I went for my 6 week follow up appointment with my plastic surgeon today. I've got clearance for everything! She said that I don't have to wear my post surgical garments anymore, only if I start to feel tight or sore. I can start exercising again. She wants me to gradually start up though, and to really watch it if I'm going to lift weights and maybe even hold off on those for awhile still. She said to just follow my body as far as both the exercise and ditching the compression garment go. I'm allowed in hot tubs, swimming pools...all of that is fine. My scars look great YAY! I am still swelling but with this surgery that can go on for months.

I asked about the loose skin at my hips, she said that they went as far as they could with the incision without doing a circumferential (full body lift), and she does not feel that a circumferential was necessary for me. She does say that I need a revision for a slight dog ear on my left side. We will do that in February, which is also when my next follow up appointment is.

Time to go for a bra fitting and get some good supportive bras, and some new panties!

So, I went in today to get the seroma drained from my tummy. I woke up at 6am, and the swelling was gone! My body reabsorbed it? So strange, but I had sent my PS pictures a few days ago, when the fluid was there, and she had agreed that I was more swollen then I was before and said I needed to come in to have it aspirated. So I wasn't imagining things! When I was there today, she looked over my incisions and she had missed a stitch under my breast when she removed them last week, so at least my visit wasn't a total waste of her time. The reason the fluid and swelling went away seems to be because I've been RESTING! Not during the day, but forcing myself to put my feet up in the evenings. She wants me to continue to do so until my next visit on Dec 7th. OH, and I get to stop sleeping in my post surgical bra! YAY! At least I'll have SOME relief since I still need to be in the abdominal compression garment for 3 more weeks.

Looks like tomorrow I have to go and get some fluid (seroma) drained from my belly. My tummy is numb, so I won't feel it, and I'm not in any pain just pretty swollen. Ah well, tis life!

I kinda overdid it two nights ago. I went shopping at Costco. I tried not to buy anything too heavy (heaviest was a case of Alphaghetti for the kids), but I think just the effort of pushing the full cart around the store and unloading the groceries into the van, and then doing a quick shop at another grocery store was just too much. I came home and I was sooooo hunched over, swollen, and uncomfortable. I didn't pull or damage anything, just overdid it. I didn't feel right again until the next afternoon, but on a positive note...I have noticed considerably less swelling since then. My compression garment feels alot comfier with the reduced swelling, and I am sleeping much more soundly because of it. I'm even sleeping on my side! :O)

I went to see my Plastic Surgeon today. I had all of my stitches removed (except the dissolvable ones in my tummy incision). My belly button no longer looks like a spider is living in it LOL! The breast stitches were a litttttle tender coming out, but hey at least I have nipple sensation. I never had any before the reduction. My PS is thrilled with how I'm healing, everything looks great, but she is still strict about no activity for 4 more weeks. Just take it easy she said. I also found out that I had 800 grams of skin removed from my tummy and 187 from my breasts. What a difference 2.1 lbs worth of skin removal makes. She said that I can take 2 X 30 min breaks from wearing my compression garments each day. PHEW! I can't wait to start that! I will be wearing them for 4 more weeks both day and night.

I'm getting so sick of wearing this stupid compression garment. It's seriously making me miserable! It's so snug, and I'm so swollen, and I feel itchy, and bitchy and UGH! I just want to take it off!!!!!!! Before I go CRAZ-Y! I did manage to get it on all by myself after my shower tonight though. That's the first time that I haven't needed Dh's help.

I still have the Phlebitis going on too, to top it all off :oS

I didn't sit in my recliner all day. I wasn't doing too much, just sitting at the table with the kids doing school work all day, and sitting at my desk to browse the internet, and walking around a little bit. Well tonight when I was sitting at the table helping my daughter with some school work and it hit me all of a sudden. I started to feel like a balloon getting bigger and bigger. My friend described it as feeling like "Violet" from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. That's exactly how it felt. It hit me so hard and so fast that my husband walked by, looked at me, and said, "Oh my God, Are you OK? The look on your face......". I felt like I was gonna pop right through my garments. Both my breasts and my tummy were just huge. I felt desperate to get the garments off so I thought that it would be a great time to take a shower. Phew, thankfully, sitting in the shower and just resting helped the swelling to go down. I had no problems getting back into my garments with Dh's help of course.

