Renee H.
April Check In
May 04, 2009
Hello people!
Well it's been a few months. I'm doing ok, save a few complications. I had a breast lift, back fat removed, and arm surgery in February as planned. All in all, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but the arms - oy vey - the arms were the worst of the bunch. My arms were very large to start with. Some say it was hard to tell. I say bullcrap - my arms were LARGE and they were always that way - even before I got super big so I knew they would be an issue and they were. I will need a revision on them later in the year because they didn't heal well but they are smaller and that is a big plus. Overall though, I am happy wth the results. I still say my surgeon is a miracle worker and I would recommend him highly to most anyone.
Well I'll be 5 years out in August and sometimes I'm like where did the time go? But when I look at some of my before shots, I am still in awe over this whole process. Sure, I am my own worst critic (like so many of us) but when I get over my nit-picking and criticisms, I have to say that the difference between looking in the mirror then and now is like looking at another person's body. My abilities and stamina and confidence is also so much better than before as well. It is so amazing how much you compensation (and short-change yourself) when you are working around your obesity. It's crazy. This ride has been quite the trip - but with all of the good & bad of it - still no regrets!
Okay so now that I have unfortunately rediscovered the world that contains sugar, I have to get a grip and work my a---- to get some more of this weight off. I would really like to set an initial goal of 20 more pounds and see where we go from there. Need to get motivated and re-focused again. Need to get my mantra of affirmations going and realize that if I could go all out for the next person I love - then I need to go all out for THIS person I love, feel me?
I'll check back in soon and may have to take some half decent pics too.
1 comment
Well it's been a few months. I'm doing ok, save a few complications. I had a breast lift, back fat removed, and arm surgery in February as planned. All in all, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but the arms - oy vey - the arms were the worst of the bunch. My arms were very large to start with. Some say it was hard to tell. I say bullcrap - my arms were LARGE and they were always that way - even before I got super big so I knew they would be an issue and they were. I will need a revision on them later in the year because they didn't heal well but they are smaller and that is a big plus. Overall though, I am happy wth the results. I still say my surgeon is a miracle worker and I would recommend him highly to most anyone.
Well I'll be 5 years out in August and sometimes I'm like where did the time go? But when I look at some of my before shots, I am still in awe over this whole process. Sure, I am my own worst critic (like so many of us) but when I get over my nit-picking and criticisms, I have to say that the difference between looking in the mirror then and now is like looking at another person's body. My abilities and stamina and confidence is also so much better than before as well. It is so amazing how much you compensation (and short-change yourself) when you are working around your obesity. It's crazy. This ride has been quite the trip - but with all of the good & bad of it - still no regrets!
Okay so now that I have unfortunately rediscovered the world that contains sugar, I have to get a grip and work my a---- to get some more of this weight off. I would really like to set an initial goal of 20 more pounds and see where we go from there. Need to get motivated and re-focused again. Need to get my mantra of affirmations going and realize that if I could go all out for the next person I love - then I need to go all out for THIS person I love, feel me?
I'll check back in soon and may have to take some half decent pics too.
Quick Update!
Jan 15, 2009
Hey there OH!
Just ran in for a quick update and to check in on my folks on the PS boards.
So, I am scheduled for an upper body lift on Wednesday, February 4th. Documentation has been submitted to the insurance company and creating the reality of a fast approval so that all falls into place according to plan.
If anyone would have told me a few years back that I'd be going for my third turn on the table with a plastic surgeon, I would have said "yeah right". I was so happy to have WLS and lose all that weight that I THOUGHT I wouldn't care about excess skin or flab or whatever. Now, I could have lived with it if I HAD to but given the choice, I would rather take the PS route.
I am scheduled for a breast reduction/lift, axilla, "back fat" removal, a little lipo above my butt and a brachialplasty. Another 7 hours under the knife but I trust my surgeon, I trust myself and mostly I trust God. I am anxious to be done with this round and doubt (for now) that I will be going for any more rounds in the foreseeable future.
