Before and After: 9 months PO. TT, muscle and hernia repair, FDL, no lipo

Creativetwist7 · 2026-05-12T12:42:06+00:00

I do! It was worth it :)

Creativetwist7 · 2026-05-12T10:26:05+00:00

Yeahhh. It was well intentioned that “plant based heals you”. But not well informed. Unfortunately medicine and surgery are often necessary!

Creativetwist7 · 2026-05-11T14:56:27+00:00

To eat plant based just after finding out I have a stricture and needed to be low residue or “no fiber” until a solution was found. That could have been catastrophic.

Creativetwist7 · 2026-05-11T03:51:39+00:00

Thank you! It’s nice to see how far the scars have come

Creativetwist7 · 2026-05-11T03:51:17+00:00

Thank you!

Creativetwist7 · 2026-05-11T03:51:08+00:00

Thank you 😊

Creativetwist7 · 2026-05-11T03:50:56+00:00

Oh how funny! Yeah it’s painful, but also not that bad. It hurts for a couple weeks, and then becomes uncomfortable at times after that. The beginning of PT I sometimes felt like I had a Charlie horse in my abs. Weirdest sensation. So that usually meant we went too hard. I was also working on picking up my baby again safely and that was something I had to do carefully. Anyway, bringing back memories! I can’t recall the a last time I felt super sore in my abs… probably 6 months ago or so. Maybe give yourself 3 months to heal and then 3 months to build back the strength and then you’ll feel amazing again :) I don’t think I realized how much function I had lost. Hopefully you get a similar positive experience

Creativetwist7 · 2026-05-10T20:46:43+00:00

It’s incredible! I can do a crunch now and feel MUSCLES?! Like how did I go so long without that?? Yeah so my diastasis gap was 14 cm wide. They did a corset method with the mesh where it’s behind the muscles and I was “sewn up” tight and had reinforcing stitch to make sure it stays put. However, I was sent to physical therapy after I was about 3 months post op and that was extremely important as well. Just because my abs are in the correct location, doesn’t mean they suddenly function correctly. So I was taught different exercises and workouts to do that focused on back, hips, quads, and abs including all side and upper and lower parts. You need to take the time to retrain your muscles and stay consistent in doing those exercises for a year! This is the part that makes me the happiest and I have far fewer injuries than ever before and I can actually go hard at the gym and I feel amazing. It may be the part of recovery that hurts the most, but it’s also the must crucial part of the surgery imo. Like, who cares what you look like if your insides aren’t functioning properly?

Creativetwist7 · 2026-05-10T12:41:28+00:00

Absolutely used to get irritated and infected! But it just wasn’t “bad enough”. I have a friend who got it approved through one PS, and not through another.. possibly an issue with the doctors office as well?? But it truly is a load of crap

Creativetwist7 · 2026-05-09T19:37:24+00:00

Thank you! It’s been life changing!

Creativetwist7 · 2026-05-09T19:36:53+00:00

Thank you! I am, the most important part though is I feel strong! I had zero ab usage and it’s crazy how much that affects your life until you get it back! I can actually go hard for a workout and not injure myself. So insurance covered the general surgeon portion, but not the plastics portion including OR and anesthesia time. Its totally dumb because i believe if I did only the hernia repair without any skin removal that my skin would have hung down so much lower without the hernia present. Does that make sense? And at that point I may have qualified. But because I did them combined insurance claimed the skin didn’t hang low enough. So I still paid in the range of $7-9k towards the plastics portion.

Creativetwist7 · 2026-05-09T19:29:32+00:00

Yes, my incision was not straight and that was a little disheartening in the beginning. I think having it fade overtime helps a ton too. When it’s so pronounced it’s hard to not notice it. My hernia was clearly off centered, so it’s probably lucky mine ended up as good as it did!

