I'm 4 years on from a TT and muscle repair as I had significant diastasis recti. No lipo as I was a very slim size 8, and no loose skin removal. I had the op as the muscle separation meant I was unable to run, sit up from lying down, struggled to lift the dcs and had severe back ache.
Things I wish I'd known:
The drainage massage is very important, you must keep it up. I didn't - too busy with young dcs. The lymphatic drainage in my lower abdomen now doesn't seem to work. I now bloat up and have a strange bulge at the bottom of my stomach above the scar. No flat stomach for me!
The surgeons are quite cagey about the return of feeling in the area around and below your tummy button. Mine is for the large part still numb, with partial feeling in some places. The numb area is in a triangle from my belly button down to the scar.
I wasn't stitched, I was glued. The result is an almost invisible silver scar. It looked a lot neater post surgery than the pictures above and I'd recommend it.
The muscle repair meant cutting across from hip to hip, then lifting the stomach to double stitch the stomach muscles together from under the ribs right down the front. The difference it has made to my life has been huge. I can do all the things I couldn't before. For me this wasn't an op for aesthetic reasons, it was the only way I could return to full fitness. A women's physio referred me as she said the muscles were completely torn hence she could not help.
Recovery: I couldn't stand up straight or really walk for 2 weeks. By 6 weeks I could do most things, but I did't feel myself for about 3 months. It is normal to go through phases of massive regret in the early days when progress seems quite slow.
Surgery is not a perfect fix. There are side effects, like the numbness and bulging above the scar.