So. Monday morning is it at 7:45, and I guess what I'm having done is more accurately a beltline lipectomy with panniculectomy. You know that expression about ripping someone a new arsehole? lol Kind of feel like that's what I'm headed for.

Because this is so far from home (6 hours) I'm leaving tomorrow morning. I'll take Thursday to get there and Friday I have the anesthesia/pain consult at the hospital.

DH and I are going to a concert Friday night and we'll try to spend the weekend like tourists and just enjoying each other. Did I mention ever that I'm with a man who is the absolute love of my life?!?!

Then the surgery is first thing in the morning Monday. My doctor has been on holiday for 2 weeks and I'm his first surgery, first day back. I'm sure he'll be well refreshed and I know he's quite looking forward to working some major magic with this body of mine.

So there you have it. I'm freaking out big time of course and the ISSUES that go along with this are unbelievable. But one moment at a time I'm getting there.

See you on the flip side folks.

Hubs,

First, let me just say that you are in my prayers, please return to us safe & sound and may your recovery be gentle.

Second, I can't blame you for being nervous... your post gave me goosebumps for crying out loud LOL.

Keep busy and try not to think about it to much (yeah right !! eh~ ).

Let us know when your home please.

Hugs !!!

You are in my thoughts and prayers hubs. I hope that you return to us soon.

oh honey - thank you for posting. i've been watching the calendar along with you, and hoping/praying/wanting everything to go perfectly for you.

much love - and someone will keep us updated, won't they???

Oh but what a pretty arsehole it will be...

Good luck to you! You're in my thoughts and prayers!

Hubs.. I wish you all the best!! I hope all goes great and the results turn out even better than what you had hoped for

Keep us posted!
D.

hubs--- I thought that you said that you weren't considered a good candidate and weren't going to have it done.
I wish you tons of luck! (I had a tt done last month and it wasn't nearly so painful as I had thought it would be.......more uncomfortable than anything and day by day it gets better).

You're right Charlotte. I was turned down flat by two surgeons for a whole host of reasons. Here's a link to the thread that provides the updated information explaining how I got from there to here! http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=85172 Its the Just a Few Words thread on page 2.
I'm glad to hear your procedure wasn't too painful for you. I'm allergic to narcotics so pain management is a real concern for me. And as I posted above, its not just the 'tummy tuck' I'm having. Some surgeons call it a total body lift. So its a huge cut pretty much the total circumference of my body.

Anyway, I'm feeling ready. The frantic fear freakout is subsiding as I go into another place in my head about this. This week I had so many body memories of all the other surgeries and complications I was having trouble getting past that but I'm ok now. I'm asking for an epidural to cover me for the first few hours as I get out of recovery so I don't have to integrate that severe pain with getting my blood pressure back up and generally dealing with the wake up issues. They're putting me in a warmer so my circulation is supported and I think that was a huge issue with the last 'crash' I had in recovery.

As far as updates go, I don't really have anyone who can do that for me. I'll see if I can manage something but probably you'll all just have to wait to here from me. I'm taking my PDA with me and have to check email and such from the hospital so if I can get online with it I'll try to post something when I can.

All prayers and well intentioned thoughts are very, very much appreciated.

Oh wow, I missed a whole episode here, so thanks for the link explaining the quantum jump! I am as happy as can be for you!!!! 75lbs!!!! See I remember Jiffy Pop telling you that you weren't as overweight as you thought you were because of all the excess skin etc!

She's always right!!!

Prayers and positive thoughts with you for your preparation (isn't waiting the worst!), procedure and recovery.

Wow Hubs. I haven't been around much lately, so I hadn't realized this is really, really going to happen for you. I'm so excited (and nervous) for you. When you recover I want to read all the details to know what to expect when my turn comes. I wll be thinking good thoughts for you and I have every confidence in the world that you'll come out flop free and happy!

Good luck!
Chickadee

Hubs.. You can count on my prayers, thoughts, and best wishes..

D.

I'm in Winnipeg, in my hotel. Went to the Crosby Stills Nash Young concert last night and it was TERRIBLE! Really disappointing, bad sound, bad tickets, bad stage performance. No sensitivity to the fact that it was a Canadian audience and messages to impeach the President fall on deaf ears. Totally Americanized propaganda. Cheap two bit stage show. Like bad, really bad. And did I mention bad sound? lol Oh yeah, and this guy who was probably nearly 400 pounds in the seat beside me and I'm sure he was very uncomfortable but he spread his legs into the seat space on both seats on either side of him and I felt squished. I felt like a jerk feeling hostile toward him because I knew he was just plain too big for his seat, but he wasn't acting like he cared at ALL how he affected the people beside him.

I had a very emotional day yesterday. Saw the anesthetist at the Pre-op clinic and that wasn't so much what I wanted to hear. No epidural because it drops blood pressure and with my crash in recovery last time (pressure dropped to 50/20 believe it or not) they won't give me the epidural. So, those wake up moments won't be fun. I came back to the motel and cried.

Today, we just sort of pissed around. Had a really good supper. Came back to watch the ball game and that went into 14 innings so that was a time filler.

Tomorrow night I have to do all the antiseptic wash stuff, then up at 5:00 to be at the hospital for 6:15 (our hotel is still about a 40 minute drive away from there). They tell me they will be for real starting on time. At 10 to 7 they take me to the OR holding area where the surgeon comes in and marks his cut lines with a black felt pen. I sure hope he has good 'penmanship' lol. Ok. I'm not actually laughing out loud. More like a nervous little jittery sound. haha.

Then the surgery starts at 7:45. As in I'm in the operating room and starting to snooze by then. Lions and tigers and bears oh my!

There. Can you tell how calm I am? haha. haha.

Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes. I told DH if he feels me hovering around him during the surgery to tell me to get back to my room! And he should just keep checking in with me psychically so I don't feel panicked and roam away from my body looking for him. I kid you not.

Trying to give myself a good old attitude fine tuning so I'm good to go for Monday. Really, I think I'll be fine. I just have to keep telling myself that!

Good luck with your surgery! I've had abdominoplasty. It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and I had 300+ stitches. I don't do well with pain killers - they all make me sick. Any pain that I went through was well worth it! You're going to feel like a million bucks when you're healed. Congratulations!

Thanks for the encouraging words. I'm so, so looking forward to how I'll feel in a couple of months. I've had so many complications with previous surgery it makes me nervous. But, I'm sure it will be worth it too!

hubs - you can do this. you can you can you can.