1 1/2 weeks post op picture

Before

After

Still very swollen and I can't stand up straight at all but here it is so far.

Week 1 post op

Had to go back to the Dr the week after the surgery since I still had drains. It is show a very long walk from the parking garage to the office when you can't stand up and can still barely make it to the bathroom so Dh insisted on renting a wheelchair. our kids also had a holiday we show that I refused to miss the next night.

So on Tuesday to for the follow up and I hoped to loose a drain but neither were putting out less than 30 ml a day so I was stuck with them. Everything looked good so he said see you next week. This was my first time out of my chair since getting home other than back and forth to the bathroom. My husband knew this was wearing on me and decided to take me out to lunch since we had the wheelchair. We stopped at a mexican restaurant we had been to after another appointment. He wheeled me and and I felt so stupid in that thing. Looked stupid with no makeup and hair in a ponytail. But it was nice to be out.

Now I will share a cautionary embarrassing story for anyone going through this surgery. Pain pills make me very constipated. The Dr gave me prescription stool softeners but I still hadn't had a bowel movement in a week. But this meal was my first real good sized meal. Just as we finished eating I had this feeling and had to go to the bathroom. Chris pushed me to the restroom and I hobbled in the rest of the way. Then realized my body decided this was the perfect time and place for my bowels to begin working again. My stomach muscles were still to painful to push in anyway so it was up to my bowels and intestines to do it all on their own. These spasms started and there was no stopping the process. Had I been at home I probably would have been screaming. But being in a public restroom I had to keep it together. I never took Lamaze but I sat there comically doing that Lamaze breathing you see on TV. I was in the bathroom for over 30 mins. Poor Chris was standing outside the ladies room the entire time. I could hear people asking him if he needed anything. Probably wondering what this creepy guy standing in front of the restroom was doing. Thankfully he never sent anyone in after me. So if you get constipated on pain meds don't try going out until you have your first bowel movement. It isn't fun.

I really pushed it wed night going to the triplets school holiday show. But come on it was their first school show and I had to be there and I had a wheelchair. I just sleep the next day. Won't say I recommend this move but it had to be done.

Going home

I spend 2 night in the hospital. I was having a lot of pain the day I was supposed to check out. (why does it crack me up that a hospital uses terms like check out. but a hospital that has fuzzy bath robes I guess should.) So the Dr approved a late check out after dinner. yea more food! We loved you Roger the chef. Almost as much as I loved my morphine drip button.

With a fresh morphine injection and Valium I get dressed for the first time. I had been walking around hunched over with my gown wide open in the back and could care less. They did cover me when I walked in the hallway but in the room what the hell. I was trying not to fall over not cover my ass.

The long car ride home wasn't bad. I slept though most of it. Got home and settled into my new home in the recliner in the living room. I spent the next week in the chair and needing help to get out of the chair and get to the bathroom. I had to celebrate internally the first time I was able to get up myself and get back and forth unassisted. I was still hunched over and walking like a little old lady with very bad osteoporosis but I did it!

Surgery Day Cont...

Last post was getting long.They took me back for surgery and was greeted by a very nice nurse. I believe her name was Betty but I hope she will forgive me if I am wrong. They had to sterilize me front and back. The best way to do this is standing up butt naked while they rub me down with iodine. They were doing everything possible trying to make me comfortable. There were only 3 female nurses, they locked the door so nobody just walked in, turned up the heat, and kept apologizing and saying they will trying to hurry. But I didn't care one bit about standing there naked in front of them. My dream of 9 years was coming true. I would have stood on that gurney butt naked and let them push me through the hospital while painting me up if that is what it took to get the surgery. :) So I cracked jokes to them trying to make them more comfortable. Asking which one of them was the Playboy scout. Or when she told me to spread my legs saying, "well that's what got my body in this condition in the first place". My humor didn't go over well with this sweet elderly nurse.I didn't get really nervous until they got me on the table. That is when thoughts of my kids hit me. I had had many dreams of not making it through the surgery. Some tears started rolling but Betty was right there to calm me down and the drugs went in the IV. Next thing I know I was waking up in recovery.I woke up several times in recovery and just went back to sleep. There wasn't any pain. When I finally was awake enough they took me to my room. I remember having a bedpan under me because they didn't put a catheter in during the surgery. I had to go but couldn't. They finally took it away. But once I was in my room the nurse said I had to get up and try to go to the restroom. OMG this was the most painful event ever. But I had no control and could relax my bladder. I sat there forever and couldn't go. I had the same issue after my c-sections so they decided to put in a catheter. Ah relief.Took a while for them to get Chris to my room. It was actually the Chef that told him I was in my room. They had met in the lounge when the Chef was on break and talked watching TV. The plastics ward has a personal chef and OMG the food is so good. My surgery ran later than dinner is normally served. I had filled out my menu before I went in so my food was done but just sitting for a while. I was in no shape to eat anyway but the chef recooked the entire meal and served it to Chris. Definitely not your normal hospital food. Served on a linen table cloth with a linen napkin.

