I can't describe how amazing he is! He truly gave me high self esteem for the first time, he and his crew are SO caring, nice and everything you'd want during something like this. I have tears in my eyes typing this, I could not recommend him any more!
I have been contemplating this procedure for several years. I've already had a breast reduction, bracheoplasty, TT MR hernia repair and belt lipectomy in 2017 & 18 respectively. After my abdominal procedures, I developed edema in my thighs, which was pronounced in my left leg. 18 months ago, my left thigh was 1" larger in circumference than my right. As of 12/19 it had grown to 2.5" larger, with new fatty deposits on my saddlebag area as well as just above my waist on my lower back. My thighs were swelling with every menstrual cycle, and they seemed to gain a bit of size each month that never went away. I knew the only way to address the issues I was having was a thigh lift. I scheduled the procedure in 11/19, made arrangements to be off work for 6 weeks to recover, and had my surgery yesterday 1/8/20. I'm posting pre op photos as well as the pre surgery marks Dr. Sinha drew on me. So far this is definitely the most brutal of the Sx I've experienced. Being debilitated is extremely demoralizing, but I know I have to be gentle with myself in order to heal with the best outcome. Updated on 10 Jan 2020: First check in with my surgeon today, Incision sites are looking good with minimal seepage. I got rewrapped and given a compression garment to put on in a couple days. They've given me the option of putting it on myself or coming in to the office if I don't feel confident in my ability to get dressed in it. I can already see a tremendous difference in my legs, even with the post surgical swelling at (hopefully) its peak. I think my outcome will be spectacular. I have the expected amount of bruising around the lipo sites, honestly it doesn't look bad at all. Swelling has been worst around my lower ab/hips/butt region. Kinda like a BBL. This was not the look I was going for, lol. I'm definitely feeling beat up, but I had been as mentally prepared for and tried to have as realistic an idea of my physical limitations postsurgery as I possibly could. I am trying to be as not grumpy as humanly possible regarding my limited mobility. That is honestly the most difficult part for me. I'm used to being on my feet 8+hours per day and am very active with exercise + training my dog. It feels like my wings are clipped :( I wish I had realized how critical ice packs would be for this surgery. Right now I'm basically surrounded by them from mid sternum to my knees. Ice has helped sooo much with swelling and general discomfort. The compression garments/ACE bandages also feel good on the incision sites, not totally certain why, but after wrapping my thighs about half my pain disappeared immediately. I'm cleared to shower on Sunday. That will be the Best Day Ever. :) I'll get some photos then, and post a short update. Updated on 11 Jan 2020: I discovered early this morning the lower end of my sutures on my right leg had opened. Its about 4' long. Looks horrible, but discharge is normal serum/blood w no sign of infection. The jp drain on the right side had barely had anything coming out, but the area near my knee was swollen and felt stretched to the limit. I'm thinking this happened while I was asleep, and was due to too much internal pressure. Treatment will be a wet to dry bandage, and I'm on oral antibiotics. It looks as good as can be expected, but still is horrifying in appearance. Updated on 12 Jan 2020: Got a shower today, I feel tremendously much better. Definitely needed assistance, both bandaging my incisions and redressing especially my compression stockings. The open sutures don't look any worse than yesterday, I'm doing wet to dry bandaging per medical instructions.. I'm surprised at the location of my post surgery bruises. I had expected the worst of it at my lower back and upper thighs, but I have some in my axillary area too which I hadn't expected given that I only had excess tissue cut off -not lipo- in that location . The upper abdominal revision looks good, I do have a suprising amount of soreness adjacent, especially on my ribs where they meet the sternum and branch downward. I can already see a huge difference in areas of my procedures. Particularly the lipo of the outer thighs and the inner thighs where the excess skin was removed. It's less obvious to the eye, but I can tell a major difference in my axillary areas and upper abdominal revision sites. I had gotten a you bra from amazon as a compression binder specifically for my armpits, and can't say enough about how well it's working. The binder is a narrow piece of elastic w velcro closure that goes above the breasts and below the arms.