The Phlebitis is better today. I slept the entire night (and I slept 12 hrs) with it elevated above my head and it definitely helped. It is no longer red or warm to the touch, and the pain doesn't travel the 4 inches up to my wrist anymore. Now it's just a rice shaped bump, which isn't nearly as sore as yesterday. So hopefully soon it will be gone.

So I was just at Planet Organic and almost fainted right in the aisle while talking to a sales clerk. I had to sit down on the yucky floor and put my head between my knees. I've had this hard kinda bump like thing on my left wrist/arm area (same side IV was on). It feels to me like a piece of long grain rice in my vein and it's a little red and sore for a few inches up to my wrist. It was really sore last night, and still sore today, so I thought I'd better go to the Dr's which just so happened to be only 2 blocks away from the store that I was at. The doctor said that I have Phlebitis, which I guess is an infection in my vein from the IV. Certain medications e.g. nausea medications that are given through the I.V. can cause phlebitis. I was given gravol through my IV after surgery. I wonder if that's what did this. The doctor said that she was glad that I came in anyways, because she was not happy about a report she had been given about my surgery. Apparently my heart rate dropped during surgery? (Noone told me!) So she just wanted to check my heart, which was fine. Phew!

Today, I'm in a miserable mood. I think the post plastic blues are setting in. I had a HORRIBLE sleep last night. I thought *hmmmm, maybe I'll try the couch tonight*...yah BAD friggen idea. This compression garment makes it even less easier to bend or move and I was just so uncomfortable, but of course felt too lazy to transfer all my pillows, blanket, and sheet back to the recliner, so I just laid there in agony. The sides of my tummy incision were sore, my left nipple was sore. Maybe my nerve endings are starting to reconnect and I am feeling sensation again? I'm just a big, whiney baby today. I have to keep looking back at my pics and convincing myself that it is better than before and this was worth it.

Here's my compression garment and surgical bra, OMG it's so restrictive. It's necessary though. It kinda bubbles in on the side there, I'm not sure why. There are hooks (like a bra) all the way up the side, then a zipper. It looks like it's dipping and digging into me, but it's not.

I'm losing weight. I'm down 5 lbs since surgery, despite all this swelling. Usually it's quite the opposite with this surgery and people go up about 10 lbs.

Bandages are off! Drains are out! Holy #$%^ it hurt getting the tape off. That was the most sticky ass tape I've ever seen in my life. It was like she was ripping a layer of skin off. She had to brace herself and use two hands to tear it off. Then she goes "the drain removal may hurt"...PFFFT, yeah right! After what I went through with the tape, no way...I didn't even feel the drains coming out!

I look like I've gone to war, but otherwise I look good! My boobs look freakin' fantastic and she said they only took about 150cc's total out of both of them. I am particularly impressed with the boobs, I've gotta say. I kinda think that there will be a slight "dogs ear" on the left side by my hip, but my Plastic Surgeon thinks it's just swelling and will go down, but she did say if after 6 months we feel it is an issue she will do a revision for me. I still have loads of stretch marks. They seem to stand out even more to me now than before, but oh well...scars don't bother me. She did a nice job on my belly button too. It's perfect (just still in war wound stage). I am allowed to shower now, but Dh is in a meeting after work, so won't be home until late tonight. I have to wait for him to get home because there is NO WAY I can get back into this tight ass compression garment on my own. It is SOOOOOOOOOOOO snug. Comfy, but really snug and I'd strain myself trying to do it up. So when he gets home at like 8pm my time, I will have my first shower (ahhhhhhhhh) and get him to take some pics that I will post in my private album. I can't wait to compare the pics to my before pics. It is hard for me to look past the wounds and swelling right now.

