the final straw...

i found this lovely photo from December 31, 1994.  we were vacationing in the bahamas and i am obviously getting ready to snorkel.  it was on this trip that i was asked if i was pregnant by some teenage boy who was trying to protect me and my unborn child from harm while go cart riding.  he was promptly told that i most certainly was not pregnant and to move out of my way.  i remember thinking what an idiot he was.  now looking at this pic, i believe he was asking an extremely reasoable question and in retrospect, i thank him for two things:  first, for doing his job and trying to protect my unborn child (even though it was only a beer gut.) and for pissing me off so badly that i immediately came home and hit the diet and exercise hard. 

between january and march, i lost 30 pounds and went from really undeniably FAT to just a little large.  That is where i stayed the rest of my college years and until late 1999.  that is when my skinny friend asked me to be in her wedding and i was determined not to have the widest ass walking down the isle....  i lost 15 more pounds.  although i have not seen the pics from the wedding, i don't think my ass was the widest and i remember feeling like i looked good.

if you will remember from the previous post, this puts me now around 160ish (really was around 155 for the wedding) and then snuck up about 10lbs until i got engaged two years later.  another 15 down and then the babies came....  one, two, divorce diet, three. 

this created swings from the low 150s to the low 200s and back all three times, but never even with 9lb full term mexican baby Consuella, did i weigh in as much as the fall of 1994.

more to come from triple p...

why a blog about this?

for some time i have been considering trying to "blog" but really did not think i had the time or enough interesting things to write about.  when i decided to have the bod improvement surgery and started telling a few friends about the procedures to come, everyone seemed to be very interested in all the details and what is would be like.  so, while lunching with my favorite blogging sisters, i agreed to blog if one of them would set it up and make it cute.  the elder sister agreed.  after lunch the younger sister was emailing me about some party plans and said she was so excited about me being the plastic pioneer and that she could not wait to hear all about it.... thus the blog and the name were born.

so many thanks to the pioneer blogging sisters for their talents and ideas....  hope you enjoy the rest of the info to come.

triple p....

details, details, details

BEWARE THIS POST WILL HAVE GOREY DETAILS AND PHOTOS - NOT FOR THE WEAK STOMACH! 

so it has been 6 days since the creation of the new bod and i must say it has been a lot more pleasant than i anticipated.  for the first few days home, i was definitely moving around too much.  you see, the pain meds give me energy instead of making me calm and sleepy.  so i don't just want to lay around. on the advice of a nurse friend, i have made a much bigger effort to lounge around over the last two days so i hope to get a good report at the dr. visit tomorrow afternoon.

the most unpleasant thing has been my four new attachments - the drains or jp drains as they are called. in a very innocent way, the nurse mentioned that i would have four drains after the surgery for around a week.  well, having never had such, i was unprepared for the drains, their looks, the contents, and the whole idea.  however, i was probably not nearly as shocked or confused by them as my three little ones or several of my visitors.

  

on the above right is my right hip (looking down at it) and the bandaged and taped tubes - two of them - that via suction drain fluids to the bulbs in the above left photo.  i have walked around with these hanging from my sides or safety pinned to my shirt for almost a week now. not a good fashion statement.

because i was not really prepared for the drains and what that meant, i was unable to order the drain pouch that i have since found online (a fanny pack made specifically to carry the drains.)  i would strongly suggest purchasing the pouch for anyone who will be joined by these lovely pieces of plastic ...  perhaps that is the "plastic" in plastic surgery....  please note:  this is the only circumstance under which i would suggest any type of fanny pack. 

honey has been a wonderful nurse and has very diligently milked my drains, dumped, measured, and recorded the details on my drain chart.  i am sure this will create a really big payback....  an i owe you.... yikes!  apparently men are vastly motivated by the new girls.

perhaps dr. e will see fit to remove three of them tomorrow...  cross your fingers.

the only other thing that has bothered me is the new bellybutton.  not sure how i thought that the skin was going to be removed without creating a new one, but it was a surprise.  i certainly had no affinity for the old belly button and am really glad to see it go but i am a little apprehensive about the final appearance of the new one.  it is really just a new external belly button, cut in the skin that probably used to be above the bellybutton and sewn to the inner belly button that is in the same place it always has been.  (i took a photo but it even grossed me out so i decided to leave it to the imagination.) 

all other incisions are fine and the girls are perky and doing fine - no pain from them at all.  i mean really not at all.

until today pretty much all skin from the girls to the mid thighs has been numb - like your cheeks feel after being numbed for a little dental work - that is what my stomach, butt, and thighs feel like.  this i have found to be a benefit - especially when removing the tape from the drain entry points.  however, just like a newborn "wakes up" after about two weeks and figures out he aint going back to the warm nest of the womb and that is when you figure out that newborns aren't perfect.... my skin and insides seem to be slowly waking up and realizing that things have changed - and so far it seems they are not too pleased....  serious burning - of course, if the muscles were used to any kind of exercise, then this burn might be a familiar feeling.  but they are not so the movement and sewing that they have endured is quite a new experience.  and it burns, not really hurts, just burns.  alot.

