A few recipes

I feel like sharing a few recipes instead of talking surgery today... In case you're wondering I'm fine, still swelling but fine.

So anyways, it's fall... Or at least according to everything on the internet it's fall.  I live in Arizona and it's October and still 95degrees, feels like fall (insert eye roll here).  But seeing the rest of the countrys fall themed posts makes me feel like baking fall foods.  Why not?  I'm inside in the a/c I can bake whatever I want!!  Of course I went pumpkin crazy and I really do love pumpkin!  It's healthy, can be used as an oil substitute...and obviously it tastes great!!

So I made pumpkin soufflé, and it was really pretty good! Lite and fluffy and smelled and tasted like pumpkin pie... Recipe here!

Then I had to use my leftover pumpkin so I made waffles....and oh-my!  These were fantastic!  My kids and even my husband inhaled them, there were no survivors!  Recipe here!

Finally I needed something non-pumpkin and I found my idea in the frozen foods section of my grocery store...rhubarb!  It looks like red celery and without sugar is quite sour...my mom actually used to eat it raw dipped in salt!  Blech!  I love it with other berries and pretty much every recipe out there used strawberries, and my poor husband is allergic to strawberries.  Plus everything was a pie or a cobbler, and no offense to either but I really wanted a crumble, I wanted a crunchy oath top with a soft but not too sweet fruity bottom.  So I did what and good cook does, I improvised and created my own recipe.  I used frozen fruit but fresh would be fine, and if you really want strawberries go ahead and replace the blackberries.  You could increase or decrease amounts to get the right crust to fruit ratio for your personal taste.  This suited me and my family just fine-

Ingredients-

Filling-
2C rhubarb
1.5C raspberries
1.5C blackberries
1/4C white sugar
1/4C raw sugar
1/4C flour
1t lemon juice

Crumble-
1/2C flour
1/4C rolled oats
1/4-1/2t cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
1/3C brown sugar
4T cold butter

1. Preheat oven to 400
1.  Toss all of the filling ingredients together in a 8x8 inch pan, make sure to cut fruit into fairly even size pieces.

2. In a separate bowl mix all of the dry crumble ingredients. Cut the butter in with fingers until it resembles coarse sand.

3. Spread the topping over the fruit mix.

4. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes, then reduce oven to 350 and bake for another 40-50 minutes.  It should be golden on top and thick and bubbly on the bottom!

Yum, yum, yum!

Six weeks finally!

Yay I've finally hit the six week mark!  That means that I have gotten past the main phase of healing, the rest of the healing is the slow part, it can take 6m to a year after surgery to stop swelling and see the final result.  

After a few days of not wearing my scar strips the hypersensitivity is gone.  I am only wearing the strips at night now and I haven't had any issues, which is great because I don't know what I would have done if the hypersensitivity had continued.

I had an appointment with my surgeon the end of last week (just after 5 weeks post-op) which went really well.  He said everything looked good and was healing well.  He took some more pictures and said he would take more at my 6m appointment and that by then the swelling above my scar should be gone and my tummy would be completely flat. Woo-hoo!  He also told me I don't need my binder unless I want it anymore...thank goodness because it was driving me nuts!  And I'm allowed to start exercising.  He said I can do whatever I want but to start out slow and listen to my body.

So, Friday I went jogging.  It felt so good to get out and move!  The jog went well, we went a total of about 2miles and I jogged maybe a total of one, trying not to push myself too hard.  Since the jog went so well, Saturday I decided to try one of my easiest videos, and do the "modified" version, so no impact.  Although the video itself went well I could tell by the end of the day that I'd done too much, I swelled so much it actually hurt!  After having Sunday off I went jogging again Monday and again it went really well and I felt fine, so Tuesday I tried a different easy video without impact.  On Tuesday again I swelled big time... Ouch.  So today I decided to see if it was the videos making me swell or doing exercise two days in a row... So I went jogging this morning.  Guess what?  I am so swollen right now. Owwwwwww....  I guess this means that at least temporarily I will jog every-other day and that's it until my body gets used to it again and I can do more.  

Other than the swelling I feel great, hungry, but great.  I am having such a hard time with food.  I don't want to be one of those people who gets a tummy tuck then gains 15lb!!  So far I've been lucky and I only weigh 2lb more than I did the day of surgery, and I'm not sure how much of that is swelling.  But I really need to stop eating so much, I'm constantly starving and I'm craving sugar and caffeine... I think my issue may be that I'm running tired.  With three young kids I'm not exactly getting tons of rest during the day, naps and such.  Maybe sleeping more will help me eat less. I've started each day with the plan to eat healthy and count my calories, and I'm not even talking counting low calories!  I've given myself 200 extra calories above what I normally eat and I just can't stick to it... I think most days I'm eating upwards of 3000 calories!!!  Eep!!  I will, I MUST take control!  I will not gain weight!!

So on to picture updates!  This is from this morning, six weeks-

Sorry they're awkward, I had to do my own photos since my husband had to be at work early.

For comparison this is four weeks post-op vs today-

Wanna see what I mean by swelling??  This is last night vs this morning, HUGE difference!

Four weeks and hypersensitivity.

The past weeks has gone really well.  I've been feeling good and have been able to be more active.  I've cleaned the house and made dinner myself and have even done some exercising.  

Now, the exercising is still really light but I feel better doing it.  I've been trying to "walk" 30 minutes a day on my elliptical, plus I've been using my 5lb weight to do a few moves for my shoulders, biceps and triceps, and doing squats and lunges.  I definitely feel a bit more flabby not being able to do my usual workout but this is a step in the right direction.

I've realized I'm still moving more slowly than I'm used to and get tired much faster.  Before surgery my morning would be get kids dressed and fed, pick up the kitchen, do my daily housecleaning, workout (45min-1hour), and shower... Usually I'd be done with all of this around 10 or 11.  With my new slowness I have a hard time finishing all of this by 12 and half the time I don't get the walk in until the afternoon (if at all)!  At least I'm trying and moving!  I feel pretty good to be doing things for myself.

Sleeping has been getting better, I really enjoy sleeping in my own bed.  Especially with the binder on I've found that moving in my sleep can be difficult, I wake up just to roll to my side and adjust.  That, and getting out of bed reminds me of when I was really big and pregnant because of how I move, lol.  

