antsypants

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!

Hi Kat30-- Sounds like I have the same situation as you; I had my upper and lower abs down on April 30, and while at first the results were great--my stomach was flat, smoother, and smaller, my stomach has been turning hard and lumpy since maybe day 7, getting worse up till now. Like you I've also been looking for answers on this website and others, and will let you know if I read anything good (it'd be great if you could do the same!) I can say that I'm generally still optimistic for my situation (and yours), because I think the lumps are uneven swelling vs. anything permanent. My reasoning is that I stopped wearing my compression garments about 4 days ago, and now when I wear clothes with waistbands that kind of dig in, the lumpy areas getting pressed on by the waistband, while not necessarily getting reshaped, they get pushed back and stay that way for a while after I change clothes, and I think this means that it's fluid or some other kind of mushy deposits that haven't settled in yet. So my fingers are crossed and I think things will get better. Take a look at this thread, and search for comments from "happytummy" on it. It sounds like she may have had something similar and it turned out better over some time. Out of curiosity, I'm wondering if our bodies are similar in some way that made us experience this hard lumpiness more than others. On my side, I am overall athletic and didn't get much sucked out--and my pooch (which extended up to my ribcage) wasn't the really soft or big kind but just kind of excessive and uneven. My skin is also quite elastic. I didn't bruise or swell much (I took arnica and bromelin before and after) and while I'm overall smaller than I was before surgery, I know even not considering the lumps that I'm still swollen, esp in the lower abs, like you. There is also still some tenderness to the touch, but I can massage lightly at this point. (but it's hard to grip the lumps!) Was your experience similar? here's hoping for the best!