Abdominoplasty Update: 4 Months PO & Dog Ear Revision

4 Months. What?! It has been nearly 4 months since my Abdominoplasty already? I was afraid time would crawl through recovery but it actually has gone so fast! I have been absolutely in love with my results so far, but I did notice pretty early on that I had what is commonly referred to as a “dog ear” on the incision at my right hip.

Here is a picture several months later, after the incision had healed. I still had some major swelling going on, and that dog ear is far more noticeable. At my 3 month follow up I talked it over with my plastic surgeon and we decided to do a small in office revision to correct the dog ear. I had to pay a small office/supply fee but he didn’t charge for his time or anything since it was a revision. I scheduled the dog ear revision for a few weeks later.

Luckily I wasn’t as nervous for this as I was for the original surgery… Remember when I passed out while he was marking me up? SO embarrassing! This time I was still pretty numb along my incision so I didn’t even feel it when he was injecting me with the numbing stuff. It was a small in office procedure and it took about an hour. I was comfortable and awake the whole time. I felt pretty good afterwards, until the numbing stuff wore off that night when I was trying to sleep. Luckily I had some pain pills that he prescribed just incase, so I took one. It wasn’t horrible pain. Nothing compared to the original surgery. It was just throbbing and painful, like a 5 out of 10. I had tape strips on it for around the first week.

Here is a picture from about a week out. The incision is still healing, I’m a little swollen and bruised, but there is no more dog ear/triangle/pointy thing! I took 4 days off from working out to let the incision heal up. My doctor didn’t want me bending or moving too much around the hip area so it would heal properly.

Today is 2 weeks post revision. You can see the incision is healing well. My first scar is fading and I expect this one to do the same. Now the flanks are more even and there are no pointy dog ears sticking out.

I still have zero regrets about the surgery or the revision. As you can see the surgery didn’t make me “skinny” – I am still a pretty thick girl! I still have curves and I’m still squishy in some areas. This wasn’t at all intended to be a weight loss surgery or a surgery to make me skinnier. This was to remove the excess skin and reveal the shape that was hiding under it all.

I feel like it did that for sure. I am happy in my own body and I’m proud of the work I’ve done to get here.I still have my days of feeling bloated or whatever, Thanks Mother Nature. Do I still have things I want to improve? Absolutely. But I believe it is possible to love your body and desire to improve it at the same time.

I know this is more a health/fitness blog and some people don’t always like these types of posts but the reality of weight loss is excess skin. I wanted to share my journey with you as openly as possible so you can have all the information you need to make your own decision on what is right for you. I know some people who have lost considerably more weight than I have that have no desire to get rid of the excess skin. Just like I have said about every other stage in my journey, it is such an individual process/decision. It is important to do your research, really think about what it is you want… not what you think you should want.

Do you have any questions about the surgery/recovery process?