( Its advertised use is as a support for large breasts during strenuous exercise. ) I haven't gotten into my fake from my dr, I want to see the med staff at his office so I can learn how to put it on without causing further harm to my ruptured sutures. I'm wearing a small mountain of ace bandages. Updated on 15 Jan 2020: Woke up this morning with really bad edema swelling both of my feet. I'm weirdly not swollen anywhere else, I have no explanation for this. I've been elevating my legs, using ice to manage the residual swelling, and haven't had any swelling like this crop up till now. I've been managing the open suture line with wet-to-dry bandaging 2x per day as instructed by my PS office. Its looking like the tissue is slowly healing, no signs of abnormal discharge or inflammation. Updated on 18 Jan 2020: Just a few pics of my compression garment showing the changes that have taken shape so far. Idk if it's the location of the lipo sites, the configuration of my compression garment, my physiology or some combination thereof: I legit look like I had a petite bbl in addition to the thigh lift, lower back lipo axillary and upper abdominal revisions. I am finding my inflated behind amusing . More so bc I would be deeply unhappy if I had a corresponding amount of swelling in my before (I'm not anti fupa, I'm anti fupa for my personal nethers). Updated on 20 Jan 2020: Follow up today with my surgeon, he put sutures back into the opened areas on both legs. He believes this should help facilitate a speedier healing process. I am still having residual swelling that's worse than expected, so I'll be bandaged from the waist down with ace type wraps. I'm also to discontinue wet to dry on the newly sewn areas, and will just be keeping them covered with surgical pads. My other incisions are looking great. My personal philosophy is have a sense of humor about the crap that's beyond your control. I've brought a few smiles today, and I'm the most comfortably dressed person in the building. Updated on 20 Jan 2020: Photos from my post shower showing the resewn areas and revision site healing progress. I'm hoping to be able to return to work on schedule, which is about 4.5 weeks away. "woman plans and Fate laughs" Updated on 23 Jan 2020: Just as quick update showing where my PS put new sutures in to hold my open areas together. The left leg has had further issues, but the separated area is very shallow. The right leg is holding steady. I do have a weird spot of swelling/ edema at the inside of both knees, but doesn't seem to be more than fluid accumulation. Updated on 24 Jan 2020: I managed to sleep most of the day today, I'm not even sure how I accomplished it. Weirdly I wasn't feeling especially tired last night. I'm going to attribute it to my body finally being able to spend resources on healing as opposed to trying to fight major edema/ postsurgical inflammation and keeping the area where my sutures ruptured badly from going septic. It's a good body and I should give my immune system a bonus at the end of this quarter, it's been the MVP of this recovery period. I'm attaching some photos which show the outline of my legs. Compared to the presurgery photos....holy crap, what a difference. Updated on 27 Jan 2020: Went for another checkup w PS today. He is VERY pleased with the way my incisions are healing now, particularly the area that had burst open right after my surgery. He checked all my surgical sites, the revision and lipo area on my back are "looking great " . Happily my drain output was low enough that they took out the remaining jp drain from my left leg. I'm so very happy to be rid of that $#@%×! thing. I had mentally, and my PS concurred that I was having abnormal swelling around my knees, particularly the inside. Apparently the compression knee highs band was digging into the natural taper just below the joint, and causing an issue with drainage as well as cutting into and irritating my skin. So. He has instructed me to continue wrapping my legs from toes to hips with-wait for it- ace bandages. -_- They did give me more ace bandages to take home..... I now have 2 elephants worth of elastic stretchy bandages in my possession. Upside: if I sprain my literal *everything * I'm good. Won't lie, I was really hoping to graduate to compression garments. I go back in 2 weeks, and might at that point actually be able to put on the garment my PS had for me 2 days post surgery. I've never worn it...beginning to wonder if it will fit me by the time I 'can', lol. I did remeasure my legs, hoo boy what a huge difference already, even taking into account the swelling I still have now: Measurements are in inches* Left before: knee 17.25 middle 23.5 upper thigh 26.75 After: knee 17.5 middle 21.5 upper 24.25 Right before: knee 17.75 middle 22 upper 24.5 After: knee 18 middle 21 upper 24 That's basically a 1" difference in my right leg, and a 2" difference in my left! That's huge for less than 3 weeks postsurgery . I'm looking forward to seeing my final results, bc it looks so much better already, and I'm very happy with the shape I'm seeing coming together. Now if I can only live a life free from stretchy elastic wraps... I swear to god I'm going to come out of this w PTSD triggered by the sound of velcro. Updated on 2 Feb 2020: So I have not had a bbl with my thigh