One week out from abdominoplasty and BL

What a difference a week makes!

I readied myself a rough week and it was a challenge but went by faster than I thought. Some thoughts:

- stay in the hospital as long as you can. I extended my stay to two nights and that was integral to my recovery. 

- there will be pain, dizziness and weakness, use all your helpers to move around. 

- stay on top of the pain.Take your pain meds when scheduled even if the pain seems low. It can sneak up on you quickly and is a ***** to get ahead of. Especially the first 4 days. No points for heriocs.

- doing the self administered blood clot prevention meds is not that bad, really. It's a very small injection and goes quickly. Nothing to fear.

- take the colace/laxatives as soon as you can. I'm still waiting for "success" and its uncomfortable.

- sponge baths are a-ok.

- move for 5-10 mins every hour or two and wear your compression stockings. When in bed rotate your feet and do the flipper motion as often as you can. 

- wear very loose, button up clothing to the hospital. A stretchy skirt helped as it laid nicely over the drains. I couldn't get panties over the binder and pants would've posed the same challenge.

- slip on shoes for sure, you will swell.

- drink lots of water and pee lots. 

- my BL caiused tenderness but I could still use my arms. You must be mindful of lifting limits.

- I've had issues with tailbone tenderness and it became worse with so much laying down time. Put a skinny pillow or soft blanket underr your butt.

- I didn't rent a recliner and have managed well. I use a wedge pillow with extra pillows on top under my torso and a couple pillows under my knees. It's a similar setup to the hospital bed.

- by day 4 incisdions will burn but pain lessens. I had muscle repair and it wasn't an issue until I laughed or coughed. Keep a pillow over your belly for those times. Use a pillow in the car, too.

- drains have not bothered me. I had two until yesterday when one was removed. I used gauze to pad the drains under the binder.

- keep the binder snug and wear a tank top under it if possible. It's snugness can rub your skin, its a stiff nylon-like material.

Just wanted to share some of my thoughts. 😀

Thanks for  posting this!  It's super  helpful.  I am  going for  surgery  in the  fall and I have a  million  questions.  you  answered a lot of them. :)

Thank you so much for posting this.  I've wanted as much info as possible.