Halifax Tummy Tuck

As I excitedly track the progress of my healing and do my daily incision care, I try to spend 10-15 minutes every day before, during, and after my shower massaging my tummy. There’s just one thing… I can’t feel it.

I knew going into my surgery that things would obviously feel different post-op and I was well warned about the numbness that may or may not resolve. But let me just tell y’all…

IT FEELS SO WEIRD.

You know how your skin feels when you have pins and needles and your foot is asleep? Or the tingly feeling on your skin when you have a sunburn? That’s how my stomach feels.

All.
The.
Time.

It almost hurts but at the same time, I can’t really “feel” it, which is possibly the most confusing thing I’ve ever written or experienced. Go figure. It’s the weirdest thing.

So, why does this happen?

During surgery, neural pathways are severed and need to be re-established during the healing process. This takes months and, Dr. Bendor-Samuel advised that some parts of my tummy may never regain “normal” sensation, particularly the space between my belly button and my incision which is where skin had been removed and repositioned.

A few times a day, I get a sudden sharp pain – like a bolt of lightning almost – as neural pathways are re-established. This sometimes takes my breath away, but it only lasts a second.

“How’s your pain been?”

One of the most common questions I’m asked by friends and HCPs is about the pain level. Honestly, it’s been really minor and getting better daily to the point that I barely feel anything now except for a smidge of discomfort when I do certain things.

The horizontal incision goes from hip bone to hip bone. I do have some discomfort at my hip bones, though I think this is predominantly from the pressure of the binder pressing down on the edges of the incision and my hip bones themselves. It feels slightly bruised more than anything, and sometimes I get a bit of a “pulling” sensation along the incision ends.

Speaking of bruises, the deep bruising from surgery is now making its way to the surface of my stomach and things are looking colourful.

Stay tuned for my two week update post coming soon!