Shelly C.

Send Message

Block

Add Friend

Super happy to post my openings under the breasts have closed. It took six weeks, as my doctor kept telling me, the moto in plastic surgery is 6 weeks/6 months. I now get to start walking on the treadmill and slowly adding lower body toning exercise into the mix. My ab muscles on the right side are still giving me zingers especially when I sneeze or cough, I assume it is scar tissue, because I can rub out the pain. Arm lift pain is a 2/10, the incision line is very tight and I massage it several times a day, alternating by wearing silicone tape, mederma, and Hydrocortizone. Still have left arm numbness on the underneath portion of my forearm. My swelling  above both elbows has went down a lot, my last measure the result showed nearly 5 inches smaller on each arm! completely worth this recovery.

So as a gift from my surgeon post tummy tuck et al, he gave me a gift of a Vaser Shape treatment. I really enjoyed the treament, a lot like a stone massage, but has the ability to break up fat and scar tissue and stimulate healing and toning. Let's see how I feel over the next few days, I may treat myself to a few more treatments.

So on July 31st I had a Breast lift w/augmentation, tummy tuck/flank lipo with Muscle repair, and Brachioplasty. I am one month post op, recovering slowly but surely. I opted to have 3 surgeries at once because of work and I was afraid if the pain was really bad I won't have the guts to do everything I wanted done in the future, plus the cost savings of paying surgery center and additional fees each time would have been a pain.

I am very happy thus far, I am still swollen because of the extensive lipo, my doc decided to give me a b-day present he said, and did a little more than he charged me for. I will be wearing compression clothes for about 6 months to get optimal results, but for not I wear those, plus the binder over my abs.

The worst part has been from the breast lift the T zone split and does not want to close under each breast, so now I am treating those. I apparently am allergic to certain stitches and my body rejected them there and in my armpits. Luck for me, most of the 3-4 layers he placed in my tummy, and arms were dissolvable.

I cannot wait to be able to work out again, I was down to size 6 jeans, which now, due to swelling I barely can pull over my hips, my doctor says 6weeks and 6 months are the magic number...so skirts, and stretchy cloths are my friend.

Honestly I have followed the doctors rules and the pain has been minimal than I am aware of, I took the pain meds as prescribed for the first 10 days and then weaned off of them, the worst part is sneezing or coughing...holy smoke it is painful and scares the crap out of you.

I cannot wait for the swelling to go down and hopeful to buy an amazing dress to show my arms this Christmas (they are 3 inches smaller, not more eternal wave!

So I weighed myself this morning and found I had almost hit my lowest weight in 6 years! I am just 10 pounds shy of my marriage /pre baby weight of 20 years ago. while my weight loss is slow and steady, I am glad I took this step. When I am discouraged about the speed in which I am losing on some days, I have to remind myself that I am blessed and will be happier with the subtle changes in my body which is allowing my skin to also adjust to the weight loss. I hope to loss 7-10 pound this month now that the weather is awesome and I can be outside more. 

So, I am six weeks out and out on m first business trip. I brought protein powder for a pinch, but ate chicken noodle soup and a glass of milk for dinner, and bought the cheese platter on the plane. Most foods have been okay in small portions so I think I will survive. Wish me luck!

First I have so say how happy I am that I tolerated 3 bites of cream of wheat for lunch!!!

But I am still confused about the actual mechanism of action of the pouch. In my case my LES does not close, so my food and drink go straight into my stomach. Since there is no longer a lower sphincter to control the exit of contents, why do liquids sit in the pouch?

Is there ever going to be a time when you can take a mouthful or two of fluid and swallow and not have to worry?

Do you ever get hunger pains again?
 
I am not sure I have even felt fullness, unless a little pressure is considered being full?

We do you know when it is okay to push the amount you drink or eat?

Sorry about all the questions, but the void time on my hands has me thinking.

Thanks,
Shelly

So, I am 3 days away from my surgery and starting to feel a little nervous and excited at the same time. My problem is my mother is having the surgery tomorrow...so of course I am not really wanting to hear any horror stories, only positives. We are in two completely different places and with different guidelines to follow. I decided to go all liquid for the next few days leading to surgery, as I had been replacing 2 meals with protein shakes and a salad and had lost my 10 pounds required previous to my pre-op appointment. I am expecting to return to work a little over two weeks out, and am wondering what is the most difficult part of the recovery at that point so I can better gage my activity.