So last night since I was four weeks post-op I decided to sleep without the binder on.  At first it felt strange and even cold, but after I relaxed a bit I was much more comfortable than I have been.  I am looking forward to wearing my binder less as time goes on, except for one thing, SWELLING.  I have been taking the binder off for 2-3 hours in the evenings after the kids are in bed and I'm mostly sitting reading or watching tv and my waist will gain 1-2 inches in that time! I definitely feel that my swelling is less than it was.  Before this week I bulged out a bit above my scar and even in the mornings my waist was about 31inches (before surgery it was 29) and would grow as the day went on even with the help of the binder so by the end of the day I could be up to 35 inches in the waist!! But the past few days I've been at 29-30 inches in the morning and no more than 32 in the evenings... So definite improvement!

I mentioned hypersensitivity in my blog title here, and it was awful!!  As I've mentioned before I've been having some pretty bad itching along my scar (specifically along the front right side), but Tuesday morning about 30 minutes or so after I put on my new set of silicone scar strips that area started BURNING like I was being attacked by fire ants!!  Any time I moved or something touched that area it brought tears to my eyes, it hurt that bad.  Tylenol did absolutely nothing for it and by the time the kids were in bed I broke down and took a Percocet, which only helped in the sense that I was too loopy and nauseated to care that I hurt, it didn't get rid of the pain.  When it wasn't gone Wednesday morning I called my doctor.  His response... Take off the silicone scar strips!  I had no signs of infection or anything else other than pain, so he feels that I need to wear the strips less.  I have been wearing them nearly 24/7 because the box says to wear them at least 12 hours a day, so more must be better, right?  Apparently WRONG!  He said some people can be a bit sensitive to the scar strips and wearing them for too long causes itching, irritation, and hypersensitivity.  So he has me going two days without any scar strips on and then I can only wear them at night.  Although I feel a bit disappointed because I can see how much the strips have helped my scar already and I want that to continue, but the strips have been off 24 hours s far and already the pain is almost completely gone, my scar is just a little irritated.  

Wanna see some pictures??  I feel so much more confident in my body, I can't wait for clothes shopping!!

This is a close up of my scar, the lower red spot is where my drain came out-

The bumpiness along the top is really just the texture differences with my stretch marks.  There was no way the doctor could completely remove all of my stretch marks, they were all the way up to my ribs... Now they're just above my belly button!  And I honestly don't care about getting rid of my stretch marks, they're reminders of my pregnancies and deliveries.

And here's my four week tummy shot!

Sooo much better!

Wow, three weeks post-op!!

It's hard to believe its been three weeks already...although I do have moments when I could swear its been at least four weeks!  

A lot has changed in the past week.  First, I honestly think all of the coughing I did last week helped with my soreness in my abdominal muscles.  After a while the coughs didn't hurt so much and now even though I'm only coughing occasionally my tummy is only a little sore, mostly right in the middle just below my ribs.  As I have been working on my posture I can definitely feel that the doctor repaired my diastasis recti (split in my abdominal muscles) because I have a hard ridge going straight down the middle of my stomach I did not have before!  That's another thing... I'm finally standing completely upright! Woot-woot!!  And without tons of effort too.  I do find that as the day goes on I tend to slouch a bit, but that's me getting tired and lazy, as long as I focus on my posture I'm straight as can be.  With this lovely posture comes another great thing... My tummy actually is starting to look small!  I'm starting to really see where my end point is going to be and I'm absolutely floored by how amazing it is.  My waist feels tiny to me, which is funny because of swelling my "natural waist" measurement is still bigger than before surgery (although around the belly button even with swelling I'm smaller), I can't wait for that "final" look!

I've been having strange skin sensitivity this past week.  It's never really in the same place for long which makes me think that it's at least in part nerve re-growth.  I had about three days where every movement I made irritated my right areola incredibly...that was horrible!  Otherwise the irritation has moved to different areas around my tummy incision.

I'm also really loving the silicone scar strips.  It says right on the box that results will be seen "as soon as four weeks".... Well it's only been a week and I'm seeing some awesome results!  Before my scar was pretty bumpy and now it's almost completely smooth.  It's also starting to fade from a deep red to a lighter red.  Sorry, I don't have any up close pictures... I'll try to take some soon.  I've also completely stopped all medication other than my arnica Montana (for swelling).  I've never likes taking medicine anyway.

Most days I seem to have a lot of energy in the morning and as the day goes on I start to get really tired much quicker.  But my doctor said to walk and also to start working back into my old routine.  So, this week I've been doing my regular daily housecleaning... Nothing heavy, but Friday is my usual vacuuming day, I'm not completely sure I'll be able to do that!  It has felt nice to be up more and getting the house back to the way I like it.  I also had my husband unfold my elliptical machine.  I haven't used the machine in almost two years, the electricity on it only sporadically works so I can't usually change the resistance.  But I currently don't want the resistance I just want to go for a walk without going outside (seriously at 6am it's over 90 degrees out, I'm not going out there!!), so no extra resistance is fine.  So I went for a nice leisurely thirty minute walk yesterday, it felt really good to move. Now today on the other hand I have been exhausted, I suppose the energy and push I've had the past few days has caught up with me, I can barely keep my eyes open today, I didn't go for a walk, I pretty much sat on my butt all day.

Finally some updated pictures!!  Here I am-

So much better, right?  And just for comparison here is a side by side of am vs pm (sorry I took the pm myself so it's a bit closer) so you can see the swelling.

I'm looking forward to the rest of my recovery, I really can't wait until I'm able to start going back to a more intense exercise routine!

Two weeks post-op and so sick :(

Well, technically yesterday was two weeks post-op but I wasn't exactly feeling like blogging the past few days.  I'm pretty sure I mentioned a few days ago that I had a little tickle in my throat and had coughed a few times.  Monday my cough got worse, not too bad but coughing 2-3 times an hour is a lot when it feels like your abs are on fire every time!  Tuesday morning I woke up and I was freezing... So it took my temperature and it was 103!!  My cough was much worse and I had no appetite and generally felt quite crappy.  After double checking my incisions for redness and heat indicating infection I called my surgeon and let him know what was happening.  He sent a prescription to the pharmacy right away for an antibiotic and cough syrup.  I was taking 1000mg of Tylenol and my fever never dropped below 102.  Finally at 4pm I ended up calling my surgeon again because my fever had spiked up to 104!!  The doctor had me come in immediately and checked my incisions and checked for seroma (pocket of fluid in the abdomen), at this point I was feeling faint if I stood up for more than a minute.  He decided that the fever was at least not related to my surgery and was some kind of chest infection, and I was reacting worse than normal because I was still healing from the surgery.  He told me to continue the antibiotics and asked me to start taking ibuprofen for the fever.  Normally I wouldn't be allowed ibuprofen for a few more weeks after surgery because of bleeding risks, but at this point reducing my fever was more important than the slight bleeding risk.  Even with the ibuprofen it took my temperature a few hours to drop below 104.  During the night I kept waking up coughing and choking on phlegm.  By Wednesday morning my temperature was a nice cool 101, and as the day went on it returned to normal.  I did have issue all morning of feeling dizzy and nauseated, and at one point the nausea and coughing collided and caused vomiting... Sooo NOT FUN.  At least by the evening I felt better other than the occasional random cough.  

