In December of 2018, I was given the opportunity to try a new treatment offered at Progressive Rehabilitation Medicine in Cedar Rapids Iowa. I was excited to have this procedure done. That coming June, my husband and I, and 5 other couples are taking a trip to Colorado where we’ll be staying at a large timeshare with a hot tub. Now, I don’t mind talking about my scar, but I don’t like the sympathetic attitude, people staring at it or the thought of people judging me for doing something so terrible to myself. The whole, “she cared way too much about what she looked like and she looks worse now than she probably did before.” My goal was to hopefully have the scar look diminished enough that it wouldn’t draw so much attention. May 22, 2.5 months out, I decided to take an updated picture, set it side by side with the picture of how the scar looked prior to the first injection and my jaw dropped, like to the floor dropped. I couldn’t believe this was my stomach. No post-baby, loose-skinned stomach, no red/purple, awful-looking scar stomach, but a toned, virtually scarless stomach that I had been working for the last decade to achieve.
I went through an abdominoplasty and for those who have been through it, you know the recovery is awful and hard. But, in my mind, it would all be worth it after the healing process was done. Years later, and I was still extremely self conscious in a swimsuit, still self-conscious in front of my husband, who was ok telling me we could spend all this money because he wanted me to have some confidence (“there’s nothing sexier than confidence”). We discussed the possibility of getting a tattoo to cover up the area, which after looking on the internet, is a very common occurrence. This wasn’t something I wanted to do and didn’t want to feel pushed into it to cover up this big, ugly scar. Needless to say, I was still very discouraged and now on top of it felt like we’d wasted a lot of money for no results.
Working out and staying fit has always been a big part of my adult life. I’ve always taken pride in the discipline and the results that came from it. After having my 2nd child, I continued to run and work out but just couldn’t get rid of that extra “baby skin,” and stretch marks that my 9 lb 10 oz baby left me with. It was really discouraging to do as much as I was doing and not see the results I used to and this began to discourage me from working out period. “Why do it if I don’t see results?” So, 4 years ago (March, 2015), I decided to do what a lot of moms do and get that extra skin removed.
This treatment has boosted my confidence a lot which has helped my marriage in a way I’m sure women will understand. My husband could’ve cared less how it looked, even pre-injection, but the confidence it has given me within our marriage, at the age of 34 is crazy-awesome! In addition, I have more and more motivation to continue to stay fit which not only benefits me but sets a great example for my daughters and the people I work with every day.”
