I can't believe it's been 5 weeks since my surgery. The time is just flying. Here are some comparison photos - I just can't believe the difference!

Here is a picture illustrating the change from the beginning with a comparison before my gastric bypass surgery, before the face lift and now:

It has been almost five weeks since my face lift and scar revision. Wow – this surgery has been so much harder to recovery from than the ones I've had in the past.

So, let me talk about the scar revision first. I had the vertical scar from my lower body lift revised. The part above my belly button healed poorly – I called it the worm, since that it what it looked like. This will be the third try for the scar (I already had it revised once). I'm hoping the third time is the charm. Dr. Sterry said he did everything he could possibly think of, so I am remaining hopeful. He also tightened the muscles again. I am spitting out some of the sutures, but Dr. Sterry said I don't need to worry unless I see purple ones – so far they have all been clear. The most amazing thing, it looks like I am going to have a little bit of a waist after this! That would be amazing.

Now the face lift – right now the recovery is really rough. The day after my surgery, Dr. Sterry took the bandages and drains out. Even though I was a black and blue mess I could see that the difference was amazing. I actually had a jaw line! WOW! The first few days weren't so bad; in fact I wasn't taking any pain medication after 2 or 3 days. I started to develop some swelling under my chin and on my neck. It got to the point where it was extremely uncomfortable. The surgeon checked several times, but determined all I had going on was swelling. Wow – I know about swelling from my other surgeries, but I never experience pain like I have with this surgery. I ended up back on the pain medication at night. It has been pretty miserable. Dr. Sterry injected a little steroid into the swollen areas as he thought it might provide some relief. I've had a little softening of the swollen areas, and I would say that there has been about a 30% improvement in the overall discomfort. I am just going to have to ride out the recovery period. I am also amazed with the bruising. It's two days short of 5 weeks since my surgery and I am still using cover-up for a bruise on my face when I go to work. I really didn't expect to have the bruises last this long. I didn't bruise like this from any of my previous surgeries. The positive in all this, I do believe I am going to be thrilled with the result once I am done healing and this surgery was a surprise boost to my body image. When I had the lower body lift, I wasn't surprised by the change in my body image. I knew as long as I had a hanging stomach I wouldn't see myself as a thinner person. I didn't realize that getting my hanging chin removed would have as strong of an impact – but it has!

I am going to get Rodney to take some pictures on Friday, when I hit the 5 weeks mark and put them up. Although the recovery has been tough, I think the difference is already obvious!

So, what the surgeon didn't warn me about before my face lift is that it will be hard to kiss my husband since he is so tall. It is hard for me to lift my chin up at this time due to the muscle work on my neck. This makes it difficult to give Rodney a kiss when he is 9 inches taller than me! I need to have him bend down and meet me. Talk about a funny consequence of a face lift!

I can't believe it has been one year since my lower body lift. I remember how nervous I was before the surgery last year. Now, looking back, I had no reason to be nervous. I had a great surgeon (thank you Dr. Sterry) and I got a fantastic result. It is so nice not to have the hanging skin.

The lower body lift made a huge difference in so many aspects of my life:

- Physically - not as many back aches, my balance has improved and no more rashes.
- Clothes - I no longer have to try and hide my stomach in my clothes. And let's not forget that I now wear an 8 in most pants, I was hoping for a 10! Today I am wearing a knit dress and it is so nice not to have to worry about lumps and bumps showing.
- Running - My running has improved so much; my form is better and my times keep getting faster.
- Mentally - Although I still have a way to go, the lbl helped me a lot to realize I wasn't the morbidly obese person I once was. I carried most of my weight in my stomach and as long as I had the excess skin there I don't think I would have made the transition to seeing myself as a normal size person.

I don't want to mislead anyone into thinking this was an easy surgery. It was a big surgery, about 8 hours, and a long recovery. I ended up with a nasty infection that I had to pack for 2 months. Some of my scars aren't that great. Unfortunately I wasn't one of the lucky ones to end up with great scars. However, all that being said, the result was worth it all!