Other than being sick my recovery has been going well, I haven't really needed meds for pain anymore and I'm almost standing straight.  I'm still a little hunched, but only someone who looked closely would notice.  This morning I actually felt well enough to start following my doctors suggestion (from before I got sick) to start slowly taking walks.  I only walked around the block and it felt good to be out, I probably could have gone further but especially after the past few days I didn't want to overdo it and honestly it was HOT, almost 90 degrees at 8am.  That's Arizona for you!

Here are a few progress pictures for comparison-

Before-

4 days-

Day 7-

Day 14-

First post-op appointment (12dpo)

I had my first appointment since my surgery today.  The doctor took out my drain, yay!  So glad it's gone!  That was definitely a strange feeling, it didn't hurt much.  Mostly it was a strange "squirmy" feeling under the skin of my abdomen just the exit hole hurt a bit but only for a few seconds.  

On the horrible side I seem to have caught the nasty cough my 9 year old has... No other symptoms, just phlegm and coughing.  NOT the best feeling, coughing after abdominal surgery... It.  Frickin'. HURTS!  Every time I cough.  I really hoped the doctor would give me a cough suppressant but he said that he wants me to cough and that it won't "hurt" me (in other words damage his work), but I can take mucinex (expectorant) to help loosen the phlegm so I don't cough too much.

I have been told he no longer wants me to actively try to keep myself bent, I now have to try to stand as straight as possible.  At the appointment he actually pushed my shoulders back to help me straighten and I that wasn't the most pleasant feeling.  Imagine falling into the splits just a tad too hard... Not enough to pull a muscle, but enough that it burns and hurts.  He also provided me with a binder.  Many doctors provide a binder or compression garment from the day of surgery, but my doctor feels that nothing is needed for the first week or two to allow better healing of the lymphatic system on the abdomen.  So now I get to wear the binder to help keep down swelling, but I don't have to wear it all the time, maybe 12 hours a day or so.  

Look at me all semi-upright! Lol

Sorry for the weird angle and light.

I also get to stop putting bandages on my incisions, instead I get to use silicone scar sheets.  I haven't put them on yet but they sound pretty cool, they're self adhesive and stay on for up to a week at a time!

I've also been told to start walking as much as is comfortable, which honestly won't be much until I'm more upright.  I am to slowly walk more and more, and ease back into normal activities.  No lifting, no hard exercise and of course take it slow and easy...

All About the Poop! (May be a little TMI)

This is probably a bit TMI, but for anyone out there getting this surgery...

With all of the pain meds and inability to really use your ab muscles for a while you WILL get constipated!  Start stool softeners a few days before surgery 1-2 times a day, after surgery 3 times a day.  Take a probiotic, the antibiotics you will be given mess with your system and a good probiotic helps with that, plus it generally helps with the health of your gut.  This is what I take, and I highly recommend this brand.  I've found it at Whole Foods and Walgreens so far-

Also, for a few days after surgery until things get going again I highly recommend a mild laxative like Mira-Lax once a day to help get things moving, once you start going you can probably stop taking it... Last thing you need is diarrhea!  

My final recommendation is to get yourself some flushable wet wipes.  Yeah, I know most people only use these on small children.  But, they are a big help!  You won't be able to twist your torso which means wiping your own ass will be difficult!!  Make it easier on yourself, because when you do start to go it will (hopefully) be very soft which means you're more likely to need a little extra help wiping.  Please use something flushable though, you don't need to clog your pipes!  I really recommend these-

They're found in the toddler or diaper section of the grocery store.  I really prefer these to the "adult" version found in the toilet paper section for a few reasons... First, they're cheaper!  Also, they aren't so perfum-y, and they are a little thicker so they won't fall apart on you easily.

Ok... I think I've given my allotted TMI advice for the day! ;)

One week post op, pictures, bandages

Well, I've made it one week, woo-hoo!  I cannot wit until I can stand up straight, and by them I'm sure I will not be able to wait until the swelling goes away... I want to see my tummy completely flat, fight now it still rounds out above the incision some, it's swelling of course, but still...

I'm no longer taking the Percocet, as of day 5 I have been taking Tylenol instead.  I still take the arnica Montana for swelling and bruising, I honestly wonder if its working.  I have no way of noting if my bruising or swelling is less because of the arnica, I don't have a previous surgery experience to compare this to.  So I guess I'll keep taking it, and hope its helping.

I thought I'd show a little about my bandages.  I am so proud of myself!  I managed to shower, wash my hair, even shave my legs (very awkwardly and not very well), and do my own bandages today without any help!!  Yay me!  Step one towards independence!  Now I just need to be able to stand up, bend over, reach above my head, lift things more than a few pounds, and sleep in my own bed...then maybe I'll feel somewhat like a real person again. So back to the bandages.  My doctor has me starting on day 2, shower and change my bandages every day... It sounds great but manis it tiring!  I bought all non-stick gauze and I'm glad I did, no nasty stuck bandages to deal with, they really are non-stick!  So I use three 3x8 bandages to cover my abdominal incision, one 2x3 bandage on my belly button, one 3x4 bandage on each breast, and one regular gauze square under my drain tube to catch leaks, and paper tape to stick it all to me.  I also have extra gauze squares, I use one with antibacterial soap in the shower to wash my incisions and the other after showering to pat the incision sites dry.  I keep a chair set up with a towel over it set up next to the bathroom counter so that I can sit while I put on some of the gauze and while I set myself up, etc. the towel is great after the shower to dry my butt, lol because that is still hard for me to reach.  This is my some of my setup

I put the gauze pads out with their first strip of tape on them and add the line of bacitracin that the dr says to put on my incision.  That way when I get out of the shower everything goes on quickly, so I'm less exhausted when I'm done.  I also made a little place to hang my drain

 It's a moisturizer in a drawer, the bottle is taller than the drawer so it can't close and it's at just the right hight that I can stand or sit right there without having to deal with moving around the drain or worrying about dropping it (oh, holy ouch!!).  And here's the end product!

