3 Months Post Body Lift

I can't believe it's been 3 months since I had my body lift surgery! It feels like a lifetime ago and my life is pretty much back to normal after the major surgery. The worst is definitely over, but I do still have a long way to go before I will see my final results. Sometimes I get impatient because I just want my body to feel and look normal now, but I know it will be worth the wait.

So here is where I stand at the 3 month mark:

Pain
I can move around pain free 90% of the time now and the pain I do experience is just tenderness, almost like a bruising feeling. The pain mostly only comes from the areas I had lipo: my hips, back and outer thighs. My scar area is still quite numb and it only hurts if I stretch too far or itch it by accident.

Exercise
I started exercising again around about 2 months after surgery and have been exercising steadily since then. I can still only do gentle exercise like walking, toning, stretching and weights. Any time I try to jog my hips, back and thighs hurt a lot. It doesn't matter because it's not like I was into running before I had the surgery, it is just tough when I try to run for the tram or after my brother's dog because it feels like someone is beating me up. The one thing I am looking forward to is when I feel well enough to do Pilates again, it is going to be awesome to do it without my stomach falling in my face!

Swelling
I still have a significant amount of swelling on my lower back. I carried a lot of weight there and the surgeon had to do a lot of lipo in that area so I am hoping that in time the swelling will go down. I had hoped that the swelling would have gone down more by now and I do get a little frustrated, but I know I have to be patient. I guess my fear is that the the area isn't swollen and that maybe it is just still fat. I have a follow-up appointment with my surgeon in a month so I will be able to find out whether it is swelling, fluid or fat. I think my hips and outer thighs are also still swollen because they feel soft, spongy and sore. I know it sounds weird that I say 'think' but it is quite hard to tell what is swelling and what is wobbly bits!

Scars
I am really happy with my scars, they are thinner than I thought they would be and have exceeded my expectations. Given that I am covered in stretch marks, scaring was really not a concern for me! I am just thrilled that I have had no trouble with the wounds splitting or hurting so I count myself lucky. I am still wearing silicone tape on my scars that my surgeon recommended I wear for as long as I can as apparently it helps with scarring.

Mentals
As usual, the hardest part of any process is getting the mental side together. I felt I was 100% ready for the surgery because I have wanted to have it for a very long time. Regardless, it was still hard to know what to expect because there isn't a lot of information out there on the body lift surgery. I am exceedingly happy with how my surgery went and my results, but sometimes the evil voice creeps into my head and says horrible things. It tells me that I should be embarrassed I spent so much money on surgery because I am still fat and saggy. I am slowly learning to shut down that evil voice and love my body and treat it right. Finally knowing that my body deserves to be loved is the first step.

Here are some photos taken just a couple of minutes ago, after walking the dog on this hot and sweaty night... no glam shots here!

My poor swollen back... and arse crack for your pleasure...

From the side

Front on-- I am not sure why I look so depressed!

And fully clothed, just so I look normal in one photo!

A reminder of my before photo to put these in perspective

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For more information on my body lift surgery see here. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email if you have any questions!