lift, but edema kinda makes it look like I have. Idk why my butt is more dramatically swollen than any other body part. It is, and it's a bit disturbing o.0 At least this isn't painful. I'm wondering how long it will last though. I think part of why my bum looks fuller is bc of the lipo from my "tramp stamp" area. Updated on 16 Feb 2020: It doesn't seem as if my still open suture line on my right leg is making progress in healing. If anything it seems larger than it was 3 days ago. I'm already on augmentin for an upper respiratory infection. This wound doesn't look good. I'm still doing wet to dry bandaging (over a month now) and there isn't pus coming out, but it doesn't seem to be getting smaller. Frustrated. The lower leg swelling and swelling in my butt do seem to be resolving. thankfully. Updated on 21 Feb 2020: This is my replacement compression garment from my PS. It still felt roomy so I've doubled up with compression tights from Amazon. The tights feel good, actually really glad I nabbed them. I'm due for another cycle just as I'm heading back to work next week. Yay. Hopefully the tights will help with any PMS swelling that happens. Updated on 22 Feb 2020: I've been cleared to walk for exercise, making my best walking partner very happy. With the weather turning toward springtime and my swelling under control, we've been out taking advantage of the balmy temperatures and enjoying the sunshine. It's as individual as every one of us, but what ever keeps you happy and active is so beneficial during recovery. Updated on 10 Mar 2020: I'm still doing wet to dry bandages on my opened sutures. Its slowly healing, but still looks pretty awful . At present it's about 3.5 inches x 1/2 to 1/4 inch deep. Though that's a vast improvement, I'm definitely frustrated with the rate its closing. My left leg looks great, and and my other procedure areas are all looking excellent. My lower back does swell after being on my feet working, but that's unavoidable. I'll be wearing compression garments at least until the end of this month. Planning on wearing the tights until the 6 month mark.
1 Year following my BR/Brachioplasty surgery, I was ready to complete my transformation in to the body I always should have had. (for my backstory and why I had weight issues please see part 1) I also needed repair to the abdominal muscle wall, with defects in the for of diastasis recti wide enough for me to stick 4 fingers between the inner edges of the muscle, and a small umbilical hernia. I knew underneath the excess skin and its subcutaneous fat, the actual dimensions of my body were very nice. It was maddening to know that the shape I had always aspired to was so close, and yet there was nothing I personally could do to make myself look the way I was supposed to. I had my presurgery consult at the beginning of the year. We discussed what form of TT and skin excision I would get the best results from. Dr. Sinha felt that I needed a full 360 degree incision with excision of skin from literally every part of my lower torso. We spoke briefly about the excess skin on my upper abdominal area, and at that time he was ambivalent about preforming a fleur de lis incision, given that there are more risk of complications and much more prominent scarring resultant. He promised to revisit this in presurgery, b/c I did have a significant amount of excess skin between my navel and sternum. I had decided to try to loose a bit more weight prior to my operation, I was starting out at 152, and wanted to drop appx 5-10 pounds if possible in the 6 weeks leading up to my procedure. For reference I'm 5'4 and my goal weight is a muscular 135. I intensified my daily workouts a bit, doing cardio, working with free weights, and pilates/yoga/dancer flexibility matwork. I was able to drop about 7 pounds and felt very fit going in to my operation. The day of my operation I noticed that the surgery center seemed short handed, I'm guessing that the flu epidemic has taken it's toll on the healthcare community, and every department was running short on help. I was Dr. Sinha's second patient of the day, my OR time was 730. He came in to mark my body, and there was no other staff present-which seemed odd but again there was nobody else in that part of the presurgery staging area. (My champion caregiver mom was there) I don't know if it's typical, but having my excess tissue moved and manipulated in order to be marked for the incision lines was unexpectedly painful. Dr. Sinha did warn me of the discomfort, but it still hurt much more than I would have ever expected. Basically he was pulling and stretching each area to be excised as far as it could go. You can actually see red marks from the force of his grip on my skin in the presurgery photos for the incision lines. Please understand-I'm not upset that there was discomfort involved, it's just something I had never seen referenced before in any review of a TT/belt lipectomy/lower body lift, and I know this wasn't done to make me feel any pain. As we had discussed prior, Dr. Sinha revisited the possibility