Five days out, the verdict is... success! The doc said everything is healing just fine and will see me back a week from tomorrow. She said my stomach muscles were not in terrible shape; they were separated in the middle, but are now good as new. The amount of skin removed was significant. She said they didn't weigh it, but the "large bin" they had holding the "parts" was "full". Essentially, a couple inches above the navel and down was completely removed.
The padding under the compression garment is out (YAY!) and I'm back in the same garment for another week. They gave me a lighter one to start wearing next week. The drains are still in, as expected. Hopefully, the output will be reduced enough to remove them next week. My new instructions are to use two Qtips with peroxide to clean out my navel twice a day and then a thin coat of bacitracin on a small gauze square to cover it. Same cleaning procedure for the drain sites. The nurse suggested only a small piece of paper tape to secure the lower gauze, as the newly stretched skin is still tender and we didn't want to irritate it while it was healing. She showed me a patter with tape to secure it as neatly as possible without damaging the skin.
My initial reaction was not what the doctor expected, maybe she even didn't appreciate it, but as you will see from the two pics I'm about to post, my view was a little different from hers. After looking closer at the pictures, I see that the results are great, especially for where I am in recovery. I just needed to see it from out front and not up above and behind (looking down while scrunched up on a table). She reminded me that although there is some swelling, she had to leave a layer of fat between the abdominal wall and the skin to allow blood flow and facilitate healing. No one said I couldn't get rid of said fat, which I intend to do as soon as reasonably possible. She did take a good amount off the hips (measurements coming soon).
Now that the padding is out and the bandages reduced to one small square over the navel and two large squares at the drainage sites, I already feel a HUGE improvement in my shape. I'm wearing a nice pair of black fitted workout pants with a slight flare at the bottom and even I have to admit that it looks pretty good. Take away the bloody drains, hoses, and stand me up straight - look out world!
Took over two hours this morning to get myself together - washed my hair by kneeling on a folded towel in front of my walk-in shower and using the hose attachment, tried to let my hair dry on it's own but got impatient and sat down with the hair dryer to finish it off, hit it with the Chi, a long foot soak and sponge bath, some mineral foundation and mascara, earrings, watch, rings, long pants (albeit spandex), shoes and sunglasses - and I felt almost normal again.
Had to stop by the office on my way to the doc for my sign and some files, then meet with a client after the doc to sign a listing agreement. Rode home with Rebekah and dropped her off, then headed back to the office to complete the paperwork. This took until 8:15 tonight. Stopped at CVS for supplies on the way home and I'm WIPED OUT. I'm glad I finally took the initiative to get the heating pad on my back earlier today because I made a beeline for it tonight after so much walking in a stooped over position. Picked up some Mucinex-D to try to get this snot under control - nose blowing and sneezing should be avoided after a tummy tuck. Trust me.
This heating pad is so wonderful.
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