5 Months Post Op And Still Swelly Belly????

Ladies help me here. why is it that at almost 6 months post op I am still having the swelly belly? I swear it looks as if my stomach has pouting problem. In other words when you stick out you bottom lip as if to pout this is what my stomach looks like. How ugly!!! What can I do here?
Please respond with all you wisdom.

Denise

Sorry you are still having a swelly belly problem going on.
I am afraid I don't have the answers. Just wanted to send along a
I will look forward to the wise responses that I know will be coming. I'll learn something too.
Have you posted this question on the post-op board also? The women there are farther along in their recovery and may be able to shed some light on this
Take care.

Hi Denise,

I don't have many words of wisdom on this one either ... I'm four months post op and only have swelling when I have a really long day at work followed by evening meetings. I can feel the waistband on my slacks getting tighter in those instances.

It seems everyone recovers at a slightly different rate. I thought I was pretty darn slow for those first 4 to 6 weeks ... when I read posts from ladies who were washing their cars at that point I felt like a real baby. But the last couple of months have been so good I feel like I'm living a miracle.

Bottom line: try not to be too hard on yourself. If you're really concerned about this, give your gyn a call and ask for a rule of thumb and if there is any reason you should be concerned. Best of luck!

Beth

Ladies! Welcome to the "Why do I have another waistline" thread -- club. Ok, granted, you're ahead of PaulaKay one of our more senior (sorry friend, to refer to you as Sr.!) friends but she still has her pouch. As my gyno put it (female gyno) "Uh, yes, that shelf will be there for awhile -- 6 most to a year or longer". C'mon over to the thread. We've learned to laugh at ourselves. First you go to "memorable posts" and read Why do I have another....then you go to Friends without Faces and you find that there are a bunch of us here who still have that little pouty face! We love you pouch and all!

Denise,
You and I had the same surgery date. I had a pouch prior to my surgery due to 2 previous C-sections and 25 lbs. overweight. However, after my recovery, I knew that I wanted to be healthier and back to my old healthy weight. I've been dieting and exercising since January and have lost 16 lbs. I added lower abdominal exercises for the last 3 -4 weeks. I couldn't start them until then because I would have pain afterwards every time I tried. But now I can do them without pain. The combination has resulted in a shrinking of that "lip" you're talking about. I'm not sure that after three incisions in the same spot that it will ever go away completely, but my goal is to reduce it to something that is not seen in a bathing suit!

Good luck!

I'm not ready yet to start the ab exercises - just planning ahead. What kinds of lower ab exercises are you doing?

Thanks.

I had my surgery on November 13th of 2001 and though not as pronounced, I still have the same problem, as well as no feeling in the midline. My OB/GYN said the swelling will be there at least 6 months. It still beats carrying the 1793 gm boulder that once was my uterus and it sure beats the Lupron Depot I was on for 3 months to shrink the fibroids. Biggest thing I have a problem with is the healing itch! Yuck.