Scar Progression

I am so very excited to see my scar improve every single day!  When I saw the scar the first day it was unwrapped I was freaked out!  I was worried it would always look like wired Frankenstein skin.  But I am pleased to report that my scar looks better than I ever thought possible!

Here is where I started pre-op:

Here is my scar at 2 weeks:

Here is my scar at 3 weeks:

Here is my scar at 5 weeks:

Here is my scar at 7 weeks:

Here is my scar at 10 weeks: 

Here is my scar at 12 weeks:

And look at the scar symmetry!  Amazing!!!  I am so glad I found Dr. Buchanan to be my surgeon!

March 23, 2015 - 12 weeks post surgery!

Today I am one day shy of 12 weeks post surgery.  I feel great!  I am back to regular activities.  I can run, jump, play with my kids, have sex with my husband, dance the night away, lift groceries and my 5 year old. I feel like a brand new me.  My scar looks great!  It is starting to fade!  It is almost completely flat on the sides.  It is still bumpy directly above my pubic bone.   I am sure it is a combination or fat cells, scar tissue and the "gathering" process it took to get the 2 flaps sewn back together.  It is bumpy when you feel it... it looks flat.  I am sure I am the only person besides my Doctor that will ever notice or even care!  Now I just want the scar to fade.....

Close up of the scar

Dog ears.... I still have small barely noticeable dog ears.  My husband said they are getting smaller.  I think he is just trying to be nice!  LOL

Butterfly Tattoo Part 2

It's finished!!!

I got the color added last week!  Jonathan Tyor did such an AMAZING job!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!!

Bikini?!?!? Why yes, yes I will Rock one!

So my body is far from perfect!  I have cottage cheese on my ass and legs.  My skin is scarred and looks like a roadmap full of stretch marks.  But for the first time in 9 years I feel confident enough to wear a Bikini!

And here is the thing.... Bikini or not, anytime I wear a bathing suit the worst parts of my body show.... to me that is my thighs and butt.  However, unless I am gonna wear a bathing suit with  a skirt or board shorts.... my thighs are gonna show.  So I decided to embrace my chubby thighs and just get a bathing suit that I love and that I feel sexy and good wearing.

Here it is!

2 1/2 months out from surgery

Things are going well.  Swelling is down ALOT!  And my scar is is laying down more and more flat each day.  Lots of massage, moisture and time!

Here are some updated pictures with close ups of the scar!

Scar Close ups!

My Belly Button!  It is still very red and has little to no feeling whatsoever!

Butterfly Tattoo!

As I have been walking this journey of self discovery and finding and redefining myself I have rally wanted to get a tattoo that symbolized all the transformation I have gone through.  Butterflies are the iconic symbol of Transformation.  And lots of people in the WLS community use the butterfly to symbolize their transformation with metaphors about the fat being the cocoon and once you lose it you become the beautiful butterfly.

Once I realized that my stomach was beautiful I could not think of a better place to put my Tattoo of a butterfly!  My stomach.... the place that held so much of my fat cocoon.... had literally been transformed to a place of femininity and beauty.  What better place to have my butterfly placed?!?!

So I found a tattoo place that had received high community accolades and reviews.  Living Skin Tattoo with Jonathan Tylor!  Jonathon made me feel at ease and comfortable from the start.  He also didn't bullshit me.  He was honest about my design and my journey.  We instantly connected and he started to draw up my butterfly.  I came back a few days later to get started!

Amber came with me!  She was freaked out by how much tattoos HURT!!!

 Jonathan is AWESOME!!!

The Black Butterfly!

I need to have the color added!  I will do that in about a month!

7 weeks post surgery

More updated pictures as I heal.  My scar is starting to lay down and the bumpiness is going away.  The two flaps of skin Dr. Buchanan sewed back together are not the same length.  To pull them together and make it heal properly the skin has to almost be gathered together and sewn in place.  This results in some bumps.  And then the scar itself creates a ridge of tissue.  The only way to get the bumps to go away is time moisture and massage.  So every day.. honestly a few times a day I rub my scar with coconut oil.  I have seen my scar go from "Frankenstein like" to smoother and softening over the past few weeks.  It is far from perfect but I am confident that the bumps will lay down over time.  Coconut oil massage and time!

My Belly Button still looks angry and red!  It will probably be the last area to heal.  I rub coconut oil on it too!

Let's Talk about Binders

Part of the recovery process is to wear a binder.  The binder holds the muscles that were stitched together... well together.  It supports the whole area so that internal stitches have a chance to scar over and become strong.  The sutures Dr. Buchanan uses on the muscle wall dissolve very slowly over 6 months time.  The point would be that the sutures hold the muscle together until the scars have formed and become super strong so that you don't bust open again!  He assured me that it would take lots of blunt force trauma to the stomach such as a car accident to cause any real damage at this point.  But I'm not gonna lie... I was paranoid about it!

But the binders are horrible!  They are sweaty and tight and restrict your movement and rub your skin.  I was especially whiny about it but I wore them everyday for 6 weeks.  The one I came home in the hospital with was REALLY horrific!

It is meant for hernia surgery or something and not at all comfortable.  And it required an extra person to strap me into it!  I seriously traumatized my 10 year old daughter when I asked her to help me one day when Tim was at work!  Poor girl was so worried she would hurt me!  She didn't but it totally pushed her out of her comfort zone!  Poor kid!

After a few days of that torture Dr. Buchanan told me that I could wear a "spanx" type of girdle.  So off to Walmart I went to find something.  I decided against spanx but did find some other girdles.  They were not sexy, attractive or anything.... but functional.  And they got the job done.  I bought a few of them so I could wear one and wash the other few.  They are basically underwear so you can't really wear them more than once.  Here is the most hideous of the ones I own!

They also help compress your abdomin to help your body NOT collect fluids.  It pushes the fluid down to hopefully get cleaned out by your lymphatic system.  The incisions severe those lymph tunnels though so your body has to build new connections (as I understand it anyway).  So the binder helps with keeping the fluid off your tummy.  As you can see in the bottom picture... I have significant swelling still.  Holy Pooch!

And yes I wore it everyday, all day except for showering and taking pictures for 6 weeks!