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A bit of background!

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Welcome! So to start off I will give you a little background about myself. 3 years ago I started a weight loss journey by changing my lifestyle through diet and exercise...I know I should of started this blog earlier right...but anyway this has lead me to lose almost 60kg and with that comes a lot of excess skin! Skipping ahead, after a tonne of research (over 12 months) and many doctors appointments to find the perfect surgeon for my situation, I selected to go with Dr Geoff Barnett from Cosmetic surgery for Women and Men in Hawthorn East. https://plasticsurgeons.com.au/dr-geoff-barnett/ After going to the free information nights they hold and being armed with a heap of questions, once I was satisfied with everything I was ready to jump in and go ahead. 6 months ago I underwent a Breast Lift and Arm lift to fix my sagging breasts and excess skin on my arms (also with Geoff Barnett)...I know another thing I should of documented...however fast forward to today and I have decided t
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4 weeks post revision

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So 4 weeks post op and feeling pretty much back to normal to be honest which is great! I've had another appointment to check everything but now I shouldn't need to go back for a little while...probably about the 12 week mark. It's so crazy that I started my surgery journey 18 months ago, as said in earlier posts I regret not documenting my breast lift and Brachioplasty before the tummy tuck but what can you do. Having surgery has been the best decision I have ever made and have absolutely no regrets! I now have my eye on getting a thigh lift however as you all know surgery isn't cheap so my next goal is just saving money so I can do this. Once that day comes I'll be sure to document that as well!! I'm always the kind of person to judge my body so harshly which I hate and that is something I am trying to change. What helps me most when I'm feeling bad about myself is looking at my before and after! So if anyone is interested you can this here! The first pic
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Revision Surgery Day!!

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The day has come!! Hopefully my last surgery for awhile however still have my goals on having a thigh lift at some stage!! At least for this year it's the last one haha! This shouldn't take too long, probably only about and hour or so as he is just going to tighten the skin and not too much internal stuff to do apparently. I've also been told the recovery will be easier and I'm only in hospital for one night so I guess I will wait and see. Next time I write  something I should have a flat stomach haha
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6 Month Update!!!

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It's been 6 Months!!! So as happy as I was with the outcome once all the swelling completely went away I was able to see the final results and there was still a little bit of sagging around the top of my stomach and my left side so currently looking at just getting that minor little adjustment fixed and I should be good to go! What I currently have is still a major improvement on what I had before however if I can't just get these minor little things fixed up I will be super happy! I did meet with the surgeon and he has suggested to just do a minor scar revision early next year just to really get it where it needs to be so I'm super happy about that!! Keep in mind the below picture was straight after my first laser treatment so it is super red so it won't look like that however you can see some slight sagging at the bottom which will be fixed up. Because I was going for the revision we also didn't have as many laser treatment or treatment on some of the area as it
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After Recovey Laser Treament!

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Well it's certainly been a few weeks since the surgery and I am pretty much back to normal routine with work and exercise. Now that I am pretty much healed it's time to try and treat the appearance of scars. As part of the process my surgeons office offer the fraxel laser treatment to help the appearance of scars. I know from my arms and breasts it really helps lightens them!! I will need a few sessions but the process of fraxel means I need to apply numbing cream to the area to avoid any discomfort.  The application of the cling wrap after putting the cream in his super fun! Haha
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8 Weeks Post Op!

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I can't believe it has been 8 weeks!! So crazy how time flies! So I had my 8 week post op appointment today and the surgeon is really happy with how everything is looking and there is really no issues. I am no longer wearing any tape/bandages and I have been told I can stop wearing the compression binder when I like but to be honest I am actually more comfortable wearing it as when I have taken it off I can occasionally feel a pulling feeling so it's all about comfort at the moment.I may just wear it when I exercise but I guess I'll decide that soon. I am also back at work now, I have been back almost two weeks and considering it is a desk job I have been exhausted since going back! Literally going to bed at 9pm and falling straight to sleep...This is probably good tho! I haven't been walking in the gym much since i've been back at work but I have just been walking 2km to the station in the morning and 2km back home in the evening...that's at least somethin
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4 Weeks Post Op!

