If you've read my first procedure review, you know what's happening. If not, I'll give a brief synopsis for you.
Back in 2016; I worked my a** off, literally. After losing 90 pounds I was left with stubborn belly fat and saggy skin around my abdomen. It was really affecting me and my view of my body. I worked extremely hard and felt I had nothing to show for it. Enter in, Dr. Dorner.I had my tummy tuck with muscle repair and liposuction done in September of 2016. 12 weeks into recovery..........Pregnant.I was extremely worried. I had just had this major abdominal surgery and now it was going to be undone; would it be okay for the baby, is it going to be too tight, would there be any complications? I had an amazing OB/GYN and it turned out her brother is a plastic surgeon. She said that she has had several patients that have had a tummy tuck and then had babies, with little complications, although they hadn't been as soon after.Long story short, everything turned out fine. I was fine, baby was fine (although she was breech and we couldn't get her to turn - no matter how hard we tried) and she was born in August of 2017.During my pregnancy I gained about 29 pounds. After my pregnancy, I gained additional weight. You know....new baby, whatever sleep I could get, nursing..these things took priority. I have managed to lose 23 pounds. So that's great, but it hasn't been lost from where I want. I've been trying hard, not as hard as before but still hard and the fats just not budging.I saw Dr. Dorner today for a consultation; after looking at the areas around my hips, he agreed and said he could perform liposuction with no issues. He did ask if I had had any drastic weight loss prior to my tummy tuck because I have more skin than he'd expect for someone who gained a small amount during pregnancy. I can't fault him for asking, I doubt he remembers my previous history, so I said yes. He briefly mentioned a posterior body tuck which I guess is like a tummy tuck for the backside. No thanks. Just the lipo please. I can live with my cellulite and not have to finance a down payment on a house.The quote was less than I imagined so I'm fairly certain this is going to happen. Just have to plan when; it looks like it will be shortly before mother's day, he's good at what he does and books out pretty far, plus it'll be my gift to myself.
Updated on 10 Mar 2020:
Adding some photos. Dr. D is booked out pretty far and with work it looks like the end of May is going to be when this will happen. Primarily, it's the areas on my hips and outer thighs on both sides that's bothering me. There's no chance I'm doing a posterior body lift. I will continue to work on my fitness but these areas just aren't budging.
Updated on 27 Mar 2020:
Rightfully so, my procedure will be postponed at this time. Dr. Dorner has closed his office through the pandemic and I don't know when he is reopening or when I can schedule. It was looking like the end of May initially, so we'll see. I'm in no rush and I am happy that he is not jeopardizing his health or the health of others by staying open during all of this. In the meantime, I have posted a photo that was requested of which areas I am getting worked on.
All I really want are my smooth hips and thighs back from pre pregnancy. I've lost almost all of the baby weight I was carrying around but these pockets just won't budge. Until next time, stay safe and healthy!
Updated on 4 Feb 2021:
My procedure was booked today for Tuesday February 16th! I'll do a pre op visit February 10th and go from there.
Here's to great results, which I have no doubt will happen. Especially with Dr. Dorner doing it.
Updated on 15 Feb 2021:
It's the night before my procedure and we are in the midst of a snow storm. The forecast calls for 8 to 12" of snow. Yes. 8 to 12". Of snow.
We'll see how much we actually get but it is pretty gross outside right now. I believed that I'd be done in the afternoon since the longer procedures go first but when I got my call today, they said I'm scheduled at 9:45. They asked me to be there at 9am, which means I have to get up and shower at 7am.
I'll have to post some pictures tomorrow of the "before" stuff. I'm definitely slacking this time around in terms of updates but I have a 3 year old, enough said.
Updated on 16 Feb 2021:
My liposuction procedure was performed today! Luckily, we didn't get as much snow as predicted (shocker) so getting there wasn't bad. I was oddly nervous this time, I'm not sure why. I was also so very hungry and had to take all my pre-op medicine on an empty stomach.
The pre-op medicine was different than 2016; I was instructed to take 2 extra strength Tylenol, 2 Gabapentin and 1 Meloxicam. In 2016 I had a terrible reaction to Percocet which landed me in the hospital with a dangerously low blood pressure (50/20). So Dr. Dorner prescribed Tramadol for post-op pain.
I have to say, I thoroughly enjoy his staff. They are so welcoming, friendly, and easy to talk to. I wish I had gotten the name of my nurse, she was sweet and so funny. We joked about me being a difficult stick for IV placement and had a good laugh. My post op nurse was lovely too, accommodating and nice, we chatted about my kiddo during discharge.
Honestly....... this wasn't bad. My procedure started promptly on time at 9:45 am, I was groggyily alert at 10 til 11 am. Pain was mild, I think I told the nurse it was a 3/10. She took my vitals and asked what I'd like to drink. When she came back she was kind enough to hold the cup for me. After about 40 minutes, she said I could get dressed and I heard her call my boyfriend and tell him I'd be discharged at noon. She offered to help dress me but there was no need.
The liposuction was on both hips, a little around the top of my butt, and both outer thighs. When I woke up I had a Spanx type compression short on. Sitting up, dressing, standing, walking, and getting in/out of the car was not difficult. I made it back home around 1 pm and sat on the couch which wasn't hard.
However, the first time I had to go to the bathroom and roll those shorts down.....that sucked. It's about 9:30 pm now, I have taken a few Tramadol through the day but nothing else. I'm not in much pain at all. My outer thighs are numb, my hips are only slightly painful (that's where my incisions are), and my upper butt does not hurt. I'm assuming they were numbed with something so I'm curious what tomorrow will be like.
The bruising has started mildly but I anticipate it to worsen. No bruising on my outer thighs but on my hips there are some patches. My thighs are ridiculously swollen already.