I go back in one week to have the stiches removed from my nipples and to switch to paper tape on my abdominal incision. The stitches that were used for my tummy are all dissolvable. After the paper taping we will switch to silicone tape. I dunno, it just feels darn good to be out of those bandages and into my compression garment and surgical bra. My skin can breathe!

Today my bandages on my tummy loosened up enough that I can see my new belly button. It is so cute! It's little, but not too small and it has nice shape to it. They got rid of my navel piercing scars that I had. My upper tummy looks good. I still have stretch marks, but it's weird, because it's the stretch marks that use to be further up and are now pulled down. I don't mind the stretch marks though. They were to be expected. I knew that not all of them would disappear with this surgery and I'm OK with that. Only 11 more hours until my bandages are off! I'm only draining 10cc's of fluid per drain, so I know that those will for sure be removed tomorrow too :O)

Only 14.5 more hours until I go to see my plastic surgeon and get these damn drain tubes and all these sticky, constricting, claustrophobic feeling bandages removed. Finally, I will get to see what is underneath all of this. I'm so excited!

So, today is my first day of no meds. I am out of Tylenol 3's. I guess if I need something I'll just take Ibuprofen or regular Tylenol. I'm still doing ok as far as moving around and doing things, but today is hubby's day off so I'm taking advantage of the opportunity to rest. I'm just toughin' it out until Tuesday when my PS finally reveals her work under these bandages. I'm really excited to see what's under there.

Oh, and I had a blood grenade explode on me last night. That was nice. One of the little tabs popped open on my drain tube ball thingy and body fluids were all over my clothes and chair. *sigh* This surgery is definitely not glamorous!

Oh and I've found something that hurts almost as much as coughing....laughing. Omg, I read something really funny online this morning and I couldn't stop laughing, but it was hurting so bad! I was holding my tummy as hard as I could. So no laughing, coughing, or sneezing from now on. I can't handle it!

The card reads, "I'm right there with you to share this great moment in your life. I'm so proud of you Shaunna. Love Karine"

Wow - talk about a tear jerker. This made me cry and that's no easy task! Karine was the only one to send me flowers after my surgery (not that I expect any). I am so lucky to have her as a friend. She has been by my side through "thick and thin" literally.

I'm doing great today too! I cut back on my pain meds. I managed to unload and load my dishwasher. One plate at a time, but still, I did it. I leisurely picked up a few toys. Fed my kids throughout the day. Stood at my window and chatted to the neighbour. Played some games with my kids. Played dolls with my daughter. I sent my husband back to work today. I felt that I wouldn't need him here at home, and I didn't. My kids were very responsible and helpful, and we all managed just fine without him. My husband told me when he came home that I'm not slouching enough. I can't help it though! I do slouch more at night though. Last night, I did not find it comfortable to sleep in my recliner. I had to lay on the couch and elevate my legs and head with pillows. My bandages have gotten loose at my upper chest area, enough that I can have a little peek in there with a flashlight to see my NEW CLEAVAGE. It looks so cute!!!! I can't wait to see the rest!




Thought I'd share a pic of what I looked like the day of surgery. I still haven't figured out how I will go about posting before and after pics, but I will figure something out so that they aren't too X rated. This is just to give you an idea of where I'm at right now. It looks worse than it is....I think? ;o)

Today was a great day. I'm still managing really, really well. The only thing that freakin' KILLS me is to cough! Ugh, it feels like I'm getting stabbed in the stomache for real. Everything else is fine though. I can get up and down by myself from my recliner and the toilet. I sit at the table to eat my meals. I made myself a bowl of soup and grabbed my own snacks. I am managing very well. I have taken pictures, and edited them, and have them all read for posting. I am still going to wait until Tuesday though, when I get these bandages off and have more to show. Then I've decided to post them to a private, password protected blog. I will share that password with those of you whom request the info from me. I will not be setting this blog to private. It is helpful to too many people and I don't want to take that away.

