Yes, I had Liposuction

Ok, I had liposuction last week and I admit it. One of my friends said, "More power to you, you go girl!"; everyone else has made comments like "you look just fine" (not in my opinion), "are you trying to be a supermodel?" (Ha! Not in this life) and "are you nuts!?" (possibly). No, I do not have a body image problem and yes, it was covered by insurance. Hey, I have enough scars and conspicuously missing parts, I can use all the help I can get.

3 years ago in July, at age 37, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. After 2 unsuccessful attempts to get all of the cancer with "breast-conserving surgery", I decided to have a mastectomy. One of the options for reconstruction after a mastectomy is a "TRAM", or Trans-Rectus Adominus Myocutaneous flap.

In laymen's terms, a TRAM involves taking part of the abdominal tissue, leaving the rectus abdominus muscle attached for a blood supply and tunneling it under the skin to form a breast. For me it was either using my own tissue for reconstruction or no reconstruction at all. I did not feel comfortable having something foreign in my body (breast implant) after already having cancer.

Another benefit of a TRAM is that you essentially get a tummy tuck (can you believe a male surgeon developed the procedure, woohoo, what a guy!). It's not as pretty as a cosmetic tummy tuck because the scar must be higher and wider to take advantage of the best blood supply but I have carried 4 children and therefore had a little excess tummy that I was happy to part with. However, I would caution anyone who is not both young and in the very best of health to think twice before having a TRAM. It is unfathomably debilitating and I have since taken care of several patients who've had the surgery and they have had difficulty recovering. When I called my surgeon's office almost 3 years ago to tell the secretary to schedule me for the surgery, within minutes my doctor had called back and said "Are you SURE? You're a runner and it's going to set you back." I appreciated his concern and he was right but I don't regret it. It took me 2 years to get back to running!

My scar goes from hipbone to hipbone and actually looks pretty good except that it's still rather red. I'm very happy with the results of my surgery and my plastic surgeon says the scar will continue to fade. The only thing I've had a problem with is the little resulting extra skin at the ends of my scar, commonly referred to as "dog-ears". Since I am not a dog, I didn't want to have their ears so I chose to have the skin (OK, call it fat if you must, who cares?!) flattened a little.

So, I went in for outpatient surgery. The hospital requires that you arrive 2 hours early so you can, well, sit and wait for 2 hours, I guess. It took the nurses about 10 minutes to get their paperwork completed and start an IV so I had plenty of time to finish my book, "The Da Vinci Code" (that's another topic...).

I don't necessarily volunteer the fact that I'm a nurse when I'm in the hospital because I don't want anyone to be uncomfortable and I know from experience that taking care of a fellow medical professional can be a little unnerving. The nurse asked me to sign an operative permit and asked me to verify what surgery I was having done. Without thinking I said "bilateral abdominal donor site revisions". She said "wow, you got that perfect!" then she eyed me suspiciously and said "are you a nurse?". It was too late, I had blown my cover.

I had been NPO--translation, "nothing by mouth"--since midnight the night before surgery and I drink enough water in a day to float a boat so my mouth was parched and I felt dehydrated. The nurse had me all checked in and asked me if she could get me anything. I very matter-of-factly said, "a glass of water, please". She didn't fall for it.

The surgery itself was pretty unremarkable. I have bruises and it's a little tender to touch but I have had surprisingly little pain. My surgeon talked me into general anesthesia which I regret, I think. My body simply doesn't metabolize drugs well; I'm a week out and still feeling the effects. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining and I'm not sure I would have wanted to be awake while they inserted a trocar and rammed it in and out of my skin (a perverse "friend" who watches the discovery channel described it to me as such). I am extremely happy with the way it looks; now I can buy clothes that actually fit!