7 Tips for Diastasis Recti Repair Surgery
Hi friends!
If you are considering Diastasis Recti Surgery Repair, I would recommend you read this post first. If you’re still pretty serious about it, here are some of my tips I could share from personal experience*:
*DISCLAIMER: Everyone’s needs and experience is different, so please consult with your medical professional first before taking any of my advice. Read and respond at your own risk!
Diastasis Recti Surgery Repair Tips
Consider the timing
You won’t be able to jump into a pool for 6 weeks, so don’t do it in the middle of summer.
It’s also ill-advised to suntan a week before surgery because you could fry the skin before surgery.
I had mine right before Spring, which is actually dangerous if you’re allergic to pollen. Sneezes post-surgery are incredibly painful!
Ideally, you should wait 6-8 weeks after surgery to fly on a plane to reduce the risk of blood clots.
Don’t plan on any social gatherings for the first 7-14 days post surgery. You will be hunched over, with sexy leg compression sleeves inflating and deflating automatically 24/7, along with drains attached to you. My mom said I sounded like a monster rounding the corners of the house! On second thought, the timing might have been great around Halloween…
Assign a care giver to manage medications
You’ll be out of it for the first two days following anesthesia and pain medications, so you’ll need someone responsible to record and dispense your medicine when you need to take your antibiotics, muscle spasm pills, anti-nausea medications, pain meds, etc.
Set Up supplies
Consider renting a hospital bed. At the least, get a recliner to sleep in since you will be so hunched over from your skin being sewed so tightly together. I couldn’t sleep in my bed comfortably for over 2 weeks.
Comfy clothes
Buy cough drops and have water with a straw handy. Anesthesia can cause super dry throat!
Consider sleep aids and talk to your surgeon about what would be safe to take if needed
Have ice packs and heat packs ready. Your back can get really sore, and heat helped relieve tight muscles.
Have non-funny but entertaining shows in your queue. Believe me when I say that you will not want to be laughing. I had a stack of books ready to read while I was bed-ridden, but the pain was so bad and my vision was blurry from the meds that I couldn’t see straight anyways. I started out with 30 Rock and the Office, but any shadow of a laugh sent me recoiling over my stitches.
Prepare emotionally
If you’ve never had a big surgery like this and were concerned about handing over a Living Will like me, I recommend visualization. This surgery is physically taxing, but mentally exhausting too.
Before surgery, think about how you want to feel after you have recovered. Hold on to that feeling, and whatever fears are playing out in your head, replace those anxiety-ridden scenarios with your own. Ask God to write your story, and put your faith in His redemptive plans, knowing He works all things for the good of those who love Him.
Afterwards, recovery can be tough. I shed a few tears because it felt so slow and painful and I couldn’t get comfortable. Recall that positive feeling you meditated on, preferably attached to a memorized Scripture, and breathe, asking God to fill the pain with His presence. It is hard, but it will pass and you will recover!
Consider asking for a size up on the compression garment
I had so much swelling after surgery that a source of much pain for me was trying to zip up my compression garment. It was tough to breathe, and everything is harder when you can’t breathe. As soon as I got a bigger size in the compression garment, recovering felt so much more bearable. You may be able to have two options just in case you need a different size. It wouldn’t hurt to ask!
Prepare foods ahead of time
You might not be super hungry the first few days and will want to drink a lot of water, but when you are hungry you won’t be able to cook food very well. Prepare foods ahead of time that you know you like to eat so they can be a source of both nourishment and emotional comfort. Say yes to fiber to keep you regular, and avoid foods that make you feel bloated, like high-sodium foods or anything else your stomach might not agree with. And absolutely ask your caregiver to help bring you food since mobility isn’t top-knotch the first few days.
May need to avoid pets and ill people to reduce chance of infection
Since you will be vulnerable to infection, you might need to steer clear of crowds or at least have visitors stand at a reasonable distance to keep you from catching any sicknesses. This could go the same for pets. Better safe than sorry, and you’ll be mostly in the clear within two weeks or so.
I hope that my experience has helped you in some way. I know I Googled like crazy before my surgery to make sure I was equipped, so here I am, contributing to the collective human consciousness by throwing in my own two cents about this surgery.
I gave a lot of practical tips, but here’s a spiritual one too: make sure you are guarding your heart in all of this, keeping your eyes on what matters:
“For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
If you’d like a deeper dive into healing your body image relationship with the Lord, I recommend my Bible Study Love Beyond Looks: A 5-Week Bible Study on Body Image:
Walking by faith,
