Unexpected result after plastic surgery.
I just had the second of three planned plastic surgery. The first in April was a lower body lift which involved a circumferential incision just below my natural waist . I felt like I was wearing a girdle all the time, and in fact needed a high waisted undergarment. I got so used to it since it provided lower back support as well. They took off over 17 pounds.
Last Monday, I had circumferential liposuction of both leg sang buttocks. Now I am wearing a support garment from my knees to above my waist. Despite the pre-op discussions, I really didn't anticipate the pain. More than the first time. A burning feeling traveling up and down both legs. They took off over 20 pounds from this procedure . I can't wait for the swelling to come down. Once that happens, I will be ready for the third procedure, which is removal of excess skin. They anticipated about 15 - 20 more pounds off.
Since I had the surgery in 10/01, I am down over 170 pounds. If anyone had told me then, I would have been able to continue to lose this much weight, I would said they were crazy. If anyone has any thoughts about having post weight-loss plastic surgery, go for it. I don't regret this journey for one minute!
Congratulations on your weight loss and the plastics work. I would have to second your results. I am down 115 pounds and I am at the end of my plastic surgery journey. I have some final in office tweeks to do and then thats it. I never would have thought that I would have done the plastics but it seemed like the logical thing to do. I felt so much better after the weight loss but some parts just looked awful. So I set out to fix those and wound up fixing a few other not so bad things as well. I am glad that I continued with that journey as now I feel that I look as good as I feel. I don't regret any part of this journey.
Thanks. Right now I am having so much pain and swelling of the legs, I can hardly mone.
you are right about it looking so bad after the wt loss. I did't actually consider going this far when I started to lose the weight.
It is 3am and I just took some drugs. Hope I can get back to sleep. What procedures did you have?
I always found the pain from lipo more intense than any surgery that I had. It seemed to take longer to go away as well.
I have the breast cancer gene, so I had a prophylactic mastectomy with reconstruction from my abdomen - that got me a breast lift and tummy tuck covered by my insurance. I then had a hernia repair which got my bariatric incision (open rny) fixed. Then the thigh lift, arm lift and finally the face lift. Each was done as a separate surgery. I didn't realize/plan to have all of this work done at the beginning of this journey. As I went through it, I found that I focused on what was then my worst feature. I have some minor tweaking to be done but other than that, I am done.
Thanks so sharing. We have some things in common. I also have the breast cancer gene. I'm almost 60 and was diagnosed with bc when I was about 32. Had a bilateral mastectomy and implants inserted about a year later. When I'm done loosing weight (had sleeve done May 8, 2014) I want to get rid of my abdomen also. Was thinking that I would have my implants replaced with fat from abdomen. But am not sure that's what I want to do. Of course, I like the fact that insurance would cover it. But I also feel like it would be having a mastectomy all over again. I'm just taking it one step at a time and don't need to decide that now.
Insurance covering those 2 major surgeries really gave me a good jump start on my plastics journey. I actually didnt find the recovery from that surgery all that difficult. There were a rough couple of days but not all that bad. I agree it would be like having the mastectomy all over again for you. I didn't want implants - the whole foreign body thing. The PS told me that I had enough tissue in my abdomen to give me the size that I wanted so that wasn't an issue. I also didn't want to have to redo them in 10-15 years. Did you have the oopherectomy too? That was actually the very first surgery I had on this journey - prior to the rny. My mother died of breast and ovarian cancer and the ovarian scared the crap out of me. So as soon as I found out I had the gene, I ran to a gynocological oncologist and had the ovaries and uterus removed. I didn't actually find out that I had the breast cancer gene until I was 50 - so I was a ticking time bomb and didn't know it. So I was racing the clock and trying to get this stuff taken care of before I found cancer in my body. And like you, I took it one step at a time. Good luck with your decision.
Yes, I had an oopherectomy also. I had that about 15 years ago. After I found out that I have the gene. My mom had breast cancer when she was about 40. One of my sisters was diagnosed with it at about age 30. I had a mammogram at that time and it did not show anything. Nine months later I found the lump. My 2nd sister had a bilateral prophylactic mastectomy a few years after that. This was all before gene testing was available. We just knew that we had the gene because of our family history. Breast cancer went all through my mother's family. Actually my mom and sister got breast cancer a second time. I had both removed with my first cancer. I did not want to worry about getting it again. We all had our ovaries removed. That is one of the most important things you did for yourself. Glad to hear that you had the courage to do that. It was a difficult menopause for me. Lots of changes but never regretted the decision at all. I have a daughter who is 27 and she's starting to deal with all of it. She also has the gene. Her husband is a doctor at a major medical center and so she gets wonderful medical care. She'll have a bilateral mastectomy in a couple years after she has her first child. She wants the experience of nursing. Then later on she'll have her ovaries removed when she is older. Our family is very open about all that we've been through and we are all our best support system. We send "boob" cards to each other, tell each other what's going on and laugh together. That has helped us all get through this. I see that you're on the east coast in Philly. I'm in Baltimore. Had my genetic testing through Hopkins Hospital.
I actually think my gene can be from both sides of my family. I had originally thought my mothers side because my grandmother and mother both died from breast cancer - my mother also had ovarian cancer. It is possible that my grandmother had it as well but who knows how testing was back then - in the 1950s. But I recently became aware that there have been two cousins on my fathers side that had ovarian cancer. I don't remember what the cause of death was for his mother but she was a heavy smoker so that could have been lung cancer. I had my testing done through Pennsylvania Hospital which is now part of the University of Pennsylvania health system. I have used them and HUP for all of my surgeries. You are right that it is the best thing that you can do for yourself. I hadn't realized how concerned I was about the breast cancer until the day after the mastectomy. I woke up with such a sense of relief - number one that I had survived the long surgery but number two that my risk of breast cancer was as close to zero as I could get it. Many women get hung up on their breasts defining them as women but that wasn't really an issue for me. And my newly reconstructed breasts look better than the old ones because they didn't sag at all. It is good that you all have each other to talk to and rely on regarding this issue. It is good that you can all be open and honest on taking care of yourselves. Your attitude through this medical maze really helps with a positive result. I was lucky to find out I had the gene before it became an issue for me even though I didn't find out until I was 50. My family doctor started all of this discovery by asking a simple question. I was on tamoxifen - by my gyn - as a preventative and he asked how long I would be on it. That one question started me down a journey of getting a second opinion which led to the testing. I love that guy and we talk about that to this day.
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