Next Round of PS: Shooting for Feb. 2009
Nov 30, 2008
Well hey everybody. I don't have a lot of time to post and update these days but I do like to come back whenever I can think of it and check in with folks and update my profile. I've been doing ok. Not losing as much weight as I would like but admittedly, I am not trying as hard as I could either. I will most likely get my mind right and drop a few before my next round of plastics. I am shooting for the 1st week of February for basically a UBL - boob lift, arms and back roll removal. Honestly, I just want it done. I wish I could go in tomorrow - well, maybe not quite that soon but you all know what I mean. I used to get gassed up about surgery but now I just want this over with because I think this will be my last go-round. I want my fantastic surgeon, Dr. Thomas P. Sterry, to go aggressive but safe and get all three areas done in one surgery and that's that. Surgery is beautiful after you're healed and return back from Swell Hell but getting there is a b*tch! I pray that I get a fast approval from insurance, have a successful surgery, get good results and no need for further revisions. Wish me the best, folks!
Okay so now I am "tweaked"
Jan 03, 2008
January 3, 2008
Okay so on December 19th, I went back in for a "scar revision" where my plastic surgeon corrected the slightly raised vertical scar from my fleur di lis (anchor cut) LBL incision, as well as addressed the muffin top and upper poofy thing going on in my upper abdomen.
This was done as an ambulatory procedure. I went in at about 9 something and was ready to leave by about 4ish. Of course, since I can't seem to leave Mt. Sinai hospital without an "incident", my drain wasn't working properly and it took 3 hours to rectify the situation. But other than that, everything went according to doc's plan, the poof is removed and that ridge and puffy thingy is gone as well. A successful procedure.
The recovery was good as well. A little soreness, some minor pain in the first couple of days. I took the vicodin a few times a day for 2 days and then gave it up. Took extra-strength Tylenol for another day and that was all.
Doc removed the one drain 5th day and was happy with the healing. I think I removed all the surgi strips by around day 10 and I like the way the scar is coming along. What a difference in recovery from the LBL. That was a little rough for me at times. This one was a breeze by comparison.
Folks are asking me if I'm "done". I laugh. I doubt that seriously but I am in no rush to go back under anyone's scalpel any time soon. I have some other things on my to-do list for 2008 that require me to not be "recovering" from anything for a while so that's where my focus is. However, when I do decide to go under the very talented Dr. Sterry's knife again, I am hoping to go for the upper body and arms together. The jury is still out over whether I will do the breasts because I am very very uh...protective of the girls and the thought of having my nipples removed and reattached still freaks me out to the "Nth" degree and I am not sure I am willing to risk that everything (sensitivity and appearance) will return to "normal" after "a while". We shall see. But I do want the side fat, back fat and these big ol' grandmama arms done at some point so that will be down the road a little bit.
For now, it's a new year, I have some things on my agenda and one of them is to get back on the protein train, get the hell off the carb and sugar train, and get my self moving with regular exercise because my body hasn't looked this good since "Hector was a pup" - whatever that means - so I need to do what I can to preserve it and even to improve it a little more if possible!
What a trip this all is. But I am glad I'm on it!
Okay so on December 19th, I went back in for a "scar revision" where my plastic surgeon corrected the slightly raised vertical scar from my fleur di lis (anchor cut) LBL incision, as well as addressed the muffin top and upper poofy thing going on in my upper abdomen.
This was done as an ambulatory procedure. I went in at about 9 something and was ready to leave by about 4ish. Of course, since I can't seem to leave Mt. Sinai hospital without an "incident", my drain wasn't working properly and it took 3 hours to rectify the situation. But other than that, everything went according to doc's plan, the poof is removed and that ridge and puffy thingy is gone as well. A successful procedure.
The recovery was good as well. A little soreness, some minor pain in the first couple of days. I took the vicodin a few times a day for 2 days and then gave it up. Took extra-strength Tylenol for another day and that was all.
Doc removed the one drain 5th day and was happy with the healing. I think I removed all the surgi strips by around day 10 and I like the way the scar is coming along. What a difference in recovery from the LBL. That was a little rough for me at times. This one was a breeze by comparison.
Folks are asking me if I'm "done". I laugh. I doubt that seriously but I am in no rush to go back under anyone's scalpel any time soon. I have some other things on my to-do list for 2008 that require me to not be "recovering" from anything for a while so that's where my focus is. However, when I do decide to go under the very talented Dr. Sterry's knife again, I am hoping to go for the upper body and arms together. The jury is still out over whether I will do the breasts because I am very very uh...protective of the girls and the thought of having my nipples removed and reattached still freaks me out to the "Nth" degree and I am not sure I am willing to risk that everything (sensitivity and appearance) will return to "normal" after "a while". We shall see. But I do want the side fat, back fat and these big ol' grandmama arms done at some point so that will be down the road a little bit.