of skin excision on my upper abdomen. He left the decision up to me, and I told him, yes, I wanted it removed. He made the vertical marks for a FDL, and it also had a roughly triangle wedge off to the sides. At this point I started giggling, b/c he had basically just drawn the Deathly Hallows -from Harry Potter- symbol on my upper abdomen. (Yes I am an unabashed nerd). I also had axillary skin marked for removal, it was pushing in to my armpit and being in the way. I was taken back to the OR at about 20 till 8. I chatted for a few minutes with the staff, reminding them of my claustrophobia. The next thing I knew it was about 430PM and I felt like I had poured in to an unfamiliar body. I was told that 10ish pounds of tissue had been removed. According to the marks it was a swath about 8-10" wide around my entire lower body. My procedure only lasted until about 1PM, but for some reason I did not come out of the anesthesia as well this time. Mom tells me that I was ranting incoherently about the wallpaper in the OR. There is no wallpaper in the OR.....Apparently I believed it should be papered with images of kittens. The drive home was rather boring, I just felt stuffed full of cotton, brain included. I was wise enough to have soup and a bit of jell-o as my food that evening. Coughing immediately post TT/diastasis/hernia repair is a Very Bad Idea. Updated on 19 Mar 2018: TMI at the beginning: I used the bathroom shortly after arriving home from the surgery center, it was an odd and somewhat shocking experience. Firstly, I was so swollen (internally & externally) that urinating took a lot of time, concentration and effort to relax enough to let loose. When I was finished I went to clean up, and immediately noticed a significant change between my legs, fore and aft. I had no idea that my labia majora could be affected by this surgery, but they were. They had been pulled very taught (along with my perineum/rectal area, mons & butt crack). I didn't quite have Barbie Crotch, but I wasn't too far off from it. I guess I never realized that I actually had excess skin in between my legs, but apparently I did. Aside from the pronounced change to my lady bits, my rectum was in sorry shape. I had issues with hemorrhoids for about 10 years, stemming from the time when I had been significantly heavier. Those hemorrhoids had popped out to a degree that I had never experienced before. Happily I was on hefty Rx painkillers, so I didn't feel them much. My lower abdomen/hips and butt were unfamiliar territory now. Literally for the first time in my life my lower belly was flat...that took some real mental adjustment, but it felt good. My hips were much less inherently rounded than I had always believed, but I still had a soft hourglass curve that blended smoothly in to my upper thigh now. I've always had a defined waist, even at my heaviest, so the change to my waistline was less dramatic. I also did not have as thick a subcutaneous fat layer on my upper abdominal region, so that was a bonus for my new shape. My upper abdominal area-the top of the FDL incision-was a bit poofier than I would have strictly liked, but I was happy to see the changes that were obviously present. Dr. Sinha had warned me that my butt would "be fairly flat" post surgery. It was to a degree. My crack had become extremely wide and shallow, and each buttock was flatter in profile (not much projection, not very rounded) than they had ever been. I wasn't very bothered by this, I can always do squats and lunges to build back up a more plump rump, not to mention an athletic bottom is my personal aesthetic. The painkillers seemed to affect me differently than they had the year before (PO BR/brachioplasty). I had trouble falling and staying asleep, and I noticed a high pitched tinnitus noise the first day PO that proved to be tied to my taking the painkillers. My first PO follow up was on friday 2/16, 2 days after the operation. I had already noticed that there was an area on my backline incision (the trampstamp incision) where I was leaking a lot of fluid. The NP remarked on it as well, and I speculated that it might be a small seroma or pocket. A couple of stitches had been ruptured there even before I left the surgery center, so it apparently was being stubborn about its new neighborhood on my body. Apparently that tissue really wanted to be a buttcheek, not my new waist. I was instructed to come back in again the following monday, and sent home without the blessing to shower -_-. I had 4 drains coming out of my upper thighs 2x2. The procedure itself hadn't involved any lipo, again Dr. Sinha felt it would be unnecessarily aggressive, and would lead to a less desirable outcome for me to pursue it. I guess I never realized how much excess skin I had on my butt/lower back/hips. The secondary site-the axiliary skin removal was looking good too, but the change wasn't quite as dramatic there. Again I had roughly 10 pounds of excess skin removed, combined with the prior years surgery, that was nearly 17.5 pounds of skin...that's about 15% of my