It's the morning of my procedure, I had my pre-op appointment yesterday. All the reviews on here really helped me go through with this despite my fears and helped me understand what's look for in a doctor especially. I really like how professional and caring my Dr Donna Fisher is- she made sure I had no other questions and is super involved in explaining what to expect from surgery including results which I expected. I am terrified of doing it awake, but I'm doing it anyways. After breakfast this morning I'll take a Percocet, a Valium, and an anti nausea before the procedure and then will have laughing gas as well. She'll be doing "2.5" areas (my full abdomen, flanks, and then right above my waistline on my back but not up my entire bra roll area. My total cost is $7800 including garments, but that doesn't include the pot op supplies and massages I've bought. I'll include some before photos for you guys, they're not very flattering but the lighting really shows very bulge so I have a good comparison hopefully after.
Updated on 16 Apr 2022:
So I had my procedure Thursday, today is Saturday. Everything starting with getting to the office that morning was super straightforward and happened fairly quickly. I showed up at 8:45 and by 9:15 I was in my robe, had taken my Percocet and Valium, had my markings bad pictures taken and was on the table ready to go. I waited on the table about 15 minutes or so just breathing the nitrous gas and trying to relax. I felt very aware of everything going on, but I was relaxed. I did feel pain, but it was manageable. There were times I was having to really focus on my breathing to get through some tough areas where she said I had fibrosis from a previous traumatic Injury/surgery from an ectopic.
I know when I was preparing for my surgery I searched high and low for in depth explanations of how painful the local anesthetic process would be. Just like everyone else, I’m gonna tell you that really depends on you. The numbing injections were tolerable, but stung. The actual injection of fluid was mild and the most painful part for me was the suction but again I had fibrosis. All this being said- it was tolerable and I really believe focusing on breathing really helped me. I would find myself falling asleep and drifting in and out so it’s not like ones in pain the whole time at all. Dr Fisher really did do her best to keep me comfortable. At the end The cool thing about the drugs is they kind of make you not remember how much it hurt if that makes sense? Like I would absolutely do it again assuming my results are what I’m hoping for.
My first night after surgery was a breeze- I slept basically until 10pm and woke up, drained in the shower for a bit (not with it on I literally stood there dripping) put a diaper on, and went on one 15 minute walk around the block and took some Tylenol and a Valium and was back asleep until morning where I had my post op appointment and they showered me and re dressed my bandages. The pictures I’ve attached are of me the first night with my garment and the morning after surgery at my post op).
My second night after surgery, last night, was pretty uncomfortable. I just had gas and hate sleeping on my back.
My pain has been really low, but I have taken half a Percocet yesterday and half today and then just Tylenol other than that. I havent drained much yet, was hoping to drain a lot more. The doctors did say they were surprised how little I bruised considering how rough they had to be on my stomach and flanks.
Updated on 18 Apr 2022:
I’m adding pictures of me in the room where I took my pills the morning of the procedure before I got my markings, immediately after surgery, and in my garment the first night. The garment really wasn’t bad at all, in my opinion. I also notice I have very little bruising. I took these pre op heal fast pills before hand and made sure I wasn’t drinking any alcohol and I really feel like that helped a ton.
I’ve been taking arnica and the post op heal fast along with Tylenol or my other meds as needed. Not sure if I should order some lipo foam or not because right now it’s just the garment. Sleeping has been getting better and I’m still very sore but not bed ridden or anything. I’ll also add another photo of me currently, I think I’m pretty swollen based off how sore I am and I’ve been moving a lot.
Updated on 27 Apr 2022:
Like everyone else around this time, I’m starting to notice some bumps. I first noticed them on Monday, which was day 11. They seem pretty minor and I’m trying not to worry because I’ve been looking into it a lot and seems like they resolve with continued care. My doctor called me yesterday to check in and schedule a post op one month appt which I appreciated as she told me not to worry about them, because my stomach isn’t hard or anything. She did tell me foam wasn’t necessary after surgery but everything I’ve read suggests you need to wear it to help with these bumps so I ordered some today and it will be here Friday day 15. I get my fourth MLD massage today too, which definitely help. I also ordered some cellulite oil and a couple tops for self massage, and finally got my binder in the mail.