I ordered an additional compression short from Amazon, the one I have on already has 2 holes in it. So that should be here tomorrow. I'm also happy to report that there are no drains! I was told this could be a possibility and I remember how much it sucked with my tummy tuck. No thanks.
Tomorrow I will post my morning of pictures and 1 day post op pictures. I imagine this review will not be nearly as long as my last one but that's because recovery is expected to be much shorter!
Good night reader!
Updated on 19 Feb 2021:
I wrote a review yesterday but when I went to edit a photo to upload, it all disappeared. That was very annoying (take note admins!) So I didn't rewrite it.
Yesterday was rough! I was extremely sore in the morning. Primarily on the backs of my thighs, which is weird because he didn't do anything to them. I assume because he disrupted the outer portion, it caused soreness in the back.
My hips feel completely fine. The only pain I experience is when I have to pull the compression shorts up over them. The areas do look good, I have lost feeling on the left side though. Hopefully that's just from the swelling and it will come back. I've already got permanent loss of sensation in the area around and below my belly button from my tummy tuck.
My thighs however..the left one is hard as a rock where he did the liposuction. The nurse said that is normal, its also bigger than my right side, which she said is normal too. I was told as long as the skin isn't rippled (which would indicate fluid) and the area isn't 3 or 4 times bigger, not to worry.
I can take a shower today, I'm excited for that! There is some additional bruising but nothing severe. I've been taking Gabapentin twice daily, Tramadol every 4 hours, Meloxicam once daily and a Zyrtec once daily to reduce swelling.
Everything is becoming itchy, I'm not sure if that's the freezing cold weather drying my skin out or from the procedure. My left thigh was spasming like no ones business last night.
I will post some pictures, be warned, they are not pretty!
Updated on 19 Feb 2021:
Here's a few before pictures..I primarily wanted to focus on my hips and the saddle bags on my thighs. Oddly enough there is more fat on my left side than my right side so he was planning on going a little further on this leg.
Updated on 19 Feb 2021:
The day after the lipo (2/17) I was ridiculously sore. It was very painful to get the compression shorts up when I would go to the bathroom. They also appear to be pretty cheap, they've ripped in a few places.
Updated on 19 Feb 2021:
Ahhhh it felt so good to finally shower! It didn't upload the previous pictures for some reason but I took some new ones anyway and nothing has really changed.
Honestly, I am disappointed right now. My thighs look terrible and it doesn't really look like I had liposuction at all.
I tried to switch from my compression garment to Spanx with no luck. It was way to painful to try to pull them up, so I quit trying and put my original ones back on.
I sure hope I see some changes here soon because right now, I am not happy.
Updated on 20 Feb 2021:
I'm 4 dpo, bruising has gotten worse but that's not the weird part. The weird part is the muscle spasms and itching which is impossible to relieve because I can't feel anything when I scratch it!
There's a large area around my incisions on the left hip and where I had liposuction on my left thigh that is completely numb. I don't know if it's because of the nerves or the swelling but yeah, completely numb.
I've only taken pain medication twice today, once when I got up at 7:45 and sometime this afternoon around 1 or 2. I'm continuing to take the Meloxicam for inflammation and Gabapentin for the nerves.
As far as I can see the swelling has not gone down. I'm still not very happy and have my post-op appointment on Monday.
Updated on 22 Feb 2021:
Wow. It changes dramatically from day to day. I am 6 dpo and very, very bruised. Yesterday I went out and walked for about an hour or 2, it went well but I was pretty sore later that night.
Today I went walking for around the same amount of time, again it went well but I am pretty sore now. I did see Dr. Dorner today and asked him what was up with my thighs, they still look "big" and if it weren't for the bruising I wouldn't know he had done anything. He said they are very swollen and he expects that they will look better when the swelling goes down. He recommended I continue to wear the compression shorts and wants to see me back in 4 weeks. I've been released to resume my normal activities.
I've added a photo of me dressed, in it I have on 3 layers. My underwear, compression shorts and yoga pants. Note that there isn't much of a difference between it and my before pictures. Dr. Dorner said he removed almost a liter...but I don't know where from.
Updated on 22 Feb 2021:
It said my picture was too big to upload so I had to tweak it. Again, this is me from the front with 3 layers on. My underwear, compression shorts and yoga pants. I'm hoping that when the swelling goes down, it will look smoother down my thighs.
Updated on 27 Feb 2021:
The bruising is starting to go away and the swelling is going down very slooooooooowly.
I saw Dr. Dorner and he said the fat after liposuction tends to settle at the bottom so it should continue to go down more over the next month. I'll see him again at the end of March. I'm off medicine and still wear compression shorts, I've tried to go without them but it's too uncomfortable.
Updated on 7 Mar 2021:
To see the benefit. There's definitely a change in my hips. The bruising is going away and I can see a change in my thighs. I am slightly worried about my right leg and how it looks right now.
They're still sore and I can't lay on my sides when I go to bed which has made it somewhat difficult to stay asleep at night. I'll add some newer pictures, had to replace the compression shorts, they ripped right in the middle lol
Updated on 3 May 2021:
That's my final decision. It's not worth it.
Maybe I'm being impatient, apparently it can take as long as 6 months to see liposuction results?!?? If I had known that, I would have saved the $$$ and the pain of doing this. You have to assume that there wasn't much change anyway if the person taking my "after" photos has to ask me what I had done. Not much, I guess.
Now we are talking about doing more, but not under general anesthesia. Just a local with the option of nitrous and oxygen. I'm not sure what I should do and kind of feel like that won't be worth it either.
Pictures speak a thousand words. Which is a shame because I'm a walking billboard for the abdominoplasty.