This fourth instalment in my diastasis recti blog series looks at my journey through surgery and rehabilitation thereafter.
I'll start from where I left off, which I’m sorry to say is the gory part!
Surgery
My abdominoplasty surgery involved an incision from my left hip to my right hip, approximately 14” long. Once opened, the Surgeon was able draw my abdominal muscles from their lateral and latent position, back across my mid-drift and suture them together. He sewed them from just above my pubic bone, all the way to my rib cage, which goes some way towards explaining the extent of my divarication. He pulled my skin snug across my stomach to provide a degree of natural support, and removed the excess. My umbilicus (tummy button) was relocated to the correct position and the incision was closed...simple! 🥴
I woke a few hours later wrapped in bandages, with two tubes sticking out of my torso, to allow blood and serum to drain out. I said it was gross 😉 Importantly though, the surgery had been a success and I finally felt a huge sense of relief and optimism! I remained in hospital for a further 2 days before the drains were removed and I headed home to begin my recovery.
The recuperation period for abdominoplasty is typically lengthy and very painful - significantly more so than a caesarean section. I was fitted with a special corset designed to reduce swelling and improve comfort however, I did experience swelling in my lower abdomen to begin with. The Surgeon was very keen to reiterate that too much activity in the early days reduces healing and increases fluid accumulation. I tried to take it easy, but that is tough when you have 3 children under 3 years old! My Mum came to help out for a few days. It just so happened that I caught a cough from my children after coming out of hospital. Any other time, it would be just another ailment, but a cough directly after major abdominal surgery is horrific! I felt the pulling on every single stitch from my ribcage down, and it felt as though my abdomen was going to rip open. During one of my coughing fits, I remember having tears stream down my face from the pain, my Mum just stood there heartbroken, knowing she couldn’t do anything to help.
I was instructed to take full rest for a week and very light activity for a further 2-3 weeks. No driving for 2-4 weeks and no exercise for at least 6 weeks, depending on recovery. In reality, it’s just a slow waiting game, any rush could significantly hinder recovery. I guess moving house 6 days after the surgery can’t be considered rest...but life happens! 😜
Important note: I am by no means promoting surgery as the go-to solution for diastasis recti; I worked with a team of Health Professionals in an attempt to rehabilitate my condition for a prolonged period, but in my case, it was too extreme and surgery was the only solution. For those of you at the start of your DR journey, I strongly recommend seeking out Health Professionals who can assess and support you, based on your health and the extent of your divarication. There is so much that can be done by exercise alone.
Rehabilitation
Deep-down, I secretly hoped that once the 6-week recuperation period was over, I would start to see rapid improvement and return to exercise; in reality, this was just the first step on my road to recovery. Every attempt to exercise resulted in injury; primarily lower back, groin or hip strains, pelvic alignment pains, and the usual incontinence issues. I was forced to take things extremely easy and found myself stuck in the same recurring loop of exercise, strain, pain and rest.
Eventually I found that my body was starting to strengthen and everyday activities were causing me less, or no discomfort. I started to implement the same training plan that I had used after my pregnancies, activating and re-engaging my abdominal muscles. I started to do HIIT workouts in my living room and garage with a friend. I was able to fit them in around my crazy work schedule and the children. It was great to get moving again, but I desperately missed running!
My husband is cycling-obsessed, and I’m sure he would rather have his road bike in our bedroom than me, but that’s going off topic! I got to the point where I was able to ride, so I invested in a bike and we started heading out together. I loved it! It made use of the muscles that my body had forgotten about, especially on the hills. When we couldn’t find a babysitter, we would use our home turbo-trainers together whist watching a movie, just trying to stay mobile. Yet still, every time I tried to run, I would break! If somebody said to me that I could only do one sport for the rest of my life, I would choose running, but that was the one thing I just couldn’t manage!
Revolution
Eventually, in Oct 2017, a whopping 2-years after my operation, and after a heart-breaking 6-year break from running, I was able to make some progress. Initially, I found I was less-sore after jogging during HIIT sessions. I tried running some steady miles and found I could manage it. Slowly I built up the miles, the frequency of the runs and eventually, the pace; it seemed to be working! We had moved to Mississippi, so I joined the local running group. The daily runs and non-judgemental encouragement gave me the confidence to start pushing myself. By late 2017, I felt like a runner again! Soon I was entering local races and surprisingly...winning!
I was elated...it was incredibly empowering! Sure, I suffered from running-related injuries, but compared to where I had come from, these were insignificant...I was undeterred.
I had completed many half marathons prior to children, but every time I signed up for a full marathon I had always been injured or pregnant. In Oct 2018, my husband and I registered to run my first marathon together. We both trained hard for the event and stood side-by-side on the start line, at a similar standard, aiming to finish hand-in-hand in 3:20. We found ourselves stuck in a slower corral, which hindered our ability to run at our target pace. When we finally found space, we pushed pretty hard. We ended up running 27 miles (weaving through people) in 3:10 and finished together, however, we both knew we had more to give! I learnt a lot that day and as soon as I got home I started searching for my next marathon, to truly test myself…after all, I’d waited years for this opportunity!
I settled into a brief period of recovery and then ramped back up into another tough training cycle. This time around I was plagued with winter illnesses and injury, but going through the process alongside my husband was such a huge motivation, and I was dang-sure I was going to make that start line with him! After another over-zealous start, we found ourselves on track and crossed the line in 2:58, with me finishing as 3rd female…yay!
Obviously, I was delighted, but I soon started dissecting the race and finding areas where I thought I could have done things differently. The PR became normalised and I found myself thinking “well, I can totally go faster than that!” And so, the cycle continues, always hunting for the next challenge to test myself.
If someone had suggested to my post-partum-self, physically broken and mentally crushed, that I would one-day run a 2:58 marathon, I would have laughed and shrugged it off as nonsense. But here’s the deal... the body is an incredible thing!!! If you are battling illness, injury or post-partum issues, please don’t write yourself off, your best may be yet to come. Try to apply the 3 ‘P’s’ - patience, positivity and perseverance, they come hand-in-hand, in equal measures of importance. If you think it would help, speak to others about their journey, or talk about your own, for I can assure you, that however disheartened or isolated you may feel, you are NOT alone!
Right now, as I type this, I am dealing with a running injury, which, if nothing else, gives me time to reflect on my journey so far and what I see ahead of me. When I think of applying the 3 ‘P’s’, I know in my heart that my best is yet to come, and I am excited at the prospect of my journey along the way!
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