The Tell-All Tummy Tuck Post (Part 2)

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In case you missed it, here's the link to Part 1.

I woke up several hours later in recovery. Moments after opening my eyes my mom was there and it seemed like moments after that I was walking out to the car. We'd planned to stay one or two nights at the hotel and then go home. Since I didn't end up needing drains (which is a good thing), I didn't have a post-op appointment the next day, which was nice. All rest, all day.

We got back to the room and I took two pain pills, Percocet 5-325. They did absolutely nothing. Or at least it didn't feel like it. I was dying in pain. We called the doctor's office and a nurse said to put ice on my tummy and to make sure I'm sitting up with pillows under my knees. Two hours later, still dying. None of this was helped by the fact that I still had a cough. Every time I coughed I thought I'd pass out from the pain.

I have a mom friend who's also had a tummy tuck. She was checking in on me via text and when I told her about the pain she suggested I switch to Vicoden, that it had worked better for her despite being a weaker drug overall. I called the doc's office back, eventually spoke with Dr Canales and he made the switch. In the end what worked was to alternate the drugs every few hours, take Percocet, then Vicoden, then Percocet.

Dr Canales also told me that my abdominal muscles were entirely separated (also knows as Diastasis recti, read all about it here) and had to be stitched together from the top to the bottom.

This, and they didn't use drains, which meant additional suturing (which meant more pain), "but trust me, in a couple days you'll be happy about not having drains." - he was right, so thankful for not having to deal with that.

So, in the end, a solid couple days of too much pain and, yes, even regret, another few days of pain but at least it was manageable, and then a few more days of discomfort entirely managed by the pain meds. Oh, with the coughing, my nurse friend Catherine told me to hold a pillow against my stomach and put as much pressure as I can when I cough, "that's what heart transplant patients have to do, use the pillow like a stint." That made a world of difference.

You might be wondering how my tummy looked after the surgery. Well, I wasn't. I could have cared less. In fact, I was thinking what an idiot I was for putting myself through such torture just to look better. When it came to the first couple of overnights there was good and bad news. Good news, I was sleeping pretty well (with the help of an Ambien). Bad news, I'd sleep through the time for meds and wake up in serious pain. I never said I bore pain well.

Being the good blogger that I am, I took a picture from my reclined position. This was taken Monday evening around 7:45pm. Can't tell much, I know, but there you have it.

So after the first couple nights I learned to set an overnight alarm to take pain meds at least every three hours while I was sleeping. Oh, and I extended my hotel stay by a couple more nights. I was not ready for a car ride. And the fun doesn't end there. All those opiates led to constipation. Skip the rest of this paragraph if it's TMI for you but I want to include it for anyone getting a tummy tuck. So yes, constipation. And it was bad. Despite my being very careful about taking Senna and stool softeners and despite eating mostly fruit, drinking a good amount of water, and even drinking a few glasses of prune juice, my system came to a serious halt. Fortunately I have my nurse/runner/mom friend Catherine on speed dial. I'll spare you the gory details but just know that by Day 3 I had to action I typically associate with people in convalescent care.

I finally came home on Thursday. More TMI so feel free to skip this paragraph too. It took a day of constipation-related interventions for my system to start working again and then when it did, things took a turn for the opposite. I go from laxatives to Imodium AD but at least things settled down to almost normal before the kids got home.

Regarding the kids, Miguel and the pre-school teachers had been prepping them on how I'd be delicate for a while, "gentle hugs and kisses, no jumping on mommy, no sitting in her lap, she has an owie that needs to heal." So that night Miguel and I took the kids out to Chevy's to make things easier. They were so happy to see me and did their best to be gentle with me. It wasn't easy for them to refrain from the usual bear hugs, and we had a few bumps here and there but all in all they were great. I ate the Santa Fe Chopped Salad and a few chips. I was still uneasy about putting food in my body but I was hungry.

Mesquite-grilled chicken breast, crispy bacon (which automatically makes it delicious), fresh Hass avocado, fire-roasted red peppers, crumbled bleu cheese on chilled hearts of romaine.

I'd planned to spend the weekend away from home, I didn't yet have the energy or fortitude for being around the kids full time. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were all about rest. Each day I felt a bit better and needed less pain meds. A week after surgery, Monday, I was almost feeling like my normal self. I'd hoped to get through the day with no pain meds but about 4pm I decided I needed one. So yesterday, Tuesday, was my first day with zero pain meds - extra-strength Tylenol a couple times and that did it. Thus far today I haven't had anything, not even Tylenol, and I feel fine. Just very mild discomfort. Barely even discomfort really, except when I cough and then it hurts a bit but it's fleeting and manageable.

Ok...enough of all this. I know it's time for a picture. On the left, my "before". On the right, a pic taken Monday (one week post-op). Ah, the beauty of corrective surgery.

It kind of makes all the pain seem not-so-dreadful now, right? Right. At least for me. Of course, if I had it to do over again I'd do a better job of managing the pain from the start.

I just snapped this bikini pic in my backyard. And to give you an idea of how much movement occurred... I highlighted a couple moles on the left side and the same ones on the right to show you how my skin moved. Which is why my belly-button had to be removed and re-installed.

So I'm a week-and-a-half out and feeling very happy so far. I'm still swollen, they say it takes 8 weeks for the swelling to go down entirely! And I still have stitches (that you can't see because they're at my bikini line and hidden by my clothes). The black line under my belly in the pic at the left is where the stitches were placed. I think they'll be removed at my follow-up appointment on Thursday. Oh, and I have to wear this abdominal binder for a total of six weeks. Thank goodness for elastic waistbands.

As far as exercise, I plan to ask when I can start exercising and using my core muscles again. I'm already feeling antsy about sitting around so much. So today I'm taking my own advice (This isn't a slump but #9 still applies here) and heading to the gym. Hold on, don't freak out. I plan to walk slowly on the treadmill for 5-10 minutes while reading a magazine. And then I'll leave. The last couple days I've been eating a bunch of crap. I had vanilla ice cream for lunch yesterday and so-called "veggie" sticks were essentially my dinner. I know, I want to stop, hence the gym visit. Just being there will remind me of my goals, remind me of what I want - to maintain my weight during this recovery time and to formulate and implement a fitness come-back as soon as my body is ready - and how to get it.

Another good thing is I'll be meeting with Janine, my Pharmaca herbalist soon to go over my goals. I know that will help keep me on track too. In fact, I'll email her right now. Alright, that's it! I'm looking forward to sharing my comeback journey.