26 Y/o Female Just Had SmartLipo

Update: I am one week post-op and had my stitches removed today.Of the eight ‘holes’ that were made for the cannula, only the two on my upper abs had stitches. Didn’t hurt, just felt kind of weird cause some areas are still numb. Pre-Op: I am 26 years old, 5’7”, and 150lbs (my heaviest ever). All of my weight went to my stomach and waist. In my 20’s I have ranged from 130lbs to 150lbs, even though I am athletic and play a lot of sports. I didn’t use SmartLipo as a replacement for the gym – even at my lowest weight I have had annoying fat around my love handles. I always had to find bikinis that covered that spot on my sides. My operation: I started the antibiotics the morning before my surgery. The morning of my surgery I went into the office and was given two meds that were supposed to make me relax and become a bit sleepy. I was relaxed but I ended up being awake for the procedure. I walked to the operating room on my own and got up on the table. It hurt when the doctor was injecting the local anesthetic and the lidocaine. After that the only time that I flinched was if he hit an area where there wasn’t enough lidocaine – mostly around my waist and hip bones. The grossest part of the surgery – stop reading if you get queasy easily – was when the doctor had finished with my abs and wanted me to turn onto my back to finish my flanks. It wasn’t hard to turn over but while on my stomach I was lying in a mix of my blood and lidocaine that had already drained…yuck. 1300cc’s of fat were taken out – the doctor had only expected to take out about 800cc’s. Apparently I was a bit more fatty than he thought! I was still coherent enough to get myself off the table and step into the compression garment. I was then taken into another room to get dressed, which I also did by myself, and then I waited for my boyfriend to pick me up. It was around that time that the meds kicked in and I got super sleepy. I think we ran a few errands on the way home but I stayed in the car and slept. When we got home I slept for a few more hours, got up, ate, ad then went back to bed. I drained a lot that night and was glad I had slept on my bed, in a sleeping bag with a shower curtain and towel over it – didn’t ruin the sheets! I was still numb that night and wasn’t feeling any pain, but the next morning was another story. I woke up and my abs were so incredibly sore. I had been prescribed Tylenol 3 but that wasn’t doing the trick. I was scheduled to go in again that day to have my inner and outer thighs done, but I called the doctor to say I wanted to delay the procedures because I was hurting so badly. I went into the office anyway and the nurse changed my dressings and the doctor gave me a prescription for Percocet. The Percocet helped a lot but definitely knocked me out. The description of SmartLipo as having a 2 day recovery period is definitely false, in my opinion. I am a week post-op and have just started moving around without a lot of discomfort. I realize everyone is different so please don’t base your decision on what I think. Even though I am still very swollen around my waist, flanks, and pubic area I can already see amazing results. The doctor brought in my pre-op photos today and I was shocked at how my stomach used to look. Now it’s flat, although still swollen. I can’t wait to continue to see results. I will post pre-op photos and post-op photos when I am more comfortable being out of my compression garment. I want the best results possible and am a bit nervous not to have it on. When I can handle being out of it long enough I will take photos.

Hello everyone! I decided I would share my SmartLipo experience after having done a lot of my research on the procedure on this website. I had SmartLipo on my upper and lower abs and flanks/waist on Friday and today is Sunday - I am two days post-op. Before I go any further let me tell you that I have never had any surgery before so I am not sure which reactions my body is having are normal and which are not.

Date of surgery: October 30, 2009 November 9: Still very swollen in the pubic area and waist/flanks, My stomach is beginning to tighten but feels really weird to the touch because it is still numb. I nearly passed out after my shower this morning - I guess my body isn"t used to being out of the compression garment yet. I have to remember that I am only a week and a few days post-op.