared completely.

#5. I wish that I would have had some lipo or something on the TOP part of me (where I feel the thickest). Its not something that my doctor would do at one time because of blood loss, but it does occasionally bother me. Of course I COULD get off my lazy butt and lose the weight which would most likely take care of this problem.

#6. The fat has gone other places. For example my inner thighs. I can tell that I "store" weight their now and can tell it when put on pants. Also, my arms and my face is the WORST about showing that I'm up 4-5 lbs. It's not a fix all.

HOWEVER, in spite of all this, and the fact that I didn't really consistently work out ALL YEAR LONG or make any real effort to lose weight you can see that there is a DEFINITE difference in the way my body looks. I'm SO GLAD I did it. I feel so much better about myself. Now I just need to do the things needed to get healthy on the INSIDE!

Always feel free to ask my questions using the contact me button!!!

BEFORE SIDE

AFTER 1 YEAR SIDE

BEFORE FRONT                  



















AFTER 1 YEAR FRONT

BEFORE BACK

AFTER 1 YEAR BACK

8.5 months

So I'm at the 8.5 month mark and, yes, I'm still happy that I had the surgery! My biggest problem may be that I think I look better than the rest of the world does. Lol.

I have been taking pure barre exercise classes and I have no problems. Sometimes I can't "feel something" in my abs because I'm still numb there. Yes... STILL.... I still don't have full feeling in my stomach. I've got full feeling right about to my belly button now. The button itself is still completely numb and the lower portion, especially around the front hip area, I can't feel. But I do not experience any pain when exercising (that I'm not supposed to feel).

I will tell you that my weight has changed very little during this whole time. Even with dieting and exercise 5x a week. But, obviously my waist is much smaller. I can it comfortably in any size 12 and the occasional 10 and that's much more important to me than a scale number. I'd like to see that number drop, but until I can stay away from girl scout cookies all together it is what it is.

Sometimes when I'm working out I feel like I look a litte disproportionate because my arms and chest still carry a lot of weight but its very flat and small on my bottom half. I'm working on that but its verrrrrrry slow going.

My scars on my chest are still much more red to my tummy scars, but they're starting to fade some. I rarely even think about my tummy scars at all.

Before

After - 8.5 months

I still believe this one of the best decisions of my life....

 Feel free to ask questions if you need to

5 months update!

So. I've had my tummy tuck for 5 months now and I'm still happy with it. I've gained about 10lbs (frustratingly so) but its interesting where I gain now. I'm finding I just get thicker. I'm still completely flat! So my new pants are a little tighter but its my fault. I got lazy. You can't just not exercise and eat whatever you want you know and not gain!!!

I find that I can wear so many more styles of clothing now! Which is just amazing! I'm still so glad I made the change. I've also paid the surgery all the way off now so I "own my own body"!!

If you have any questions please feel free to ask!

4 month update + photos & scar update

So that's me 4 months ago. Pretty much hating everything about life. Even though I'd run a half marathon in that body I felt miserable with everything about it. I couldn't understand HOW it was remotely possible that I could get my body to do all the things I could get it to do and still look like that.

And here I am 4 months post surgery

I'm not going to lie, Its suddenly A LOT harder to keep weight off. Not that I've been AMAZING with my diet. Ok I've not been good with my diet at all, but I've started back to exercising and I'm super happy to report that I CAN DO SITUPS and all kinds of other strength training things. 

Every once in a while I'll feel a little pull or strain in my stomach when I'm exercise, but overall I feel pretty normal whenever I do any exercise. I've not attempted swimming laps yet though. That might bother me some. I'll let you know. 

Some of the novelty has kind of worn off. Kind of like when you buy a new car and then you drive it for four months and suddenly its not that big a deal. At times I feel like I've been in this body forever, so its good even for me to look at these pictures and see that there really is quite a big difference. 

Life has marched on. My children are in school and insanely busy. I'm stressed out pretty much all the time as is my husband. So I dont think I think about this amazing gift I've given myself as much as I should right now simply because its easy to sort of ignore. 

