So I was looking back at my last post and there seemed to be a lot of typos. I swear I wasn't even that drugged anymore. Granted any FB posts or blog posts or whatever the first two weeks after surgery? I was pretty much high as a kite.
I'm finally starting to feel a lot better. Still not fabulous and still not ready to work a 12 hour shift but at least human. I had a really good talk with the plastic surgeon this last week which also helped my perspective. My initial appointment with her had been back in August and was to see if the insurance would cover the panniculectomy and what the additional tummy tuck would cost and if it was even possible to do. I was afraid she would tell me I hadn't lost enough weight and it couldn't be done. So at the time we didn't know for sure if surgery would even happen. I had discussed with her how much I hated staying in hospitals and she had stated she would be ok with sending me home day of surgery and we also briefly discussed whether it was possible to do the hysterectomy at the same time which she stated she was ok with. She had told me that often people go back to work after 2-3 weeks although with the hysterectomy I'd be able to take the 6 weeks off. With that discussion in my head I truly didn't think the recovery for this would be all that bad. I figured after a week or maybe two I'd be fine and then have some nice time off. So it really knocked me for a loop how hard this hit me.
So at my one month appointment the other day I asked her about it. Basically a lot of what she was telling me at my initial appointment was pertaining to the tummy tuck portion of surgery. For that most people are self pay and go home day of surgery and choose to go back to work as soon as possible because of having limited paid time off available. She admitted that with adding the panniculectomy which was often covered by insurance and the hysterectomy and bladder suspension it did all drastically increase my recovery time and how I could expect to feel. I asked about various aches and pains. The feeling of almost cramping (which is hugely annoying since hello I know the old uterus and ovaries are gone so WTF?) that is related to the hysterectomy. The first couple of weeks I didn't notice much abdominal muscle tightness (could be because I was taking the valium religiously every 6 hours as prescribed and the norco/percocet every 4) but the last week or so I've had a persistent ache to my abdominal muscles. She said yes, that's related to the tummy tuck and will get better. I told her the skin around my belly button is numb but I can feel pulling behind my belly button. Yup, normal. I was cleared to start doing some light core strengthening exercises but no sit ups. Ha I don't do sit ups anyway so no worries there. I can start out though with the elliptical and a stationary bike. She was a little worried about my balance as I'm still moving a bit slowly so no regular bike quite yet. I have been walking around my neighborhood periodically but hells bells it's been cold out and many days I also have decided it's just too damn cold. Plus if I've had a lot of other things I'm doing around the house I'm less likely to go walk as I wear out quickly. I did get all my Christmas stuff down and a friend from work came over and helped me get the tree down and all the stuff back out to the garage which was so appreciated. I'm so thankful for all those from work who have been willing to come help me out with stuff that I haven't been able to do for myself.
The fun part? I don't think my stomach has ever looked this good. Even when I was a kid I had a flap or roll of fat (even at 150 when I actually was pretty much in my weight range). As I got older and heavier that flap got bigger. Even after I lost the weight and it wasn't really obvious in clothes that the flap was there, I knew it was there. It was obvious in swim suits and it bothered me. Now it's gone! While I still don't and likely never will have a completely flat stomach, it's flatter than it ever has been before and it feels amazing. Just to have that flap gone. Granted the girdle I'm wearing now pretty much 24/7 that holds everything in helps it look good. The idea is to reduce swelling as there is expectation of swelling after surgery (which there was as evidenced by a nearly 20 pound weight gain in a little over a week!). The girdle actually is comfortable for the most part as it provides support to my abdomen and it feels more comfortable to sit with it on. It's just comical as it reaches from just under my breasts to just above my knees. Kind of a funny sight.
Overall, I'm doing good. Healing as expected even though it was way slower than I had hoped or expected. I am happy with the results. All of them. Especially the never ever, ever having another period.
I'm finally starting to feel a lot better. Still not fabulous and still not ready to work a 12 hour shift but at least human. I had a really good talk with the plastic surgeon this last week which also helped my perspective. My initial appointment with her had been back in August and was to see if the insurance would cover the panniculectomy and what the additional tummy tuck would cost and if it was even possible to do. I was afraid she would tell me I hadn't lost enough weight and it couldn't be done. So at the time we didn't know for sure if surgery would even happen. I had discussed with her how much I hated staying in hospitals and she had stated she would be ok with sending me home day of surgery and we also briefly discussed whether it was possible to do the hysterectomy at the same time which she stated she was ok with. She had told me that often people go back to work after 2-3 weeks although with the hysterectomy I'd be able to take the 6 weeks off. With that discussion in my head I truly didn't think the recovery for this would be all that bad. I figured after a week or maybe two I'd be fine and then have some nice time off. So it really knocked me for a loop how hard this hit me.
So at my one month appointment the other day I asked her about it. Basically a lot of what she was telling me at my initial appointment was pertaining to the tummy tuck portion of surgery. For that most people are self pay and go home day of surgery and choose to go back to work as soon as possible because of having limited paid time off available. She admitted that with adding the panniculectomy which was often covered by insurance and the hysterectomy and bladder suspension it did all drastically increase my recovery time and how I could expect to feel. I asked about various aches and pains. The feeling of almost cramping (which is hugely annoying since hello I know the old uterus and ovaries are gone so WTF?) that is related to the hysterectomy. The first couple of weeks I didn't notice much abdominal muscle tightness (could be because I was taking the valium religiously every 6 hours as prescribed and the norco/percocet every 4) but the last week or so I've had a persistent ache to my abdominal muscles. She said yes, that's related to the tummy tuck and will get better. I told her the skin around my belly button is numb but I can feel pulling behind my belly button. Yup, normal. I was cleared to start doing some light core strengthening exercises but no sit ups. Ha I don't do sit ups anyway so no worries there. I can start out though with the elliptical and a stationary bike. She was a little worried about my balance as I'm still moving a bit slowly so no regular bike quite yet. I have been walking around my neighborhood periodically but hells bells it's been cold out and many days I also have decided it's just too damn cold. Plus if I've had a lot of other things I'm doing around the house I'm less likely to go walk as I wear out quickly. I did get all my Christmas stuff down and a friend from work came over and helped me get the tree down and all the stuff back out to the garage which was so appreciated. I'm so thankful for all those from work who have been willing to come help me out with stuff that I haven't been able to do for myself.
The fun part? I don't think my stomach has ever looked this good. Even when I was a kid I had a flap or roll of fat (even at 150 when I actually was pretty much in my weight range). As I got older and heavier that flap got bigger. Even after I lost the weight and it wasn't really obvious in clothes that the flap was there, I knew it was there. It was obvious in swim suits and it bothered me. Now it's gone! While I still don't and likely never will have a completely flat stomach, it's flatter than it ever has been before and it feels amazing. Just to have that flap gone. Granted the girdle I'm wearing now pretty much 24/7 that holds everything in helps it look good. The idea is to reduce swelling as there is expectation of swelling after surgery (which there was as evidenced by a nearly 20 pound weight gain in a little over a week!). The girdle actually is comfortable for the most part as it provides support to my abdomen and it feels more comfortable to sit with it on. It's just comical as it reaches from just under my breasts to just above my knees. Kind of a funny sight.
Overall, I'm doing good. Healing as expected even though it was way slower than I had hoped or expected. I am happy with the results. All of them. Especially the never ever, ever having another period.
1 comment:
Glad things are going well an you're feeling well. :)
Wishing you a wonderful 2013!!
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