Smart Lipo on Abdomen/Waist/Back - Connecticut

OK so I am here to share my experience with everyone....I had my smart lipo done on 21st June 2011. It was for the upper/lower abdomen, waist and back. To give a little background I am a mother of 2 (5 year boy and a 11 month beautiful little girl). I am 35, 5.4” and 134 lbs. I always had a little muffin top but as time passed and with two pregnancies it became worse and worse. As I had a baby last August I gained a lot of weight ( approx. 35 to 40 lbs). Once I delivered I went back to my regular exercise and diet and was able to go back to my pre-pregnancy weight of 134 lbs. Even though I weight the same now my tummy seemed to be much bigger than before. I always wanted to get this resolved by any means and lipo seemed to be the only solution for spot reduction. So for the past few years I always had a desire to get a lipo done but wanted to wait until I decide that I am not going to have more kids. So finally once I had my daughter I started researching on the procedure and the big part was to get my hubby ready for it ………as he was very concerned and did not want me to get into anything which would have any major side effects…….but finally I was able to convince him ? and so I choose a doc referred by another member on the forum as she was really happy with her results and it was not far away from my place, just a 40 mins drive….. Day of Surgery: I was scheduled for 1 PM, so I went in around 12:30 PM. I was told to change and the nurse weighs me, I was a little over 132 lbs. Then she gave me a pill to calm me down as I was a little nervous which is quite obvious. Then the doc came in and he marked the areas he was going to target and asked me to lay on the table, he numbed the areas where he was going to insert the cannulas…it just felt like a bug bite and then he stared filling me with the liquid from the areas which he marked. I forgot to mention here that he was going to do a tumescent lipo first and then use the laser for skin tightening. He spent close to 45 mins filling all the points, while he was doing so he kept on talking so that I feel comfortable….Then I was told that I can have a break of 15 mins and can use the wash room if I wanted to. When I stood up my tummy was blown up like a balloon. He was back in the room in 15 mins and I was told to lay back on the table again. This time he started scraping off the fat as he moved the cannula vigorously to and fro followed by frequent intervals of suction (using the suction machine attached to the cannula with tubes). All I could feel was something moving vigorously and a pinch here and there. When he tried to do places where there was less fat it hurt the most, but nothing unbearable. As my doc said if you can deliver a baby vaginally u can do this by all means…lol….. I was asked to move on my sides when he was doing my back; this phase lasted for another hour. Now I was asked to stand up so that he can see, if he needs to fix any uneven surface, he marked me again and two three places and I went on the table again, he spent another 15 mins and that was it for the second stage…..It took a little over an hour for this. Now was the final stage of the laser. So he inserted the laser through the same incisions for all the areas. He spent another 30 mins doing this, this was the least painful, just felt a little hot here and there. Once he was done he started sucking more fat which was melted due to the laser. He was able to take out another 200 cc. He took out a total of 1100 cc.
Now I was warped up in absorbent dressing and the nurse helped me get into the compression garment. I did not feel any pain immediately after. I was given a prescription for my pain meds and was told to keep on the compression garment for next 2 weeks. I could shower the next morning. I saw the before and the immediate after pics taken by the doc in his office which showed a huge difference (but I felt that he could have taken out some more above the belly button, not sure), so finally around 4:30 I left the office with my sweet hubby all happy hoping to see really good results in the near future.. The night was really bad, very sore could not get up without help, lying down was really painful, lots of drainage……. Next day I had my hubby to help me in the shower as I was instructed I may feel dizzy….and I am so glad that I did that as I passed out couple of minutes after I removed the garment, poor hubby was got so scared he hardly could hold me as I collapsed in the bath tub. It took close to 5 mins for me to get back, but even more to feel ok so that I could shower…..that seems to be the worst part. My doc called me to find out how I was doing and he wanted me to come back the next day so that he can examine. I when back the second day and he said everything looks fine, so he too the 2 days post op pics . Things became worse on the fourth and the fifth days, since I was getting more swollen and my garment was really hurting. It seemed as if someone is pocking needles, so I had to call my doc, on his recommendation I switched to the fleexes shape were which I previously owned. Its been a little over 2 weeks now and I did not lose any weight but I am back to 132 as I gained almost 5 lbs immediately after the surgery. After two weeks I am almost as big as I was prior to lipo, except for the fact that my waist is a little defined………after reading so many articles about swelling after lipo and how long it takes for recovery now I am thinking if I really did the right thing or not. After spending over 4 grans and undergoing so much pain and discomfort (which seems to be just the beginning), I am not sure if the results are really going to be worth it. To those who think that lipo is a shortcut to weight loss …..it is not ……the recovery is really long……so always keep this in mind………… Just crossing my fingers at this moment so that it all turns out to be well worth all the hardships…..Will keep everyone posted.