Tumescent Liposuction: Stories

After gaining about 60 lbs in roughly 2 years and getting married in July, I decided to go ahead and really look into liposuction. I had thought about it for the past few years but never thought I could afford it, then I saw an ad from a local office offering $1250 per area liposuction.

After reading reviews from patients, I went in for a consultation and decided to get my upper and lower abs, hips, chin, bra roll, and inner and outer thighs done. I just went to my preop appointment today and met with the Dr. and am definitely feeling nervous. A little about me, I am 37 yo, 5'3", 200 lbs...I have never had children but was told that I might expect to have some loose skin in my lower abdomen due to a slight overhang. I'm planning on taking a total of 7 days off, including the day of surgery.

Surgery is on Wednesday morning and I've been very conscious about making sure to drink alot of water, not take anything other than my approved medications, and I went ahead and started using a "firming" lotion all over my body. Did a little research on these lotions and from what I could find, the inexpensive versions from Jergins or Nivea work just great. Since I am getting my chin done, I went ahead and got Olay Pro-X hydra firming lotion, maybe it will help tighten things up a bit. I'm a little concerned about a possible area of loose skin on my lower abdomen, due to a slight overhang (says my doctor) so I just wanted to give myself some extra help in that area :) He also advised me that my cellulite on my thighs would not go away with this surgery...I am planning on using some leg exercises and my firming lotion to help with this. My expectations for all of this is to just have a better body shape and eliminate the fat rolls on my midsection and get rid of the double chin. I plan on continuing to lose weight until I reach my goal weight of 130 lbs, whenever that happens :)

Okay well its almost time for bed and surgery is tomorrow...I picked up all my prescriptions the other day and also got some arnica montana, a homeopathic supplement that is an anti-inflammatory and can help with healing. It was suggested by the MD but I picked it up at a local health food store instead of at the clinic because who knows what they will charge there! :) Surgery is at 9:30am so I will post again when I am up to it!

Thanks for the well wishes...the surgery was yesterday morning. I was given Xanax, antibiotics, and Demerol about 30 mins prior and they really helped me relax. I would say the worst part of the surgery is when they are putting in the lidocaine anywhere near the belly button or ribcage...the lidocaine does hurt, its on the level of pain of a tatoo if you've every had one, tolerable but not comfortable. Once that was injected into all my areas, he started the fat aspiration which felt more like tugging and pulling with a few instances of burning. I did ask for more Demerol in the middle of the procedure which definitely helped...my advice on that is to just tell them you need more pain meds since only you know what the pain feel like and they will do what they can to help.

I got home around 3pm and immediately went upstairs to bed...before I left that morning, I had arranged our bed so that my side had those blue puppy training pads covered with old towels over the mattress and used an old sheet and some old blankets for covers...I didn't want to get our bed or the nice sheets/down comforter dirty. I fell sleep right away and woke up here and there but didn't eat anything other than a few crackers all day. At about 9 pm, my fiance took me to the bathroom to do my business and change the pads and I think the combination of movement and pain make me throw up, but it wasn't much. One trick I Iearned in nursing school is to sniff the small alcohol pads that I always find in my pockets (if you don't have them, just pour some onto a piece of paper towel or toilet paper)...they temporarily alleviate the nausea enough so that I can get a Phenergan down to make sure it goes away completely.

I slept through the night and woke up around 7am. Thank God the compression suit is crotchless, it makes going to the bathroom much much easier. I purchased some stool softener before I went to surgery because I know that opioids make you constipated...took one of those this morning and it should work in about 12-72 hrs but since I haven't eaten much anyway, I don't expect anything to happen anytime soon :) As long as you're still passing gas, you're okay because it means your intestines are still working well.

Today I am just going to stay in bed...I have a TV and my computer here to keep me entertained and my sweet fiance set me up with everything I needed before he went to work...crackers, water, pills, snacks, etc. I have to wear the abdominal binder and chin binder 24hrs a day for the first two days so they can both come off tomorrow...I did read somewhere that wearing the chin garment at least at night, will help with that area so I will do that for a while until I feel confident that it looks the way I want it to. Oh, and I'm excited to take a shower tonight woohoo!!

Today I noticed that the majority of the drainage has stopped, there seems to be one incision site that is continuing to drain but not more than a maxi pad can handle. I am still taking the Percocet every 4 hrs for pain, the pain I have is the soreness/tenderness with activity pain...I am planning on transitioning from the Percocet to liquid Ibuprofen today, probably by switching back and forth during each med time. I had planned on going for a walk today but its rainy again (go figure, its Portland!) so I think I will just stick to some indoor activities like some housecleaning and maybe some light weightlifting.