For now, it's a new year, I have some things on my agenda and one of them is to get back on the protein train, get the hell off the carb and sugar train, and get my self moving with regular exercise because my body hasn't looked this good since "Hector was a pup" - whatever that means - so I need to do what I can to preserve it and even to improve it a little more if possible!
What a trip this all is. But I am glad I'm on it!
Am I going back for MORE???
Oct 14, 2007
10/15/07
Well now. After weight loss surgery and all that goes along with that for the first few years, I slid down the road to my first experience with plastic surgery with my LBL. I guess there was a part of me that was so thankful to get that done even though it seemed like it would never happen, I didn't give a lot of thought to "what's next" - if anything or any additional surgeries.
I tell you, that plastic surgery bug is like that tattoo bug but worse! Once you get one, you start thinking about WHAT ELSE you can do!
Anyway, I am one who is always lecturing about knowing when to say when and I am STILL preaching that. Too many folks I see are chasing this "I want to be (damn near) perfect" dream. Nothing wrong with being the best you can be, but there are limitations, I feel, and I see so much time, effort, money, and emotion poured into folks trying too hard to get to a place they never knew before and are highly unlikely to ever get to now. It's a little sad to me, but hey - to each, her reach, ya know?
As for me, well, it appears that I may be going back for a "scar revision". I had the fleur de lis or "T" or anchor cut incision (it's called everything but a cut up your middle) and since I had major upper belly fat pockets, I knew from the gate that my surgeon could "help" that area with the anchor cut but would not be able to make it totally flat. We discussed this in advance and I know I had major issues going on in that area that an LBL could not address fully. The scar is also a bit raised, It didn't heal flat like the others so it's revision time for me. I'm looking at going in right before Christmas since I always take off from work between Christmas and New Years anyway. *sigh* They assure me that the LBL was the worst of all the procedures that I had orginally considered so this one is ambulatory with a week-long estimated "downtime". I never stressed over surgery before but I think I am still a little to reminiscent of the emotional drain of my LBL. I'll get over it though. I know I'm strong.
Down the road? Hmmm....... I can't say for sure. I have a few other things going on besides the Renee Beautification Project so I may have to be easy for a while and tend to other things for a while. However, I will NOT rule out some boob and back work in the future. And even though I totally need thighs done (I swear these things it seems like my weight loss just IGNORED my thighs), I am deathly afraid of medial thigh lifts so I may just be stuck with the thighs from hell forever, but you know what? Considering where I came from, I can live with big, crazy thighs.
But check back with me on that if I hit lotto.
Well now. After weight loss surgery and all that goes along with that for the first few years, I slid down the road to my first experience with plastic surgery with my LBL. I guess there was a part of me that was so thankful to get that done even though it seemed like it would never happen, I didn't give a lot of thought to "what's next" - if anything or any additional surgeries.
I tell you, that plastic surgery bug is like that tattoo bug but worse! Once you get one, you start thinking about WHAT ELSE you can do!
Anyway, I am one who is always lecturing about knowing when to say when and I am STILL preaching that. Too many folks I see are chasing this "I want to be (damn near) perfect" dream. Nothing wrong with being the best you can be, but there are limitations, I feel, and I see so much time, effort, money, and emotion poured into folks trying too hard to get to a place they never knew before and are highly unlikely to ever get to now. It's a little sad to me, but hey - to each, her reach, ya know?
As for me, well, it appears that I may be going back for a "scar revision". I had the fleur de lis or "T" or anchor cut incision (it's called everything but a cut up your middle) and since I had major upper belly fat pockets, I knew from the gate that my surgeon could "help" that area with the anchor cut but would not be able to make it totally flat. We discussed this in advance and I know I had major issues going on in that area that an LBL could not address fully. The scar is also a bit raised, It didn't heal flat like the others so it's revision time for me. I'm looking at going in right before Christmas since I always take off from work between Christmas and New Years anyway. *sigh* They assure me that the LBL was the worst of all the procedures that I had orginally considered so this one is ambulatory with a week-long estimated "downtime". I never stressed over surgery before but I think I am still a little to reminiscent of the emotional drain of my LBL. I'll get over it though. I know I'm strong.
Down the road? Hmmm....... I can't say for sure. I have a few other things going on besides the Renee Beautification Project so I may have to be easy for a while and tend to other things for a while. However, I will NOT rule out some boob and back work in the future. And even though I totally need thighs done (I swear these things it seems like my weight loss just IGNORED my thighs), I am deathly afraid of medial thigh lifts so I may just be stuck with the thighs from hell forever, but you know what? Considering where I came from, I can live with big, crazy thighs.
