The Pain

It's day 5, and I'm starting to become restless. The pain level is starting to decrease slowly, and sitting in this chair is getting old. The nights seem to be the worst pain wise. Shane said that I was moaning in my sleep last night, so he woke me up to give me some pain meds. He said I started crying and asking for "airplane pretzels". I guess I was wanting some of those little pretzels you get when you're on a flight. LOL! Being the sweet husband that he is, he went to the store and got my airplane pretzels and some beef jerky. (He knows beef jerky is my favorite.) After that, all was good in the world.

The main reason I started this blog was to describe and explain my experience for others who are interested in abdominoplasty. I realized that I haven't fully described the pain, so I'm going to do that now: Immediately after the surgery, the pain is mediocre. You'll think, 'This is it? Wow, I can handle this!'. It will just be a soreness; kind of like you've done about 200 sit-ups. After the first 12 hours, the real pain sets in, and when it does you will think you are dying. The areas that have been liposuctioned will be swollen and black and blue. The pain in those areas was worse for me than the pain where my abdominal muscles were tightened. It literally feels like someone beat me on my sides with a baseball bat. Luckily, my stomach is very numb and the feeling is temporarily gone in some spots due to the tummy tuck. That being said, my abs do hurt and feel very tight from time to time, but the worst part is the incision. The incision runs from hip bone to hip bone. The incision line is about an inch below my panty line, so my panties/bathing suit will always keep it covered. The drain tubes are sewn into the incision right above the vagina. The tubes come out of a hole in the compression garment and drain into small pouches on the left and right sides. The incision burns and sometimes just plain hurts. Everything is sewn and pulled so tightly that it is impossible to walk upright. At this point, I am getting around better. I can walk on my own for a few steps before getting so out of breath that I need Shane to hold me up. The worst part right now is the swelling and tightness. Everything is swollen--my stomach, my sides, even my vajayjay. The compression garment really helps with the pain and swelling. I've only had to unzip it a couple of times, and I couldn't wait to get it back on. In a strange way, it provides relief and comfort. I've had two other surgeries in my lifetime, and this one is certainly the worst pain wise. Even though the healing process is slow and the pain hasn't been a walk in the park, I would do it all over again! I'm so proud of the way my stomach looks now!

The photo I've included is not very flattering, but it gives you an idea of what I've looked like since Wednesday. ;)