Sorry if this ends up being a long post. I wanted to share my experience with this subject, but my feelings are a little complex on it, so I may end up being long-winded.
I had a consultation for abdominoplasty after my 2nd child was born, in 1986.
It took me 16 more years to get up the nerve to have the surgery. Some of it was financial. Some of it was the feeling that it was somehow "wrong" to have elective surgery to fix my appearance.
I have battled my weight since the birth of my first child (when I gained 70 pounds!) and had very little success until I started eating lo-carb (3 years ago).
I also had 7 abdominal surgeries during that time, including 3 C-sections. I had a horrible vertical scar from the sections and lots of stretch marks. But the worse part was my stomach muscles were in terrible shape!
I took 40 pounds off after starting Atkins, but I still was very unhappy with the way my clothes fit. My waist was 2 sizes bigger than my legs/butt, so pants and shorts were impossible unless I had them altered.
I saved the money for the surgery, and my husband and I agreed that I should do it. But then, a friend of mine from high school had a horrifically tragic outcome from having abdominoplasty and it stopped me dead in my tracks. It took me almost another 2 years, and numerous consultations with my doctor, before I finally got to a point where I was ready to go through with it. That was April of last year.
This surgery is not for the faint of heart! The recovery process was much longer than I anticipated. (and I've had my share of surgical recoveries!) I only had my drains for a few days, but I was very weak for a long time. My whole stomach area felt uncomfortable for a very long time. Some of it was the tightness that Karen described, but some of it was just a sensitivity that felt just wierd. I couldn't stand to wear anything with a waist (not exactly the outcome I was hoping for, LOL!) for a long time. A good portion of my stomach is still numb, and probably always will be. I have a scar from hip to hip, along my bikini line. In the beginning, it looked like a magician had botched up his "saw the girl in half" act.
I had a lot of second thoughts and tears throughout the recovery process.
Now for the good news...I went down two clothes sizes in pants, skirts and shorts, my vertical C-Section scar is completely gone, and most of my stretch marks are gone. The tightness is has gone away, and the sensitivity has finally gone away! My scar looks wonderful now....it's very thin and faded. I've recently gotten some sun on my stomach (for the first time in 19 years) and it has made the scar almost unnoticeable. And my stomach is flat!
I am SO happy that I finally went ahead and did this for myself! It was totally worth the pain and discomfort I went through. I can't stress enough that it was all worth it! I know I've written a lot about the negative parts of it, but really, that all seems like a distant memory now!
I would also like to stress that if you're thinking of having any type of elective procedure to choose your doctor carefully. Do a lot of research, and make sure you find a board-certified surgeon who has had a lot of experience with that particular procedure. This is not a situation where you want to use the lowest bidder!
Like Karen, I'll be happy to answer any specific questions. And sorry if this post is a jumble of thoughts....I've never told this story on the DIS before and only told a couple of people here, by PM, when I went through it.
And Karen, I also ended up having an unexpected hernia repair, during my surgery. I'm curious if your insurance covered any of your procedure, because of the hernia?
I was actually NERVOUS the first time I didn't have to wear it, I thought I would fall out of my stitched abs... lol