body weight.... Getting out of bed was easily the worst thing about my immediate PO experience. I ended up rolling on to an elbow, pushing myself backwards on to hands and knees and stepping off the bed, usually backwards. I was instinctively trying to stand up straight almost immediately. I had been instructed to not really try for a week or so, but I really wasn't trying to push myself in to pain or major discomfort. I did notice an odd sort of muscle spasm in my abdominals, it was as if the muscles were contracting and not letting up. I've seen it compared to braxton-hicks contractions. I've never been pregnant, so I have no idea if they are similar. All I know is that they are deeply unpleasant, if not outright painful. My back really didn't hurt me during this time, not certain why unless I wasn't as hunched over as I could (should?) have been. My second follow up PO they pulled 3 of the 4 drains & I was given the blessing to take a shower. Bathing was actually a lot easier following this surgery than it had been PO from the BR/brachioplasty. I was able to use my lanyard again, and getting truly clean was just as happy an experience as it had been the year before. That persistent 4th drain ended up staying in for 21 days, I was beginning to wonder if I would ever get rid of the damn thing. Things were fairly uneventful until day 10 PO, when I was leaning forward slightly as I was getting out of a chair, and I felt several stitches give way on my back. It was that same area which had been consistently leaking fluid, and was missing stitches the first day PO. I had torn a walnut size hole just off to the side of my crack. I tried to not panic-of course this happened at 8PM. I got ahold of the Springfield Clinic TeleNurse, who contacted Dr. Sinha, to get instructions. She promptly called me back, and gave me explicit instructions on wet-to-dry bandaging. Because the surgical site was already nearly 2 weeks old, they couldn't re close this wound, so it was going to have to heal from the inside out. This type of bandage uses the bodys natural immune response and the debriding action of gauze to keep a wound clear of infection. You soak in saline solution then squeeze out thoroughly sterile gauze, then pack the gauze in to the wound, cover it, and allow it to dry. When the gauze is dried (or 2x per day for me) you remove it from the wound with clean hands, then wash the wound with soap/water, then redress it in the same manner. Rinse repeat until the wound is fully closed up. I'm thankful that I'm not squeamish, and that I had experience with this type of wound dressing on horses and cats I've owned. I'm guessing it's because of the lessened sensitivity due to severed nerves, but the wound care really hasn't been painful. Fortunately for me there has been no sign of infection and the wound is closing quickly. Updated on 27 Mar 2018: At my 2 week check in I was given the OK to start very light walking as exercise. My PS gave me very strict orders regarding the amount of weight that was OK for me to lift (less than a gallon of water), and very adamantly "NO SITUPS". I asked about stretching and was told no, be patient. Around the 13th day PS, I slipped on the threshold of a door, and stumbled badly in to my house. I immediately felt a strain in my lower right abdominal quadrant. I put ice on the area and hoped that would resolve the pain and any would be swelling. That night and through part of the next day I saw blood coming out in to my JP drain. The blood only lasted for 12 hours or so, and then reverted back to serum. I was hoping that meant the damaged/strained tissues were healing together and there would be no extra accumulation of fluid. During this time my legs, especially the left, swelled up acutely with edema. The swelling was worst in my thighs, but did extend down in to my calves and ankles despite CG stockings. At day 21 PO I had my final drain removed. Within 36 hours I noticed my lower belly was swelling, especially in the area where I had felt the strain when I slipped coming back in to the house. I had an appointment scheduled with my PS early the next week, so I decided to hold off on contacting the Dr. office unless there was an acute issue. I went walking outside that weekend, and experienced horrific cramps in my hips while out on the walking trail. They didn't seem to be caused by anything specific, but they intensified as I was moving. Stretching did ease them somewhat, but as soon as I started walking again they got worse. I had not taken any ibuprofen or Rx painkillers that morning, not certain if that was a factor. I ended up taking the Tylenol 3 when I got back home, and tried to use a heating pad, but it took 2 full Rx painkiller pills before the cramps finally eased. I noticed that the swelling in my abdomen had nearly doubled the next day. The following day was my next follow up with my PS. I told him that I believed I'd developed a seroma, and he confirmed that I had. He used a hypo needle with a large (100cc) syringe to drain the pocket of fluid. I believe he got