Three week update!

Hey everybody:

I just wanted to give an update on my recovery progress.  I had a butt and thigh lift and tummy tuck revision on April 18th.  I finally got my last drain tube out on May 8th and I am wearing my compression garment now.  It feels like it is cracking my ribs by evening time though.  My incision all around my body is healing quite well.  I am dealing with some swelling, about 5 lbs worth but all my clothes fit fine and some are getting loose.  My appetite is huge and I know this can't last but I am eating around 2000 calories a day and still loosing.  My plastic surgeon did a fantastic job.  It is so wonderful to look slim in the hip area.  My PS wants me to wear the compression garment now for six weeks and then spanx for another six weeks after.  Summer is going to be hot so I am going to get some cotton Tees and bermuda shorts to wear.  I started back to working from my house yesterday for about 3 hours.  My boss is wonderful and is bringing me my work from the office so I can work from home and earn a little money while I am laid up.  I am still being super careful with my incisions as i do not want to come apart anywhere.  I have been eating a lot of pineapple and grapes and drinking lots of fluids.  I have been on a carb high to help with the pain instead of pain meds, one evil versus another but so far my weight has either been steady or dropping, I am pleased either way.  I go back to see the PS in four weeks for an update unless I need to see him sooner.  He said that I am doing awesome and he is very pleased with the outcome of my surgery, so am I.  I will update again in a few weeks.

Best of luck to you and please do keep us updated.  As someone who is scheduled to have a LBL, I find the personal accounts to be VERY VERY helpful!

 

Thank you very much.  I will.  Let me know if I can answer any questions for you.

So glad to hear that you are doing well, Tess. May I ask, why did you have to get a revision of your tummy tuck?

So you are still having significant swelling wearing the compression garment? I feel like I am carrying a big old water balloon where my tummy used to be. My surgeon doesn't use a compression garment so I went out and bought a flexes. I am not sure if I like it better with or without the compression. 

As you know, I had my TT the same day that you had your surgery. My appetite has decreased a lot since then (Thank you, Lord!).  There have been 1-2 occasions when I over ate and it really hurt my suture line right below my breast bone. I've also experienced bloat in my stomach from certain gassy foods that made my suture line so very painful. I am watching what I eat very carefully. 

Please keep us posted on your progress. I love the personal account, too!!!

Hey there:

I had dog ears on both sides from my FDL tummy tuck and my incision went down on one side and up on the other.  My PS came back around from the butt lift on both sides of my tummy tuck line and corrected the dog ears and made my scar line even.  I was cut all away around except for about 3 inches right above my mons lift.  Everything looks wonderful now.  When I first get up in the morning, I am very slim (not swollen) by the end of the day though my garment is very tight and I feel pudgy on either side of my tummy and right above my butt crack.  Did you take your measurements before you went to hospital and afterwards?  I am down two inches in my hip area but up 2 inches in my waist.  I am not quite sure what to make of that.

Yes, I did take my measurements and weight before the TT. I haven't measured myself recently but last time that I did my hips were the same and my waist was smaller. That was before the swelling got really bad. 

I am swollen all the time. I have been since they removed the drains. For the past 5 days it has gotten even worse at night. Last Sunday I awoke in pain because stretch marks were forming on my tummy right then and there -- a ton of them across my lower abdomen and up to my naval. Surgeon told me to go to the ER because we had been concerned for a while about a seroma. It turns out I do not have one. The swelling makes me uneasy because I don't seem the same as everyone else. I feel like I will be stuck with this fat pouch and puffy mons.

Where are you having the most pain after your surgery? It sounds like you are doing really well!!! How does it feel to be beautiful?

Hugs!

Most of my pain is center right above my butt crack.  The valley between the arches above my cheeks seems to swell really bad in the evening but it did look better last night after I got out of my compression garment and took a shower.  When I went to the doctor on Wednesday I felt half way decent in my capris, tank top and denim shirt even with my drain tied around my waist.  When I had my tummy tuck last May my lower stomach and mons stayed swollen for about 4 months before finally settling down.  Yours will too.  My waist got 2 inches smaller too and my hips stay the same.  It is weird that it is the opposite this time.  Hopefully it is just swelling and not the way the skin is pulled down.  I am still very satisfied. 

Thank you, Tess, for sharing your experience. I am relieved that I am not the only one with a swollen lower abdomen and mons. With regard to pain, it is interesting to hear people's experiences with these surgeries. I just did not know they were so painful for so long. And the pain seems not to be logical - why is your pain above your butt crack (although I hear this with LBLs), why does the suture line above the naval in a TT hurt but my 30" incision does not (I know why now, but it just seems counter intuitive). Sending healing thoughts to you!!!

I'm so glad to hear you are doing well. You have been in my thoughts and prayers.

Hey Angela:

Thanks so much for keeping me in your prayers and for doing the cardio blog too.  What day is your surgery?  Isn't it next week?  Let me know if I can answer any questions for you.