Week One Post Op

Monday was my first official week down.  I had a post op appointment with my doctor, and I had been having some serious emotional issues, so it was good that I was able to go in and talk to her.

I think my biggest emotional issue was that I weighed myself and I was higher than I was before surgery.  She explained that with all the numbing stuff the put inside my body (which contributes to the swelling as it sticks around for awhile) weight gain is normal.  Most people gain about 20 lbs, I only gained 5, so that's something I guess.

I was having a hard time with my compression garment and she told me to just button it up as far as it would go, and then leave the rest open.  But it is really painful :/  So, today I decided to double up and I am wearing a full bodysuit garment, and ontop of that the abdominal one she gave me.  I don't know why, but it has cut down on the irritation and I can clasp it closed a bit higher than before.

So, everything is looking good, and I am still swollen, REALLY swollen she said.  She said that this amount of swelling will probably last for another week or two :/  not happy about that, but she said the more I wear this tight ass compression garment the quicker it will go down.  (Oh, yeah, I was stressed that how I look now is how I will look for good.....she said no, not at all)

Here are my one week photos.

Here I am standing, front view.  I am slightly hunched over still, but really wanted a standing view.  You can clearly see I am still very swollen (and it's very hard) but you also start to get an idea of how it will look once swelling goes down.

This is my new belly button.  It's super cute and I'm in love with it.  

Left Profile pic.  Super swollen, and that bruising is quite bad.  We have to massage it nightly to help break up the blood that has accumulated there.  So the back and front will reduce more as time passes.

Right Profile pic.  This side looks so much nicer.  Still swelling, but that is normal and will go away as time passes.

I am laying down in this pic.  Drain tubes have been removed!  Nightly I put a mixture of unrefined coconut oil, vitamin e oil, and arnica gel onto my incision, that's what the shiny liquid stuff is in this picture.

More updates later :D