1 Week and Counting

1 week until the big surgery. Am I excited? Yes. Am I scared? TERRIFIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I dont honestly think I have ever been this scared in my whole life. When the doctor says he is going to cut the whole lower portion of your abdomen off, and strech everything from my bra line down to my pelvic bone, I think I have every right to be scared ha? lol

Once again, this is what I am going to have done. The 1st procedure is called a paniculectomy. This procedure is basically to remove the excess skin that is hanging over my panis or pelvic bone. Any time a person has lost a substantial amount of weight, this can happen.

The second step will be to take that skin from my bra line to my belly button and strech that down making a nice thin even tummy. The fun starts when they pull, and strech the muscles tight so that not only the tummy is thin, but "fit" as well. That is called abdominalplasty.

Now if that doesn't sound bad enough, they are going to do this procedure 360 degress around my body. So not only will the front be firm and flat, but the back will be as well. I personally don't think I really have a lot of excess back skin or fat, but the doctor seems to think that I will be alot happier if we go all the way around. Funny thing is that all of my c-section scars will be gone, and my gall bladder scars that are currently above my belly button, will be below my belly button. Funny ha?

Now what makes this whole procedure to scary is the pain following surgary. I, myself, dont have a very big tollerance for pain, and with something this major, there is going to be pain. I am told that I will have 5 drains that will drain anywhere from 1-5 weeks. They did say that there would be a pain ball sewn into my abdomen that released pain meds into the muscle, so for the 1st three days, I should be ok.

Now onto mobility. For the 1st few weeks, I will not be able to lie flat. I will be what my friends and I have called "recliner bound". My 30th birthday is June 13th, and nothing sounds funner than being "recliner bound." If any of you get bored, stop by and sing me happy birthday. :) I guess I will always remember my 30th. lol

I am sure the big question right now is why? Let me take you back, so that you can all try and understand. In the 2nd grade, I weighed a whoppen 160lbs, that is 100lbs more than the other 2nd graders in my class. In the 5th grade, I was 260. Being luv struck and into boys in the 8th grade, I went down to 200. In 1998 following highschool graduation, I was 290lbs. God, I can't believe I said that out loud. ugggg

Over the past 6.5 years, I have gone from 310 down to 175ish. Having three children in less than 4 years really made my weight inbarable. It wasn't until a year after Bethany was born that I couldn't take it anymore, so I hit the gym, got a nutritionalsist, and lost that extra weight that was raising havic on my life.

I am very lucky to have lost my weight so slow. Some people who have gastric bypass lose an astonishing 100lbs in like 6 months and this causes severe skin problems. I am lucky having lost my weight very very slowly, but there is still lose skin, and trouble areas, that they gym just wont help.

What really was the thing that got this whole ball rolling was my third c-section. I was so large when they sewed me up, that they didn't get the muscles pulled tight, and my stomach became crooked. It is like straight, and then a dip. I really didn't care at the time, but after losing the weight, I now would like it fixed.

So with that, that is what I am going to have done. If you would like to view Dr. Beckers web site, this might help you better understand. The link goes directly to body lift, which is what I am having along with abdominalplasty.

http://www.beckerplasticsurgery.com/gallery.php?page=Bodylift&num=1#procedure-subhead

I am going to post my before pictures this week, so you will want to check back for those. Yes, I will try and post some pictures following surgery. All depends on how I can move around.

I just ask that you all say a prayer for me and my family. The 1st 2 weeks will be the toughest, and I will need a lot of help. My dad is comming for a week, my best friend from college will be here the 2nd week, and than hopefully it will all go down hill from there.

My thyroid biopsy results will also be in next week, so there is lots to pray for.

Take Care
Anjelika :)