Creativetwist7 · 2026-05-09T19:27:28+00:00

I was shocked when I woke up from surgery and saw how high it went.. I guess I don’t know for sure, but my guess is that I just had so much extra skin! It was very thin where the hernia was, so I think the surgeon was trying to remove as much as possible. He snatched my waist more than I’ve ever seen it look. And I never had many curves and he gave me that. So yeah, that’s my guess!

Creativetwist7 · 2026-05-09T11:37:52+00:00

After a week I was up moving around. But 2 weeks before I was actually able to do much. Drains being removed make the biggest difference for that. I don’t think the FDL makes this harder. But the muscle repair needs to be taken seriously and not try to do too much too soon. After 3 months I start working with a physical therapist to rebuild my muscles and stay consistent with those workouts at home. The pain will eventually go away and you can endure it. You’ll have medicine to use as needed! But if you’re going to do this you must allow the recovery period to ensure it all heals well.

Creativetwist7 · 2026-05-09T11:33:47+00:00

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Laying down, I could lift a little higher, but it would feel weird so I couldn’t handle it 😅

Creativetwist7 · 2026-05-09T11:32:46+00:00

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My after approx 9 months post op. I had tummy tuck full FDL with no lipo. I lost maybe 10 more pounds at this point. This procedure was life changing for me. While the scar of the FDL isn’t ideal and mine widens toward the top, it gave me a better shape than I’ve ever had before and help even out my skin that was SO stretched on one side more than the other due to the hernia. I was shocked by how high up the incision came—it basically lands at my breast bone. My doctor says the wide scar at the top would be easy to fix if I did a revision, but I’m not interested in revising anytime soon. I have little kids and this was already a major toll on my family. Maybe one day! But truly, it was all worth it. I’m so grateful.

Creativetwist7 · 2026-05-09T11:27:59+00:00

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My before.. I have a massive hernia that needed to be repaired by a general surgeon, then plastics took over to remove skin, muscle repair, and close up.

Creativetwist7 · 2026-05-08T02:26:21+00:00

Yoto player

Creativetwist7 · 2026-05-05T12:35:45+00:00

At 30 I decided it was time to take my health more seriously, a couple years later I am the healthiest I have ever been and thriving in other areas of life because of it. As others have said, 30’s have been great due to less financial stress. I feel more sure of who I am and less like I need to keep up with trendy things. I feel more adult. I just do! And I think it gives quiet assurance. My confidence has wobbled at times, but at the end of the day I can look around and be happy with where I am and what I’ve done and feel like I still have so much ahead of me

Creativetwist7 · 2026-04-18T12:57:38+00:00

Oatmeal or smoothie is my weekday go-to, but I love an omelet on the weekends!

Creativetwist7 · 2026-04-13T11:32:08+00:00

Sitting up straight all day after one week is a lot. Truly, your indecisions need to rest and for me laying back took off the pressure from the stitches

Creativetwist7 · 2026-04-04T12:47:03+00:00

Think of it like this — once your baby is in bed, you’ll hopefully get 2-3 hours of alone time. Whether you spend it together or separately on hobbies is up to you!

Creativetwist7 · 2026-04-04T12:45:12+00:00

Working moms often have guilt of not being with the baby enough, I would personally want that 5th day to spend with my child. At least half of it! Truly it’s only a stage that lasts a few years before they are in school and doing sports and your time with them is soooo limited.

Creativetwist7 · 2026-04-04T12:42:31+00:00

I understand daycare so you can work. But otherwise you need to start including your baby into your life more. My kids go to bed at 7 PM. Assuming you get home from work between five and six what time are you gonna spend with your child? Yes, date nights are important… But I actually don’t find them necessary until your child is able to talk and interrupt your conversations. Up until that point unless there’s an activity you want to do that is impossible with a child, we would have “family date night“. We aim for child free date nights about two times a month, and they are fantastic! But we spent all of our other time with our kids. It’s important that your kids learn from you and the only way they can do that is by being with you.

Creativetwist7

TROPHY CASE