between 60-80 cc out. I had gone to Joann Fabrics and gotten a piece of dense but soft-ish foam and cut it in to pieces a couple days before (thanks RS users for that idea). I used it as an external brace so to speak for the healing layers of abdominal muscle/skin flap. My PS was impressed with the foam, and said that was "exactly right". He wanted me to leave it inside my CG/shapewear for the next 2 weeks, and wanted to see me again a week later to check if the seroma was trying to reform. He mentioned the possibility of another drain if it was being stubborn about healing. I had been advised to get some shapewear to use as CG during this period. I ended up with 3 Leonisa brand products that I have been quite content with. https://www.leonisa.com/en/products/power-slim-braless-bodysuit-shaper/?ColorSelectionId=4351 They gave the right amount of support without interfering with my breathing. They are a bit of a pain to get off to use the toilet but the open crotch bothered me more, so I ended up wearing a microfiber undershort underneath them to ease the friction in my crotch. Happily when it was time for my follow up the seroma had not recurred, and I was given permission to start stretching gently to the sides. AND ABSOLUTELY NO SIT UPS. I can already see some definition of my rectus muscles, which is amazing this close to my surgery date (and considering I literally have never been able to see them before). My incisions look awesome, they have flattened out, and the only place they seem to have spread at all is across my back. I'm not surprised about that, seeing as I have been bending forward at the waist to get dressed etc. I have a tiny bit of swelling above my waistline just above the hole opened by the blown stitches. It's allergy season and I'm wanting to develop a cold, I really do not want to sneeze, though it isn't agonizing. Deeply uncomfortable is more than enough. Next follow up with PS is end of the first week of April, I'm hoping to be realeased to return to work and start a more intensive workout again. What do you want to bet: NO SIT UPS!!111!!!
Some background about me~ I'm a survivor of molestation as a very young child. I developed disordered eating patterns as a young teenager, and subsequently struggled with my weight for the majority of my adult life. I had stabilized my weight and fitness until becoming involved in an abusive relationship 10 years ago. During the course of that relationship I became very depressed and gained over 100 pounds. I hit rock bottom in early 2012 & decided to dedicate myself to my own health and wellbeing, and that the "end" of my journey would be reclaiming the body that I should have always had, and that I would only achieve with the help of a gifted plastic surgeon. * I knew going in to the first surgery that I would also want my lower body issues-namely excess skin, & diastasis recti addressed in the future. My Dr. would not preform all of these procedures simultaneously, and frankly unless you plan on getting out of bed and wiping your bottom with your eyelid muscles I heartily agree.I decided years ago that I would get breast reduction surgery as soon as I had insurance that would cover it & I could afford to take the time off work. I was referred to Dr. Raj Sinha by my PCP, as he is a member of the same Springfield Clinic network. During my initial assessment I realized I had exceptional good fortune to be matched up with this Dr. He explained exactly what the criteria for Insurance coverage of the BR procedure is, and quickly confirmed that I was a candidate for insurance covered BR. I also spoke about the possibility of combining a bilateral Brachioplasty (which I would pay for out of pocket, sharing OR/anesthesiologist costs with my insurance. This saved me about 3,000). Dr. Sinha told me he did not recommend any liposuction as my anatomy didn't lend it'self to that aggressive of procedures.I made the appointment about 1 month out from surgery, and tried to not bounce off the walls with anticipation. The only pre surgery prep I wish I had made were 1) more bandaging materials 2) asking for compression garments for my arms/hands, I had pretty bad swelling with my first period post surgery. my poor hands looked like balloons.:(The day before surgery I did not hear from the outpatient surgery center until 445 pm, I was pretty annoyed that I only definitively found out when I was supposed to be at the clinic about 12.5 hours before hand. They could have done better, IMO.My presurgery was pretty uneventful, though I did have to get my IV in my foot. That was pretty terrible, no lie. I informed the staff of my phobia of restraint, and they were very understanding. I was rolled back in to the OR at 7AM and the next thing I remember it was about 2PM, and I needed to trudge over to the toilet.My throat was pretty raw that night-I would suggest soup or any kind of liquid for initial food post surgery. I was actually choking a bit, and it wasn't pleasant. Updated on 16 Mar 2018: I had my 1st PO visit 2 days after my surgery.My operation