Oh, and just for the record. I am getting emails from people wanting to know what cup size I went up to for my breasts. I didn't, I had a reduction. I was a DD cup, and my surgeon figured I would end up being a B, but we won't know for sure until these bandages come off. She was going to leave me with all of my breast tissue and just take off all the skin, there was ALOT of extra skin. I am so curious to see my new boobs and tummy, but I have to wait a week to get these bandages off.

It is midnight now, I am starting to hunch a little bit, whereas I wasn't at all before. I still wouldn't consider myself to really be in "pain", it just feels like sore muscles and tightness. Tomorrow may be a different story, I guess time will tell. I will update again!

I'm still doing great, and I've been out of surgery 6.5 hours now. The drive home was a breeze. My hubby kept going "are you ok" every time he went around a corner, or over a bump, or put on the brakes and I was honestly completely fine. I didn't need to hold a pillow over my tummy. Then I got home, and stood in my driveway talking to my neighbour for 15 mins. I've been in my recliner ever since on my phone and laptop. I'm tired (sleepy), but otherwise fine! I will have a nap soon, but first I'm going to get up and stretch my legs a bit.

I've been taking pics, but I'm not going to start posting any until after my 1 week post-op when they remove my bandages and there will actually be something to see.

I am copying and pasting my email to Shirls aka Happychix, just to make things easier for me right now.

I had a really bad panic attack at the surgical center this morning. I almost fainted on them (both my surgeons reached out to grab me). I had to sit down and was pale and dripping with sweat. It lasted about 20 mins, but as soon as I stepped into the operating room, I was good to go. The surgery lasted 4 hrs. I was super itchy for 1.5 hrs afterwards from the meds, but I felt (and still feel) GREAT! The staff was surprised at how well I am doing. I worked my butt off to be in the best health possible for this surgery, and it's looking like it's paying off. I expect to be more sore later, but right now I am feeling no pain. They have me bandaged up for both my tummy and my breasts. So I'm not in a compression garment or surgical bra yet. At my one week post-op appointment, they will remove the bandages and I will start to wear my garments.

I know that I was a total wreck for the two weeks leading up to the surgery. I only slept 45 minutes last night, but now I see how silly it was to fret so much because everything went great, and I am pleased as punch!

ONLY 5 DAYS LEFT until surgery day! Omg, I'm freaking out. Thoughts of "what have I gotten myself into", "how are my kids going to handle my being out of commission for awhile", "how will DH cope", and "how bad is it REALLY going to hurt". I'm also scared shitless about being put under anaesthetic. I just better wake up! So, I went to my pre-op appt a little while ago, it went well. I couldn't be more confidant in my surgeons. I also went to an appointment on Monday to get sized for my extremely attractive post surgical bra and abdominal compression garment ;o) Hey, at least they had black ones for me. I was happy about that.

I am getting alot of emails from people wanting information about where I am getting the surgeries done and whom will be doing them. I will be willing to share all of this with you guys after my surgery is complete (as well as pre and post op photos). I don't want to give out recommendations until after I have gone through the procedure and can give you all detailed notes on my experience.

I'm sure that I will post with some pre-op jitters on Monday night, but if not...please keep me in your thoughts on Tuesday morning when I go under the knife. Thank you!

