BACKGROUND: I am a transgender man who wanted to get rid of my hips and flanks and curvy shape. I was approved by insurance and got a date fairly quickly so didn't end up having a ton of time to do research before my surgery date. I just knew to stop alcohol, certain meds, and try to be as healthy as possible--which I did, to the best of my ability. Its been a rocky 30 days. SURGERY DAY On 2/9, I had a little over 5 liters taken out of 15 incisions in my stomach, back, mons, buttocks and inner/outer thighs. The procedure took about 4 hours and I went home that night. I was pretty out of it and had a hard time moving. My partner and best friend took care of me round the clock the first 24 hours as I as not very mobile. They helped me pee and eat and take my meds. I was not super hungry but was able to eat a bit each day. DAY 6 - BEGINNING OF POST OP COMPLICATIONS On Day 6, I went in person for my post op. I told the surgeon that I was experiencing some nauseau (I had been taking Percocet for the pain every 4-6 hours) and Tylenol in between. I had stopped taking Percocet as of the morning of day 6 to avoid the nauseau. The surgeon told me I could start taking 800 mg of Ibuprofen in between the Tylenol now, so I did. That night, I took a few sips of a soup and a bite of toast and I felt so sick and began a nightmarish week. POST OP COMPLICATIONS The night of day 6, I started feeling so nauseous, and this pain would not stop. I started throwing up and anything I would attempt to ingest would begin to feel like it burned my insides. On day 9, when even water began to hurt, I went to urgent care. I called my surgeons office many times and they would eventually respond but just would tell me to take little bites and sips and didnt seem to take seriously that I had stopped eating at this point for 4 days. The urgent care was concerned about my blood levels and vitals and told me to go to the ER in case of sepsis or internal GI bleed. ER did a CT scan and found that all looked OK (aside from a little biliary sludge in the gallbladder) but they ruled that out as being the cause. They gave me some pain meds, fluids, and a magic mouthwash in hopes that it would coat my throat to get some food in my system. FYI, on day 10 from the ER, I stopped wearing my compression garment due to the concern that it was squeezing together my stomach and esophagus and they were worried how it was impacting my ability to eat. Days 10-15 I went back home from day 10-12 - no real improvement and coming up on day 7 of no food and only liquid I could get down was room temp water with honey in it (through my trial and error). Anything else that I would attempt would cause a chest pain that would last 5-20 minutes with each bite or sip. I took myself back to the ER (on a doctor friends rec). They did more blood work, an ultra sound, and admitted me to the hospital. I got scheduled with a GI surgeon for an endoscopy on day 2 in the hospital and discovered a grace c errosive esophagitis with ulcer. They believe this was mostly likely brought on by the NSAIDS (Ibuprofen) the surgeon recommended but could also have been caused by a bad combo of all the meds I took, while laying down, not eating enough, and wearing this time compression suit all at the same time. I was put on a protonix (PPI) with an all liquid diet with instructions to slowly move to more solids. And another liquid to help me coat my throat and stomach to eat. Day 16-Day 32 POST OP COMPLICATION UPDATE After 3 days in the hospital and getting home, I was able to go from clear broth, to heartier soups, toast, and other solids within a week. I will spare yall the details of the diet specifics but if anyone has further questions, I am happy to answer. I still get a bit of a stomach ache or acid reflux every day or two and still trying to figure out what is triggering it but at least I can eat real food again and give my body the nutrition it lacked for so long--which undoubtedly has impacted my recovery from lipo. (See below) ACTUAL LIPO UPDATE So basically from day 9-21, I did not wear my compression garment because of the severe pain in my chest and the fear from ER doctors of not knowing what was going on. Day 17-21, I tried to put it on 1 hour after eating for as long as I could until my next small meal but it probably resulted in just a small amount of hours a day. Day 21, is when I finally felt well enough and found an open slot to see this lymphatic masseuse (shes amazing). They said I had a lot of swelling in my stomach (it was SO tender to the touch) and my sides were hard and had developed fibrosis and some in the bottoms of my thighs. My mons/pubic area has also been really swollen, even though, this was a very minor area the surgeon worked on. The masseuse told me it was crucial to wear the garment as much as possible and with knowing my stomach/esophagus issues suggested maybe a waist trainer as it would cover less of my upper chest. Day 22-Day 32 (today) I have been wearing my compression garment(s) much more, I would say about 20 hours a day. I am going to lyphmatic massage 2-3x/wk, I have been on a strict low sodium diet since day 1. I have SO much continued discomfort in my stomach (which I am told is swelling) --my stomach feels tight, and sore and numb and in pain (like I got punched in the gut) all at the same time and the feeling never really goes away. The flanks/sides- just feel hard and tight and uncomfortable My mons/pubic area - still swollen and tender to the touch and is not an area my masseuse touches/massages My thighs- they dont seem swollen to me. They feel sore and on the right under thigh feels hardened like my flanks but I would say the thighs are the most manageable in all of this. OVERALL CURRENT FEELING I am really bummed at how I am feeling. I know that I ended up having post op complications that prohibited me from properly caring for my self for my actual surgery but I am mad at my self for not pushing through to wear the garment more. Trying not to get in the mindset that its too late to course correct or that it was all a waste of time. My masseuse is keeping positive that with the proper care this can all easily be resolved. But I am also just sick of feeling so much constant discomfort, I have not had a full nights restful sleep in over a month so im constantly tired and my eyes burn. I try to walk a bit each day but it hurts because I am hunched over as my stomach feels so tight and now my back is hurting from walking all funky. I keep reading reviews about how Im gonna feel back to my normal self within 2-3 weeks but I didnt have a normal recovery so I feel like weeks 2-3 for me where the worst riddled with massive acid reflux, starvation, and ER visits. I keep trying to hope that means that weeks 4-5 will be my actual recovery weeks and once week 5 arrives, I will actually start to feel a bit more normal. I can handle a bit of swelling but this swelling and fibrosis is debilitating feeling. I can barely move or touch my body. I can still really only sleep on my stomach. Its limiting in all the ways. And in case anyone is wondering, no, I have never once talked to the surgeon since day 6. His physician assistant and I emailed a fair amount. And she only started to call me once the ER actually admitted me. It felt more like they were worried about their liability then it was about my pain/health. Since being home, I have not heard from them unless I reach out. Last tidbit, I feel somewhat numb in the right 3 smallest toes. They get cold throughout the day and numb and i need to massage the area. And when I sit on the toilet, my foot IMMEDIATELY feels like its falling asleep/feels numb. I found one article/study talking about someone having this post lipo (related to their sciatic nerve) and it went away after 3 months with some PT. This is my story. I hope it helps someone out there. And I also welcome any helpful thoughts/encouragement.
