Bigger and better

It's been a crazy year! I've been knitting my little guts out however I've also been focusing a lot on my health.

Since having children I've never felt 100% happy with how I've looked on the outside and as I got older I began to worry more about how my body must look from the inside. I joined a gym and when I wasn't knitting I was running and working out. My body became much tighter and I had more stamina to run to those yarn sales and push my way through hoards of ladies to get at the good stuff first.

When I had my two children I had two c-sections, one emergency and the other planned. No, I'm not upset that I didn't do it naturally. For those who did...congratulations. I'm not poo-pooing on your ability to push a watermelon out of a straw. Good job! I was not so fortunate nor was I worried about it. I just wanted those babies out of me in whatever way possible. So, I go through life with a lovely little scar just above my pubic bone and a lovely amount of loose skin that sags almost to the floor when I do pushups and planks at the gym. Very sexy I tell you! There was always a muffin of skin hanging over my pants and you know there was nothing I could do about it....or was there?!!!

I went to my doctor to see if there was a lotion or an exercise that I could do to help get my stomach back into shape. Unfortunately plastic surgery was the only way to go. Shoot! There goes all my hope of ever getting rid of the muffin-top. I put on my jacket and went home, defeated.

I told my husband the news. He said that he'd support me no matter what I decided and that if I did want to go ahead with the surgery that we could finance it. My hope started to return...but wait...there's no way I could do it. That is a big surgery and not to mention gross! My friend had it done and told me the horror stories. There's no way I could do that to myself...or could I? I called and made an appointment with the best plastic surgeon in the area.

This man wanted to know what I expected out of the surgery and why I wanted to do it. He had me sit on the table and took a look at what he was up against. After taking a look he said no problem, he could do it.

On October 6, 2010 I arrived at my local hospital, was put under for the first time and woke up to a whole new me! They brought my abdominal muscles back together by 2 inches (they had separated during my c-sections) and removed 6 inches of skin. I have no regrets and a lovely new belly button. My doctor came to talk to me after recovery and was so happy to see that I was up and walking around within 3 hours of the surgery, he sent me home for the night and told me to get up as much as I can over the next 48 hours. Within the 48 hours I was up and doing laundry, getting in and out of my chair and with very little discomfort. By the end of 4 days I was taking my dog for walks around the neighbourhood with my drains tucked up under my jacket. Within a week I had my drains removed and I was moving around like nothing happened. By 2 weeks I was back at work and back to normal. It's been 3 weeks since my surgery and I'm doing great! The binder is still on but all the stitches are gone and my incision is already healed and disappearing more and more every day. Where it was a bit bumpy, I have noticed it is already flattening out. I have returned to the gym and although I don't feel comfortable running yet, I am walking at a brisk pace on the treadmill with a 4.0 incline.

Now if only I could knit as fast as I can heal.