Change of plans! On a whim (and at my doctors suggestion), I decided to contact a residency program in my area to see about having my abdominoplasty done as an instruction thing. I have heard EXCELLENT reports about the program, and it would also save me a ton of money. Besides, I wanted a second opinion, as I had only met with the one plastic surgeon, and everyone knows that you should seek at least two different opinions. So I fired off an email, not expecting to hear anything back, but I did, and only a couple of days later too! Things started to move rather quickly. They set up a meeting with me, I met the resident doctor and immediately liked her MUCH more than the first plastic surgeon that I had consulted with. Anyways, after two meetings I decided to cancel my surgery with the first plastic surgeon, and go with the second doctor (known as being one of the top 10 in Canada) and her resident doctor. They are giving me a smoking deal too! Normally the abdominoplasty with lyposuction and breast lift/reduction would cost a whopping 16,000 dolllars with this plastic surgeon....my fee will be only 4,000!!! I'm thrilled beyond belief to have found not only one, but two doctors that I trust and feel comfortable with doing my surgeries. I have put down my deposit and secured my surgery date. It will be done on NOVEMBER 2nd and my pre-op appt is Oct 4th :O)

I'm still kickin' it on my treadmill, lifting my weights, eating gluten, dairy, soy, red meat FREE and I feel FANTASTIC! Hopefully all of my hardwork helps to pave the way for a successful surgery and speedy recovery. I will update soon :O)

Wheeeeeeeeeeee! I'm rockin' it! Weight is dropping, muscles are toning up, and I bought a treadmill yesterday! I've been running regularly, but now the weather has changed. Normally, I have to wait until my husband gets home from work at 7pm before I can head out for my run/bike/gym workout so that he can watch our kids. Where I live, it rains ALOT in the fall/winter months, and that dreary, rainy weather has hit this week. It also gets dark alot earlier, so I bit the bullet...and bought a treadmill. I am LOVING IT! Today, I went for my run in the morning (on the treadmill). I have never done that before! It was so nice to get it done and over with for the day. I was able to have a nice shower, do my makeup and hair, and be ready for the day. Another added bonus, my kids have been doing daily workouts on the treadmill too! I'm still eating gluten, dairy, soy, caffeine, red meat FREE, and limiting my intake of sugar and prepackaged foods. I've been following this new way of eating for just over 5 weeks now. I am positive that this is why I am dropping weight and have the energy to workout again. I feel so much better now that I'm in the middle of the healthy weight range for my height. It was getting scarey when I saw the scale creeping to the upper end of my healthy weight range. I am confidant that I will be in the best health ever come surgery time in 37 days :O)

THE FINAL CHAPTER :O)

Omg, I'm so excited! I have booked my surgery for breast reduction/lift and abdominoplasty with a touch of lyposuction (on the sides just to shape the tummy tuck properly) for OCTOBER 15th!!!! That's not very far away! I met with this plastic surgeon over a year ago. I have been saving money ever since our first consultation. Finally, his office contacted me with a surgery date and I have all of the funds! I can't believe this is finally happening! The most depressing thing ever was losing all of that weight, only to be stuck with a saggy flap of skin on my tummy and saggy breasts to go with it. Finally, I will feel "normal" and be able to fit clothes properly. I have been working out really hard this past month. I've been alternating between running 5k and cycling for my daily workouts, and throwing in some dreaded strength training every second day too. I've also been following the "Endometriosis Diet". My gynecologist suggested it (as well as a birth control pill) in an attempt to avoid surgery. Well, the diet is working! I am pain-free for the first time in 3-4 yrs. One problem, I am very limited as to what foods I can eat. No gluten (wheat), no dairy, no soy, no red meat, no caffeine, no chocolate (omg), limit refined sugars and honey, no ALCOHOL, and limit tinned and frozen foods as well as foods with alot of preservatives and additives. So what do I eat? Alot of fish, chicken, nuts and seeds, veggies and fruit, which is resulting in WEIGHT LOSS. My weight is creeping down and I am thrilled. I've never felt healthier, and I feel well prepared for surgery. I will of course blog the before/after pics as well as my healing progress after surgery. You know me...I share it all! :O)

I also want to say thanks to Happychix (Shirls) for sharing so openly about her surgery with me and for being a supportive friend. She is always so positive and encouraging. There should be more people like her in this world ♥