When I take off the garments, I can definitely see a big change in my abdomen, it has gone down significantly...my hips look about the same, as do my thighs...I think my bra roll looks better but its hard to tell. I still have a lot of swelling so its too early to form any opinions on it. My chin looks better but I noticed if I take off the compression garment from it for a few hours, it swells up again so I will have to do some research on that. My next appt isn't until May 3rd so in the meantime I am just calling the office with any questions.

I also measured myself and lost 3 inches from my waist, 3/4 inches off each thigh, 3 inches off my hips, and a 1/2 inch off my underbust so far. Hopefully once the swelling goes down it will be even more. I can tell that my upper abdomen is much flatter than before, although my lower abdomen is still pretty swollen. I've read that this is just due to gravity and will tighten up with time. I don't feel like my hips look much different but will give it a few more weeks to see what happens.

Last night and this morning were pretty bad pain wise, I woke up at about 4am in alot of pain and couldn't get comfortable in bed so I had to take another Percocet. This morning was pretty bad as well, I ended up napping on and off all day. I did get some light housework done and have a friend coming over for dinner tonight and she and I are going for an evening walk. I noticed that there is really no more drainage happening so I'm glad that's over with. My lower abdomen is very bruised, as are my outer thighs and this is where the majority of my pain in located. I am still wearing the compression garment from the office and the binders on my abdomen and chin, I think that today is my last day for the binders but I need to check on the chin, I've read alot about how its important to keep using it for best results.

I am experiencing the loss of sensation here and there in all the treated areas but I did expect this based on my preop instructions. I think at this point it is just a waiting game. I am back to school on Monday and back to "work" on Wednesday unless I decide that I need to continue the narcotics in which case I can't work due to safety reasons...hopefully I can stick to my original schedule and get back into the swing of things. I feel like the last few days have been a blur and that I haven't really accomplished anything so I'm eager to get back to my usual life. Pictures will follow soon.

I posted some pictures from Day 3, there is still alot of swelling although I am pleased that the bruising is minimal. I have been taking arnica montana 4 times a day as directed so maybe that is part of why there isn't much bruising. I feel like I look exactly the same other than my upper abs which I can see a significant difference in...but today is only Day 4 since surgery so there is still a ways to go before the final result shows. Today I stopped taking my prescription pain meds and am using only Ibuprofen which is handling the pain enough...I have to go back to school tomorrow so I wanted to be able to go without being drugged up. I find that the hardest part of the day pain-wise is in the middle of the night and right when I wake up. Once I get moving around the pain is more tolerable. Last night a friend came over and we went on a long walk since the weather was beautiful and I found that it gave me energy and improved my mood alot so I'm planning on doing it again tonight. Right now I'm just trying to be patient and not make any judgements about whether or not the results are what I wanted until at least 4-6 weeks. My follow up appointment is May 3rd so I will be updating then unless something drastic happens. :)

So its Day 7 and unfortunately I am still having enough pain to make it hard for me to do much of anything other than find a comfortable position and stay there for as long as possible. I ran out of Percocet yesterday so I had to call my office and ask for a refill, I have a script for Vicodin called in and ready to be picked up this evening. I'm pretty disappointed that the pain has lasted this long, I really thought that by today I would be just find with a few Tylenol a day. I also got my second stage compression garments and am not sure if they are the right size or not, they are very very tight...I'm thinking they will fit better in a few weeks? I will take them to my appt next week and ask, might need to send them back or maybe send one back and keep the other for further down the road :) I had a total of 7 areas done, with 4 done in my core and 2 on my legs so I'm thinking this is why I have more pain for longer than others, hopefully just a few more days of prescription meds and I can switch to regular Tylenol and stop living on the couch :( On a positive note, I am back to my preop weight which means that I am getting rid of fluids :)

The pain is finally gone for the most part and I've transitioned to the second stage garment...its very tight but is smoothing out my tummy very well and is much less hot than the first garment. Today was probably the first day that I felt like myself again...I don't know why it took me longer to get here than most people but I'm glad that part of the journey is over and can't wait to see my body change over the next few months. I measured myself today and have lost the following:

Waist: -3"
Hips: -0.5 "
Thighs: -1.5"

I'm really pleased so far with my waist shape and am trying to be patient about my hips, I'm hoping that they are just more swollen than the rest and need more time. My lower abdomen feels very hard (this is the induration I think) and swollen, which makes my hip measurement bigger so once that shrinks, that number will change.

