Panniculectomy & Abdominoplasty

Mar 19, 2009

I finally has plastic surgery on 3/9/09. The doctor removed 11lbs of skin from my abdomen. He was going to lipo some too but said there was very little, it was all skin! I have been out of work two weeks and it has been a rough road. THe pain was more than I imagined. I went into the hospital on 3/9 @ 1030am and my surgery was promptly @ 1230. It took 3 hours. I spent the next hour in recovery where I was not breathing well due to all the anesthesia and pain medication. They placed me on oxygen. They also drew blood and determined there had been a 3% blood loss. I was originally precertified for a 23 hour observation stay but did not go home until Tuesday evening around 630pm. I came home with one JP drain. I was showering daily and dropped the drain in the shower on Thursday and pulled a stitch. This caused the area to become highly inflamed. The doc had put me on Percocet but I was feeling very loopy and wanted off. They had given me Demerol in the hospital with phenergan but I still got sick. WE finally decided to give Darvocet a try and it worked. I went in to the doc Monday for my checkup and he decided the drain was doing more harm than good and needed to come out so he pulled it. I thought I was going to pass out. Tuesday I thought I was doing better and would try reducing or even coming off the Darvocet and that was a big mistake. I ended up being totally lethargic and unable to move. Tues evening I went back on the Darvocet and began to improve. Wed morning the doc called in more and I was moving around the house doing well. Then Wed afternoon all hell broke loose. I suddenly woke up with 102.6 temp , there was no redness at the incision site but there had begun to be some drainage coming out of the JP hole... it was watery red tinged. I called the doc and they first said I probably had a virus but to be on the safe side he called in some Cipro. I started taking it Wed night, along with 1/2 Darvocet every 4 hours, 1 Tbsp of Tylenol liquid (for fever) and using some muscle rub   ( my entire body hurt!) and finally that evening I was completely relieved of pain for the first time since before surgery!!!! I slept well Wed night . The doc recommended putting a sanitary napkin (of all things) over the JP hole to help absorb the drainage and hold it in with my binder. Today is Thursday and so far things are going much better. I have been able to sit and fold laundry, wash some dishes, do a few other things around the house, walk to the mailbox and felt almost human again! LOL

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