JoyNFl

Surgery is Scheduled! - Florida

Has Anyone Had a B Reduction & TT at the Same Time? - Florida

Yes, if you overdo it from the beginning, you will be sorry. I have actually been overdoing it more so than I thought and had a slight setback yesterday. A small part of my incision came open....so, back to the doctor I went and I'm on antibiotics for 2 more weeks. I thought I was past the point of having to worry about things like that. So, you have to take things even easier than you think.

Teri- I'm so glad you got the approval!!! You are so blessed. You will love, love, love your results!!!

I had planned on going back after two weeks because I thought that a part time desk job would be a piece of cake, but I was wrong. I took another week. But, I have read about plenty of women that did go back after two weeks and were just fine. It all depends on your body.

In regards to what to have at home to prepare:
1. Someone to help you around the clock for at least 4 days.
2. Snack foods that you can easily munch on. After my surgery, I had absolutely 0 appetite, however, it is important to not take your pain meds on an empty stomach, so you need something light to snack on.
3. Anti-bacterial soap- you will need to wash with it the night before surgery or the morning of and then after surgery.
4. A sense of humor! :) You will not be hurting all that much, but you will be uncomfortable and you will feel like an alien took over your body. So, don't freak out...it will be fine, so just go with it.
5. Lots of comfy pillows. You will be most comfortable with a pillow under your knees when you are sitting and sleeping and you will also like to have them on either side of you for extra support. Also, once you do start to sleep in bed again, you will need your head elevated by at least 3 pillows-otherwise, you will wake up and your breasts will be very sore on the side. After a month, mine still do this, but I am down to 2 pillows now.
6. If you are prone to constipation, then have something to help with this. To my surprise, I had no issue with this, but many, many people do. So, be prepared.
7. Make sure your spouse or whomever will be with you is prepared. Taking care of you will be very time consuming.....everyone needs to be patient.
8. Get some gauze....the larger size would work best. At random times during your recovery, you will have a spot here or there that will want to drain. At that point, you will have to put ointment on it to make sure it doesn't get infected. So, the gauze will work wonders.

After the surgery, give in when your medicine makes you sleepy. The fatigue lasted over 2 weeks for me, so don't be surprised. Make sure that you are getting up every 2-3 hours to walk around a little.

Oh, and get some lotion that is non-scented. After about a week, your skin will start to get really dry from being covered by the compression garments. By this point, you will also be itching because the incisions are healing. So, try not to get lotion on your incision, but use non-scented just in case a litte does get close.

That's the main things that I can think of right off! I hope it helps!

Joy

Okay- well, here you go. I had both procedures done at the same time a month ago today. I did not stay over night. I will not sit here and tell you that it was easy, but it was manageable. I had the procedure done at 12:00 on a wednesday and was home at 7:00 that night. It would have been earlier, but the anesthesia made me sick, so they kept me longer. I came home with 4 drains. The two breast drains and one stomach drain came out on the following Monday and the last drain came out at 8 days. Getting those out was wonderful!! Oh, and this is important too... I was only on pain medicine from Wednesday until Saturday. After that, tylenol was sufficient. Now, since then, I have had to be very careful because over doing it is extremely easy!!!! Anyone who has this procedure needs to be prepared for that. I am still in a binder and a surical bra. I do still have soreness in my breasts, but it gets better each day. Now, I want you all to feel free asking any questions at all. I will answer them as honestly as possible. The biggest thing to know is that for 2 solid weeks, you will not feel like yourself...you will feel like an alien has taken over your body. So, as long as you give in, stay on the couch and rest or watch movies, you will be just fine!! :)

I am actually feeling really good. Tomorrow will be a month since my surgery and today was actually the best day I've had yet. I have a lot of itching, which is tough to deal with, but I know it means that it's just healing! I do still have a little bit of drainage every once in a while which isn't fun to have to deal with. But, other than that, I'm great! Thank you!

I am actually having a breast reduction and tummy tuck. Thanks for doing this list! Awesome!!!

JoyNFl