And just for comparison sake day 2 vs day 7

Side view day 2 vs day 7

It's a bit harder to take my own picture...so I had to cover some things, lol. Sorry about the lighting differences... No I have not been out tanning!

4 days post-op

So far so good.  I'm really trying hard not to push myself and listening to my body.  I can't stand or walk for more than a few minutes before I start feeling tired and my back starts to really ache.  I know the backache is the big thing I will have to deal with until I can stand up more straight.  I am able to stand up straighter than yesterday, but I'm still very hunched over.  

Yesterday's and today's showers have both gone much better than my first shower on Friday.  I have been able to take my bandages off myself because they aren't stuck to the incisions and today I washed most of my body myself.  I have to say that scrubbing down with soap and warm water feels sooo good.  It really helps when I'm stuck in a chair and funky loose pajamas all day long to actually shower every day.  The showers are still taking a long time, between taking off bandages, washing, and then re-applying bandages today's shower took about 45 minutes... So after 2 hours Friday its getting better...but I have yet to wash my hair.  I am so glad I had it blown out straight before surgery so that I can just brush it every day instead of it turning into a giant rats nest.  Yes, I really do want to wash it, it feels gross, BUT I still can't get my hands up quite enough to wash it myself and my showers are long enough enough as it is... I will wash it soon though!

My stomach still looks great.  A little more swollen and a little bruised now, and these will get worse before they get better but that's to be expected.  I'm really happy with my chest.  I was so worried that I would come out and they would be too big or look wrong, but they don't.  I know they are still high and hard and they will fall a bit and soften in place, but they look good!  They are sore too, at first it was like when i was breastfeeding, the first night the baby sleeps through the night and I  woke  up with painful rocks for boobs.  Now they're just sore like I did 100 too many push-ups, lol. I'm just happy that  I still look like me, just better!  Here's today's tummy-

As you can see the incision looks a bit bumpy but that has more to do with the swelling than everything.  And I also still have some stretch marks.  Because my stretch marks before came all the way up to my ribs the doctor couldn't get rid of all of them, but hose fly that doesn't matter to me, I don't mind the stretch marks they show that I'm a mommy :). I just didn't need the extra skin!

As far as medication goes I have one day of antibiotics left, I am now down to one Percocet every four hours instead of two, taking my probiotics twice a day, stool softeners three times a day, and arnica Montana three times a day.  The arnica is a homeopathic remedy that helps with swelling, bruising and muscles soreness... And based off what I've read and seen of other people's experiences to this point I've either been very lucky or the arnica is really helping!  I've also resorted to taking miralax the past two days because yes,I'm constipated.  Yuck!  So far I'm not uncomfortable, which is great, but I haven't gone in 4 days and I'm getting a bit worried that its really going to hurt when I do!!

2days post op, shower and tummy pics!

So today is two days post-op... In some ways I'm feeling better, I've been able to walk around a lot more and being a little more active feels good!  I must say my butt is getting sore from sitting in my recliner all the time, I can't wait until I can get myself in and out of bed so I can sleep on my side.  The soreness in my chest is a bit better but my tummy definitely hurts more.  I tried to cut back on my pain meds early this morning and that did NOT work, I was in a lot of pain.  Of course because I'm being more active my drain is getting more fluid, but I'm okay with that, I don't want to take it out too soon I'm already swollen and taking the drain out would make it worse.  

So the shower... Next time I will do it in the morning when I'm less swollen and I feel better!  Today I waited until the afternoon because I wanted my husband to help me, I'm glad I did but I was also feeling rather icky and nauseated by the time we started taking off the bandages.  I guess I'm a wimp, just sitting Ina chair in the bathroom with my husband removing bandages was too much for me, I was worried I would pass out (although it did not hurt AT ALL).  So we ended up gently laying me on my side on the bed with the fan on high to cool me off and get me air.  It actually felt a lot better when the bandages were off and taking the ace bandage off of my chest felt wonderful, I actually sighed out loud in relief!  

My shower was pretty much me sitting in my shower while dh gently sprayed my incisions with water to get off the gauze that was stuck.  Basically I was really cold because I was all wet but the warm water was only touching one small area at a time. Then I got out and dh gently patted me dry with a towel, took a few pictures and then recovered my incisions with bacitracin and gauze.  I will not post pics of my new boobies, sorry, but they look great!  They're still swollen and hard but that will get better over the next few weeks!  My stomach also looks amazing to me, yes it is swollen and of course I'm hunched over quite a bit, but you can see from the picture where things are headed and I'm soooo happy!!

The whole "shower" experience was exhausting, and it took about an hour and a half.  But I figure since we have to do this every day from now on we'll get better at it and I might actually was with soap and even shave soon!  At the very least it'll get faster!

Although I'm not enjoying the pain and I can't wait until I can be active again I am really looking forward to the future and my results!

1st day post-op!

My mommy makeover so far has been a success.  Yesterday my mom brought me to the office at 8am, we went over paperwork with the nurse, got drawled on by my PS and discussed medications with the anesthesiologist.

After everything was ready I was brought into the OR to lay on the table where the dr started my IV.  I was really happy as I drifted off, the anesthesiologist placed an oxygen mask on my face and told me that I was practically family because the nurses daughter has the same first name as me and that meant they would do an extra good job.  The thing that left the biggest impression on me though was as I drifted off the PS held my hand tightly against his chest the whole time, it was very reassuring. 

Next thing I remember I was waking up in recovery and the doctor was there telling me that everything had gone really well.

I was pretty groggy as they wheeled me out to my husbands car and I went home.  At home I was made as comfortable as possible in the recliner with pillows and blankets.  Every time I had to get up to pee though I required the help of both my mom and husband, and by the time I would make it the 15 feet to the bathroom I was sweaty, my ears ringing heavily and I was having difficulty breathing. At least I never actually passed out, my husband would put me in a folding chair and drag it back across the room and help me into the recliner. I was also having a hard time staying awake and paying attention to anything.

