I'm 1 week post tummy tuck

I'm on the other side of the surgery now. It's sometimes hard to get comfortable. I'm still sore, but doing really good. I've never felt like it was "pain". It just feels sore and bruised to me. I have had the brief sharp pains where the nerves try to regenerate. I have medicine for that, too, so it hasn't been bad. I had a lot of medicines for this surgery. Now, I said I wasn't in pain, but I bet if I didn't use my pain meds, I'd be in a LOT of pain!

I've got an anchor in my torso now. The cut is from just under my breast bone, down to my pubic bone, and past my hips on each side. My surgeon did a great job! I've seen people who have a wad of skin at the end of the incisions on their hips where the surgeon bunched it up when sewing them back together. I don't have that. My stomach is still really swollen. It has went down quite a bit, but has a lot more to go. I'm anxious to see what my belly button looks like. Right now, it doesn't look like a belly button at all. It's too swollen. I feel like I have a lot of bruising that I'm not seeing on the skin yet.

I'm walking around well. I can sit straight up in a chair, or couch, but I cannot stand straight up yet. Sleeping is still hard. I sleep a lot with my pain pills. They knock me out and I take them every 4 hrs., except when I skip them so I can actually be awake enough to talk to the family. Usually I sleep 2 or 3 hrs., and the last hr. before the next pain pill, I spend going to the bathroom, readjusting my sitting/laying place, draining my drain bulbs and stuff like that. I was sitting up in a chair, making 2 birthday cards for my daughter. That made me swell really bad! So then I was laying flat on my back with legs elevated, to get the fluids moving out again. This meant I was up and down every hour on the hour, all night long, going to the bathroom!

I have lost a little bit of the water weight. The Dr. took off 15 lbs. of skin/fat. I can't believe it was only that much. It looked like it would weigh at least 30-40 lbs. So, since I still have swelling, my measurements are just temporary. At this point, while measuring my lower stomach/hips, (keep in mind I've got 2 binders on as well, and padding from gauze) I've lost 6 inches. The waist and upper stomach under breasts are still swollen bigger than they were when I went into surgery. I'm so anxious to see the actual results. This gives me a pretty good idea, but the swelling makes it hard to imagine the final shape. To be continued....

Plan for TT

As usual, I forget to update my blog. My surgeon decided to cut me from just under the breast bone down, and across from hip to hip or somewhere in that area. I have so much skin side to side he will do the vertical cut to pull all of that in. Then he will also do the horizontal cut to pull all of it down.

On another note, I got my 3rd CPAP mask. It's the Sleepweaver Elan. It's cloth, but a different shape than the original Sleepweaver. The original one was too big for my face and blew air straight into my eyes. This one works much better. I liked the other masks, but whatever is in that plastic/rubber seal makes my face break out into a solid rash and it burns.

I will post pictures of the before and after on the tummy tuck, after the surgery. Maybe in about a week or so.

Tummy tuck plan

Some tummy tucks only require skin removal horizontally and then stretched down and sewed together. Sometimes, there is so much skin, it also needs sewed up the center to pull in the sides. I have the last problem, so I will have a vertical scar as well. Guess I will have an anchor on my stomach. LOL! I'm getting excited!

Countdown to Tummy Tuck!

Counting down until surgery to get rid of this baggy stomach! Can't wait! I go see the surgeon again today, for final decisions. I need to find out if he will cut me up the middle and pull the sides in (tightening my back as well) or if I need to get a belt lipectomy (more expense and more pain.

I'm not excited about being in pain, but that part is only temporary! More updates after talking to the surgeon!

Lots of updates

I am SO bad about updating this blog! I see my last post was in April. I've had a busy, productive summer. But there was a hiccup along the way.

I'd been having pains off and on, for over a year, on my right side. Doctors pretty much blew me off. They did feel my stomach, but nothing seemed to be wrong. I even had a CT scan that said nothing was wrong. Then, toward the end of May, it all fell together, or apart. Hehehe. I woke up on a Wed. feeling quite nauseous. I took anti nausea meds, and they were not even touching it. I had severe pains in my stomach. Around 1 pm, I started the upchucking. That's really bad news when you have Addison's Disease! I immediately used a shot, which kept me in check, but didn't stop the puking. I sent my husband a message letting him know I was really sick and had used my shot. The pain got worse. It was like labor pain, but worse because you get breaks between contractions during labor!

I called my husband home, or maybe the kids did, I don't remember. We decided to go to the ER. I was afraid that maybe it wasn't the flu, and something more serious. (I was right.) I got to the ER and told them I have Addison's, I'd been puking all day, and gave them my emergency letter from my doctor, and they told me to have a seat. I told my husband to see how soon they would get me back. I needed another dose of Solu-Cortef. He checked and they said 14 people ahead of me! I went to the bathroom and gave myself another shot, and waited.

They got me back there, did a CT without contrast, said it was ok. They figured it must be the flu. They gave me a pain shot, some meds, and sent me home.

I rested decent since I'd had the pain shot, but it was wearing off. Now we are on Thursday. I was no longer having the nausea, or the severe pain all over my stomach, but the pain had settled on my right lower side, just in from my leg/hip. I tried to rest. I started running a fever and woke up shaking all over. The kids helped me get a shot in me, then I think I passed out. They called their dad home, and he checked my temp. It was 105! I was out of it. The next thing I remember was them yelling my name and yanking me off of the couch to get in the van. I could not walk at all. I couldn't move anything. I was in shock. They had to basically carry me to the van. I'm sure you are wondering why we didn't call 911. Well, the local hospital tried to kill me, literally during a different crisis. Not going there EVER again!

So, we headed off for the hour long ride to the hospital. The staff had to come out and get me out of the car and onto a stretcher. They took me straight back this time! :) My fever was not as high. It came down to like 102 and I was sweating buckets! My blood pressure was only in the 60's/40's. They got fluids going... 2 IV's! Then got meds in me, etc. They got me back for another scan, but this time with contrast. It was my appendix. It had stones in it, was enlarged, and had perforated. It was leaking infection into my blood stream, sending me into septic shock. I've been feeling much better since that ole appendix left the building! ;)

I've recently switched my steroids. I was taking hydrocortisone, but changed to prednisone. It's strange because prednisone is suppose to be longer acting and about 4 times stronger than hydrocortisone, yet I'm losing weight and looking much thinner in the face and neck. It agrees with my body better, I guess.

My other big news is, I'm getting a tummy tuck. All I'm waiting on is my endo to send a letter to the plastic surgeon. That might take a while, but hopefully not long. The plastic surgeon won't give me a surgery date until he has this clearance from the endo, and they discuss my steroid dosing. Understandable.

We have been working like crazy this summer. We got a lot of fill dirt and made places for our new pool (it's huge) and a pole barn. We built a retaining wall, and have one more to build. I got half of my flower beds done before I had to have my appendix out. The weeds took over the one bed again. I didn't get the mulch in it. I was ready to when I had to go to the hospital. Then it was catch up on everything after getting out and recovering.

I guess that's all of my news for now. I will try to add a picture to show the difference of me on hydrocortisone and me on prednisone. In just 3 weeks time, it has been a pretty big change.