I'm wondering how long you have to routinely do ab work before you'll see results? And what are the best exercises for that lovely abdominal region?

I have had several surgeries on my abdominal area - the last was a hysterectomy a few years back. So as you can imagine my abdominal area is in BAD shape All the muscles have been sliced more than once and it wasn't my best area to begin with but with the seperation of the muscles so many times I feel like it'll never get better.

I'm not looking for a "quick" fix, as I know that is impossible, but what are the most effective exercises?

abs are made in the kitchen

Abs won't show until you lose most of the fat around the region. You can certainly work them under the fat by doing a variety of exercises. Crunches on a ball for example are a great ab workout.