I was taken back to a pre-op room where I was questioned by an anesthesiologist and prepped for surgery. They put me in a hospital gown that attached to an air hose that flushed warm water throughout the gown. It kept me warm and cozy and it was really relaxing. They made arrangements for my glasses to come on the gurney with me to surgery so I could see as soon as I woke up.
The Dr. came in and had me undress. He drew lines and circles all over my body. He seemed excited about the surgery, he said that with my frame this was going to turn out exceptional.
They came in and gave me two different medicines (I saw the name on one of the syringes as 'Fentanyl") to get the anestesia going and started wheeling me back. I was able to tell my husband I love him.
That's the last thing I remember before the operation.
Next thing I knew, I was awake and in recovery. Someone asked me what year it was. I answered correctly (yay!) and asked for my husband. They said they'd get him for me and I told them to tell him I love him more than the Cubs suck. That's one of our 'inside' jokes and I knew when he heard it he would be assured that I was ok.
He told me that the doctor had come out and talked to him. The surgery went beautifully. My ab muscles were completely separated from my pregnancies so the tightened them back to normal and then removed 11.5 pounds of skin. There wasn't enough fat to do liposuction so none was used. Isn't that amazing? 11.5 pounds of skin? Just around my abdomen?!
They moved me right into my recovery room. I don't remember a lot during this time. I called my mother to tell her I was ok and I sent her into a fit of tears by calling her "Mommy" for the first time in a decade or so. The drugs made me pretty woozy. I think she was emotionally overwhelmed to hear me address her the way I did as a young child, especially since we live across the country and she couldn't be with me during the recovery period.
I was on a pain pump with Dilaudid. Even with the pain medicine I was barely comfortable. This was much more painful than I had expected! I expected it to hurt, but WOW! I had no pain at the incision site at all, but the pain in my ab muscles is just awful. Thankfully, I've worked out enough to recognize what it feels like when your muscles are just intensely sore so I can mentally work through that pain.
At this point, it was a few hours post-op and I was punching that button for pain meds as much as I could. They gave me valium, which was the only medicine that would relieve the muscle soreness.
I'd rate the pain the day of the operation as a 9 on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the worst.
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