Surgery Day

The day of the surgery I was so excited and nervous. I didn't have to have to be at the hospital until 10 so time to get the kids off to school before heading to Louisville. The Surgery will be done at Jewish Hospital in the Trager Pavilion http://www.jewishhospital.org/healthnetwork/trager_tour4.html . This isn't part of the regular hospital. It is a very nice separate bldg across the street. When you walk in the lobby on the 14th floor where they do the plastic surgery it is huge walls of glass overlooking the city with palm trees and plush chairs. We were quite early since we were worried about traffic. We couldn't stop for food since I couldn't eat so we just went and waited in the lobby. Once they took us back to prep me everyone so nice. It was a long wait because my surgery wasn't actually scheduled until 12 and he had another procedure that ran over. But the nurses were very nice, we had a TV in our prep area, they brought me heated blankets. But the most comforting thing was seeing how they talked about Dr. Wilhelmi. You know how some people will tell you, "oh he is good" but you can tell they are just saying it because they feel they have to? But every nurse would tell me how I have the best Dr. and how good he was and it was on their face and in their voice that they meant it. You could just tell they enjoyed working with him. You could just see it in his office staff and now the hospital staff. Really made me more comfortable. One nurse said she wished she could go to him, meaning she wished she had the money to go to him. So Doc. comes in to mark me for surgery. It was hard to stand still and not laugh as we cracked jokes about the state of my stomach. He had his resident and was explaining why he was marking what where. I wasn't making it easy making comments like he could just get a paper cutter and pull it all forward and chop it off. Or referring to my stomach as the elephants ass. So above are the pics from being marked up. As you will see I have NO shame. He removed everything from the top line arch and around to the sides down to the line at the pubic line that you can't really see because of all the extra skin that hangs down and covers it. The line down the middle in the front view is the midline. Where the middle of my stomach should be. You can see what is left of a belly button is way off midline. The bulge on each side of that line that just sticks out and has all the skin hanging from it like that thing below a turkey's neck are my stomach muscles. That is my diastasis recti. My stomach muscles had a horrible divorce 9 years ago. There is nothing between them. I can just lay my hand on my stomach and feel gas and stuff going through my intestines. Very gross but kinda cool sometimes. Then the panniculus (extra skin that just hangs down over over my pubic area). Actually have a double panniculus in the middle where on overlaps the other. But I was trying to cover my goodies so I didn't offend and covered it also by mistake and can't go back and retake.

Approved

It took a month but I was APPROVED!! Total package. I couldn't not be more excited. Now I had to wait 2 weeks to see the Dr to schedule the surgery. It was a LONG 2 weeks. Go into my appointment mid Nov and Dr. Wilhelmi looks at my tummy again. Assures me again that I will be really happy with the results. Says he wants to do it on Dec. 9th. Who Hoo this is really happening. I just have to wait for his office staff to call the next day to confirm, it takes like 2 hour on the phone to set up the surgery. But if she didn't call to call her.

There was a slight scheduling issue that left me worried that things wouldn't happen. But since Dr. Wilhelmi had given me his cell number I call him. He told me he said the 9th and sure enough he got it scheduled on the 9th. He was so wonderful and made me feel like the most important patient ever even though I am an insurance case. Even thanked me for calling him and letting him know about the issue since that was part of his job in running a practice. I can't say enough nice things about him.