But check back with me on that if I hit lotto.
Almost 6 months out of my LBL
Sep 14, 2007
9/14/07
Well, today I went for a follow-up with my PS after my LBL back in April. Dr. Sterry was happy for the most part with how I am healing. He had a bone to pick with me because I put my post op pics on the internet before he even had any post-op pics of me. Apparently, one of his patients told him about me. Also, since he considers me to still be a work in progress, he would have preferred that I waited until all work was done first before my unveiling. LOL. I didn't mean to diminish the awesomeness of his work by showing the goods prematurely but I was so proud of of what he could do considering what my pre-op body was like that I wanted folks to see it. Also, I really didn't know if or when I'd be able to get anything else done besides the LBL. Right now, a combination of timing, money and a few other things are weighing in heavy on the decision to do a next step at this time but I have a lot of thinking and planning to do. He briefly discussed wanting to do a breast lift, opening up my vertical incision from the anchor cut to make it even tighter (I call it muffin top reduction) and going around to the back and getting that annoying back roll removed as well. I hate that damn roll. I used to have 3 of them I think - before gastric bypass and now I have just one thick one. I really annoys me because when I wear a long line bra or my compression garment which smooths that roll down, I can really see the true curves in my body and it would be amazing not to have that roll messing things up. I don't know. I have a lot to consider. Also, it would be totally cool to have the girls return to their original home about a country mile north of where they are hanging out now but I am not keen on the idea of having my breasts cut. I got issues with that, I know. My OH PS crew thinks I should get over it, I know but I just don't know about it yet. The scars I have don't really bother me but scars with all that upper work is something I'd have to learn how to deal with too. Funny how another trip to the PS for a follow-up to the last surgery makes you start thinking about stuff that you thought you'd be able to live with. Okay, let me not be dramatic because truth be told, if I never had another scapel put to me, I feel so blessed to done what I have and both me and my other half could totally be ok if I didn't do another thing. But sometimes I liken plastic surgery to how I feel about tatoos. Once you get thru one of them, you start thinking about how cool the next one could be. I certainly do not want to become a plastic surgery crack head because I have always shook my head at women who just didn't know when to cut bait and live with some imperfections. I also frown upon those who are some kind of quest to get the body they never had 20 or more years ago but always dreamed of because that is just not realistic in my view, but I guess when it all comes down to it, it's an individual's own choice to decide how much they want to have done, how much is too much and how much they can live with. I never EVER want to be one of those who doesn't know when to say when!
Well, today I went for a follow-up with my PS after my LBL back in April. Dr. Sterry was happy for the most part with how I am healing. He had a bone to pick with me because I put my post op pics on the internet before he even had any post-op pics of me. Apparently, one of his patients told him about me. Also, since he considers me to still be a work in progress, he would have preferred that I waited until all work was done first before my unveiling. LOL. I didn't mean to diminish the awesomeness of his work by showing the goods prematurely but I was so proud of of what he could do considering what my pre-op body was like that I wanted folks to see it. Also, I really didn't know if or when I'd be able to get anything else done besides the LBL. Right now, a combination of timing, money and a few other things are weighing in heavy on the decision to do a next step at this time but I have a lot of thinking and planning to do. He briefly discussed wanting to do a breast lift, opening up my vertical incision from the anchor cut to make it even tighter (I call it muffin top reduction) and going around to the back and getting that annoying back roll removed as well. I hate that damn roll. I used to have 3 of them I think - before gastric bypass and now I have just one thick one. I really annoys me because when I wear a long line bra or my compression garment which smooths that roll down, I can really see the true curves in my body and it would be amazing not to have that roll messing things up. I don't know. I have a lot to consider. Also, it would be totally cool to have the girls return to their original home about a country mile north of where they are hanging out now but I am not keen on the idea of having my breasts cut. I got issues with that, I know. My OH PS crew thinks I should get over it, I know but I just don't know about it yet. The scars I have don't really bother me but scars with all that upper work is something I'd have to learn how to deal with too. Funny how another trip to the PS for a follow-up to the last surgery makes you start thinking about stuff that you thought you'd be able to live with. Okay, let me not be dramatic because truth be told, if I never had another scapel put to me, I feel so blessed to done what I have and both me and my other half could totally be ok if I didn't do another thing. But sometimes I liken plastic surgery to how I feel about tatoos. Once you get thru one of them, you start thinking about how cool the next one could be. I certainly do not want to become a plastic surgery crack head because I have always shook my head at women who just didn't know when to cut bait and live with some imperfections. I also frown upon those who are some kind of quest to get the body they never had 20 or more years ago but always dreamed of because that is just not realistic in my view, but I guess when it all comes down to it, it's an individual's own choice to decide how much they want to have done, how much is too much and how much they can live with. I never EVER want to be one of those who doesn't know when to say when!
