I am 11 weeks post op now. I am doing well and back into normal activities as far as driving. I am still under lifting restrictions for 6 months. Nothing over 10 lbs. I forget at times and try to lift something and feel it quickly. usually resulting in a few hours of muscle spasms. I also have to watch moving to quickly. The kids came in from playing in the snow the other day and I was throwing their wet snow pants over the shower curtain to dry. I lifted my right arm over my head to quickly and pulled the muscles there, it hurt the rest of the night. It is all that right side that gives me fits. My Dr told me at my last appointment to expect this for a while with the amount he had to pull to get my muscles back together. He said that my separation was double the largest he had seen before. This surprised me considering the large percentage of his practice is reconstructive. I knew I had a large separation though. I could fit both hands in it if I would lay down and try to life my shoulders off the floor. Just lying there I without doing anything I could feel inside. It is strange now not being able to feel my intestines anymore.
I am still completely numb from the belly button down and on my left hip. Hoping that will come back with time. I get a tingle at the outer edge of the numbness so I am hoping that is a good sign. Maybe I should start marking the edge of the numbness to see if the numb area is shrinking.
Now the good stuff. The reason for the surgery in the first place was to help with my back. I had been doing spinal injection, physical therapy and even chiropractic treatments for my back pain. I know the pain will never be gone completely but with such a large diastasis I didn't have a weak core I had no core. The hope was by repairing the stomach muscles and removing the weight of all the excess skin it would help with the back pain. This is why my insurance paid for the surgery and saw it as "medically necessary". I am happy to report that my lower back pain has already decreased some. And I haven't even had a chance to strengthen my abdominal muscles yet.
Still have swelling on and off. Will try to get new pictures soon. The above pictures are from 7 weeks.