Finding the right Doctor

Well you can tell I ramble. But I am heavily medicated as I sit here recovering. The lesson you should have learned from my first bit was when you call and make an appoint for a consultation for a plastic surgeon ASK if there is a consultation fee. Don't get surprised and put on the spot when you show up. Better yet don't make an apt with them at all if they charge you just to give a consultation. So how did I find the right Dr. A lot of Luck and a wonderful person online. Someone posted on a triplet moms message board asking about the cost of tummy tucks. I responded with my $8,000 quote and how I couldn't find a Dr who would talk about insurance for any part. Another lady knowing we lived in KY messaged me privately asking if I would be willing to drive to Louisville (an hour and half drive for me) for a Dr who is willing to file with insurance. She got her surgery covered completely by insurance. Um..let me think...yeah didn't take long. I called but the Dr she recommended didn't have an opening so I got an appt with another Dr in the practice. Finally I was hopeful again. The first apt was like a dream. Dr. Wilhelmi was so personable and explained everything. Looked at my tummy, talked about my med history. He thought I had a good case to get not just the hernia and muscle repair covered but also the skin removal. In that moment he was the sexiest man alive. Even as I stood there gown open with him shaking my floppy tummy skin like it was jello. I heard very little after that. Thankfully I brought my husband to ask all the questions because I stood there with a silly grin on my face staring at him. After I got dressed he did talk more about insurance and the procedure. He told us that most plastic surgeons won't deal with insurance because they won't do the work for insurance rates. He said he is willing to do it for the insurance rates because he likes the challenge and he uses the cases as teaching opportunities. He assured me that he preforms the surgery but he has a resident observe and hold the retractors or help pull the skin back. A job typically done by a nurse. He also said not to get scared by the word "resident". That a plastic surgery resident has already gone through med school, then residency, then surgery residency and possibly another speciality and is now entering plastics. so they have many years of surgery experience before they get to plastics. It isn't like they are just out of med school. So I am getting another Dr in place of a nurse to help the surgery go faster. I don't see the down side yet. Pictures were taken. Felt like my stomach was getting mug shots for their crimes against nature. I was asked to get my regular MD to write a letter to my insurance company saying she felt the surgery was medically necessary. For good measure I asked my rheumatologist to write a letter also. Then we just had to wait for approval.

The thing that surprised and impressed me the most was my new Dr. gave me his card and wrote his personal cell phone number on it in case I had any questions or problems. What Dr. does that anymore?

Lets start the journey

Hard to believe my triplets are 9 and singleton is 7. I had a lot of damage to my stomach with my the triplets that was only made worse with my singleton. My efforts to do sit ups only increased the separation of the muscles. We just never had the money to do the repairs. Now that the kids are all in school and we had some money saved we started looking into the repairs. We had read on triplet message boards that many had gotten the hernia and muscle repair portion covered by insurance and they paid out of pocket for the tummy tuck to get rid of all the extra skin. We were counting on the insurance paying for some of it. We started the process with me loosing over 50lbs. This only made the stomach look worse and the skin just hang worse but I was ready. Went to the first plastic surgeon blind not knowing what to expect. The first shock was the $100 deposit she wanted when we showed up at the appt just to give an estimate. She gave a through explanation of the procedure but would not even discuss insurance in any shape form or fashion. Almost laughing at us. But she said I was a perfect candidate for the procedure so that made me feel better. Cost of the procedures, $8,000. We didn't have near that saved up. Only $3,000. I had been going by numbers from others on message boards and counting on insurance paying for part of it like so many others had done. So off to another surgeon. This one was another shocker. He was a general surgeon to talk about the hernia and muscle repair to get that covered before going to another plastic surgeon about the skin removal. Figured lets do this backwards since the talk around town was NONE of the plastic surgeons in town will file insurance. I found the same thing with phone calls. Well this highly recommended surgeon by another Dr had the bedside manner of a slug. The Dr evidently came in and saw me in the hospital when I was pregnant with my singleton for another issue. I was in so much pain I don't remember him. He comes in this appointment and tells me I don't have a hernia while looking at my chart before examining me. That he had seen me in 2002 and didn't appreciate one then and would have noted it in the chart. Well dude I was PREGNANT then and only 10 weeks so. I had been told by another Dr since then I do have a hernia. By this time he wasn't going to change his opinion because he declared it so mater of fact. he did an extremely brief exam and said no hernia the fascia was just so stretched you could feel through it. He never had me cough were you could see my intestines pop out or anything. Then this highly renowned Dr went on to attack my decision to have a repair in the first place. He tells me, and I quote, "you are taking the easy, lazy way out. You just need to do some more sit ups. Will it be easy, no. But sometimes it takes some work and you can't just go to surgery to fix your issues. Sit ups won't bring your muscles closer together but it will make them larger and thus appear closer together." I was flabbergasted. He just called me lazy. Does he really think in 9 years I hadn't thought to do a fucking sit up. They actually made it worse according to the surgeons I had seen. He went on to tell me he was going to send a letter to the plastic surgeon that he didn't recommend I get a diastasis repair because he felt strongly against them in general. He just went on and on in a condescending tone about how I needed to put more work into it and not try to take the lazy way out. I left in tears. Then I get to the valet parking which I only used because I was running late and the jerks changed my radio, and stole the money out of my money tray. It was only $2.50 but I have check in there before the apt to see if i would have money for lunch. At that point I thought there was no hope and once again it wasn't going to happen. But my wonderful husband said we would find the money. Then a post online changed everything. But that is another entry.