Another thing that shocked me...NOBODY said anything about my size difference (except two past students). I hadn't seen my co-workers in about three months I guess, but NOBODY said a word. That kinda hurt my feelings. I got TONS of comments on my hair. People would say "wow, did you change your hair" and I wanted to scream, "yeah and look how I have a totally different BODY TOO", but I don't feel like that's appropriate. 

I have also noticed I can wear heels for significantly longer now than I could before without pain. Not sure what the reason behind that is, but there it is. Handy info for ya! 

Oh, and my scar. I know you're all dying to see it. I personally don't understand why people are so obsessed with scars. I never even THINK of mine unless a doctor is checking me and pushes on that scar and I say "oh yeah I had a tummy tuck this summer too". I dont think I've ever even checked to see if my scars are symmetrical and I frankly don't give a rats bottom if they were a little off because.. well LOOK AT HOW MUCH SKIN I LOST!!" I'd take a little asymmetry if I had to for that. There's one place on my right breast (that was much larger than my left) where the scar is a little higher and it peeks out of my bathing suit, but once the scar dies down nobody will ever see it and I really dont think most people see it now. I only do cause I was paying attn to how great my boobs looked in a swimsuit now. haha

So anyway, here's my scar. I think it looks a lot worse in the picture than it does in "real life". It looks more red here and it looks more purple to me when I'm just looking at it in the mirror. 

So there you go. I'm four months past surgery and I feel completely great and I'm having to take care about what I eat again because my body's slowed back down, and I'm STILL SO GLAD I HAD THE SURGERY!

If you have any questions please hit the contact me button and ask and I'll do my best to get back to you! Good luck! 

Was The Surgery Worth It?

Listen to me. I can sit here, less than three months after having this surgery and tell you without one tiny hint of worry....

YES

I can't believe how different I am. I can't believe how different the world seems. How much better my marriage is. How much more in balance and focused I feel.

While I was writing about my time leading up to the surgery I must have asked myself a million times "Is this really worth it", but now sitting on the other side of it I can say, without hesitation, its the best thing I've ever done for myself. Ever.

And I'm so glad that I took the risk, went through the temporary pain and inconvenience to be able to write this to you today and tell you that I am SO SO GLAD I did the tummy tuck and breast lift!

And I believe it has been worth every single penny.

11 week post-op check up & breast cancer

Before you freak out, NO,  I'm blessed to say I do not have breast cancer. I just am going to talk about it some in this post. So let's refocus here people.

I had my 11 week post-op with Dr. Telepun today.

It's so funny that I go in and I know everybody, walk around like I own the place, and Dr. Telepun's like "hey girl" when he walks by. I think they really just are "like that" though. The receptionist is a darling (and looks SO good I hope I look so good when I'm her age) and the nurse is just the kindest thing, and Dr. Telepun's just relaxed and good at what he does. Kinda "comfortable in his own skin" I guess you'd say. Its a very nice atmosphere to come into. Not at all what you would think of when you thought of a "plastic surgery office". Guess that's what makes them so good.

I had to wait longer today than normal. Usually I'm in and out in less than 15 minutes, but it was for a good reason and I wanted to make sure I shared it with you in case you ever have to wait a long time and start to get cranky (which I never do because I know whats going on).

When a breast cancer patient comes into Dr. Telepun's office THEY are the VIP and the whole office stops to meet their needs. 

And can I just tell you I think that makes me love them even more?!?

The office hops day in and day out, but I'm telling you when someone comes in to have drains changed right after surgery or if a breast cancer patient comes in then they are THE FOCUS of that office. I think about how extremely personal it is that some woman who has, in all likelihood, lost a breast or is about to, and is trusting this surgeon to "make them feel whole again" it just gives me the shivers.

Its nice to me to know that the same Doctor who was able to give me "my self confidence back" is helping other women do the same in the face of their battle.

I had to drag my 5 year old daughter along with me today too. Again, this is very rare, but it had to be done today. At first I had her just chill in the waiting room, which the receptionist said was no big deal at all, but then after waiting a while I brought her back to me.