10 weeks Post-Op LBL Update
Jun 11, 2007
6-12-07
Well it's been a while since I updated. The last time I posted I think I was frustrated with the waiting process but now I ask myself where did 10 weeks go? Okay where do I start. I think I was anxious to get the surgery OVER with. Folks often asked me was I excited about the surgery. Actually, um, no - I was NOT excited about the surgery itself - I really was looking forward to about 1 month POST-OP because I was hoping by then I would be past all the challenges of the surgery and be on the road to some form of normalcy.
The day of surgery was okay. The administrative process at Mt. Sinai went fairly well, overall, and by 9:30am, Dr. Sterry was taking me into the O.R. Seven and a half hours later, I was waking up in recovery with 17.5 pounds of fat and skin removed from my midsection, thighs and butt. I felt groggy but not really in pain. Coincidentally, my other-half had a terrible time getting to me as the wheel on the truck came off while he was driving or some such craziness and I was too drugged up to understand what he was telling me so I just ended up crying in frustration. But it all worked out ok and everyone was fine. It's just strange to not have control over your mind when you really want to.
Anyway, my hospital stay basically sucked. Sorry, but anyone who really knows me knows that I keep it real. Mt. Sinai hospital has gone down signficantly over the years and their nursing staff is understaffed, overworked and in many cases they appear under-qualified or just have gotten to the point that they are going through the motions and whatever gets done, gets done - and whatever doesn't, oh well. Some of the residents are good while some make you wonder how the hell they got through medical school. Hmmmm......to illustrate some of what I am saying here, let me give you a few examples. When being wheeled up to my room from recovery, apparently I was still in an O.R. bed (or something) and had not been transferred into one of the new patient beds. The nurses and orderlies were arguing this point HEATEDLY over my head outside in the hallway. Ok well, then they have that contraption that basically stimulates the circulation in your legs when you can't yet walk - in order to reduce the chances of developing bloodclots. My surgeon put it on me in recovery. Well, when they transferred me, they FORGOT to turn it on so I went all night without it. HELLO? Isn't that when I needed the damn thing? Also, I realized THE NEXT MORNING that I had been sleeping with my legs propped up on this huge metal oxygen tank on the bottom of my bed. Why is that? I still don't know. Also, I had so much congestion in my chest, I had a hard time breathing and they had me terrified that I was having some kind of pulmonary embolism and wanted me to sign off to have some test done that shoots a dye made of iodine (hello, I am violently allergic to iodine) into my lungs to see if there are any bloodclots. WHAT THE #$%^&*???? Are you kidding me? They gave me an EKG with a portable machine that wasn't working. Needles did not move. Oh well. They took the machine away and never returned with one that worked. So much for the EKG. They had about 4 residents, some assorted visitors, a couple of nurses, a doctor that happened to be on the floor - ALL in my room like I was a friggin science project - and none of them was doing squat about my breathing problem. One male nurse, who was a numb-nuts about a lot of OTHER things, happened to be the one who suggested that maybe I needed an albuterol treatment to open up my lungs. He administered it, thankfully, and that was what I needed. But the whole experience was really scary. Oh yes, and also, NOT ONE NURSE came by to help me walk - though this was my doctor's orders. They didn't take me off the fluids or the IV pain meds, even though I could eat, drink and swallow oral medications. It was ridiculous. I had a couple of nurses aids that helped out as much as they could - and my family & friends came to help out or else I would have been much, much worse off. This was totally ridiculous!
Okay so back home - it was a challenge. Not a lot of pain, still, but just the limitations. But wow - what a difference. It was sur-real living all these years with a tummy that could rest on my lap when I sat and looking down and it's just NOT THERE! Incredible. The drains were a pain! Always in the way and needing to be drained and measured was not something I was in the mood for. But it's part of the maintenance process of being a post-op. I was so happy to finally get them removed. I had one small separation in the back but luckily no infection and no seromas. My incision lines are a little crooked and not exactly symmetrical (hahahaha) - I am anal about such things so I am not thrilled about that. But in the big picture, I am a realist and I had a LOT of fat (not just skin) to deal with and as you can see from my pics, I had COMPARTMENTAL fat deposits that posed a particular challenge. So all in all, I think Sterry did quite a job with the canvas he had to work with.