had been outpaitent in a surgical center operated by Springfield Clinic. I got my first look at my new arms and boobs. At first I was taken aback at the drastic difference in size of my breasts-I had been a 30K prior to the reduction. They seemed so small, and I learned that I had 3.5# removed from my breasts, and 3-4 # from my arms. Even so, I quickly decided "I can work with this". I will echo what others have said about not weighing yourself PO, you'll most likely be retaining enough fluid that the number will be a disappointment. I had actually gained a couple of pounds, and the fluid I was retaining had filled out the excess skin I had around my lower belly and hips :(. I looked like I had at my highest weight, in fact. I was definitely pleased with the immediate results for my arms, however. They looked amazing, and even though I had to foot the bill for that part of the surgery, my decision was completely affirmed. I had 4 drains located appx in the middle of and just below where a normal bra band would be located. I was told that I could take a shower the following day (4 days PO) thank god. Showering with limited movement in my arms was an Adventure. I had help-much needed and appreciated-and 2 pieces of essential equipment: a shower stool and an acrylic bead lanyard for my drains to hang from. The whole process from disrobing to exiting the bathroom took almost 3 hours. There's definitely a learning curve to washing yourself and not tearing stitches in the arms. I did tear a stitch turning on my bedside light night 1, so I learned my lesson about reaching for things early. I had some bandaging materials-which quickly proved to be not nearly enough in quantity- and at first was using tape/gauze/pads. I had an issue with the tape tearing my skin in the following days, not certain if this was due to an allergy or if my skin had simply stretched with PO swelling and tore b/c of that. Those open sores did end up with mild scaring, but we had no idea this would be an issue heading in to the process... I quickly adopted using menstrual pads from the dollar store as my main padding in my bandages for my breasts especially. In order to hold the dressings on my arms and protect the bandage tubes i had purchased a couple of arm shapewear garments: SlimMe Reach Arm Slimming Sleeve Shaper - Shapewear; labeled "MeiMoi" from Amazon. They worked really well but did not provide a great deal of compression. The major advantage was that they could be worn under almost anything and didn't make me hot, nor did they interfere with the drains or incisions from the BR. I was also advised to get front zip bras-I was able to go clearance shopping at the local Meijer, and scored some decent quality sports bras on clearance for 3-6$ each. I got 6 bras for less than 25 bucks-so if you're ambulatory it pays to shop around a bit especially since this was clearance season for exercise gear :). I developed bronchitis the following week. I woke up in the middle of the night, covered in sweat, feeling smothered and attempting to yank the surgical drains out of the right side of my chest. I'm thankful the tubing was tough enough to not break off b/c holy crap that was awful enough. A short course of antibiotics fixed me right up, and I got the added bonus of seeing my PCP giggle when I compared my JP drains to having testicles :P. I got my drains removed PO day 9, and was cleared to start light walking exercise "Until you're tired". (we will circle back to this later) Bear in mind: "until you're tired" is NOT a number. (Little WolfHart needs a number) Happy circumstances: my BFF had her own surgery the day after mine on her hand and was also off work, so we arranged to meet for daily walks at the local mall until she would be returning to work. We generally walked no less than 4 miles, and usually hit 5-6 at an easy pace of 3-3.4 MPH. I felt no strain and the only issue I saw was mild swelling in my hands toward the end of our walks. I was due for a period appx 22 days PO, but it ended up being delayed by about 10 days. I'm not certain if that was a contributing factor, but I had horrendous swelling in my hands/arms at about the 21 day mark. I ended up getting Rx compression garments for my hands/arms which helped immensely, and I wish I had them from the beginning. I'm very certain that just the BR or just the Brachioplasty alone wouldn't have disrupted my circulation so much that this level of swelling would have taken place (balloon animal hands people) but both simultaneously was more than my poor battered circulatory system could handle. You definitely want to get something like that under control-it may lead to chronic lymphedema and having that issue in your hands could be disastrous. I had never stopped walking and had generally hit 3-5 miles per day either outdoors or on my treadmill. At my 3 week PO appointment my Mom (generally in attendance and designated helper) out Mom'ed herself by ratting me out on the distance I had walked the previous weekend with my BFF: 8 miles. Dr. Sinha was Not Amused. Actually