7 weeks post arm&thigh lift : hot in compression garments !

Aug 05, 2011

Boy is it hot ! - I'm 7 weeks post arm and thigh lift plastic surgery (and 3 months post TT and breast lift) and I'm still in compression garments.  Today it's 122F outside which is fairly typical for this time of year - although it will get hotter - it's also very humid and dusty.

So I'm still following my surgeon's instructions of wearing compression leggings and sleeves 24/7 - initially he said do this for 1 month then move to 12 hours per day - but as I'm still swollen and suffering the after effects of the hematoma in my thigh he said to keep them on 24/7 for at least 2 months - basically he said the longer the better - as I have thin skin and the swelling could make the skin stretch.

So here I am - trying to be an expert in hiding my garments whilst still staying as cool as possible (see pics) - not cool as in trendy ! - just cool as in temperature - just in case you were wondering !!  By the way - I just realised that I don't have a full length mirror in the appt - so I've resorted to taking pictures in the lifts of my building !

You can see from the shots that my thigh is still swollen and bruised and my arms are also still swollen - maybe I'll sign up for some more lymphatic drainage sessions and see if that can help with the swelling - to be honest I'm slightly fed up as I thought this would have resolved itself by now.  In addition to the large hematoma I also developed a smaller swelling along the incision line of my leg this week which was drained - it looked like it was a rogue stitch pushing its way out - but it turned out to be some additional fluid which then built up along the scar line and burst causing my incision to open up a bit - but it's healing again now.  Not sure why it built up - but hopefully this will be the end of it.

In more positive news - just 1 more week until I'm cleared for exercise - YAY ! - I did go to the pool this week and did a very small swim and was shocked at how badly it pulled on my arms and thighs - so am guessing that my transition back to exercise is going to be a bit slower than I had hoped - no 10k in the next few weeks or so at least !!!  My pilates teacher said I'd have to go back to beginner classes for a while - and I agree that I should do this - although I worked so hard to go up to level 3 classes over the last year - never mind I know that I can work up to level 3 again soon.

In the meantime I've been researching and buying some new gym kit - I bought some great Fila resistance capris and running tights which have built in additional compression panels in the legs - they feel great and give my thighs more support - I should maybe look at getting a compression top also.  I'll definately be working out in my compression sleeves - I may hide them under a long sleeved top or just bit the bullet and wear them as is with a normal t-shirt over the top (see the pic) - to be honest I don't think the sleeves are too bad - I definately need to wear them as my arms still feel very swollen and numb.  I also invested in some new sports bras - 36B ! - tiny - I used to have to wear 2 x sports bras when I was running to keep the girls from bouncing everywhere and giving the locals and eye full ! - I'm hoping that my smaller breasts should be much more comfortable running and the lack of bat wings should help with air flow !

I also saw that spanx have released shape gymwear - www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2019445/Would-wear-shapewear-work-Spanx-launches-range-gym.html

Anyway - no pain - no gain, onwards and downwards and all that stuff !!



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