Halifax Tummy Tuck

I honestly can’t believe that four weeks have passed! On the one hand, it feels like it’s flown by but it’s also been a slog.

The last two weeks have been the hardest for me, believe it or not. I think because I’ve been healing so well and having so little pain, I convinced myself I was much more “able” than I am. As such, I’ve overdone it a few times — pushing myself to do more than I should. Two big, busy, back-to-back weekends and a quick trip to Cape Breton to visit my Nanny (who is recovering from a broken hip and subsequent surgery!) left me in pretty rough shape.

I am cleared for exercise again, so I’ve been increasing my walking distance and time and working faster segments throughout each walk to help me adjust back to movement. Though I could ~technically~ return to the gym, the truth is I don’t feel quite ready, and I know I’d only be tempted to go too hard.

Swelling

I was warned about the ongoing swelling and let me just say, they were not kidding. It’s entirely my own fault that I have the volume of swelling I do most of the time (#overdoingit), but even with the warning I was completely unprepared for how wild it can be!

In the photos below, I have NO swelling – I’d been diligent about wearing my binder (this was week 3 update!) and drinking a tonne of water.

The majority of swelling is in my upper abs, which the nurse indicated to me is always the most tender spot, so I’m not surprised that this is where I’m most uncomfortable. (You can see this swelling in the very bottom photos.)

The Binder

At my two+ week follow-up, I was advised that I could remove my binder at the beginning of Week 3. I’ll confess that I do tend to skip wearing it for periods of time, but the swelling stays down much better with it on! I would say I’m wearing it about 50-70% of the time right now.

I always wear it if I’m leaving the house to walk or run errands, as the extra support feels really nice and gives me some security that I’m protecting my core as the strength slowly returns. When I’m hanging out at home, either sitting around or doing light chores, I usually keep it off.

Because it’s a bit cumbersome to dress with, I’ve been wearing compressive shaper undergarments when I’m going out – I got a few great options on Amazon at reasonable prices and they’re comfortable and very supportive. One actually doubles as a tank top bodysuit which is handy, and I’ve worn it as such a few times now.

The Incision

I’ve been pretty impressed overall with the appearance of my incision and I’m not terribly worried because it’s easily hidden by a bikini bottom – even a skimpy one! – so no one will really ever see it. That said, I’m diligently following my incision care recommendations to ~hopefully~ help my scar heal cleanly and quickly.

The incision care routine was:

Week 1: Covered by bandages
Week 2: Wash daily, 2x with antibacterial soap & saline rinse, pat dry
Week 3: Wash daily, 2x with antibacterial soap & saline rinse, pat dry; *I added Polysporin this week because I was having some irritation in one particular place.
Week 3, pt 2: Using silicon strips
Week 4: Continuing silicon strips & increasing duration of wear; washing daily

In the photo above, I had taken my binder off a few moments before so you can see the lines in my skin. I have a lot of swelling in this photo. My belly button is healing well though (to me) it looks a bit wonky, which is whatever. It wasn’t great to begin with! Ha. The large incision has a lot of swelling around it in this photo, took, so it’s looking a bit puffy and angry.

Notably, the vertical incision extending from the centre of the horizontal scar up about one inch is still unhealed. This incision had to be made to allow the surgeon to do the muscle repair and reposition my belly button once the skin had been removed.

Comfort & Pain

Generally speaking, I don’t have any pain though I do have a fair bit of discomfort these days. As the muscles continue to heal, I have some swelling that feels tender and makes me a little stiff. Sleeping can be a bit of a challenge as I find it tough to get comfortable in bed and I’m definitely not as agile and able to turn about.

It’s like being pregnant but without the bump.

The pain I’ve experienced in my hips and back since E was born is completely gone, which is wild. And, though I’m not ~really~ supposed to, I’ve been lifting the kids a bit this past week because HELLO I AM A MOM. I try to keep it minimal but sometimes, kids are gonna kid. Overall, the pain and discomfort is like a 3/10 so not bad. Even at the height of recovery, I’d say it was maybe a 7 at most!

Current Results & What’s Next

All in all, I’m feeling really happy with my results. I’m trying to remind myself that the swelling is normal and also totally unpredictable. I’ve weighed myself off and on and, with all of that swelling, the scale can be wildly different. I’m talking 4-5lbs in the difference! But, generally, I’m down about 3lbs from post-op weight and when there’s no swelling, my waist is about 2.5″ smaller. Bonkers! (That’s from the muscle repair)

I have my next appointment for a follow up in mid-January. I plan to wait until the New Year to begin weight training again and will play it by ear as to when I’ll begin running. Some days I feel like I could run but I think I’ll push it to at least six weeks to allow my muscles to heal a bit more.

These photos were taken exactly 4-weeks post-op (yesterday) and, as you can see, I’m much more swollen than in the photos above. It really does fluctuate – some days I’m skinny mini and other days I’m a puffy penguin.

All in all, the recovery process has been an interesting experience. Having never had surgery, I really didn’t know what to expect. I am struggling with feeling so “out of shape” but also feeling relieved that everything seems to be going the right way.

Stay tuned!