Things I am particularly happy about include: NO MORE HANGING PANNI of course. I still can't get over it sometimes. I am actually able to wear something tucked in with a BELT these days. I am also happy that my boobs don't seem to be AS sad as they were before. Hmmmm. I also happy at how thin my incision line is across my butt. If all my scars were like that one, I'd be thrilled. My doc starts with the back first and it seems to make a difference I guess because that scar is as lovely as a scar can be - hahahahaha. I'm happy about having a butt that no longer continues to jiggle ten seconds after I stop moving. But I am still bootylicious - which is my birthright and I'm glad my surgeon took my threat seriously. (I told him if he cut off all of my behind that he and I would be fighting - for real!) I'm happy to just look and feel better. No more itching and rashes under the belly and in the folds and no more belly button deep enough to use for storage. I also feel blessed that even with the challenges, the surgery was successful and that none of the difficulties were life-threatening or life-altering and now I am officially grown & sexy and loving it.
Things I am not thrilled about: These blankety-blank-blank thighs. I've been complaining about them so much, folks are tired of hearing it but I don't care. My thighs are huge and no, it's not just because the rest of me is smaller now. I think the lift actually seems like it transferred girth from lower in my thigh to the mid-way part of my thighs and now they seem like they are exceptionally large in that one area. It is truly frustrating because my waist is one size; my hips are one size larger; and my thighs are one size larger than my hips. Also. my vertical incision is nothing close to straight. Not thrilled about it. My upper belly has been reduced, true, but it is still bigger than my lower belly. This is part of the by-product of having fat pockets and deposits rather than one big lump panni. Ah well. Also I despise the swelling and the burning. I am also flatter on one side of my incision than the other. The further out I go, the more critical I become.
Things that have me perplexed: People's reactions - and I will just leave it at that because delving into this is a whole 'nutha talk show. Anyway, I am still baffled that even after 10 weeks, I STILL weigh more than I did the morning of surgery. I weighed more when I came home than when I went in. Yeah, Yeah, I know - swelling - but damn! THAT much??? How can 17.5 pounds of blubber be removed and I weigh more now and in smaller size clothes? Also, what the heazy is up with these boobs. I swear they are bigger. No, my cup TRULY runneth over. My boobs look huge now. From the side, I catch my reflection sometimes, and I say WOW, look at those things. I guess with the tummy out of the way - well, who knows? They just look big!!!! hahahahaha I just shrug it off now and deal with it because through it all, I have to say that with all the prep work, the research, issues with docs, insurance concerns, the waiting, the drains, the sleepless nights, the yadda yadda yadda and so and so and so, yeah, it was worth it. A few years ago, I looked in the mirror and saw that my phsyical did not mirror my emotional and mental self. I had finally (after 40) gotten to a point where I loved who I was as a person but I did not love the condition of my physical self. Gastric bypass surgery and plastic surgery helped me to be much more satisfied with the outer me and made me feel better connected with who I am on the inside. Now I feel like my inner and outer are a better match!
Well it's been a while since I updated. The last time I posted I think I was frustrated with the waiting process but now I ask myself where did 10 weeks go? Okay where do I start. I think I was anxious to get the surgery OVER with. Folks often asked me was I excited about the surgery. Actually, um, no - I was NOT excited about the surgery itself - I really was looking forward to about 1 month POST-OP because I was hoping by then I would be past all the challenges of the surgery and be on the road to some form of normalcy.
The day of surgery was okay. The administrative process at Mt. Sinai went fairly well, overall, and by 9:30am, Dr. Sterry was taking me into the O.R. Seven and a half hours later, I was waking up in recovery with 17.5 pounds of fat and skin removed from my midsection, thighs and butt. I felt groggy but not really in pain. Coincidentally, my other-half had a terrible time getting to me as the wheel on the truck came off while he was driving or some such craziness and I was too drugged up to understand what he was telling me so I just ended up crying in frustration. But it all worked out ok and everyone was fine. It's just strange to not have control over your mind when you really want to.
