Day 36 post-op - Progress!! (thigh lift, leg lift, and minor LBL revision)

Gwen M.
on 12/12/17 5:54 am
VSG on 03/13/14

I should probably wait and post this until after I see my surgeon today, so I can include whatever information I get from him, but whatever. I'll update in a comment or an edit to this post once I get home.

But I have awesome news I wanted to share! I was able to dress my wounds and put on my compression garment post-shower this morning ALL BY MYSELF!! It was a test run to make sure I'd be able to do these things at the end of my appointment today and it's the first time I've felt ready to attempt the entire process alone!

It was tiring, but I did it. The main challenge is that because my leg lift goes almost all the way to my ankles, my garment also goes all the way my ankles and has a fully separating zipper. This means I have to be able to bend over to do all the hooks that go to the ankle and then to zip it up from the ankle to the waist.

I am super pleased with myself! I believe that this means that the only things in the realm of ADL and IADL I can't do is to lift/carry heavy stuff like laundry baskets and cases of water. I went grocery shopping alone yesterday as well :D

Now if only these wounds would finish their healing I'd be all good to go. But we'll see what my surgeon says today at my follow-up.

VSG with Dr. Salameh - 3/13/2014
Diagnosed with Binge Eating Disorder and started Vyvanse - 7/22/2016
Reconstructive Surgeries with Dr. Michaels - 6/5/2017 (LBL & brachioplasty), 8/14/2017 (UBL & mastopexy), 11/6/2017 (medial leg lift)

Age 42 Height 5'4" HW 319 (1/3/2014) SW 293 (3/13/2014) CW 149 (7/16/2017)
Next Goal 145 - normal BMI | Total Weight Lost 170

TrendWeight | Food Blog (sort of functional) | Journal (down for maintenance)

Gwen M.
on 12/12/17 12:27 pm
VSG on 03/13/14

I saw the surgeon and everything is great!! He says I'm healing well and that the honey did it's job so if it's annoyingly messy I can just do silver. I figure I'll keep using the honey since I have it.

He didn't do any debriding - yay.

He wants me to keep doing what I'm doing and all the advice he gave me was stuff I'm already doing so yay rah!!

Next appointment is in late January!

It's nice to finally be feeling like a functional human being again. Can't wait to be finished healing!

VSG with Dr. Salameh - 3/13/2014
Diagnosed with Binge Eating Disorder and started Vyvanse - 7/22/2016
Reconstructive Surgeries with Dr. Michaels - 6/5/2017 (LBL & brachioplasty), 8/14/2017 (UBL & mastopexy), 11/6/2017 (medial leg lift)

Age 42 Height 5'4" HW 319 (1/3/2014) SW 293 (3/13/2014) CW 149 (7/16/2017)
Next Goal 145 - normal BMI | Total Weight Lost 170

TrendWeight | Food Blog (sort of functional) | Journal (down for maintenance)

CC C.
on 12/12/17 6:03 pm

Excellent news, Gwen!

MissNexxie
on 12/12/17 12:51 pm
VSG on 04/30/14

Congratulations on your excellent recovery. Sounds like you've surpassed the transition period and are moving forward by leaps and bounds. Well done!

i'm still on the fence about having this surgery in the spring. Definitely need to devote a full month + to recovery.

Take care and continued successes in recovery.

Surgery: April 30, 2014: HW: 288 SW: 250 Achieved Goal 149 lbs: April 8, 2015 CW: 158 lbs (working on losing 65 lb regain as of June 1, 2021. Weight was at 215 lbs). Fighting every darn day!

Gwen M.
on 12/12/17 12:54 pm
VSG on 03/13/14

Haha. I'd hardly call it "excellent!" I still have wound openings and it was a very challenging first 30 days. But thank you :****rtainly feel that I have turned a corner and that makes a HUGE difference mentally.

I took pictures over the weekend and comparing them to my pre-op pics? WOAH. It's nice to finally see improvement instead of just Frankenstein's monster.

VSG with Dr. Salameh - 3/13/2014
Diagnosed with Binge Eating Disorder and started Vyvanse - 7/22/2016
Reconstructive Surgeries with Dr. Michaels - 6/5/2017 (LBL & brachioplasty), 8/14/2017 (UBL & mastopexy), 11/6/2017 (medial leg lift)

Age 42 Height 5'4" HW 319 (1/3/2014) SW 293 (3/13/2014) CW 149 (7/16/2017)
Next Goal 145 - normal BMI | Total Weight Lost 170

TrendWeight | Food Blog (sort of functional) | Journal (down for maintenance)

joanne0658
on 12/13/17 9:15 am

you're my inspiration!!!! i'm looking to book my breasts for march 2nd! thank you again, and as always, for sharing your experience clearly and without hesitation. you'll never know how much it helps those of us in preparing for our surgeries.

jo

Age: 60 | Height: 5'3.5 | Surgery Date: 07/24/15 | Starting Weight: 292 | Surgery Weight: 267 | Goal Weight:150 | Current Weight: 149 | WL so far: 143 lbs

Carla37
on 1/23/18 9:01 pm
VSG on 03/01/15

Hi! I had my thigh lift done on Jan 10th and I started reading your journey during my recovery so far. I have lots of questions I would love to ask you. Also just wanted to let you know that your story has helped me a lot. The thigh lift has been much more painful than I expected. I also had a Mons lift and some Lipo done around the love handle areas. You are a great writer as well. I enjoyed the parts about your roommates And loved the honesty you told that you don't hear from other recovery blogs. Hope you are doing well in your recovery!!

Gwen M.
on 1/24/18 6:48 am
VSG on 03/13/14

Hiya - I'm happy to answer any questions you have. Feel free to ask them here, message me, or email me! [email protected]

I'm glad my posts have been helpful!

VSG with Dr. Salameh - 3/13/2014
Diagnosed with Binge Eating Disorder and started Vyvanse - 7/22/2016
Reconstructive Surgeries with Dr. Michaels - 6/5/2017 (LBL & brachioplasty), 8/14/2017 (UBL & mastopexy), 11/6/2017 (medial leg lift)

Age 42 Height 5'4" HW 319 (1/3/2014) SW 293 (3/13/2014) CW 149 (7/16/2017)
Next Goal 145 - normal BMI | Total Weight Lost 170

TrendWeight | Food Blog (sort of functional) | Journal (down for maintenance)

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