well, off to continued internet research regarding the contents of the drains. 

heres to reducing the number of new friends for my body from 6 (4 drains and 2 girls) to 3 tomorrow...

cheers - triple p

Why? Much more than WHY NOT?

why?  such a little word with such enormous promise.  why is the sky blue?  why is it raining as if we live in seattle?  why doesn't the hubby check the mail?  why in the world have i subjected my body to this massive surgery, scarring, and pain?  my initial thought to such a question is, "why not?"  i then realize that there are a million very reasonable answers to that question....  risk of anesthesia, risk of surgery, stress on hubby and kids, stress on sister and mother, cost, extra skin that will not go away is really not a big deal.....  so what the hell, why not?  and so i did. 

i decided to "go under the knife" for one reason - i wanted to.  i was tired of looking at the extra skin that is sagging around my hips, tummy, and thighs (not to mention the tatas or lack of!)  i did not decide to do it simply to improve the way i look in clothes or a bathing suit, i decided to do it to improve the way i look when i am standing all alone in my own bathroom looking in the mirror.  i was tired of sagging wrinkled skin staring back at me from my thighs.  i was tired of bending over to touch my toes and looking at a solid 5 inches or more of skin hanging off of my stomach.  i was tired of my belly button being so deep that a small group of refugees could make a home there.  and i was tired of my tatas hanging like pebbles in bags. (a very funny cousin in law called his wife's rocks in socks, but mine simply were too small to be rocks, so i settled on pebbles.)

and thus the decision was made.  then i began the research.  i asked friends and family.  i asked dr. m - and settled on his recommendation.  i also asked him if he thought my issues could be resolved with exercise and he quickly said no.  you can tone muscle, but you won't even be able to see it for all this excess tissue that you have.  "under the knife" was the only way.  i searched and searched for before and after photos, risks, complications, what to expect, etc. etc. etc.  i decided i needed a tummy tuck, thigh lift, and boob lift and implants to boot!

fortunately, dr. e saw it differently.  he advised that although i could get those three procedures, i would be disappointed with the results.  now, with my high expectations, i certainly was not going to cut up my body when the very surgeon who would be fixing me told me from the outset that what i wanted wasn't going to work.  he did have a solution though.....  the boob  lift and implant would be easy - just deciding on the size would be important....  but instead of a tummy tuck and thigh lift, i needed a tummy tuck and belt lipectomy or A CIRCUMFERENTIAL BODY LIFT!!!  are you kidding me?  like my funny friend said - that is like 4 c-sections all around your body.  yep - that is right.  he wanted to cut me from hip bone to hip bone, back and front, pull up and down, snip and sew.  ok - sounds like a plan.  a very very painful plan but a plan none the less.  and so it was to be - the skin would all be removed....  and some nice tatas would be installed. 

so there you have it...  why i decided to do it.  but why did i have all that extra skin?  maybe three babies in three and a half years was a contributor, but the real culprit was the former fat person from the early 90's....

bid day 1994

leanne, michelle, darby, ida

this was the highpoint of what created the SKIN that would sag....  note that gut and FUPA!

jeans were a men's size 40

weighed in at 205 pounds.

carnation ball 1993

darby and stuart

dress purchased at a pea in the pod

no not because i was preggy, but because my gut was so big!

and now its almost time for a dose of pain meds.  more to come. 

triple p

THE GIRLS ARE HOME!

Well we are on day two with the new bod and tatas. So far, so good. Before the big day, i was most worried about the anesthesia for 3.5 hours and the surgical risks. Fortunately neither of these fears were realized. I had a great two days at Northside with wonderful nurses - except that they were a little stingy with the pain meds.... of course i start asking at least 30 minutes before time to take them. By today we had a mutual understanding that i was going to continue to request until they produced. So between the percocet and the muscle relaxers we are all doing well.

couple of thoughts: i think it is a good thing for your doctor to act like a proud proud man after working on your new bod and tatas.... and Dr. E. he was proud of himself. And i must say so far i can see why. can you say perky?

next, drains. okay so this is the least fun thing about the journey so far. i mean who wants four tubes coming out of their hips when trying to admire the new tight as a drum tum tum? And there is terminology i did not even know about - i have to milk these things to get the fluid out and measure it to boot. let's just leave it at that - not pleasant.

Well i will have to check in later - going to work on getting a muscle relaxer down, check the drains, admire the tatas and tum tum.... and maybe upload some photos.

love to all - triple p