Last Friday, April 6th, I had liposuction on my upper and lower abs. I have to tell you, it wasn't bad at all. My appointment was for 9:00am. Shortly after I got there, Dr. Sterry gave me valium, percocet and something for nausea. I got REALLY loopy (that mix is even better than a cosmopolitan) and that was a lot of fun. Dr. Sterry went through all the pre-op stuff, I signed the consent forms, he took pictures and did the markings. The procedure didn't really hurt. It was mostly a weird feeling especially when I felt him up near my ribs. It did hurt a little when he hit my ribs and hip bone. My dream doing into this was to get a waist. Unfortunately Dr. Sterry couldn't do much for my waist area. I can't say he didn't try, because he gave it a good effort, but said that there was nothing there to take out, it was just skin. So, I guess that is good and bad; nice to know there is no fat there, but I was disappointed not the be able to get the result I was hoping for.

I haven't really been sore from the lipo, mostly tired. I went into it really tired because the week before was really busy and this has been a fairly busy week as well. I'm looking forward to resting over the weekend. I was supposed to be leaving for Boulder (for a work trip) tomorrow and thankfully that got cancelled.

Now as far as the swelling is concerned, I really didn't have much the first couple of days. In fact, my stomach was pretty flat. However, starting Tuesday the swelling has taken hold and it is pretty miserable. I'm looking forward to it subsiding, but I know that will be a while.

I find my mobility is much greater than it was after the gastric bypass. That being said, it isn't easy getting around. I cannot stand straight yet, so hat is taking a toll on my back. My biggest complaint is that I can't sleep well, I'd give almost anything for a great night's sleep.

• If you don't have a recliner, I would recommend renting one. I rented one, and it has been wonderful. I am able to get into and out of it by myself and I've been sleeping in it for the most part. The last couple of nights I've been trying the couch to see if I could get some better sleep that way.
• I would recommend having things within reach so you don't have a lot of bending or reaching to do. I'm lucky that my husband is self-employed, so he can work out his own schedule. From the time I came home from the hospital, he has gone to his office for a few hours a day. As longs as he leaves me what I need high enough so I don't have to bend, I am fine.
• Another recommendation is some nice comfy clothes. I wore my old 3x sweatpants and t-shirt to the hospital. That was perfect for coming home because that was lots of room for me and the drains. Don't forget to think about what you are going to wear when you are ready to get out and about (i.e., back to work). I didn't think that far ahead and had to find comfy clothes quickly.
• One thing that caught me by surprise was my reduced appetite after the surgery. In fact, I wouldn't say my capacity to eat has yet returned to pre-plastic surgery levels. (It is almost like the early days after my gastric bypass surgery.) I don't know if it is due having surgery, the muscle repair or the binder or a combination; but I have found my capacity to eat to be less than half of what it was previously. I have started supplementing with protein shakes to make sure I am getting the nutrients I need for recovery.
• Another tip, from my ps, is to wear a t-shirt under the binder. This has definitely eased some of the discomfort of the binder. I also have placed a think gauze pad at the top of the binder when my incision is which helps alleviate the pressure there.

I had my plastic surgery on 8/30/06, so today marks 2 weeks since my plastic surgery. My recovery is going well. I saw my plastic surgeon on Monday and he said I am progressing according to schedule. I still find my ability to eat is not back to where it was before the surgery and trust me that is not a complaint as I have lost 18 pounds since my plastic surgery. As of today I have one pound to go before I have a normal BMI. I am floored by this!

I have to say that I love my new tummy. Even though it is still quite swollen, it is so cute - at least I think so...LOL. It isn't sagging and hanging down below my pubic line, it is just such a wonderful thing.

Thank God for these gifted surgeons in the world. I have been so fortunate to have both a wonderful gastric bypass surgeon and a wonderful plastic surgeon.