Dr. Fisher - Post MWL specialist - brachio, LBL, whole leg lipo - San Antonio, TX

Had my initial Body Lift surgery with Dr. Fisher almost five years ago and still feel as if finding him was a moment of Grace in my life. I have maintained my relationship with Dr. Fisher for five years and still believe him to be the best there is out there. Even today, i have the body i never even dared dream possible. Not just an acceptable body but an actual GOOD body and that is all thanks to him. Grateful every day to have found him and had these life changing surgeries. Life has done nothing but get better and better in the intervening five years.

Apologies for not posting in a while - nothing too dramatic to report here - just going through the healing process and trying to heal as well as I can - nutrition, dressing changes, compression, feet up and rest…old hat and somewhat boring.

Here are the highlights...

Hyperbaric Treatments: Found a Groupon for Hyperbaric Chamber treatments out of a local chiro’s office - 5 treatments for $175 (hour per treatment). It is supposed to promote healing so at that price, why not try it? I Had my first treatment yesterday…found it paradoxically relaxing and energizing too.

Compression: Where do I begin? It has been frustrating! Folks that only have incisions / work on thighs need to wear compression that is capri length (the garment needs to go a minimum of 6” below the point of the trauma to effectively control swelling. Since I have had liposuction and now incisions to my calves and ankles as well, my compression needs to be to mid foot to be effective and not create a trapped “bubble” of swelling lower than the incision. They do not make a single garment for people like me. It has been a challenge ever since the first surgery. My “ankle” length garment stops six inches SHORT of my ankle! I tried to wear compression knee highs underneath/below the garment to cover the feet and ankles, but the top bands of the knee highs were irritating the incisions to where they were re-scabbing and the right leg looked like it might even open. So I also have compression anklets - these create some leg deformity as they are tighter than the compression garment, but better than the band on the tops of the knee highs compromising the incisions. Plus being compressed from toes to under boobs 23 hours per day just gets OLD you know? Anyway…it is temporary…I’ll survive…just had to get my whine on a bit.

Openings: The “T” junction groin openings are healing on schedule, but those of you who have had openings, even with good healing, it is **never** fast enough! I am pleased though…at current rate of healing and hope they will be completely closed within the next three weeks (fingers crossed). I had a 1.5” loop of thread come out of the left hand opening (my first official spitting suture!) …but technically it was already open due to failed stiches, so maybe not so official…Also appear to have a surgical staple “peeking” out of my leg incision (skin is firmly fused around it with no irritation present). Watching it closely to see if it comes out further, and will pull it if/when it does.

Scabbing/Healing:

I was able to start scar treatment sooner last surgery. By one month out I was treating all incisions with mepitac tape and scar massage. This time, it seems as if healing is going just a bit slower at the incision sites.

The revision sights are healing the best (arms and hip) - honesty you can barely tell where those were cut! I can start scar treatment on those whenever. I am still treating all incisions with aquaphor, so need to decide when I am discontinuing “grease” treatment and going with “clean and dry” and putting on silicone tape. Probably early next week will start silicone.

The leg incisions, while doing well, are still scabby in places, so maybe 1+ week out from being able to start any scar treatment.

Groin incisions are healing the slowest - I think this is to be expected. Everything is closed, but they are still “raised” in some areas, and while showing progress, and everything is closed, they are just slow-slow to start to make the transition from incisions to scars.

Breast incisions are still somewhat scabby as well - with the exception of the areolas, which are nicely healed.

Nutrition: I am going out of my way to get > 100g of protein in per day for the entire recovery process and supplementing with lots of single thread aminos and a host of other vitamins and supplements. I should do a review on my post-surgical supplementation routine as I think it is contributing to decent healing from both surgeries. Having an awesome surgeon plays a huge role in how we heal, but after that, how you take care of yourself in the post recovery period (I would like to think) also counts! I see a lot of posts on people (proudly) losing weight during recovery…and I get it…being MWL we are “scale watchers”…but this is NOT the time short your body on nutrients and calories. It has a hard enough time with all of the healing it is doing (IMHO our bodies are **completely** amazing being able to recover from the trauma we have inflicted) much less putting additional stress on your body. Sure I am worried about getting fat or gaining weight, but I have time to worry about that *after* I am done healing and do something about it then if i am not happy. I am looking at my pics and thinking my belly is not as flat as I would like (hoping a lot of it is still systemic swelling), but I can take care of that later. Complication free healing right now is the primary objective of my diet and supplementation. (Climbing off soapbox now…)

Notes on pics: My doc sent me the pics he took pre/post surgery - I think they are nothing short of *spectacular* results. I cannot wait to see in six weeks when more of the swelling has subsided. I posted a few more of my own pics - cannot **wait** for all of the swelling to subside so I can see my waist and butt curve again…sigh!

Had my last follow up with Dr. Fisher this morning...all happy noises as things are healing well and looking good. I'll take some pics when I get home and/or try to get the pics Dr. F took today. My "T" junction near my groin is granulating nicely....it will just take time to heal. Sort of sad to be leaving San Antonio as this really has been like a medical vacation and I cannot believe how good I feel! Still have a bit of bruising on my cheeks from the fat transfer but I have to say....really loving my new face and eyes! To that end, spent an afternoon at ulta getting new eye makeup! Really fun stuff! So excited and grateful this part of my surgical journey has gone so well with such great results! The staff at the hotel was so friendly and accommodating to us....it was like saying goodbye to new friends. We were quite comfortable there. When I arrived at Dr. Fisher's office this morning, it was like meeting his impromptu fan club in the lobby! One woman was there just had her LBL and brachio, the other had a consult that day for LBL redo and thighs ..all of us MWL ....had a great time chatting with these ladies! So yes, have actually had a good time while here and a bit sorry to leave! On the plane now taxiing (shhhh no one tell the flight attendant I'm not in airplane mode yet). Economy comfort is treating the incised booty pretty well. Thanks everyone on the site and reading for your supportive words and suggestions. I've met soooo many wonderful people virtually and in person by doing this surgery journey blog!