After my third (and last!) child was born, I felt like my body was no longer my own. I’ve always taken care of myself. I worked hard to stay at or around my ideal weight, trained at the gym and took pride in my appearance. Now I looked in the mirror and saw a pumpkin on stilts. There was muscle separation from my pregnancies that created a bulge, making me look perpetually pregnant. The excess skin and indentation above my C-section scar was so ugly. Most of my outfits were variations on big shirts and loose pants. Honestly, it bothered me. Every. Single. Day.
A couple of years ago, I made up my mind that I would get my tummy fixed. I had two different consultations. One doctor tried to sell me a full body lift. “Are you kidding?” I thought. The next surgeon seemed nice but his secretary (no offense, but…) looked like she was stuck in high velocity winds or something. A permanent plastic face. It made me wonder if he operated on her, maybe his idea of enhancement was different than mine. Both surgeons were so business-like. I wasn’t comfortable. As it turns out, I had second thoughts since my youngest was still just 2 years old and would be a handful during recovery. So I waited. It was a good thing I postponed after all. About a year later, at age 43, I began my search once more and my gynecologist referred me to Dr. Constantine.
It didn’t even feel like I was meeting with a surgeon. He was so real and approachable. I just clicked with him immediately. Personality aside, he’s exceptionally trained and super knowledgeable. He explained everything and gave me the impression he was both serious and caring about everything he does. No sales pitch about what I else I needed done. The surgical plan was a tummy tuck abdominoplasty and liposuction.
Prior to surgery, I read up on the procedure and watched some You Tube. There were real horror stories and tales of the pain and recovery. In truth, I actually found it to be not so bad after all. There really is no better way to fix the problem, so maybe it was mind over matter in my case. I saw immediate results after surgery. A little discomfort didn’t stop me. I even drove myself to my one week post-op appointment to get my drains out. And I’ve been mobile ever since. My body continues to improve and I look spectacular.
You have to be careful and obey the recovery guidelines. The first 3 days are the worst. Be sure you are getting up as instructed at the beginning even if it isn’t comfortable. That will help avoid complications. liposuction is a big surgery, so it is best to have plenty of help afterwards. Make sure your kids are a bit older and have your husband realize he will need to step it up a lot the first week. I am the type of person who cannot sit still, so that part was difficult for me. I had to watch my house get messy. Slowly I began to do small things and everything took a million times longer than usual.
It’s not a walk in the park—that’s for sure. But totally worth it. It was the best thing I ever did for myself. It changed my life and gave me back my confidence. I am ME again. And Dr. Constantine? He is amazing.
