¸¸.•´°¤ Things are finally taking shape! Til' night time.. LOL¸¸.•´°¤

¸¸.•´°¤SO,..

I am over a month Post-Op and I feel really good! Over the past couple of weeks I've had nothing serious happen. The most that I can complain of it my incision opened up a little bit in two areas....

This happened maybe two and a half weeks in..? (opening of the incision). I don't smoke or anything so it didn't happen because of that. To my understanding this is completely normal. Before I could reach my doctor about my concerns, I searched the internet for images to compare,but honestly as a women of color,we don't have much examples to play around with.
For example, dead skin or tissue turns pink in color for us and has to return back to natural color with time. I Didn't know that. LOL I heard something about that in regards to breast surgery pertaining to our nipples.. O_o
Anyway,when my incision got a tad bit infected it began lose color,turn bright pink and inflamed with holes about 1 inch. wide.

To care for these holes I used Neosporin and gauze. That is until I discover Band-Aids with Antibiotic ointment already on the padding inside. They are waterproof and made it easy to care for the small holes. I just cleaned my openings with Dial "Yellow Soap" let them dry and stuck the band aids on them and changed them as needed.
I recommend this if yours are not off the chain... you will have to go a different route if you have major separation.

Obviously my drain has BEEN gone,but I thought I'd share something. My tubing on my drain had a hole in it so I couldn't milk it anymore. Don't freak out If this happens to you! Go grab a product called Tagaderm. You can find it at a Walgreen in the Pharmacy section.
This is film that you can patch the hole with. I went nuts when I found my hole because I was SOOOOO not ready to be done with my drain. Luckily, my whole was near the bulb and I was "okayed" to cut it with disinfected scissors and pop it back on top of the bulb.

Moral of the story, there's options so don't be a nervous wreck like I was! LOL

Other than that I don't have much else to share.I didn't have Muscle Repair so my recovery time was relatively shorter than that of a Full Tummy Tuck.I'm happy about that! (^_^)

NOW,....

How about how my clothes fit? Uh, YEAH!! I look amazing with clothes on. The ability to just wake up and put something on with no hassle is priceless..! There have been countless times that I have declined invites for many things just because I didnt want to fight with myself about what to [RS bleep]' wear! You know what I mean? Ugh,...! Not to mention how many pictures of precious moments I didnt want to be a part of because I didnt want to look at my pictures and say,
" Damn,you are big a a house!" LOL

That's so terrible but it is so honest.

A lot of people couldn't even really tell I got the surgery done! til Tuesday!
I had a classmate say..
" OMG, your boobies are SO out there nowadays!! What the hell is going on??"
HAHA
I wanted to say...
" Well [RS bleep], that's because I had 8pds. of stomach as big as my dang [RS bleep] before Christmas break..."

I'm so rude. ;)

Well she aint that close to me for me to be tellin' her my business..so I just smiled.
I normally wear scrubs to class and my instructor let us wear our regular clothes that day. Now that my stomach is flat and my body has some kind of shape,my girls are over the top huge so everything I wear looks like I am a [RS bleep] star. LOL I LOVE IT!

¸¸.•´°¤ SO,..the swelling is annoying!! I wake up in the morning and everything seems to be somewhat fine.. then comes the evening time and my stomach and back boobs are enormous. smh

NOTE: Yo'! Don't drink coffee! Or Tea! Avoid caffeine... trust me on this one.

I have actually noticed that other parts of my body is reacting to the trauma of the surgery as well. I got the panniculectomy and the lipo in the bra line,however, I am swollen in my inner thighs,boobs,arms,face,..you name it! I've noticed it coming on since 10 days post-op to be exact. I look like I've eaten 3500 calories everyday since surgery..LOL! I like to get some kind of exercise and the fact that I cannot get any right now has my mind acting a complete ass!!

I've been so tired of looking all crappy in house clothes so I tried to make an effort to look somewhat presentable for the sake of self-esteem but S**T!!! I can't fit anything I own! I'm like the Michelin Man! Plastic Surgery is not designed for pussys!!

I have yet to find anyone mention the depression you experience after surgery. Yes,..yes..you will have a bit of depression. I think it is a combination of coming off all the drugs (or on the drugs) and being helpless & homebound.

...you feel like you are on house arrest. LOL

You have to practice patience right away...even pre-op. The results are a process just as if you are trying to shed pounds with a diet. I think of the swelling as "the last sha-bang" of being fat before you blossom into the swan you are seeking to be.

So,...I will wait....patiently. I am aware that my surgery is still fresh and new so I will behave myself.
-Boogz ¸¸.•´°¤

¸¸.•´°¤ OMG. So I can finally come and update. Hopefully it will all make sense and I will spell everything correctly...LOL!





The day of surgery I was pretty much cool... I was excited but a little nervous of what my outcome would be. After you plan for something like this you get to the point where you are plain ready to get it over with and start recovering..





My surgery was on Wednesday at 12:00pm,however,they ended up sending me in to surgery early.I was happy about that. My doc did his drawings on me and I was giving a sedative and next thing I know I was knocked out and in the recovering room!





I was told that my PS removed 8pds. of fat from my body!! I was like,MUTHERFUCKER!!! I just went into labor basically!?!?





Anyway,I was in pain! They gave me all kinda goodies to get my pain level down. I was at a 9 when I woke up and left the Outpatient facility at a 5. :o(





Oh my lordy...road bumps and all that jazz was the worst! The hubby called my doc. and asked if I could take more meds for pain and he gave me the okay to take two lortab and continued to take one every four hours.





I ended up staying at a hospital near the surgery center I went to instead of having to cough up $1000 to stay over in the hospital.





The first night I slept on and off.. I dreaded going to the bathroom...! ERRRRRMIGOTTT!!!! The amount of endurance you need to just take a simple pee is BANANAZ!!!





Honestly, the first couple of days has been somewhat of a blur because I have been so doped up.I have to keep it real. I was able to text message and that was it. I sleep with at least eight pillows at night!





I do recall a itch!!! Its a terrible itch that you cant even scratch. Its all around you stomach and your sides...mostly anywhere you had some surgery done. I used a hydroxypam and it served me well to treat the anxiety of the itching while reducing itch.





I'm moving lots better today. I can walk for a good while..however my belly button feels like it wants to burst at times. LOL My appetite is amazing.. idk. I feel pretty darn good. Can't wait to get these drains removed on Tuesday and these darn stitches taken out!! So far I am happy with what Dr. Spann was able to achieve!