At about 2 am I woke up and realized I could finally take deep breaths, my chest was very sore but manageable.  It was a great feeling, so I laid in my recliner taking deep breaths for another hour until I fell back to sleep.

In the morning I found it much easier to get out of the chair and I was able to walk to the bathroom without help and even pull my own pants down/up!  As the day has progressed I have tried to walk more and keep my muscles moving.  I'm really happy to be sore but feeling good, although I pretty much constantly feel like I'm over full and not digesting any food.  I'm really hoping the combination of fiber foods and stool softeners will prevent constipation.  I also have a drain...

Yesterday we drained 50mls and today only 25 so that's an improvement too.  I'm still very tired and having a hard time focusing...writing this has taken far longer than necessary.  Tomorrow I get to take my dressings off and shower! Yay!  I'm very interested to so what I look like without all of the bandages!

Time to go!!

I leave my house for the doctors in 10 minutes.  My stomach is super nervous, a little grumbly....

See you on the flat side!

Measurements

It's 24 hours until surgery....

Today I'm just going to post my pre-op measurements, that way I have them for comparison later.

Height (this wont change)- 5'7"

Weight- 152.4lb

Chest- 36"

Ribcage(under breasts)- 33.5"

Waist(natural)- 29"

Waist(at belly button)- 35"

Hips- 39"

36 hours left

I can't believe that two days from now all the extra skin will be gone.  I'm still fearing out a bit about the idea of pain and simply not being in control, but I'm dealing with it because I WANT THIS.  Maybe I'm being selfish making my mom and husband care for me, my kids and my house for a few weeks, but I'm really hoping that when I come out on the flat side I'll have some new self confidence that will help boost both me and my family.

 I cleaned about half the house today, I'll do the other half tomorrow.  I know my mom can take care of it but I'm really not expecting her to, she's not exactly in the habit of cleaning, cooking and caring for small children at the same time anymore.... I'm just trying to make it easier for her and me.

Tomorrow I'll be making some food for myself, trying to make things that I can eat small portions but get lots of vitamins, fiber and protein.  Tonight I made my Greek yogurt soufflés (see previous post). Tomorrow I will make Kale Quinoa Salad, my Refrigerator Oatmeal (previous post),and Sweet Potato-Black Bean-Quinoa Casserole.  I really want to make sure I get good nutrition, keep away constipation, and hopefully maintain my weight.... I certainly don't want to ruin my tummy tuck by gaining weight!
Ok, back to stressing out...

Cleaning attack!

Oh-wow... I've read about it happening to other people before surgery but I didn't think it would happen to me!  I am having major "nesting" issues right now.  I keep my house pretty clean, especially considering I have three kids and two dogs.  But this morning I got up and *BAM* I absolutely could not deal with the state of my house!  I absolutely had to start organizing right then... After some coffee...which I realized later was a big mistake, the caffeine made me extra special crazy.  I had to completely re-organize the pantry-

Then I re-organized all off the cabinets in my kitchen, dining room, bathrooms, laundry room, bedroom...I made the kids clean their rooms (they weren't too happy about that)... I organized the toys, and my closet, I'm still doing laundry!  So far I've washed the sheets and comforter for the futon my mom will sleep on while she's here (and set that up too), washed all of the kids clothes, washed mine and hubby's clothes, washed towels, and the kids sheets...I still have to do my sheets.  I had to stop myself when I realized it was 2pm and all I'd had all day was one cup of coffee.  I'm writing on here right now to keep myself from getting up and doing the actual housecleaning...you know- bathrooms, vacuum, etc.  I also need to buy food...I'll be doing those two things tomorrow.  Then Tuesday I get my mom from the airport, get my hair blown straight to make it easier to deal with, set up my recovery chair area and make a few casseroles..... Deep breaths....

Better than homemade boxed cake

Yeah I know all of my food related posts have been about healthy eating etc.  Well this is not all that healthy, lol, BUT my excuse is my sons birthday!  His actual birthday was yesterday (he turned 9, holy cow!) but today was his "party".  By his choice we took two friends to jump street (an indoor trampoline park), then home for Taco Bell and movies, with one friend staying the night.  For his cake he requested chocolate cake and he wanted a sprinkles bar so everyone could decorate their own slice.

So I decided that the boxed mix that he picked out just wouldn't cut it, I am after all one of those moms who does go a bit overboard and baking is my thing!  I love to do homemade cakes for birthdays... For my daughters last birthday I made Chocolate bacon cupcakes with maple frosting and Hummingbird cupcakes with coconut frosting, yum!  So I hopped on Pinterest to find a link on how to make boxed cake taste homemade.  I actually found several different recipes although most had a few similarities.

First you need a boxed cake mix, this is what my son picked out-

Now, I still followed the general directions on the back of the box, but with a few modifications.  First, I added an extra egg, this helps add to the density of the cake so it's not overly light.  Next, I replaced the oil with an equal amount of melted butter, this simply improves the flavor and makes a richer but fluffier cake.  Finally, I replaced the water, half with coffee and half with coconut milk (the yummy dense fatty kind froma can, not the dairy fridge).  Why?  Coffee actually brings out the flavor of chocolate, so if you're not making a chocolate cake go for straight coconut milk.  The coconut milk is rich in healthy fats and makes for a super moist, rich cake.

Three of the five kids in the house ate two large slices each... And my husband ate two slices, that might not be surprising to most people, so let me explain.  My husband HATES cake, in general he refuses to eat it.  Yes, when I make some new kind he will taste it and then brush it off as just fine.  For his birthday he always wants pecan pie, pie is his thing.  He actually ate two slices!!  It's just that good!  See how yummy it looks?  Now I can get my chocolate and sugar fix it before my surgery!

With three days left before my surgery I'm feeling a bit flustered...so much to do!  I have to buy groceries, clean the house, get my mom from the airport, exercise, get the kids to and from school, etc... And of course just plain try not to freak out!

Only a few days to go!

Wow!  It's crazy how time flies!  Only a few days left to surgery.  I keep oscillating between nervous and excited.  Yes of course I'm excited, I want that end result.  I want to be the thin me I know is hiding behind the skin and separated muscles.  I can't wait t see what I actually look like without it!  I do know I will have a long way to go, the recovery is hard and long and swelling lasts for a long time.  I know most people go through a tummy tuck go through a period of depression about 4-5 days post surgery, I'm really hoping hat being aware of this will help me prevent or at least lessen the emotional roller coaster.