Anyway, my hospital stay basically sucked. Sorry, but anyone who really knows me knows that I keep it real. Mt. Sinai hospital has gone down signficantly over the years and their nursing staff is understaffed, overworked and in many cases they appear under-qualified or just have gotten to the point that they are going through the motions and whatever gets done, gets done - and whatever doesn't, oh well. Some of the residents are good while some make you wonder how the hell they got through medical school. Hmmmm......to illustrate some of what I am saying here, let me give you a few examples. When being wheeled up to my room from recovery, apparently I was still in an O.R. bed (or something) and had not been transferred into one of the new patient beds. The nurses and orderlies were arguing this point HEATEDLY over my head outside in the hallway. Ok well, then they have that contraption that basically stimulates the circulation in your legs when you can't yet walk - in order to reduce the chances of developing bloodclots. My surgeon put it on me in recovery. Well, when they transferred me, they FORGOT to turn it on so I went all night without it. HELLO? Isn't that when I needed the damn thing? Also, I realized THE NEXT MORNING that I had been sleeping with my legs propped up on this huge metal oxygen tank on the bottom of my bed. Why is that? I still don't know. Also, I had so much congestion in my chest, I had a hard time breathing and they had me terrified that I was having some kind of pulmonary embolism and wanted me to sign off to have some test done that shoots a dye made of iodine (hello, I am violently allergic to iodine) into my lungs to see if there are any bloodclots. WHAT THE #$%^&*???? Are you kidding me? They gave me an EKG with a portable machine that wasn't working. Needles did not move. Oh well. They took the machine away and never returned with one that worked. So much for the EKG. They had about 4 residents, some assorted visitors, a couple of nurses, a doctor that happened to be on the floor - ALL in my room like I was a friggin science project - and none of them was doing squat about my breathing problem. One male nurse, who was a numb-nuts about a lot of OTHER things, happened to be the one who suggested that maybe I needed an albuterol treatment to open up my lungs. He administered it, thankfully, and that was what I needed. But the whole experience was really scary. Oh yes, and also, NOT ONE NURSE came by to help me walk - though this was my doctor's orders. They didn't take me off the fluids or the IV pain meds, even though I could eat, drink and swallow oral medications. It was ridiculous. I had a couple of nurses aids that helped out as much as they could - and my family & friends came to help out or else I would have been much, much worse off. This was totally ridiculous!
Okay so back home - it was a challenge. Not a lot of pain, still, but just the limitations. But wow - what a difference. It was sur-real living all these years with a tummy that could rest on my lap when I sat and looking down and it's just NOT THERE! Incredible. The drains were a pain! Always in the way and needing to be drained and measured was not something I was in the mood for. But it's part of the maintenance process of being a post-op. I was so happy to finally get them removed. I had one small separation in the back but luckily no infection and no seromas. My incision lines are a little crooked and not exactly symmetrical (hahahaha) - I am anal about such things so I am not thrilled about that. But in the big picture, I am a realist and I had a LOT of fat (not just skin) to deal with and as you can see from my pics, I had COMPARTMENTAL fat deposits that posed a particular challenge. So all in all, I think Sterry did quite a job with the canvas he had to work with.
Things I am particularly happy about include: NO MORE HANGING PANNI of course. I still can't get over it sometimes. I am actually able to wear something tucked in with a BELT these days. I am also happy that my boobs don't seem to be AS sad as they were before. Hmmmm. I also happy at how thin my incision line is across my butt. If all my scars were like that one, I'd be thrilled. My doc starts with the back first and it seems to make a difference I guess because that scar is as lovely as a scar can be - hahahahaha. I'm happy about having a butt that no longer continues to jiggle ten seconds after I stop moving. But I am still bootylicious - which is my birthright and I'm glad my surgeon took my threat seriously. (I told him if he cut off all of my behind that he and I would be fighting - for real!) I'm happy to just look and feel better. No more itching and rashes under the belly and in the folds and no more belly button deep enough to use for storage. I also feel blessed that even with the challenges, the surgery was successful and that none of the difficulties were life-threatening or life-altering and now I am officially grown & sexy and loving it.
Things I am not thrilled about: These blankety-blank-blank thighs. I've been complaining about them so much, folks are tired of hearing it but I don't care. My thighs are huge and no, it's not just because the rest of me is smaller now. I think the lift actually seems like it transferred girth from lower in my thigh to the mid-way part of my thighs and now they seem like they are exceptionally large in that one area. It is truly frustrating because my waist is one size; my hips are one size larger; and my thighs are one size larger than my hips. Also. my vertical incision is nothing close to straight. Not thrilled about it. My upper belly has been reduced, true, but it is still bigger than my lower belly. This is part of the by-product of having fat pockets and deposits rather than one big lump panni. Ah well. Also I despise the swelling and the burning. I am also flatter on one side of my incision than the other. The further out I go, the more critical I become.
