Swelly belly or just plain old fat?

Hi sisters,

I am now 11wks post op TAH/LSO, and my pants do not fit me!!! I was overweight to begin with, but now I can only fit into my fattest pants. It is in a weird place where I don't normally gain weight... below my belly button.. kinda poochy and flabby. It also gets sore in that area. I am walking/jogging 3mi day and it WON"T budge! I am losing some weight in my butt, but the stomach looks PREGNANT!

It this the infamous swelly belly? I am surprised if it is, as it seems like a long time to have it.

CC

Sounds like swelly belly to me. It can take a very long time to finally go away. I have it still at 20 weeks, but it is gradually getting less pronounced. It's great that you are able to jog at this point. Happy healing!

I didn't notice much difference in my swelly belly until 4 months. Then for a further month it was gone in the morning and came back by evening. In month 6 it only showed up if I was very active and now it seems to be gone altogether :-)

I would suggest cutting back on the activity for a few days and see if it makes a difference - if it does, it really is swelly belly.

Oh ladies thank you so much for your responses... It is so depressing to exercise and not even fit into your pants. I am fighting my appetite every day since this hyster... I think my hormones are screwed up. I have sore breasts and also get water retention (my ring won't come off). I kept one ovary and my dr. says my hormones should be fine. I am going for a second opinion. I also ache all over and feel 90.

I wonder if it's swelly belly I have too. I am about 12 weeks post op. Belly is hard , not wobbly and I too am overweight. For the last two weeks as my activity levels have increased I have started to get tender and sore . Its mainly above my wound, where it stings sometime and I sort of have a stitch or a slight cramp or pulling. I hadn't these feelings early on and a bit concerned why Im getting them now. Can anyone offer any advice? Sistermary

me too, me too, at week 13 or 14 (I am starting to lose track). My tummy is hard too. I lost 10 lbs. after surgery, have gained it back plus an extra 10. I can't tell whether its swelly belly or because I'm eating too much and not exercising like I used to.

I had an idea--has anyone tried this? I thought of measuring my tummy in the morning when I wake up then again at night. If its bigger around at the end of the day, then its swelly belly and maybe it will go away eventually, right? (ha ha wishful thinking).Everybody says you swell more at the end of the day. I haven't measured my tummy yet, I guess because I don't want to know the answer. I would rather it be from swelly belly than just eating too much... ooh I suppose I am floating in that river called De Nile! hee hee hee I could never have gotten through this without finding things to laugh at!

Well Annalee, you're making me laugh! I will measure up in the morning and try again at night. I'm not actually sure what swelly belly actually is. I assume its just the tum post op? Mine was all wobbly and jelly like before but now its like a brick..feels like solid fat! Horrible!

Sistermary

Mine is the same morning/night. I know this because I tried on the same pair of pants at both times, and it fit the same.

This flab reminds me of how I looked after my c-section for about 6mos. I aways attributed that to pregnancy itself, not the c-section. maybe I was wrong, cause this looks the same.

CC

	Quote:
For the last two weeks as my activity levels have increased I have started to get tender and sore . Its mainly above my wound, where it stings sometime and I sort of have a stitch or a slight cramp or pulling. I hadn't these feelings early on and a bit concerned why Im getting them now. Can anyone offer any advice?

This sounds like the strange feelings I got as the nerves started knitting back together and coming back to life.

Wow! I guess I shouldn't be upset by my swelly belly at 5 weeks! I have never had a belly before and I'm in shape. I'm also only 30. So this belly has been really bothering me. It's sore from my belly button to my incision. But I guess I might have a way to go after hearing your stories...at least I know it's normal. My doctor didn't tell me this would happen, so you can imagine my surprise!

Andrea