antsypants

Not Perfect Because No Surgery Is. But SO Worth It, and Very Happy I Did It

Hi everyone. I posted a two weeks ago, when I was 2 weeks post having Smart Lipo done on my upper and lower abs. At the time, I had started seeing lumpiness and hardness--quite severe, visible to the eye, and entirely untouchable--and was worried that it wouldn't go away. Now it's about 5 weeks post surgery (April 30 was my surgery date) and I am getting happier and happier with my results. After this, i'm DEFinitely writing a "WAS worth it" entry. The lumpiness definitely has gone down, almost entirely gone on my upper abs, and dramatic improvements in my lower, though there is still some but I'm sure that it'll go away, it'll just take longer. Moreover, my overall goal is definitely coming into reality. I was sort of different in my reasons for SmartLipo, in that volume / size of my pooch was one minor thing, but my number 1 goal was to get better texture in my stomach, which was really bad. I thought that I had had cellulite, but my doc said that it was actually just a disproportionately high proportion of fat for me, that was showing in a funky way--I did believe him, cause it didn't really look like the cellulite I saw in pictures; it was little, shallow dents that were just really weird and ugly. I def got results in both areas. I'm smaller, and their really weird lumpiness (not the same kind as post-surgery lumpiness) has definitely gone down a lot. Clothes look fantastic on me, and I think I'll look pretty good bare once all the swelling/lumpiness is gone, which I'd expect to be in about a month. SmartLipo was most definitely worth it for me.

Good news! I just called my doctor, who by the way was great, very attentive, nice, and seemed completely competent and honest (before/during/after surgery). For some reason I had decided to wait it out a little bit before calling, because I suspected the lumpiness was somewhat normal, but now I wanted to hear reassurance from the doctor himself. He said that it is certainly normal to have hard lumpiness after surgery. This he said was fibrosis, a particular kind of internal scarring that is actually a desired effect of the SmartLipo laser. I'm post surgery at 2.5 weeks, and he said by week 4-6 it should go away--it will convert to soft tissue. He said perhaps 1 out of 3 patients get this, and that it's much more common on the abdomen (I had my upper and lower done) because it's a large flat surface. For those reasons, he didn't include it on the general post-op guidelines. As it is a kind of scarring and healing, he said massage and hot baths (or towels) would be good---anything to increase blood circulation will help the healing along a little more quickly. I trust him overall and he definitely expressed that this is fine; I really think things will get better for us!