Six Weeks Post Op

Today is officially six weeks post my abdominoplasty surgery.   Even though I reported at the one-month mark I felt I should pop in now as well.  :) 

I am walking upright for the most part now.  The stretching that I felt for a while when standing upright only happens when I reach for things up high.  I'm still supposed to be careful about reaching high or bending too much while my internal stitches are healing, but things are much better.  My incisions are healing nicely.  

The only new thing I have to share is that my stomach seems to have relaxed a little to the point that when I am sitting I have a tiny pooch now.  Of course, for the first bunch of weeks I had a binder garment on holding things in so I think my stomach seemed tighter/flatter even when sitting.  As soon as I stand up it is smooth, so I'm not worried.  I also think after I start doing some core work my stomach will tighten up.  For now I am working on holding in my stomach throughout the day for core exercise.  

I can't remember if I mentioned this, but the doctor tightened up my abdominal muscles as part of this surgery.  So the stitching that was placed to tighten things up is what we are waiting on to heal.

Today I went running and it seems to be getting easier every time I go out.  I'm not necessarily close to my previous normal pace, but I can endure longer.  Today I ran 2.60 miles.  I take the first mile to warm up and then allow my body to speed up as it feels comfortable.  For now it's about completing the distances, not so much how fast.  I plan on running a 10K race in May and I think I'll be fine, but I may be a tad slower than in the past.  

My husband commented that he still can't believe how different I look.  I'm not always looking in the mirror, but when I happen to see myself it is indeed neat to see what a difference having the excess skin removed from my abdomen made.  I have no regrets about going through with the surgery.  

A couple of weeks ago I felt like I was never going to be back to normal.  Having been able to go for a few runs and walks I finally feel like I'm getting back into the swing of things with my health and fitness and it's a great feeling.