On December 15, 2015 I had a Tummy Tuck and a Hernia Repair. Now before you judge me negatively on my having a Tummy Tuck, let me tell you more about me.
I was always ‘thicker’ than other girls. I wasn’t fat as a child, Okay so I had a year or two during puberty that were not my prettiest years, but over all I was average. The summer between 8th grade and 9th grade I thinned out and developed. I started grade 9 with breasts, hips and a booty. I had a women’s body and it sucked. I say it sucked because all of the other girls in my grade were stick thin. Thin was in for a good part of the 90’s. I got teased by the boys. They called me fat. One thing that always bothered me was my stomach. No matter how thin I got, I always had a little something that hung. Before I had children, it was small. So small that I could easily hide it with a good pair of blue jeans and a belt. After I had my first Daughter in 2005 the hanging got a little worse. I was still able to hide it, but I hated it. After baby #2 in 2012 and #3 in 2013, the hanging got really bad and I had put on weight. Every time I set out to lose weight, I got discouraged by the hanging fat and skin. I would start to see results everywhere else, but not there. I would tell myself “It’s not shrinking, why bother?”. It would seem to actually hang more when I lost any weight, that also discouraged me. And it got in my way. Literally got in my way. When I would squat, bend, jump and run it would get in the way. As shallow as it sounds I hated that part of me. I was embarrassed, ashamed and petrified for my Husband to see it. When I went out in public, I felt like everyone noticed it. It stopped me from applying for jobs cause I had myself convinced that it would stop me from getting a good job. I was scared to join a co-ed gym, cause I feared people would say “WOW! Her stomach hangs gross”. I couldn’t have sex with Hubby naked, out of fear he would be repulsed by me. To me that piece of hanging fat, was a living being on my front waiting to destroy my life. It had become a burden. I thought about it everyday. My self worth was being threatened. When trying to explain to my Husband how much I hated it. I told him that I hate it just as much as some Transgender males hate their penis. Now, I am in no way suggesting that the two are the same thing. That was the only way I could explain it to get Hubby to understand. I did have times where I wished I could cut it off.
One day I got up the nerve to bring some attention to it and I went to my family doctor, and told her I wanted a Tummy Tuck. I t was really hard to open up about that hanging belly and let my Doctor see it. My doctor sent out a request to a Plastic and Reconstructive surgeon that she has had performed successful Tummy Tucks on other patients. I was excited. That hanging belly’s days were numbered.
A few weeks later I was back into the doctors because of pain and sensitivity in my belly button area, followed by nausea………..My doctor sent me for an ultrasound, and after the results were in, she said it was a cyst. Wanting to get a better look at it she sent me to get a CT Scan. Those results showed not a cyst, but an Umbilical Hernia.
I met with the Plastic surgeon, who than sent me to see a General surgeon about the Hernia. Then the date for my surgery was booked. December 15, 2015.
The morning of my surgery Hubby and I arrived at the hospital just before 10am. I registered at Day Surgery. They gave me two hospital gowns, a hair cap, booties to wear on my feet, and a plastic bag for my clothes. They weighed me and told me to sit and wait in a line up with others waiting for surgery. I felt like cattle being herded for slaughter. Finally my name was called by a nurse sitting at a desk. She was organizing my paper work, asking questions, and then I followed her to a tiny private room that had a gurney. I laid down and waited to see the plastic surgeon, general surgeon and the anesthesiologist. The anesthesiologist asked me more questions. The general surgeon explained to me how he was going to fix my hernia, and the plastic surgeon drew on my abdomen and for a second time explained a little about the surgery. Around noon I was taken to the operating room. In the O.R the plastic surgeon introduced me to everyone there and told them what I was having done. Everyone said HI, and I was being strapped down to the operating table, the surgeon told me that there was nothing to be worried about. I looked at her and said “It’s hard not to worry when you’re arms are being strapped to an operating table. Everyone had a chuckle at my little joke, and a mask was placed on my face. 5 hours later I woke up in my hospital room, and Hubby was sitting in a chair smiling at me.
I was in pain. It hurt to breath. I felt like someone had pushed me down and kicked me in the abdomen repeatedly with steel toed boots. I was kept over night because I had two procedures done at the same time, and because I have asthma and I was put under anesthetic.
The Procedures: An incision was made on my bikini line (same place they do a C-Section, right on top of the pelvic bone) except this incision goes literally hip to hip and a little further past. Another incision was made around my belly button. They liposuction my stomach and lifted the skin and tissue off the muscles. The General surgeon pushed the hernia back in, and stitched my muscles back together. I was told that because my muscles had slacked a lot from pregnancies, he decided to continue to stitch all the way down my abdomen. The plastic surgeon removed the skin and tissue below my belly button, pulled the remaining skin down and stitched me back up. They put a drain tube on either side of my incision to drain fluid from my abdomen. And they wrapped a ‘binder’ around me. Which I am happy to say that at 9 weeks post-op I no longer need to wear. The ‘binders’ job was to help keep swelling in my abdomen down and help stop fluid from building up in my abdomen.
After a long road to recovery, I feel great. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Life is already better. I move better, my blood pressure has gone down, and I am more motivated than ever to lead a healthier life. This operation is not for everyone, but if someone where going for it, I would advise then to be prepared for a long recovery time. You need to have someone looking after you 24/7 for the first 2 -3 weeks post-op.
Marriage, Motherhood......And Other Things 