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So after my few little issues and being back on anti-biotics everything has cleared up really well! From my last update I spent a week changing bandages every single day and cleaning the incision lines which seemed to do the trick, especially happy with the fact the surgeon and nurse were able to stop a problem before it got bad so I'm very grateful for the quick intervention!! So saying this I'm feeling good enough to be going down to the gym to get on the treadmill. I'm still not able to do heavy workouts at the moment and still in my compression binder but to be honest I am getting tired really quickly after I have had so many weeks of inactivity so the treadmill is enough for the moment. I especially don't want to do anything too crazy with this last set back so I am taking it easy to make sure I heal properly! It did feel good to put those gym clothes on again though haha So this has been a pretty short update but really the main thing is my little set bac
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3 Weeks Post Op!

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So I thought I would give you all my weekly update! I am currently 3 weeks post op and have had a few little issues come up but despite the issues looking a bit skinnier 😜 So essentially when I changed my tape on Monday I could see a little bit of a wet spot with a bit of discharge (sorry for being graphic) in the incision, I did have an appointment scheduled for Wednesday to be checked out by the surgeon so I didn't worry too much and there wasn't any pain. On Tuesday night I did notice another section of the incision swelling and becoming really red and there was a bit more pain than normal so I was glad to have an appointment the next day just in case. If anyone knows me they know I get super anxious and play every possible scenario in my head of what could happen haha! So essentially I went to my 3 week post op appointment and everything was cleaned up and looked at. There wasn't too much of a concern however the surgeon has put me back on anti biotics just to
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2 Weeks Post Op!

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Time has flown! I had my 2 week post op appointment on Tuesday and everything was looked at and dressings changed. Pain wise I am doing really well and now I can actually sit in a normal chair without too many issues. So with my post op appointment my dressings were changed from the big padded  gauze type to just the dressing tape that goes over the incision...this is so much more comfortable I assure you. I still have a patch over my belly button just to keep it clean as it does take a little longer to heal however I am changing this when I need to. The tape is left on when I shower so this is only replaced once a week or if it starts to fall off. I  was given a box of different things at my last appointment which included some of the tape, extra bandages and some soap free body wash to shower with so it's all pretty organised! So really at the moment I'm just doing everything I'm told to try and heal as quickly as possible. Generally I wouldn't have another appoi
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My First week at home!

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So today I have been at home for a full week!! I also can't believe that this blog has reached 1200 people which is absolutely amazing and I thank everyone that is reading for following the journey with me! If any of you have any questions at all please feel free to comment and I will try and answer anything based on my experience...I mean let's be honest I don't have anything else to do with my time haha! Anyway...my first week at home...this week has gone so fast it's crazy! I have finished all my anti inflammatory and anti biotic tablets so the only medication I am on currently is pain killers when I need them but pleased to advise I didn't take any at all last night but I did need them this morning but it's definitely not a bad pain and it's all pretty manageable. I am moving around a lot more. As I said in one of my previous posts I was super lucky to not have any nausea but I didn't want to speak too soon...well I am lucky I added in the part of
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7 Days Post Op!!!

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OMG! I can't believe this time a week ago I had just woken up from the operation! It has been a hard week I'm not gonna lie but to be honest I thought it was going to be much worse...Hopefully I don't speak too soon because it has only been a week and complications can still happen. So I had my first post op appointment yesterday with my surgeon and his nurse and they had a look at everything. Everything is all looking really good and all my dressing were cleaned up and changed as well as a couple of post op photos taken for their office...I know I should have taken a pic for myself to upload for you to see when I was there but I completely forgot and I was just curious to see what it all looked like under the bandages and got lost in the moment! I also did something called Healite, now this is basically just like an LED light therapy which helps the wounds heal. I don't know the exact science behind it but I did have this with my last surgical wounds and I had no he
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At home recovery.

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So I've currently been home for about 48hours not too much has changed but thought I would give you all an update. I can see already that I have had almost 600 page views on this blog which I was not expecting so I thank you for following my journey and I honestly hope this helps you in what knowing to expect if you are ready to undertake it! At my last pre surgery appointment I was given an amazing recovery pack from the surgeons office that just included everything to make recovery that little bit easier, things like vitamin supplements and tea etc...it does really help choosing an amazing surgeon because they think of these tiny details that I probably wouldn't have even considered...the packs definitely do come in handy and I am obsessed with the Vitamin C/Arginine supplement drink because it's exactly like orange juice but without the calories!!! I need to find where to buy this actually 🤔 So pain wise it is getting better with each day. I was given very stron
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I'm Home!!!!!

