Recovery in Process - Arkansas

I had a large amount taken out of my abdomen, flanks, chest, and back on August 3, 2012. I woke up in terrible pain, but I am a tall, large-frame person so I think I was just under medicated a tad in terms of pain medication. It was not big deal, because the doctor and his staff were/are awesome.

I elected to have the surgery because I was ashamed of my body with my shirt off. At one point I lost a lot of weight but still had excess fat. Admittedly, I have gained a lot back and have work to do post-surgery, but I want the excess fat gone. My personal goal is to be able to take my shirt off in the pool. -fairly simple.

I will say at the outset that I believe it is worth it, although I am not even a week post-surgery. I can already see a great improvement in my body, and the swelling and bruising have not even gone away yet. I will have little work to do to get my trunk where it needs to be, but I will focus on my legs and arms.

I had/have pretty nasty bruising under my arms, on my flanks, and in my pubic area, but the bruises are subsiding. Swelling is going down a tad. The soreness is still an issue for me, but that of course is in no way the doctor's fault. As I mentioned before, he took out a large quantity of fat.

Daily life is harder at this point. I have trouble getting up and sitting down, but once I get in a position, I can hold it fairly comfortably. The compression garment is by far the worst part of the experience. I am a very picky sleeper and need 100% comfort to sleep well. The garment aggravates me in general without even considering aspects of the surgery (I discovered there is no difference in pain even with the garment off). I have not gotten a full night's sleep since my surgery, but again the gain is worth the cost.

Overall, I underestimated the extent to which I would be sore. I honestly did not take the doctor and his staff too seriously, but they were definitely right! In summary, here are the pros and cons, respectively: something to look forward to, better moral, amazing results thus far / extreme soreness, bad bruising, pain, anxiety. Expect soreness and a relatively decrepit lifestyle for several weeks. At this point I believe all of the negatives are those inherent in an extensive surgery like mine and are not attributable to the doctor.