The nurse and Dr. Telepun were very nice to her. I told them when they walked in I wanted them to make me look like her and that I figured we had no choice but to do major reconstructive surgery. They laughed and then made me get on the table anyway.

My breast continue to heal nicely and my tummy is good to go. I actually wont be back in for a minimum of three months, maybe more. I have no restrictions on food or exercise now. Which means I really better get back at it.

My scar is going through a red-phase, Dr. Telepun told me. He said it normally takes TWO YEARS for the scar to get flesh-colored. It honestly doesn't bother me in the least because its always covered whether I'm in a bikini or in the "oh so cute" panties I've gone and bought (I've thrown out all the granny panties. This body's too cute for them now). My husband also seems completely unfazed by the scar in any way. Dr. Telepun told me that he normally cuts his scars very low and really tries to mimic the natural shape of that person's body, so depending on who your surgeon is, it might look really different than mine do.

Recently my tummy scar has been hurting some when I sneeze. This is funny really though because it means that feeling is beginning to come back to that area. Dr. Telepun says it takes most people about a year to get all the sensation back in their stomach area. Mine is still completely numb from about three inches above my belly-button down after almost three months. Its weird, but I rarely even notice it anymore.


I currently don't have one single pair of pants that fit me. Not one. I had to finally donate them all to goodwill today because I'm 1) too lazy to have them tailored and 2) don't want them to have that number in them anymore anyway even if they WERE tailored. I'm torn about getting more at the moment though because I'm about to start working out consistently and don't want to lose even more and have to buy even more. I've got lots of mega cute/ hot dresses though so I dont really need pants and I've got a few pairs of shorts that work.

I've been gaining pounds lately. My food has been crap, but I can really tell it and its starting to bother me. Its really not all that visible in the way I look, but I feel more swollen from the inside out. So I really have GOT to get a grip on it and get into a new pattern of exercise.

I just keep reminding myself. "Its easier to maintain a Mercedes then to try to get a Gremlin up to speed". I had the gremlin, now I've got the Mercedes... so I've got to do the maintenance. I think Dr. Telepun could tell I'd gained some. He didn't say it directly, he just said "so I'd be careful". lol. yeah...I read you loud and clear.

Headed back to the beach for the week. Looking forward to NOT feeling embarrassed in my swimsuits!

Feel free to ask any questions you might have and enjoy the site!

Tummy Tuck & Breast Lift Scars at 10 weeks post op

So people seem really interested in my scars and how they're healing. I think this is because most of the terrible "I'm unhappy with my surgery" kind of stuff out there has to do with people fussing about their scarring.

Mine doesn't really bother me at all. At this point they are still pretty read and pronounced but I have no doubt that they will continue to fade. I've been putting Bio Oil on them for the past two weeks. I dont know that its making any difference but it makes me feel like it could be at least. haha

So here we go. Scars at 10 weeks. Ps. You're getting a little bit of distortion because I had fallen asleep and then woke up the next morning and took the picture. lol. So please forgive the underwear imprints. Surely you can tell the difference between that and the scar.

I'm also including the most covered showing of my breast scars I can. Just so you can see what that cut and scar looks like. This is a little uncomfortable for me to share for some reason it just seems more personal, but I'm going to try to help you so bear with me.

I feel like these scars are healing much faster than the tummy ones are, but then again, they weren't as deep.

One thing Dr. Telepun really pushes to help with skin healing is TAKING A VITAMIN C SUPPLEMENT!! I take about 1000g of Vitamin C with rose hips daily along with my daily vitamin.

I'm happy with my scars overall. I know that they're there and they'll take a while to fade, but I feel like considering the major overhaul to my body they're not so bad.

I didn't have C sections with either of my children, so I didn't have previous scars, but I would imagine that depending on how much skin you've got overhanging its possible that your c-section scar would be completely removed in your full tummy tuck leaving you with only your, what I call, "captain hook" scar. Dr. Telepun does lipo on your hips right where the scars end to help them not poke out and I feel like mine lay flat.

My right breast scar is a little higher than my left but that is because my right breast was so much larger than my left. More on that later.

Ok so there you go, 10 week scars. Feel free to ask any questions!