Am I nervous?  You bet!  My number one fear is that something happens to me during surgery, I have three young kids and a husband who need me.  And of course I'm worried about my recovery, I'm not a big pain person, I avoid it whenever possible and I'm paying someone to cut me up and put me back together like Humpty-Dumpty!  My youngest who is almost three is still very attached to me, he never went through that "daddy" phase like my other two.  He still insists that I make his food, dress him, help him to the bathroom, put him in bed, brush his teeth... Last night my husband tried do his bedtime routine, this resulted an complete meltdown including screaming "I want mom!" Over and over before my husband was even able to brush his teeth.  What is going to happen when I am unable to help do these things?  I really he hope that he reacts better to my mom than he did to his dad.  

One week out and my story

I was never a thin kid, I was always a little chunky...never fat, but chunky.  I never really noticed my weight too much until college.  My freshman year I got mono and lost weight, I don't know ow much (I didn't have a scale) but I did need smaller clothes and I actually look tiny in pictures.  But then I started organic chemistry, and my then fiancée went out of area for his internship, etc and I gained weight, at this same time i started having issues with my menstrual cycle (going months at a time without my period).  The first I remember truly being aware of my actual weight was the summer before my senior year of college, I weighed 184 (I'm 5'7"), my mm tried to get me to do Atkins diet with her but between graduating a semester early and planning my wedding it never happened. 

 After getting married I tried dieting off and on, but it never really stuck, I'd lose a few pounds just to gain it right back.  We were only married 5 months when my husband moved to Arizona for work and I stayed in California to sell our house.  I tried again to lose weight but again I gained it back when we moved.  Soon we started trying to get pregnant and when it didn't work we saw my doctor.  Turned out I have PCOS (poly cystic ovarian syndrome), essentially, I don't ovulate I make cysts.  PCOS can cause weight gain among other things.  After four months of clomid to make me ovulate I finally got pregnant with my son and gained over fifty pounds.

When he was born he was 9pounds 12ounces, sunny side up, and when he was born he was blue and not breathing.  I couldn't walk normally for about 8 weeks, and because I was so traumatized (my son was fine) I lost all the baby weight in about 4 weeks.  Even though I was back at my pre-pregnancy weight I was still overweight and I now had a whole lot of hanging saggy skin on my stomach, I inherited my moms non-elastic skin.  When I asked my doctor what I could do to fix the skin, he told me that the only fix would be to have it surgically removed.

Since then I've had two more babies, a daughter at 8pounds and another son at 8pounds 10ounces.  With my daughter I gained another fifty and this time slowly lost it over the first year.  With my son I only gained 25 pounds (!!!) but I had a really hard time losing it.  When he turned one I was stuck at 194.  

Labor Day weekend after he turned one we were on vacation as a family when I woke up one morning and my jaw was locked... Shut.  I was able to open it only wide enough to put a straw between my teeth.  I was stuck on a liquid diet, my dentist couldn't fix the issue and had to send me t a TMJ specialist.  I couldn't get in to the specialist until mid-October!  Luckily the physical therapist at the specialist was able to unlock my jaw on October 31, 2011, but I was still required to eat a liquid and soft food diet for a few more months.  The very limiting diet did one thing for me, I lost weight, about 20 pounds.  So when the new year started and I was allowed to eat normally again I was determined to not regain the weight but to continue to lose.  I was determined to reach a size 10.  I started counting calories, and exercising.  I became addicted to Beachbody workouts, over the year I did p90x, Turbofire, and Insanity.  I reached 150 pounds and a size 4/6!!  

I've been amazed with my new body and have maintained my final weight for almost a year now, and I added Asylum, Les Mills Combat and karate to my repertoire.  But even with all I've lost, I gained two things... An even saggier nasty skin on my stomach and my boobs shrank away to small sagginess.  How sad :(. 

I am lucky my husband has always supported my desire for a tummy tuck when I reached my goal weight.  And I did it, and he came through on his end of the deal by making an investment and making enough money on it that we can afford my mommy makeover.  I'll be getting a full tummy tuck with abdominal muscle repair and a breast lift with augmentation ( silicone mid-profile 435cc) on Wednesday August 14, 2013!

Refrigerator oatmeal and air conditioning

So originally I was going to post just a recipe for refrigerator oatmeal, my new discovery that I think will be a great and easy post-surgery food.  But, our air conditioning broke today... I know in many places that's not such a big deal, but I live in Arizona... It's f-ing 110+ degrees (Fahrenheit) this time of year!!  My house is HOT right now!  Thank goodness our master bedroom/bathroom has its own ac unit, all three kids are currently camped in my room for the night, and thank goodness they will be fixing it first thing in the am because I don't think I could handle another day of a 90+ degree house... Sweaty hot, blech!  At least this happened BEFORE my surgery and not after... The last time this happened my youngest was a week old and that was AWFUL.  

So back to the refrigerator oatmeal... It's yummy, and creamy, and totally healthy!  Yay! 

I know it looks odd, but I promise it's good!

Recipe-

1/4cup rolled oats

1/4cup Greek yogurt (I used plain but flavored would be good too)

1/3cup milk (soy, dairy, coconut, almond, whatever floats your boat)

1tablespoon chia seeds

1teaspoon honey (optional) 

And fruit

Simply put the ingredients in a mason jar, shake, and place in the refrigerator overnight... Easy-peesy!

I used raspberries and realized they made the mixture a bit sour, so next time I'll add ten just before I eat or use a sweeter fruit like strawberries!

Pre-op appointment and cost

Now that my pre-op appointment is over I'm starting to feel pretty excited! :) I was pretty impressed with how simple my appointment was.

When the first nurse took me back to the room she handed my two "packets" of papers (only two sheets each) that outlines the do's and don'ts of my abdominoplasty and augmentation.  Here are the rules-

No aspirin and no aspirin containing medications or ibuprofen for two weeks before surgery and not after until given the okay by the doctor.

No dietary supplements or diet pills.

Notify the doctor of any blood thinners or other medications you are taking.

No eating or drinking for at least eight hours before surgery.

Tell the anesthesiologist if you get nauseated easily.

Wear loose fitting clothes, button up top and slip on shoes to surgery.

Shower with antibacterial soap and water morning of surgery, no deodorants, perfumes, or lotion.

For after surgery-

Have extra pillows for under knees while resting.

Have bacitracin ointment, gauze, and surgical tape available for changing dressings.

Have a front closure sports bra for after the bandages are removed.

