hope4change2012
A few words from the good Doctor
Dec 01, 2012
I'm 9 days post op from LBL and BL and 7 from my neck lift. I'm starting to get a little bored with talking about this but I wanted to share a few things.
First off, zero pain still. It's amazing to me. I really thought this was going to be some kind of torture and it hasn't been, not even the face or lipo. Why? I have no idea. I did purchase the overpriced Make Me Heal vitamins and the Arnica and Bromelein (spelling...again, just not in the mood to spell check). I followed all directions prior to surgery which was no vitamin E, no ibuprophen, etc. I also made a special effort to eat lots of protein in the form of shakes and food and protein bars and drank lots of water.
Day 1 out of surgery was gross. Not painful, just gross...you have drains and swelling and just crap like that...a catheter, you have to poo and you don't know how to with a garment. It's just odd to be a strong independent woman who can't do a damn thing by herself. Once you settle into asking for help and accepting help, all goes well. I didn't get dizzy. I didn't feel uncomfortable in my garment. I didn't have poo issues. I just had some mood swings, still do.
Any way, I love my room a lot! I have a king with a recliner and fridge. My blender broke but since the HEB is so near, it was a simple fix. I brought the Nutriessential protein powder that Dr. Agha (great surgeon in So Cal) recommends. It was rumored to taste like crap so I planned ahead. At the HEB you can get frozen strawberries, pineapple (great for healing), berry medley etc. I take a banana to my room after breakfast and later try to whip together 2 shakes a day. I add a scoop of the super over priced but apparently good stuff and a scoop of the walmart one I like. I brought ice cube trays so I whip it all together and hello nutrition and taste nirvana. It's delicious, refreshing and what the doctor ordered. I also brought a hot plate and picked up a rotissorie (sp?) chicken at HEB and some frozen veggies and lentel soup in a can. I've made 2 stew like meals for dinner out of it. Tasty and inexpensive. For desert I have sugar free jello which I whip together and add a protein shot (those long protein tube things) as part of the cold water amount, not as an extra liquid if you follow my point. After dinner I enjoy a protein jello with a little whip cream and I feel like I'm living large. Breakfast is free at the hotel and for me is always yogurt, cereal and eggs, maybe a bite of a mexican something or other, but pretty standard. So, that's my food and I'm glad I have what I have. Oh, also bought a couple of beautiful avocados and mixing that with tuna for my meals the next 2 days.
Now the Good Doctors words. I was thanking him again for my breasts. I just love them. I'm hopeful for my tummy and glad my thighs are improved (still a bit bummed about them, but that goes back to about age 8, so we'll just let that one be). Here's what he offered that I wanted to share.
He asked me on a scale of 1-10 what I thought my body was like, with 10 being perfect. I said about a 4. He said that the work he is able to accomplish brings people's body's up 1 or 2 'notches.' So me, as a 4, am now sporting about a 6 body. He can't make a 4 a 10. He can improve what we have, but it is all based on the baseline he has to work with. So if, for instance, your body is pretty beat up, a 1 say, then the best you can honestly expect is 2 or 3. It is what it is. I'm a 6. I'll never be an 8 or a 10. I loved the analogy. It did help me get some peace with the improvements and be grateful for the upgrade. I said initially that I wasn't seeking perfection, just improvement and improvement I got. I thought it was a very honest and realistic way to look at this plastics thing. So when you go into this, consider where you are (skin quality, age, weight loss, etc.) and you can have a good idea of what kind of outcome this venture will get you.
I'm happy with a 6. I decided that I'll let my 4....taking me to a 10!...come from the inside.
Here's the other cool thing. I asked him to tell me about staples or stitches in my LBL. He said that he puts many layers of stitches and doesn't use staples. He said staples are quicker, but quicker isn't necessarily better. He likes to do them by hand and know how and where they are exactly going. Once again my dear Surgery Friends...he's a quality surgeon.
That's it from here. I'm going to take my 6 body and watch some Lost on Netflix. I'm grateful for all of you, for Dr. S., for Paty and for the chance to be one of the lucky ones who gets to improve with age....even if it's just a couple of notches.
:)
