Advice on LBL

 I am scheduled for LBL on June 21 after having lost 100 lbs.  After interviewing several doctors I am very confident in the one I chose.  My PS does not use a compression garment after surgery so I am looking for any advice on how to dress afterwards and where to pin the drains.  I was told the hospital will provide a lanyard type thing to pin them to when showering, etc.

When I first booked my surgery day it was over 90 days and now it's only 49 more.  I am getting more anxious/excited as the day aproaches!  Would love to hear any advice from those who have already been through their LBL - what to wear, what to have ready in the house, recovery time, etc.

Also, if anyone would be willing to share their before/after pictures I'd love to see them.

Thanks!!

I never pinned my drains to my binder. I always just pinned them to my shirt (wore old t-shirts so I didn't care) around the house I just pinned them to the outside. If I was going out in public I pinned them to the inside. If the hospital doesn't give you a lanyard the nurse suggested we cut the band off an old pair of underwear and put that around your neck and pin the drains to that. Any old garment that has an stretched out neck or band would work.

You may want to look into getting a binder as it does feel good and helps w/ swelling. I just wore loose yoga/pajama pants and big old t-shirts. I was up and walking my neighborhood a week out and back at the gym on the treadmill @ 3 weeks when most of the drains were removed. I was back to normal workouts, bending over, lifting heavier things at 6-7 weeks.

Good luck w/ your surgery

Congrats on getting your surgery booked! I wore a compression garment, so I can't help you there, but it's good now to build your cardio fitness as much as you can, strenthen your quads and calves to help you in getting up and down, and to increase your protein intake before surgery ( I upped mine to 150 g a day a couple of weeks before surgery and kept it elevated for several months.)

I have a before and after pic in my profile. If you want to see, just send me a friend request and the password is LoMonaco.

 My LBL is coming up the day after tomorrow (yikes)

My surgeon does not want me wearing a binder, either.  At my pre-op appointment, they told me that most people use a lanyard, fanny pack, or even take an old lightweight cloth belt (like from a bathrobe) and use that either tied at the waist or around your neck.  

My surgeon likes his patients to wear the binder for the first 48 hours and not afterwards.  We discussed it at length, some surgeons have different opinions on it.

Dr Sauceda has you wear your compression garment for at least 6 weeks.  I'll be 16 weeks out tomorrow and I'm still wearing my garment a few days out of the week.   If I go a couple of days w/o it, I swell too much, so I wear it for a day and the swelling goes back down.  I actually feel good wearing it.  Some days or nights, I'll just wear a spandex top, it doesn't work quite as fast, but it will help the swelling.