I went to visit some old friends back in the city that I grew up in. One of my friends got a few pics of me and some of my kids too. I thought that I'd share, as it's been awhile :O)

Just poppin' in to say Hi :O)

And to let everyone know, I am doing well. I'm trying to be active and still religiously counting my WW points. I am still in the "healthy weight range for my height" after THREE YEARS on maintenance! I'm bouncing around the 160's, but gradually dropping weight because I finally quit taking the "Diane35" pills for acne treatment. My doctor assured me that the prescription wouldn't cause me to gain weight, but it has gradually causing me to gain (went from 140's to 170's) so I quit taking them, and I'm losing again (16 lbs in the last month). I've decided that if the acne comes back, I'd rather live with that then be fat again.

I'll be back when I have some good pictures to post. I just went on a LULULEMON splurge 2 days ago. Omg! I got 2 "Remix" hoodies (dark blue and light grey), a black "Admiral" jacket, the Turqoise "Zen" wrap, a yellow "Shape" jacket, a black "Cool Racerback" tank top, 2 "Scoop Neck" tank tops (one black, one peach), a bright pink "Power Y" tank top, a "Knotty" tank top, the black "Totally Twisted" dress, a pair of the black Wunder Under full length pants, and a "Flow Y" bra, a "Scoop" bra, and 2 "Tata Tamer" bras. PHEWWWW! Now THAT'S a shopping spree!!! :O)

Cool website! Bellaboo from the GDT posted about this website called www.fatsecret.com It is AWESOME! I am totally going to use it. It's for tracking your food, exercise, and weigh ins, and you can set it to keep track of your WW points as well as calories, fat, fiber etc. I totally love it! Best of all it's FREE and it has a mobile app that you can put on your itouch, ipod, blackberry for FREE as well.

As far as how I'm doing this week, so far so good! Doing well with points (haven't used any flex yet), and earning those AP's!

I'm still here :O)

Not much going on really. Still waiting to get in for surgery, but I've started running again. I went in and had a big talk with my doctor. I told her that if I didn't get back to running, I would need to go on antidepressants for my panic disorder. It's getting pretty bad. She agreed that I could run but not to overdo it, and I had to promise her that I'd do blood tests every 1-2 months to check on my anemia.

Here's a pic of my cute Yorkie girls.

Down 5 lbs in my first week back on track. It seems that I can count points alllll I want and I don't get anywhere, but as soon as I throw some exercise into the mix, things start to move in the right direction!

Happy New Year everyone!!!

First, I have to share recent pics of my Yorkie girls...

Missy





Dora






Second, I have to show you the Santa Chocolates and Gingerbread men that I made for my kids to bring to school for Xmas.




Thirdly, I'll fill you in on what's being going on with me medically. I went to my doctor and insisted that she send me to a gynecologist. I haven't been able to run or do any high intensity cardio for a year, and I'm sick of it. I feel like crap, and I've been anemic for a full year. Not to mention that the scale has crept up, and I am now at the very top of the healthy weight range for my height. I want to know why I'm losing so much blood and why iron supplements aren't helping. So, I had my appt with the specialist a couple of weeks ago, he did a hysteroscopy and found that everything looked normal, except for unexplained bleeding inside my uterus. He's come to the conclusion that he thinks it's due to hormones and he is going to do a procedure (day surgery) called "Endometrial Ablation". It is going to take awhile for me to get a date for when he will do the surgery. He said that he is so overbooked that I likely won't get in before Spring. Until then, I am fighting back again my body. I may not be able to do high intensity cardio, but I can sure as heck lift weights, do ab/core work, and walk my butt off. I've already started, and I had an AWESOME week. I was strict with my point counting and I earned a fair amount of AP's. I have no hopes of the scale budging (weigh in is tomorrow) BUT I feel a bazillion times better. For the last while, depression has been starting to kick in and I just can't sit back and let that happen. So it's back on the exercise train for me *toot* *toot* :O)