Things that have me perplexed: People's reactions - and I will just leave it at that because delving into this is a whole 'nutha talk show. Anyway, I am still baffled that even after 10 weeks, I STILL weigh more than I did the morning of surgery. I weighed more when I came home than when I went in. Yeah, Yeah, I know - swelling - but damn! THAT much??? How can 17.5 pounds of blubber be removed and I weigh more now and in smaller size clothes? Also, what the heazy is up with these boobs. I swear they are bigger. No, my cup TRULY runneth over. My boobs look huge now. From the side, I catch my reflection sometimes, and I say WOW, look at those things. I guess with the tummy out of the way - well, who knows? They just look big!!!! hahahahaha I just shrug it off now and deal with it because through it all, I have to say that with all the prep work, the research, issues with docs, insurance concerns, the waiting, the drains, the sleepless nights, the yadda yadda yadda and so and so and so, yeah, it was worth it. A few years ago, I looked in the mirror and saw that my phsyical did not mirror my emotional and mental self. I had finally (after 40) gotten to a point where I loved who I was as a person but I did not love the condition of my physical self. Gastric bypass surgery and plastic surgery helped me to be much more satisfied with the outer me and made me feel better connected with who I am on the inside. Now I feel like my inner and outer are a better match!
Waiting for Plastic Surgery is a B------
Mar 25, 2007
in a weird kind of way. The anticipation and the wonder is part of the process but the waiting is crazy. You go for so long not knowing if you really want this...do you really NEED this...can you get insurance to pay for this and if not, what bank you have to rob to get the money to pay for this...then what surgeon is best...what procedure am I going for...what is the worse part of me to get done first...damn, this is harder than WLS was...why am I going under the knife again...can I really live with this hanging skin and fat and am I being too dramatic about having it removed...have I lost this weight and turned into "one of THEM" now that I am not 387 lbs. anymore...is this a selfish thing...am I talking myself out of something wonderful that I want to do for MYSELF for once....
and the list just keeps on growing!
Well, then you get to the magical place where you're going to do it and everything is in place and you talked to x amount of folks and looked at a cazillion stranger's naked body parts, surgery pics, removed fat, etc. and you have a date. Tic Toc Tic Toc. Damn. Hurry up and wait takes on a new meaning.
A whole different kind of anxiety this plastic surgery thing is. Not like WLS where I felt like I was doing something to SAVE MY LIFE (or at least prolong it). If I didn't have plastics, me ad my sagging gut will somehow find a way to co-exist even if we didn't like each other. So even though I SO WANT THIS - I know it wasn't LIFE THREATENING for me not to have it. The mind is a trip, ain't it? Okay so I may be two or three steps from crazy right now but I'm going forward with this and I can't wait. I so want to be on the road to recovery, it's not even funny. I DREAD being stitched up from "the rooter to the tooter" with this LBL but saying goodbye to that hanging gut, the saddlebags and getting those ripples out of my behind is worth it! I pray it is!
and the list just keeps on growing!
Well, then you get to the magical place where you're going to do it and everything is in place and you talked to x amount of folks and looked at a cazillion stranger's naked body parts, surgery pics, removed fat, etc. and you have a date. Tic Toc Tic Toc. Damn. Hurry up and wait takes on a new meaning.
A whole different kind of anxiety this plastic surgery thing is. Not like WLS where I felt like I was doing something to SAVE MY LIFE (or at least prolong it). If I didn't have plastics, me ad my sagging gut will somehow find a way to co-exist even if we didn't like each other. So even though I SO WANT THIS - I know it wasn't LIFE THREATENING for me not to have it. The mind is a trip, ain't it? Okay so I may be two or three steps from crazy right now but I'm going forward with this and I can't wait. I so want to be on the road to recovery, it's not even funny. I DREAD being stitched up from "the rooter to the tooter" with this LBL but saying goodbye to that hanging gut, the saddlebags and getting those ripples out of my behind is worth it! I pray it is!
About Me
Bronx, NY
Location
35.2
BMI
Surgery
08/19/2004
Surgery Date
May 10, 2004
Member Since