Day 13 update:

Inches lost:
Bust: -1 (due to back lipo not breast augmentation)
Underbust: -1.5"
Waist: -3.5"
Hips: -2.75"
R thigh: -1.25"
L thigh: -1"

I still have hardness in my treated areas and have tried massage but found that it was very painful and will talk to my MD on Thursday about when to begin serious massage. Other than that, I am back to my normal life which is nice :)

Day 26-- Well its been almost 4 weeks since my procedure and I can see a significant change already. Here are the changes in inches so far:

Bust: 42 (-1")
Underbust: 36 (-1.5")
Waist: 35.75 (-4.75")
Hips: 45.5 (-4")
R thigh: 26.5 (-2")
L thigh: 26.75 (-1.75")

I actually mistakenly ordered size Large second stage garments in the beginning and returned one of them for an XL, which fit great in the first few weeks but find that the Larges are starting to fit more now which is great. I have no pain and only some hardness areas, mostly just my lower abdomen which is expected. My tummy is significantly flatter but upper and lower and I can wear fitted Tshirts again!! My back is much smoother and I just look smaller all around. My weight still hasn't gone down the 12 lbs that were supposedly taken off, only 6 lbs different right now but I look almost 30 lbs lighter which is all that really matters. I have a waist again feel like I am finally starting to get my body back. And I have been calorie counting and walking around 2-3 miles a few times a week to continue losing weight :)

Just realized that May 9th was Day 21 not 26 :) oops

Day 31- I weighed myself today and am down to 194.6, which is about 7.5lbs different than my preop date, not quite the 12lbs gone that they said was removed. I would have thought that by one month out, the swelling would have subsided enough that the weight would be reflected on the scale but I guess not. Its not a big deal, just curious.

I've been really enjoying my flatter tummy by wearing fitted Tshirts again, just in time for summer! Even though I'm nowhere near my goal weight (still need to lose at least 60lbs from the scale), I know that I don't look like what the scale says at all...I feel like my body looks like it did when I was closer to 175, so that's progress :) And even at that weight, I still had much more of a belly than I have now and alot more back fat so the surgery definitely creates a more sculpted look that changes your whole body shape. I am actually excited to go try on some swimsuits for my honeymoon now that my belly is flatter...I definitely feel more feminine and less like a blob :) I also noticed that my jeans, although the same "size," fit my body so much better, no more belly hanging over and with my waist being much smaller and my back fat significantly reduced, my overall figure has improved greatly. I can finally start wearing styles that I used to like those fitted Tshirts, without having to wear a pullover to hide my big belly :) And my back doesn't hurt like it did before either!

Day 43- Weighed myself today and am down to 193, so I'm almost down to the 12lbs lost from the surgery (190lbs). I've been *trying* to follow the Mediterranean diet plan (although Memorial Day weekend was not helpful with all the burgers, dogs, chips, etc.). And ironically, I've done better with food on the nights that I work than on the days I am at home...I think its because I only have food to eat that I bring (hospital kitchen is closed during the night shift) so if I bring healthy food, then that's all I have to eat! Plus I drink alot of water when I'm on shift and when I feel hungry, I eat stuff like cereal bars or yogurt instead of big meals.

So I think that overall, the surgery helped me get down at least 2 dress sizes, possibly three. I'm now down to a size 16 and really just focusing on making smart choices every day with food and activity, rather than forcing myself to commit to losing a certain amount of weight by a certain date. My goal is to learn how to eat better and enjoy doing it...I try to think about it the same way as when I tried to quit smoking...I wasn't successful with that until I got to a point where I didn't WANT to smoke, rather than not smoking because I knew I shouldn't...so I know that I am capable of embracing new lifestyle habits.

I can't wait to see how this surgery will enhance my weight loss and can definitely say that I am glad I did it. It has given me alot of motivation and for the first time in a long time, I am actually comfortable in my own body. I know I'm not the skinniest girl in the world but I'm so happy that my big belly and back fat are gone and I know that this investment in myself will pay off in the end!

Well I added a few new pics from the wedding and honeymoon...they aren't as detailed as the nudes of course but they give you an idea of how my body has changed. I certainly don't look skinny but I can definitely see how much more defined my waist is and I felt great wearing an open back tankini because I knew I had no fat rolls on my back anymore...so it was nice to not feel self conscious anymore. I loved the casual dresses for sale in the Bahamas, I got this red one down there and it falls in all the right places. Overall, I feel like my shape is now more hourglass and less spare tire. I still have some major weight loss to go in my journey and my husband and I have been walking about an hour a day so we're on the right track :)