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So discouraged and frustrated..
9 weeks post-op...Trying to be patient
Age: Just turned 40 in February Height: 5'8"...
Height: 5'8" ish
Weight: Was about 220 lbs, now about 215 and dropping
Waist: Was 37" pre-op
Hips: Were 47" pre-op
Breasts: 36G (43" around) pre-op
**Also had a BR/BL at the same time w lipo on sides of breasts
Motivation: To get rid of the stomach pooch that I had even way back when I was super skinny. All the women in my family have it and I could never get rid of it. Also to remove some weight off that area, as I was told I have osteo-arthritis in my right sacro-iliac area and it is very painful. I wanted to kick start my body to get back to a a healthier weight. I really wanted that pooch gone, the breasts downsized significantly and the love handles reduced, to at least make it comfortable for me to exercise.
My best pre-op advice: Prune juice. They tell you to take some things like Dulcolax and such, but my PS suggested prune juice for a more natural way to combat the impending constipation. I started a week early, taking a 1/4 cup of juice: I actually had to stop after 3 days because things were moving a little TOO quickly, ya know? lol. I started again the day before the surgery.
Doctor marked me up, discussed expectations again. All was good. Anesthesiologist gave me the best sleep of my life- haha! I don't mind going under really. When I woke up about 3 1/2 hours later, my blood pressure was really low, so when I started to get up I almost fainted, so they put me back on the bed and I went back to sleep for several hours. Was a bit better when I woke up and was able to go to my hotel room (I was from out of province).
I am currently just past the 8 week mark. I have found recovery to be VERY difficult. My pooch, happily, is gone. I still seem to have a lot of swelling-my measurements are only down 1" around the upper hips, waist and breasts-not a lot considering the work that was done. This is a major surgery, and is takes a lot longer to recover for some people than what they tell you. My new shape is pretty good, although I am unhappy so far about the breast size and lipo. My breasts are down a bit now, which has just happened this past week, but considering the removal of my stomach pooch as well as lipo on those love handles, I am rather disconcerted with only a 1" loss at this point. Although, up until now, I was actually BIGGER after the surgery than before.
I don't know if they know how to make a patient understand how incredible the swelling can be-because you can't really see it. And I didn't have anyone tell me how great the benefits of lymphatic drainage massage would be either, or dry brushing, which also helps the lymph nodes. Everyone is different. My recovery has been difficult. I knew about the bruising-that goes away quickly using Arnica Gel or Cream. Aside from the time it takes to even start seeing results, which is hard all on its own, there is the weird tightness form having the muscles tightened inside, and they didn't emphasize how tired I might be and how low energy post-surgery, or how long that could go on for. I was exhausted. I had heard some people were able to go back to work within a couple of weeks-I went back after two weeks and shouldn't have. Mind you, I had a TT, a BR/BL and Lipo, so there was a lot to recover from. Its taken me two months to even start to be able to go shopping for a couple of hours. I definitely needed at least a month after the surgery at home.
At this point, I rest whenever my body tells me. I am getting lymphatic drainage massage twice a week because its really helping. And, with support from ladies on this site, I am being more patient waiting for results. My PS has said he will take more off the breasts and lipo the flanks again in November once I ma closer to final results, if I am still unhappy. This is very fair of him. The TT was good-my stomach has never been so flat-its the breasts and the lipo that I am not crazy about. But you really do have to wait a good 3-6 months to start seeing some solid, dramatic results. I say 6, because my body is taking its sweet time, but some women see results much more quickly.
Provider Review
Dr. Jugenburg seems to know his stuff-I see he is a Top Doctor on here for answering questions as well. The TT result was good-breasts and lipo remain to be seen. He has stood behind his work and seems to care about my satisfaction with the results by offering to fix things further if they are not up to my expectations by November. That being said, it is definitely his staff who lets you know that he actually cares, because his bedside manner is less than impressive. His staff does 99% of the follow up, unless you insist on speaking to him. Kim, Grace and the other ladies in his office are his saving grace-he has the surgical skills, but his manner puts a lot of people off. He is extremely serious, which is ok when it is about his work, and I am sure he has a high stress level in this field, but he seriously needs to work on his people skills. If not for Kim, his Operating Director and RN, I would be in turmoil right now. She saves the whole thing and really cares-she is available anytime, day or night and obviously loves what she does. I've never met a woman with more patience, and I'm pretty sure I have tested that patience on more than one occasion. Dr. Jugenburg couldn't answer my questions about why my breasts hadn't gone down more (I was supposed to go to a D cup), nor could he explain to me why my hips were still the same measurements, even though he has done lipo. I know he took out the maximum amount of cc's or grams of fat allowed, but that didn't explain it. Yet I posed questions to other doctors on this site and they were easily able to explain and suggested the lymphatic drainage massage as a tool to help the swelling go down, etc. Not sure why my PS had so few answers to my questions as a medical professional while others were able to answer and give me something to go on-and while my PS said I should be almost down to my new baseline size by 2-3 months, every other doctor I have asked said not to expect significant results until about 3-6 months. In terms of after-care-oy! This was difficult for me. I came from Alberta to Toronto specifically to go to this PS, as he is considered to be one of the best in his field. I had to leave with drains and go back to Alberta 5 days after the surgery, and this proved to be a nightmare for me. My PS said my GP could take them out, but hadn't actually talked to my GP. Then my GP refused to take them out-I wound up removing them myself. It was a ridiculous situation that I know has caused them to review their protocols for people coming from out of town. (incidentally, I left that GP because of this issue and went into the private healthcare system with a great new GP). So they definitely needed to have some new processes implemented in their office, which I have been told is happening. My ratings are based on all of this rolled up into one, as email and phone responsiveness by staff was awesome-but not by my actual PS. Answered my questions is low rated because of my PS responses, not the staff's. He is the medical professional who did the surgery, so If eel msot ratings need to be based primarily on him.