TheGh0st's Extended Tummy Tuck w/Lipo

[sweethot143 2]

wow diane! Your before's look almost like me! I had to look twice.

so it's quite inspirational that i can look like you after a TT. I want to lose 30 more lbs before i schedule my consult. I want to be around 155 or so. I'm 5'4" how tall are you?

[cindyluhu 0]

Hi Diane, thank you SO much for answering all my questions (there were SEVERAL)!!. And No, I did not fall asleep!! You look so awesome, that now I am getting excited for the possibility that next year it may be in the cards for me. I AM going to start looking around and talking to people to see who is reputable around here for ps. I'll probably wait several more months, however, to make the initial appointment for a consult. Like you said, it hasn't been all that long and I need my head and body to be on the same page. My good friend is about 6 weeks ahead of me, and she is now in the process of researching ps as well. She spoke to our surgeon and got a name. It's a start. I want to be really really comfortable with the outcome and scar lines, etc. Your suture line looks PERFECT!! I wonder if I should travel to your surgeon. That might make for a very uncomfortable, long ride/flight home to MA.

Thanks so much again for sharing

Cindy

[kareyquilts 1]

Diane: Thanks for taking the time to reply on when to have PS. It helps all of us. I'm thinking that I'm a lot closer than I thought I was. I would go get a consult, but my daughter is getting married in May and I think I'll wait until after that. That being said, I think I will start interviewing doctors in March and have it done right after the wedding. How are you feeling? What is your pain level like now that its been over a week or so? Hope your doing well. Are most of the drains gone?

[TheGh0st 9]

Sweethot - My Height - 5'2-1/2" (that 1/2" is very important at my height )

Karey - Not to rush you PS is a VERY BIG Step but May is quite a way off and you are awful close to your goal already. Maybe you could have it done in Jan/Feb and still have plenty of time to be recovered by the wedding. Imagine the killer mother's dress you could wear! (Shame on me - you will look AWESOME either way)

[TerriDoodle 6]

Hi Diane - I just wanted to congratulate you on getting your TT. You look fantastic and I am so very happy for you!!! I can only imagine what a relief it is to get the worst behind you and only great things to look forward to now!! How exciting for you!

[faithmd 14]

Diane, you look WONDERFUL! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing this incredibly personal journey with us. threads like yours and Julie's and Chickie's and Puddins' and Sprydr's and Princess' and BBK's (and I'm sure I forgot someone-sorry!) are so very helpful to those of us at various stages in this journey.

Congratulations!

[mcgreen 0]

Diane- congrats!!! You look great and like others have said, I appreciate your honesty in describing how you are feeling post-op. Can't wait to get to this point Hope you continue to feel better!

[mommy3boys 0]

Ghost your results are awesome. I look exactly like your before picture and I'm 5'3" but my weight is a little higher at 170. I already had a consult and as soon as I find out if I got into the credential program I will be having my surgery in January or June of 2008. I'm having a ftt, mons lift, bl, contouring Lipo and I think I'm going to see if he an do a little lipo in my upper mid inner thighs. I think once I get my tt that area will be too puffy and I don't want be focusing on that.

Again you look great and thank so much for sharing your experiences.

Ana

[TheGh0st 9]

mommy3boys - My weigh in the morning of surgery was 172 and I'm 1/2" shorter than you, so we are pretty much the same I'd say.

This surgery covered most of what you listed sans, the BL & mons lift. The thigh Lipo I had wasn't as aggressive as I would have liked but I'm not complaining as it was a last minute freebie I talked him into. I actually would LOVE a full inner thigh lift but it is nearly as expensive as the extended TT I had so I don't see it in the cards. I'm just hoping I can learn to live with them. Maybe a little focused toning would help. I've heard mixed comments on that.

I didn't have nor will I be having the mons lift. Don't really have a reference point to know if it was necessary but I think I can live with that area as is. The BL will be sometime next year I'm hoping. The doc wouldn't do it at the same time as the TT and even though insurance will be covering it I need to try to wait a while before taking more time off work for surgery. Maybe even try to get some family time off for a vacation first.

[TheGh0st 9]

Update on my recovery....

