Wednesday, January 6, 2016

1/6/2016: Is it my imagination?

I used the scar away strips for one day and I could swear that the scars look better already.  Is that possible?  The product is a pain in the ass, if you happen to have a lot of scars, like I do.  As I was cutting the strips to size and placing them over all of my scars I was impressed by the amount of cutting and sewing that was done on my body.  It took a while to get scar treatment on every single scar.  As a result, my morning routine is lengthy.  No more jump in the shower, towel off, get dressed and head out the door for me.  This morning it took an hour (not including breakfast and blogging) to:


  • Remove my garment
  • Remove all of the scar away strips, wash them, and lay them out to dry 
    • Scar Away strips can be washed and reused for a week.  Good thing, too, they are expensive.  I just ordered enough of them from Amazon to get me through until I should be done using them.  Between the two boxes I bought at CVS and the rest that I just ordered from Amazon, I've spent about $300 on Scar Away.  It'll be worth it, though, if the treatment really does soften scars and minimize their appearance.
  • Massage all scars, my belly, and the lipo area of my thighs with lotion.  Use a lot of pressure.  I massage myself until my arms and hands start to ache.
  • Shower
  • After breakfast - reapply all of the Scar Away strips
  • Put garment back on and get dressed.
I have decided to start getting up at 4:00AM instead of 5:00AM to give myself plenty of time to complete my full scar treatment routine and not feel rushed.  This was normally my exercise time, but since I can't exercise, it makes sense to use this time for other self-care.  Also, this way I will be in the habit of waking up at 4:00AM once I am released for exercise.

I've had a couple of people ask me if I will go to the bowling alley tonight to watch my team bowl.  The answer to that question is, "No."  By the end of the work day I am EXHAUSTED!  Last night Jack commented that he wasn't sure if I was going to make it to my recliner before I collapsed.  Ugh.  It is going to be a long haul.  I am hoping that by next week I will feel strong enough to go over there at least for a little while.  We'll see.

I think the swelling is starting to go down a little bit.  This morning I weighed 154.4 pounds.  I am being very careful not to overeat, but I am not dieting with the intent to lose weight.  I am eating a very clean diet to try to minimize inflammation and swelling.  My best guess is that I should weigh about 150 after all of the swelling is gone.  I weighed 155.6 (or was it 155.4?) the morning of my surgery.  I am weighing every morning to monitor the swelling and inflammation, as much as anything.  

The comments I've received from friends at work have all been positive.  There are a few people that have commented on the exact same thing that I see when I look in the mirror, I look like a smaller person.  It really is interesting, considering the fact that right now I essentially weigh exactly what I weighed going into surgery, so, technically, I am the same size.  But now it is more compact.  I no longer appear top heavy.  With my breasts smaller and higher, my whole body looks smaller and more youthful.  The diastasis repair had a dramatic impact on the width of my abdomen.  Even though the muscle separation was minimal, the repair made my mid-section noticeably narrower.  And the belly bulge is gone.  All in all, I do look smaller and more youthful.   Quite frankly, I don't think the casual observer would notice anything dramatically different, which is fine by me, but the differences are there.  As I said before, one of the most dramatic differences is how clothes fit.  I can now wear just about anything I want to wear.  It's pretty fun.  It'll be even more fun when the swelling is gone and I can start exercising again.  I am looking forward to getting this new body fit and toned!!

It's raining ice outside.  Yuck.  The drive to work is going to be a bitch.  I am not looking forward to that at all.  It'll get warm enough during the day to make the drive home fairly easy.

I guess that's it for now.  

Have a beautiful day!


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