his eyes about popped out and he yelped 'NoNONoNoNoNo!". I had to point out that my instructions were : "until you're tired", and that is not a number. (WolfHart REALLYREALLY needs a number) Ironically, I had not felt tired while walking. I work a physical job, and had been working out regularly prior to my surgery, and I am a touch ADHD. I was chastened, and given more specific guidelines as to activity going forward. As a side note I got a sunburn on that 8 mile walk. In February. While wearing SPF30. In central Illinois -_-. #palegirlproblems Updated on 18 Mar 2018: Moving on in to the back half of the recovery from BR/bilateral Brachioplasty, the final weeks I had off work were more or less uneventful. The only swelling I observed in my arms or hands was after particularly long walks. This actually lasted to some degree for about 6 months. If I wore the compression gloves/arm sleeves it prevented the issue altogether. I was actively driving and working on my range-of-motion for my arms by gently stretching as directed by my Dr., he had shown me simple arm stretches that helped loosen the feeling of tightness and stricture that I had in my upper arms. The first time I did a proper fist-thing-in-the-morning stretch while lying in bed both my shoulders popped simultaneously, it felt sooo good. I did notice around week 4 that the muscle mass and tone in my arms seemed to have decreased. I had not expected that to be so immediate, but it's definitely going to happen esp if you have done any weight or strength training to slim/define your arms. Happily arms are one of the fastest body parts to respond to exercise so I wasn't too bothered by this. I attended the Game of Thrones concert in Chicago, IL during this period. (I live about a 4 hour drive away). It. Was. Awesome! I mention this because I seriously vacillated about going in the first place, wondering if the drive and concert would be too much, too tiring etc. Let me tell you, if there is something you really want to do/attend during your recovery and you're reasonably certain you won't suffer any ill effects for having done so: go. A big part of healing is being good to yourself and a little honest self indulgence is healthy. During this period I also noticed a fleeting feeling of small electrical "zings" in my arms. Apparently as nerves are growing back in to the remodeled tissue they fire randomly. It wasn't painful, just weird. Loss of sensation can be an aftereffect of brachioplasty, so I was happy to know that I was regaining normal function and feeling. My breasts had definitely shrunk a small amount from their inital PO appearance, but not as much as I would have expected. I noticed they did swell with my menstural cycle. They probably had before but I was working with so my mass I guess it didn't really register then. My incision lines on my breasts were healing nicely. I was instructed to preform lymphatic massage2x per day as well as massaging the incisions themselves to help break down the sutures and give a better looking incision scar. I ended up using a handheld facial cleanser vibrating device from Neutrogena (without the cleansing head attached) to massage the scars. It was gentle and felt good against the residual soreness. The attachment point is just a smooth flat plastic disk, so it's ideal for small scars and gentle massage. I had noticed very early on that my nipples were MUCH more sensitive than they had ever been before. I believe this is due in part to the procedure used in my BR : I had anchor incisions with a central pedicle leaving the nipples attached. The incision line actually extended further back in to my armpit/axillary area than I would have anticipated. Over time the scars have faded to nearly invisible on my breasts, they look totally natural and in proportion. Because my nipples stayed attached to their original tissue base (and this pedicle was the bulk of my new breasts) I believe the sensitivity was not just maintained, but actually enhanced. I'm speculating that because my breasts were so oversized they weren't very sensitive-too much surface area and tissue competing for a finite number of nerve endings. I actually had erect nipples for about 5 months straight. I tended to forget about that...random men, not so much. The nips didn't hurt, it was just like "calm down girls, we didn't just meet Kit Harington". I guess the upshot is perhaps invest in padded bras if this would be embarrassing for you. I had another upper respiratory infection about a week before I was due back at work, probably due to combo of stress and anticipation of my return and the allergy season coming in to full swing. I returned to work starting what was supposed to be 1/2 days for 2 weeks (it was 1). I had some lifting restrictions, IIRC I was told to not pick up over 50# until fully released at the 90 day mark. I wore CG at work, arm, not hand and had minor swelling for about a month at the end of each workday. I really didn't feel tired, and my flexibility hadn't been comprised, so my return was physically uneventful.