I am feeling better and better. Parts of me think this has gone much easier than I expected. As I kind of expected to be completely bed ridden for the first 5 days needing nearly constant assistance just to go to the restroom. Instead I was getting up by myself and walking around the house the very first night. It was and still is MUCH easier to get up with help but I can do it without help. On the flip side I had high expectations of being one of those people that bounce back fast enough to be back to work full time by tommorrow. (12 days after surgery) After all I was back to work part time less than a week after my C-section and full time only 4 days after my gall-bladder was removed. I'm kind of the stubborn type who feels if I can sit up even if in pain I'd rather sit at work and get paid than sit at home with no pay. But my two drains are still in me and I just don't feel up to 8 hours at a desk job in my pajamas. And until the drains come out that is really all I can wear. I have been back to work for 2 hours on both Teusday and Thursday of last week, though I had someone drive me both to and from work. I do plan on going in tomorrow and driving myself but I will probably only go in for around 4 hours. I also plan on only working a half day Teusday and maybe Wednesday but am determined to have my drains out and get back to full time by Friday. I probably won't be working at full capacity for another week or even two and am counting on some help from a co-worker when it comes to things like filing and some of the running up and downstairs to the shop floor to ask the staff questions.

I have also backed the pain pills down from the heavier duty oxy-codene to the slightly less potent hydra-codene and am taking only 3-4 pills a day instead of 6-8 like I was in the beginning. I could probably back down even further to just Tylenol but have been reluctant to push it too hard as I know it is much easier for pain meds to stop pain from starting than it is for them to stop pain that is already there. Right now I really don't feel any true pains with a capital "P". There are still a couple of sore bruises in my inner thighs from the Lipo and the drains are uncomfortable at times when I move around the worst of it feels like I'm pulling out a pubic hair. My waist feels a strange "stiffness" that makes it hard to stand straight even if I were allowed to, there are also a few blisters that formed along the incision line that I think are a reaction to the adhesives in the steristrip and a few of them kind of sting to the touch but none of that is really the kind of pain I was expecting. I even feel a bit of a pansy for complaining about most of them.

I've begun to sit a bit more upright on the couch this weekend and am even back to sitting on the computer task chair with both my legs tucked up (as if I were sitting cross legged on the floor). And I can walk up and down the stairs using both feet to go up the stairs like a "normal" albiet bow-legged person. When I started out I would go up the steps one at a time trying my best to not lift legs at the knees by standing as high as possible on the toes of my left foot, arching my right foot up equally as high to reach the next step with the toes of my right foot then pulling the other foot up to the same step before starting it all over on the next step.

I might also try to get you some updated pics of the incision line in the next week but probably won't update my full waist shots for a bit longer to let the swelling start to go down some.

[OH Juli 15]

You are doing just great! Thanks for the update. I agree with you about the pain meds.

Fantastic!

[TracyinKS 7]

Diane: You are my ps role model!!!! Thanks for continuing to udate us!

I am tentatively thinking ps in 2009!

[kareyquilts 1]

Diane: Thanks for the update. When are you allowed to stand up straight? Do you exercise with your busy schedule? If so, how long are you suppose to heal first? I have been thinking about those wedding pictures, just now sure. I guess I'm stubbon and want to reach my goal weight. I may have to give up on that. We'll see.

[Paulax 8]

OK, I have a question....for anybody.

I love the low incision on your TT Ghost. So, I know the belly button is moved and want to know if that hole gets cut off with the extra skin.

I know weird question. What goes through the mind of a pre TT, wannabe patient.

[TheGh0st 9]

Karey - For me I decided that the skin weight was some of what was keeping me from goal. Both physically and mentally. Physically for the obvious reason there was in excess of 10 pounds they removed. Mentally it was also weighing me down making me feel farther off track towards my goal than the scale was telling me. After reading some of the other PS threads, like Julies, Puddins & Chickie's (not to mention the many others) I decided that the PS now just might be the kick in my butt & self esteem that I needed to get back on track and loose those last pounds to get to whatever goal I finally settle on. Who knows maybe after all the swelling goes down I'll decide this is my goal, no matter what the scale says.