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I am home!! So I didn't have the best sleep for my last night in hospital but it was more to do with being a little uncomfortable in the binder and finding a good position than any pain although I did have to ask for panadol at about 4am because of a headache. As far as the incision pain goes I have been taking slow release pain killers so I am actually surprised how well they are working at minimising the pain. So last night I was able to be a bit more mobile, I am standing upright and I walked around the ward a couple of times just to keep moving. I had my last blood thinning injection last night however I still need to keep the compression socks on at home and walk around to prevent blood clots. I had a visit from Dr Barnett's nurse, Jenny before I was discharged this morning to check on my progress and after this my final drain tube was removed. I am also super happy in the fact that I have now mastered the hook and eye clasps on my compression binder that are right in
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Improvement!

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So after the pretty bad day I had yesterday I was hoping things could only get better. Happy to say that I do feel a lot better than yesterday and I haven't almost fainted which is definitely an improvement. I have been able to get up and walk around a little bit and I actually had a really good sleep last night...So good in fact I didn't even wake up when the nurses came into my room in the middle of the night to inject my blood thinner. I had another visit from my surgeon this morning to check everything is ok which was good and the nurses are still managing my pain really well. I got a bit over confident last night and decided to not take a pain killer before bed because I was feeling fine...let me tell you big mistake! When I woke up to move and go to the bathroom this morning all the pain killers had worn off and I could feel every incision!!! Don't let your pain killers wear off completely!!! Luckily this was quickly rectified and I was comfortable with the pain le
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The Day After!

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Today has certainly been eventful! Basically I am still being monitored every hour and the nurses here are doing an amazing job looking after me. I  am still on IV antibiotics and blood thinning injections in the legs. The one thing I was worried about today was the removal of the catheter and not knowing what to expect...It was nothing to be worried about at all and I have no idea why I was so paranoid about it. The bad news of the day I almost fainted! The nurse did get me out of bed moving and I walked around a little bit however when I was going to attempt to make myself look presentable in the bathroom a rush of heat came over me and all of a sudden I could barely see because my vision was so blurry. I was pretty much blind for what felt like a solid 5 minutes (I'm sure I'm exaggerating the length of time but it felt like ages!) I was put in a wheelchair to get me back to my bed so I wouldn't completely pass out, as suspected my blood pressure was so low however I
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I'm Awake!!!

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I'm awake!!! Not gonna lie, I woke up and I was in a lot of pain. For my surgery I have my own pain pump so essentially whenever I feel any pain I can push a button that administers strong pain killers through an IV. The worst of it so far was probably the first 15 minutes after waking up before the drugs came into effect (I had my pain pump and they gave me additional panadol on top). The surgery started at about 9:30am and when I woke up in recovery it was approx 1:30pm. Dr Barnett came to check on me not too long after waking up and informed me he took off 4kg of excess skin!! I was impressed losing 4kg in a day let me tell you! Ha ha! Now for the graphic part...I  have a number of drains inserted to get rid of any excess fluid etc not only that but because I can't really move much they put a catheter in during surgery so I am not having to get up to use the toilet...this is a first for me and I am a bit concerned I will be awake when they take it out tomorrow not sure
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OMG the day has arrived!!

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So the day of the Tummy Tuck operation has finally arrived! To say that I am nervous is an understatement. It is definitely a different kind of feeling going into this surgery. The previous surgery was all about excitement... Let's be honest I was getting amazing new boobs...this time around although I am getting an amazing new stomach major abdominal surgery is not to be taken lightly. Let me stress no surgery should be taken lightly but I am much more terrified of going under for this than I was for the last one! The last surgery I had was a long one (about 7hrs) and being a surgery where I can't use my arms I figured that's gotta be the worst one right? Get that out of the way first? I may have underestimated what I am about to go through! Although this one is much shorter (I believe about 4hrs) I think I may be in for a harder recovery than the last and I may have just realised that you do in fact use your abdominal muscles for pretty much everything! Ha ha! Although n
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