55 Years Old, Tummy Tuck, BL w/ Implants and Flank Lipo

I had a great second PO week. Felt great and my swelling was not bad at all. In an effort to get off my pain meds, I switched to ibuprofen on Monday (I was told by my PS to wait 2 weeks PO) because Tylenol wasn't working that great for me. I also decided to increase my activity level in an effort to get ready to go back to work next (that's not happening, I am not ready, too much swelling and pain after 2-3 hours outside activity, walking, shopping, etc). I started noticing as the week went on that I was getting more swollen and it was becoming uncomfortable in my lower abdominal area. After going out on Tuesday and Wed for a couple hours, I was really tired and sore so on Wed I actually came home and went to bed for the rest of the day, so I cut way back on my activity level. I also switched back to Tylenol after GoRun85 cautioned me on taking Ibuprofen because it made her swell. I decided on Wed I was not ready to go back to work next week and notified my boss I would be off for another week.

Things got worse late yesterday afternoon after I did two loads of laundry and also washed my compression garments (I had been wearing spanx overnight the night before and left it on all day which was not very tight on my lower ab area, big mistake) and when I went to put on my CG, I could see there was fluid in my abdomen and it felt very uncomfortable. I ended up calling my PS office and going in to see the on call PS around 6:00 last night. She said she could see there was fluid, tried to drain it in 5 different places but was unable to get any fluid to come out. She told me I need to not bend or twist my torso. I was feeling so good earlier this week and I think I did this to myself by doing too during the week. I have been trying to not bend or twist today and just lay low but it doesn't seem to be getting much better. I'm going to call Monday to see if I can get in next week to see my PS if it doesn't get any better in the next couple days.

Has anyone else had this happen? How long is it going to take for the fluid to dissipate itself if they aren't able to drain it? I hope I didn't mess things up and cause my recovery to be extended. I hate this bloated, puffy, heavy feeling when I was feeling so good last week.

I am happy to say things are going very well. I had my two week post op last Friday, Dr. took out my belly button sutures, said everything looked good and told me I'm a "good healer" . . . lol. I Ioved hearing that, it might have to do with my obsession with vitamins and supplements. He said he doesn't need to see me for another 6 weeks, unless something comes up, then of course, call and schedule an appointment to see him. I took some photos today, lighting in my bathroom is not the great. I'm waiting for a referral to go through so I can get my first lymphatic massage, it's scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, but I might need to reschedule if the referral doesn't go through. It's ridiculous, my primary care physican approved the referral last Tuesday, but then it had to go through the referral department and that still was not accomplished today. Irritating. I was finally able to switch from Tylenol to ibuprofen today, it works so much better for me and after needing to take my prescription pain meds 3 times a day for the past week in addition to the Tylenol, I have gotten by with 800 mg of ibuprofen twice so far today. I know that's a lot, but I really want to get off the prescription pain meds as soon as I can. I am so happy I had the surgery, I hope my recovery keeps up at the rate it has been, although I felt like I had plateaued in my progress over the last 5 days, today I feel like I'm making forward progress again. I have not returned to work, will be off this entire week (3 weeks off work) and although I know my boss is thinking / hoping I go back next week, I'm going to see how I feel before I commit. I do not want to push things and once I go back, that's it, there's no turning back. Happy healing to those of you in the healing phase :-)