So, two days ago I got this little accessory removed! I had a recurring seroma (fluid pocket) in my abdomen that my surgeon tried manually draining a few times a week for a couple of weeks, before finally saying “I think you need an indwelling drain”. Oh yay, oh joy, just in time to go back to work! As you can see from this picture, the drain was not innocuous, and definitely could be seen under my clothes. It was bulky, uncomfortable, and an overall pain in the butt, but it did do it’s job, which is I guess what I should be more focused on. The drain stayed in for three freaking weeks (three weeks and one day, exactly), and by the end I was SOOOO ready for it to come out. By the end it was putting out less than 5ml a day, so it definitely did it’s job. Unfortunately I had to wear it while on a pleasure trip to San Francisco, and it earned me a pat-down at the San Francisco airport. Gotta keep the world safe from me!

With the ongoing issues with the seroma, with the antibiotics for suspected early cellulitis, with the having to wear the compression garments for weeks on end, would I do this surgery again? Absolutely! I still have a little bit of swelling in my abdomen, but I actually have a waist now, my arms finally feel like they belong to my body again, and I can fit into size 10 jeans (at my largest it had been size 26-28). An added bonus that my doctor had said may happen is that I have actually lost even more weight since having the surgery. As he puts it, the tummy tuck portion basically creates an internal corset, and makes overeating near impossible. I’m down almost 20 pounds since before surgery, and actually that pre-surgery weight had been comfortable for me, this is just mind-blowing!

Thanks for coming along on the journey with me. I’m back to work, this week I go back to the gym, and am starting to feel like a normal functional human being again!