Vaser Lipo To Hips and Belly 3 months on.... The Good The Bad and The Ugly!!! NOW WITH PHOTOS!

I have hated my shape all my life. I work with people with eating disorders and I am very conflicted about doing this. I encourage people to accept themselves fully for who they are, to reject society's unrealistic notions of what is normal, to focus on health and fitness, not the pursuit of 'perfect' abs! And I feel like the world's biggest hypocrite because I am about to have Vaser Lipo. But the things is, I wish I COULD be happy with myself. I believe in the advice I give others. But the conditioning is too strong. I am 43. I have done ironman, I have run 8 ultra marathons. And I can never buy the finish line photos because I hate what I see. I hate shopping for clothes. I hate the beach. I am aware of the tyre round my belly and the fat on my thighs hundreds of times every day. Therapy has done as much as it can for me! It's now time to actually get rid of it. My husband says I will still hate my body because my self perception is distorted. But I don;t agree. I had a flat stomach once after severe food poisoning. I loved it!! I think if I do get good results it will transform my life, I think. But I feel so vain and guilty. I have not told anyone except my husband as I am so ashamed of doing this. I am assuming I can keep it a secret. Hope I am not underestimating the recovery phase as I am back to work next week, and back doing the schoolrun on Friday! I'll keep you posted.

Well it's done! I did upper & lower abs, with hips scheduled for 3 weeks time. I am 130 lbs so could not have enough local anaesthetic to do all 4 areas in 1 go. The procedure was fine really. Very little pain but it just felt very weird. Lots of pressure as the fluid went in. The odd twinge, especially up near the ribs, but nothing major. I leaked A LOT! Thank goodness for this site! I got really worried till I put "messy" in the search box & found that was normal, in fact it was a good sign. So I am now 18 hours post op & the leaking has already slowed right down. Another great thing about this site was I read I needed massage afterwards. The docs never told me that! I asked about it when I showed up for the op, and they said I did need it. Bit annoyed as I can't find anyone to do it at such short notice, so I have visions of ending up lumpy.... So that is my job for the day. In terms of recovery, well it is definitely uncomfortable... But I'm not in agony or anything. Coping with just paracetamol. I ache in the abs area but no worse than after a major race. The incision sites sting quite a bit, but its not too bad. I feel more tired than I expected to. So I am glad I am not at work till Monday. Husband being very supportive, and so far kids have not noticed! So my secret is safe for now....

Ok day 2 post op.....
Good news is a found a massage therapist with experience in Vaser. But then when I got there she was chatting about her usual work which is massaging cancer patients with lymphoedema. How shallow did I feel!! I am struggling emotionally with what I have done (and am doing again) to myself. I have taken time off work but am working at home anyway because I don;t 'deserve' time off. My husband is trying to look after me, but I keep doing extra housework etc because I don't 'deserve' extra support because any soreness, stiffness is self inflicted. I keep reminding myself that some people spend their money on nice cars, a great holiday, a new kitchen. Others choose cosmetic surgery. I am not hurting anyone. I am not doing anything wrong. Sure it's unnecessary, but then so is a BMW or a trip to Barbados!! I am by no means rich, and this is years of savings. So basically I need to SHUT UP and stop stressing about it! Some-one please give me a cyber-slap!!
So, pain is ok, better than yesterday. Incision sites are a bit itchy, so I hope that means they are healing. The compression garment is uncomfortable but I'll keep it on for now. I have read on here that it is really for comfort and to minimise swelling, but won't make any real difference to the long term outcome as all the swelling goes away anyway in the end. So I might get rid of it sooner rather than later...
My stomach does look MUCH flatter. I can't see much swelling or bruising, but I am heavier than pre-op so I assume there is some fluid retention somewhere. I can't get over how much fat they sucked out - well over a litre! I looked at the jar afterwards. Years of ass-busting workouts just sat in a jar!! Very satisfying. My skin is loose so that looks pretty bad, but I am sure it will tighten up as the underlying structures heal. No more leaking. I have had reduced appetite since surgery. I think that is because the garment is so tight. Or maybe because I have had to stop training, SO I am focussing on eating good quality healthy food - protein to promote healing/recovery, fruit & veg to aid fluid loss etc.