SunSetz' Full Abdominoplasty

Hello! I am a 27 year old mother of 3 children ages 4, 6 and 10. I was about 15 when I was pregnant with my first born and after the birth of my son, Dylan, I still had a "tummy" on me but it wasn't all that bad. When I was 20 years old I gave birth to my middle child, Kyler, and gained WAY too much weight. I believe that my highest weight with him was 220 lbs. Just 2 years later, I was pregnant again and had not lost all the weight that I had gained from my previous pregnancy. This time I ballooned up to 225 lbs and was so stressed out after the birth, that I actually gained even MORE weight and went up to approx. 243 pounds. I had never weighed this much in my life! I exercised on and off and finally about 2 years later got down to 180 pounds. It was at this time that I started thinking about having liposuction.

I went to a local Dr. and he gave me the price that he would charge, which was way more than I had anticipated. Nonetheless, I knew that this was something that I wanted to do in the future. Another year had passed, and my weight went up and down 10 pounds every so often. I went to yet another Dr and it took him a good 30 seconds to tell me that I would not benefit much from liposuction, but what I needed was abdominoplasty. I knew that this was a much more serious operation, but I saw before and after pictures of some of his patients and knew that this is what I needed to do.

The Dr. that I chose was Dr. Kaplan in Mid-Missouri (which is where I am from) and he has been in the practice for 20 plus years. I work at the hospital that he is affiliated with and knew that he was the best. I had the computer imaging done, and he gave me a view of what I could expect to look like. Not until I saw myself on the screen did I realize how horrible my stomach had become. He and his nurse both told me that my stomach did not go with the rest of my body, and boy were they right. My arms, legs, etc., are all in decent shape until you see my stomach. The surgery was scheduled 4 weeks after my last consultation with him (because I was getting married, and wanted to wait until after the wedding).

I wasn't really all that nervous until the night before. I had looked up numerous sites on tummy tucks and desperately sought out "personal stories" from people that had the procedure done, but found very few. I was on a full liquid diet 48 hours prior to the surgery, and of course had nothing to eat past midnight the night before. The morning of the surgery, I was anxious but it wasn't all that bad. I checked in to the hospital, they drew the lab work that was required, and I was off to the outpatient surgery waiting area. Once they called my name, I became a bit more anxious. Waiting for the anesthesiologist seemed like an eternity. Once they arrived, I received my IV and started to get a little drowsy. Dr. Kaplan was soon to follow and had me stand up to mark my tummy. He asked if I had any more questions, which I did not, and soon after they took me to the O.R. I remember telling them that I didn't want any morphine after the procedure (because my Dad is allergic to it, and I didn't want to risk anything) so they said that I could get a Demerol drip. The nurse then put an oxygen mask on my face and said that they were going to give me the anesthetic and I would be falling asleep soon.

Next thing I remember is waking up in the recovery area feeling really "tight" in the abdomen. I was there for another 30 minutes or so and then moved up to a room on the 4th floor. I chose to stay the night in the hospital just because it was included in his cost and he said that most people appreciate that first night in the hospital because they don't have to get up to use the restroom (yes, I had a catheter) etc. I did have 2 drains, one on each side that the nurses came in to drain every 3-4 hours. The first time they stood me up that evening, I was a bit woozy but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I did end up throwing up after trying a bite of pudding, and my stomach HURT when I did. I felt much better afterwards, however.

The next morning I, of course, was still in pain but was able to get up and go to the bathroom. They took out the catheter around 06:00 that morning. By 2:30pm I had seen the Dr. and he said that he wanted to leave the drains in a couple more days, and that he would see me in his office in 2 days. I tell you what, I knew that I would be in pain but I had no idea how much pain my back would be in! I guess that when they tighten your abs it obviously affects your back?!?! I was walking bent over like an old lady. Just give me a cane and a wig with some gray hair on it and I would have passed as one! :)  I was required to stay in the chaise lounge position and right now still am, even as I am typing this.

I went yesterday to have my drains taken out and it hurt so so bad. I think that was the most painful part of it all (well, almost) Anyway, right now I am post-op day #5. This is Saturday and I had the operation done Monday. I still am in pain especially if I laugh (not a good thing to do at all)! but am beginning to stand up a little better. I still have to wear the ol'lady garment, and I go back to the Dr's office on Tuesday to have the bandages taken off. I can already tell that there is going to be a big difference, but it's too early to tell what exactly I am going to look like. I am sure that I will feel and look much better. I plan on losing a little more weight after I am feeling better, but not too much. I am 5'8 and hold my weight really well, so we will see. I might have additional liposuction done to my inner things later on down the line and maybe even a breast lift......time will tell. I am attaching a "before" picture and will send a "after" pic as soon as I am able. You can tell by the before picture that I was a really good candidate for having this operation done! Good luck to all of you that are considering this procedure and to those of you who have already had it performed!!!

click photo for a larger image

before	after coming soon