The doctor will not give me drains in my chest and may not do drains in my abdomen, it will depend on how the tissue behaves when he's doing the surgery.  He told me he tries to re-attach the skin to the underlying tissues in several places to help it heal faster.  He also uses a lot of local anesthetic so the anesthesiologist doesn't have to use tons of meds to knock me out too deeply, which is good because I'm difficult to wake after anesthesia... My doctor said I was a lightweight with anesthesia probably because I rarely drink so my body isn't used to metabolizing things like that.  Two days after surgery I will be allowed to remove my dressings and shower!  Yay!  Afterwards I will need to apply bacitracin and new dressings.  If I feel comfortable I'm even allowed to sleep in bed on my side.  The big rule is I'm not allowed to try to stretch or stand up straight for the first week.  At my first post-op appointment (7-10 days later usually, mines actually 12 because of the weekend) they will check everything and remove any drains and I will then be provided with a binder for my abdomen.  I'm not allowed to lift anything heavy for at least six weeks and I need the doctors okay before starting exercise.  I also need to avoid direct sun or too much heat to the scars until the scar starts to fade.  

The doctor gave me prescriptions for an antibiotic that I will start that I will start the day after surgery because they will give me IV antibiotics that will last the first day.  I also get pain meds for the pain, and he wants me to take Arnica Montana for the swelling and bruising starting with one the night before surgery and three times a day after that.  

When I finally ran out of questions he sent me into the room with the camera setup (eep!) and told be to get undressed except my underwear.  The nurse came in and took pictures at several angles, first of my stomach and the of my chest.  I must say that was very strange having no clothes on and having photos taken.  The nurse was very nice and made it no big deal and just talked to me through the whole thing and told me that I was going to have great results with my stomach and I would be really happy.  Then she took us to another room where I got to put on a stretchy bra and try out different size implants.  We already knew I was going with silicone and the nurse asked what look I was going for, I told her I just wanted to fill in my tissue loss from breastfeeding three kids and and then losing an extra 50 pounds.  She recommended the mid-profile style because of my chest size and the look I was going for.  She measures my breasts and chest and pointed out that the bottom of my right breast is lower than the left (which I'd never actually noticed but it does explain some issues I've had with bra fit) and made sure I understood that it wouldn't change with my surgery although the doctor may make some adjustments for that.  When trying on sizes she told me that any size of implant will look like its next size down does in the bra when it's inside the body.  After several different sizes my husband and I decided on 435cc, it's a decent size so I will get some size out of this, but it will still look natural and fit my frame.  Then the nurse gave me the sientra information books and told me that I need to fill out the informed decision page and she will fill out the warranty sheet and explained that each implant will have a serial number for tracking and warranty... The only thing going through my mind at that was an episode of Bones I saw once where they identified a body off the implant serial number, lol.  Now I get to read all of the little books that go with my implants!  

Now I just need to not get sick... I only mention that because my daughter is now all stuffed up and coughing like crazy, grrrr.

Surgery is scheduled for Wednesday August 14, 2013 at 8:30am!!

Cost-

So far this is my surgery cost, I'm getting a bit of a "discount" because we are paying out of pocket and not using financing through the doctors office.  The surgery fees also include all pre and post-op appointments and my compression garment.

Surgery-  $9,150.00

Anesthesia-$1,245.00

Recliner-$1,000.00

Over large button top pajamas- $30.00

Medications, bacitracin, gauze, tape, etc.-????  I'm guessing about $100.00

Appointment today

My pre-op appointment is this afternoon.  I can't believe I'm having elective surgery in just 13 days!  I'm really looking forward to getting information that I can use from my doctor, there are so many different ways that the doctors seem to prep their patients before surgery.  So I've made a list of questions, and I'm sure there's things I'm forgetting but hopefully the doctor will go over absolutely every detail with me-

Can I take arnica Montana one Bromelain for swelling and bruising?

Where will be place the implants and where will the incision be?

More specific on type/size of implant?

Do silicone implants really require follow up MRIs every few years?

Does he use a pain pump?

What vitamins should I take and avoid before and after surgery?

What are his recommendations to avoid medication induced constipation?

What foods should I eat and avoid before surgery?

Where will my drains be and approximately how long will I have them?

When is my first post op appointment?

What medications will I be taking?

When will I be able to shower?

Am I allowed to shave before surgery?

Anything else I can do to increase my chances of a great outcome?

What will my recovery be like?

What kind of pain can I expect?

How long before I can stand straight?

How long before I can sleep in my bed notepad of a recliner?

What type of stitches will he use?

How long before I can exercise? Timeline of types of exercise I can do and when...

I can't wait for answers, because everything I've found online varies so widely and I can't seem to find a list anywhere of foods to eat or avoid before surgery although I've found it mentioned several places! I also want more specifics on exercise.  I want to keep some muscle tone and I really don't want to be one of those people that gains wait after surgery!  I don't want to ruin my tummy tuck by eating crap and not exercising!  I have so many thoughts, questions and fears running through my head at all times, I've even gotten a few zits from stress (embarrassingly enough one smack in the middle of my right butt cheek and it hurts!).  Either tonight or tomorrow I'll post the specifics of my appointment.  It finally feels like things are getting going!

Here are a few recent tummy pics to start my "before"-

Butterflies and panic attacks...

Yeah, not THOSE kind of butterflies, the real ones, with wings... We took the kids to a new butterfly atrium near us today.  I know that I have issues with flying and jumping bugs but it thought I could handle it, I really did.  Butterflies are so pretty, and I really do like them and obviously I know they can't hurt me.  Now if they are more than 10 feet away or just sitting on something I'm perfectly fine, but if it flies anywhere near me I go all super ninja, jumping and twisting and flailing my arms... Yeah, I'm THAT freaky person who's afraid of the friendly little butterfly.  I mentally prepped for going into the atrium, I knew the butterflies would be everywhere and possibly land on me... But it did not prepare me for the real thing!  They were all flapping around as big as my hand or larger (and NO I'm NOT exaggerating!) zooming past my face and all around.  I tried to be brave and not let the kids see, but every time one came anywhere near me I would jump a little, and hold in my desire to scream and start crying right there.  After a grand total of two minutes I just couldn't deal with it anymore, I was about to break into a full on panic attack right there, so I handed my two year old and my phone with the camera on to my dear sweet husband and said "I'll meet you outside", his response... "I wondered how long you'd last", *sigh*.  So I sat in the cafe and sipped on a Pepsi (bad girl), took some deep calming breaths and waited for my family to join me.  When they did I was happy to see that my fear didn't pass to the kids, they had a great time!  My daughter had a butterfly land on her head which had her on cloud 9, and my husband had a paper kite butterfly land on his foot and then climb the length of his body to sit on his neck (*shudder*), and according to my oldest this was amazing because the lady that works there was really excited and told them that the paper kites NEVER land on people EVER!  Maybe we should play the lottery! Here are a few butterfly photos of the cool things I missed today...

