My Smartlipo Journey

I knew for years I would one day have liposuction performed on my chest. I am an athletic male that has completed duathlons and half marathons. I unfortunately had stubborn fat around my chest area and flank. I had a bit of a stomach but nothing too embarrassing. I am 29 years old, I love the gym, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke. I was a good candidate for this procedure. Anywho, in all I had the procedure performed on my chest, love handles (flanks), upper and lower abs.   This website was very instrumental in helping me decide what to look for in a doctor and what to expect from the surgery. I decided to have the procedure done under general anesthesia. The best choice I could have made!!! One minute I was looking up at my anesthetist, the next I was waking up in recovery. There was no awareness of a time lapse at all. I wasn’t nauseous from the anesthesia when I came to either! Since I had an afternoon surgery the first thing I wanted to do after waking was a bite to eat. Considering it had been 17 hours since I last ate. I can tell you the pain totally resembled having a tough workout from the gym. Not to be mean but some people said the pain was worse than a workout at the gym. It leads me to wonder if they know what soreness from a gym workout feels like. The pain and soreness is so far from unbearable. A few good pain meds and you should be good to go.   My surgery took place at 1pm on Tuesday, Dec 23, 2008. Wed. morning, 10am, I was able to do a little bit  of Christmas shopping. Be careful not to overdo it because it will cause you more pain and swelling. Some people say they can go back to work the next day. I can honestly say that although I was able to do a little shopping, there is no way I could sit at a desk for several hours. Plan some sick time and take the time off you need to recover!  I kept my bandages on for about 24 hours at which point I went to see my doctor for a follow up visit. It was the first opportunity I had to see the results. My chest is swollen but noticeably smaller. I was told to expect them to get even smaller, which is exciting.   My lower abdomen is extremely flat even with visible swelling. My flanks are almost eliminated minus swelling. Scaring consists of very small holes from the canula that I expect to heal without leaving a mark.   All in all, it was worth canceling my trip to Paris to have this procedure done. I will post before pics and day one pics soon. If you are in the Charlotte, NC area, I would totally recommend my doctor. Compassion and a caring environment are the cornerstones of their business! Just an overall great experience! The worst part about it all is I can’t go to the gym for almost 8 weeks! That is going to kill me. But, again well worth it.   Updated on Jan 1, 2009:
UPDATE UPDATE: Finally uploading pics as promised. Still having a little pain. Not too bad though. Still numb in parts of the treated area. I am also starting to itch a little which indicates the numbness is wearing off. I am definitely glad the new year is here! Happy New Year!   Updated on Jan 6, 2009: Day 15 Post-Op:
I had Smartlipo on my upper/lower abs, flanks and chest (gynecomastia) 2 weeks ago. Immediately following the surgery I noticed my lower abs were almost completely flat and my love handles were smoothed away. I continue to pay strict attention to my doctor’s orders following the procedure and have worn my compression garment everyday with only a 10-minute break daily. Just not sure how I feel about this procedure if the results aren’t lasting. I posted pics because I thought maybe I was just imagining it. Unfortunately, the pictures only confirmed my fears. Look at dat 2 and day 15 pics. How the hell did that happen? I posted a question in the Q & A forum to see if this is normal. I really hate to think I wasted so much money. Updated on Jan 6, 2009: For some reason my pictures did not load during my last update. So I am attempting to reload these pictures. Day 15 pictures should be at the bottom of the page. To add an update you have to have a fifty word minimum. Since I am just reloading pictures this is all just filler.   Updated on Jan 12, 2009:   I had a doctor respond to the Question about the love handles appearing to return. I was told that this was normal swelling. The doctor further added that I won’t get a picture of what the results look like until about the sixth week. He also stated that I had really good results based on my pictures. I have decided to get off this emotional rollercoaster and wait it out. (did it work? Did it not work?) This is about week THREE now. My doctor said I could not return to the gym or run for several weeks post-op which sucked considering I was in the middle of training for two upcoming half marathons and a full marathon in the Fall (if I am lucky I will get accepted for NYC marathon!!). After reading several post by doctors stating two weeks is about enough time to slowly get back to the gym, I decided I was going to run with my run group this past Saturday. You should have seen the look on my face when I found out we were running 9 miles! Here I am just lounging around for three weeks and then decided I was going to run 9 miles!!! I was excited I was able to complete the run although it wasn’t pretty! The soreness in my legs Sunday morning was a lot worse than the pain I felt post op!!! And yes I will admit I am being a crybaby!! [ :) ]. It is now Monday morning and it doesn’t appear I have had an adverse effect to the run Saturday morning. There has not been an increase in swelling or discomfort in my treated areas.   It appears my general swelling is continuing to diminish including the flanks that flared up last week. In fact, when the flare up occurred, the swelling was symmetrical. This morning I noticed it is now asymmetrical. The right side is a lot smaller than the left which I think is pretty funny. The exciting thing is that I am noticing a reduction in swelling on both sides.   My body has a little stiffness in the treated areas that I notice only when I stretch. (I hope that makes sense) It doesn’t cause discomfort or is even noticeable unless I stretch. I feel like my body is different and I am certain my results are going to be what I hoped for. I just need to be patient and not expect a miracle in two days. Thanks for taking the time to read this post.