That last one I actually saw because it was a separate room behind glass where they "hatch" the butterflies... That one is an Atlas Moth, I had my oldest put his hand on the glass so it shows the size of the thing, it's huge!!

In other news, just two and a half weeks until my surgery...eep!  Just need to keep making it through the days... Aquarium tomorrow... Luckily I'm only afraid of fish if I'm expected to be in the water with them... So yeah, me? Swim in natural bodies of water?  Nope, not me!  Ugh, I'm such a wimp!

2 1/2 weeks left

Only 2 1/2 weeks left!  I'm really looking forward to my pre-op appointment on Thursday.  I have lots of questions, and I've started making notes when I think of something so I don't forget to ask.  So far I want to know if my doctor recommends Arnica Montana and Bromelain for swelling and bruising post-op, I know a lot of doctors do and I want to do everything I can to help my recovery. Also, does he use a pain pump?  From the research I've done many doctors seem to believe it helps patients recover faster because they are in less pain they move around more...this sounds good to me!  Also, where does he plan to place my implants?  And finally (so far), do I really need to do an MRI every three years with silicone implants?  If I do this is a significant cost added to our lives because its 1-2 thousand dollars since its generally not covered by insurance for implant checks.  So what are his thoughts/recommendations there?? 

My mother in law is currently visiting and I was worried to tell her about my upcoming surgery.  I completely expected her to be upset about us spending so much money.  They have always had money issues, several years ago my husbands name was on their bank account for emergency reasons and when they overdrew their account the money was taken from ours!  Over $5000!!  They've still not paid back most of it, plus other times we've lent them money, they owe us quite a bit actually... So for some reason any time we do something that costs lots of money they freak out. (Insert eye roll here). So I was quite surprised when she was happy and excited for me...although she has threatened to steal my "recovery chair" for herself, after all, it is very comfy.  Now I need to figure out how to tell my grandparents... And no, I'm not telling anyone other than my parents and friends about the breast augmentation party of this surgery, I just don't want to deal with those questions.

As for the bikini I bought last week on vacation, I've found it's really given me quite a confidence boost!  I actually wore it today to a local pool in front of my mil and ex-bil. I felt pretty good about myself and managed not to be completely self-conscious. So there's hope for me yet!!

Submuscular vs subglandular

I've been doing a lot of research around my tummy tuck so I decided to give that a break and start researching breast augmentation.  We have already discussed with my doctor and chosen silicone implants, but after my research I definitely have a big question....submuscular vs subglandular?  Meaning, place the implant under the pectoral muscle or under the breast tissue (above the muscle).  For me, my breasts sag some but not too bad, I'd really just like to add a little of the fullness I've lost from breastfeeding three babies.  I really find that the idea of putting the implant UNDER the muscle kinda freaks me out.  I know that this is the more "popular" style for implants currently but how can they look right?  How can you exercise normally afterward?  I mean really, wouldn't you feel the muscle squishing the implant while doing chest work like push-ups??  I'm a pretty active person and have no intention of not working out just because I got implants!  I want to continues jogging, karate, insanity, asylum, etc... I know the chances of sagging are a little higher with subglandular and there is more risk of capsular contracture (hardening and tightening around the implant) and some say it is harder to get a good mammogram picture done.  I'm not too worried about the mammogram thing, there is no history of breast cancer in my family and I believe a good tech will be able to do her job if she's told about the implants before the squishing begins.  Really, from pictures I even like the look of the subglandular more, to me it's more natural looking and that's what I want.  I just need to discuss it with my doctor at my pre-op appointment in a week and a half...I hope he does subglandular, otherwise I may just re-think having my breasts done, after all they're not THAT bad!

After discussing this with my husband and spending some time looking at before and after photos with him I've discovered something.  It's not the placement of the implant that makes a difference to me but the SIZE.  Both dh and I like when the breasts are filled out but not overly round and definitely not porn star boobs!  I feel better now and I'm looking forward to my pre-op appointment more and trying on the new me!

Bikini, oh-boy!

Well, since we're still in Arizona even though its vacation it's hot and all the kids want to do is swim, which is fine with me.  The first two days I've worn my tankini that I bought last summer.  Problem is I've lost weight since I bought it and its a bit loose in the bottoms and quite loose in the top, if I move wrong my tiny saggy boobs fall out!  Thank goodness I'm not just getting a tummy tuck but breast implants too... Not huge ones of course, I just want to fill out the sagginess.  I got tired of falling out of my suit pretty quickly so I finally sucked it up, went to the local target and found  a decent BIKINI!!  Eep!  This morning I actually wore it to the pool.  It wasn't so bad as long as I stayed in the water deep enough that my stomach was covered. So here it is my bikini before!

Not awful except the baggy saggy tummy... I'm really looking forward to seeing how it looks after my mommy makeover!!

De-stressing and distressing....

First day of vacation was nice.  We got to the resort a little before dinner time so I took the kids to the pool.  I have to say I really dislike my bathing suit.  With all the changes my body has gone through between having three kids and then losing a bunch of weight, a nice fitting bathing suit is hard to find... Right now the bottoms are a bit baggy and the top, well... my tiny saggy boobs keep popping out :( at least it's a tankini so the saggy belly is covered!  

After the pool we came back to our villa to have dinner... I'm realizing that keeping to my calories this week will be harder than I originally thought.  Day one and I already over ate, ugh, but food is sooo yummy!  After I got the kids to bed I had time to relax in the awesome two person whirlpool tub in my room....literally, IN my room!

How cool is that!  But when I got into the tub I realized I haven't taken a bath or sat in water without a bathing suit on since loosing weight and the difference it would make.  Did you know that skin FLOATS!!  Oh-my-goodness.  I look down and my whole stomach is floating this way and that with the whirlpool currents. So gross!! Just another reason I feel good about my tummy tuck decision, no more nasty floating skin! Blech!