SmartLipo/Vaser: Recovering Nicely - Just Turned 40 and This is my Gift to Myself

Update:  I am now 15 days post-op.What a difference!  I honestly felt like I had been hit by a truck for my first week and boy did I gobble up those pain pills!But now I'm a new woman.  My abs feel fine, though I find myself needing to massage the hard lumps that come up from time to time - but they do go away after massage.  My hips and saddle bag areas are still very sore, so much so that I still am unable to sleep on my side, which really bites the big one.  But I keep reminding myself that it's all very worth it.Because my hips are still so sore, arising to a standing position after having been seated for a while is still slow and painful.  But once I'm fully erect I can walk without a problem. Half the incisions are completedly healed and don't look as though they will scar.  The other half are teeny and still have very small scabs on them.  Hopefully they will heal as well as the others.  I am cleared to use ScarGuard in another 2 weeks or so which is supposed to help avoid visual scarring.I would do this 1000 times over.  I am so pleased with my results.  My stomach is completely flat, and I'm 40 and have had 2 kids.  This will be the first summer that I will feel confident enough to wear a bikini without a shirt...I will get 1 month post-op photos when I return to the doctor this month (in less than 2 weeks) and will upload both pre and post for your viewing pleasure LOL.

I want to start by saying that I have researched the topic of SmartLipo and Vaser lipo until I was blue in the face. I've reasearched, planned and daydreamed for years.I just turned 40 and this is my gift to myself.I went to several consults to meet with the physicians I had narrowed my searches down to in Atlanta. After a time I had it narrowed to two physicians, both of whom are well known in this area and both of whom perform liposuction procedures for well known persons as well as for the "swan" makeovers here. That alone told me they knew what they were doing and would be high caliber. In the end I chose the one who is actually named as the first plastic surgeon to begin SmartLipo in the U.S. after trainin extensively with european doctors who had pioneered the method. She was more expensive, but after also haveing seen the horror stories and after scraping the majority of this money from a special savings account for this, I was certain that I would rather spend more money to assure the best results.Areas to be treated: lower abs, hips, flanks, saddle bags, lower buttucks (my request was that she shape my butt to make it firmer, perkier, smoother as it was in the past without adding anything to it becuase my upper butt has plenty of muscle).At my pre-op consult a week prior to the proceedure I was given prescriptions to have filled prior to the proceedure (as I needed to begin taking the Proteozyme Forte tablets 3x daily and had to begin the antibiotic the night before, and was even given a sleeping aid the night before). My instructions also included a huge list of "DO NOT TAKEs" for 2 weeks prior or 2 weeks after. The night before I had to shower completely with Hibiclens (even my hair!) and then do the same the mornin of (which happened to be THIS morning).The surgery: I arrived at 8am scared out of my mind, of course. They took me back and handed me a robe and a teeny black ball wrapped in a band. These are your panties, I was told. Yep, those were way cute. Also they gave me a drug cocktail which I found to be VERY nice indeed. 2 valium and a klonipin - and THEN an intramuscular injection of something... something very strong that they said would make me feel drunk. I have to agree that I felt drunk.Before pictures were next. Then the drawings with the black sharpie.It's foggy after that, but I somehow got to the surgery room, so I guess that's where we went next.I did feel the numbing injections in my stomach, but it didn't last long, and I knew I had to go through that to get to the next step. I don't remember feeling much of the tumescent fluid other than a few pokes that maybe went too deep at the base of my lower abs. I'm guessing where it was too close to bone is when I felt it. I did feel a lot of tightness after all the fluid was injected. Would have loved to have seen what that looked like.When the doctor switched to the vaser I wasn't really sure until I felt the vibration. I felt that big time. I think (and this is an embarrassing didIreallysaythatwhenIwasdrunk moment) I said something about that giving new meaning to the word vibrator. Anyway, that felt interesting and actually ticked. From the inside, if you can imagine!And then the sucking machine. I felt nothing and wasn't sure about whether or not they had switched to the suction, but I started seeing red and pink flowing through a tube and assumed....If I was told the exact amount that was removed I don't remember. I was sooooo out of it. But I do remember actually seeing the receptacles and there were half filled; white stuff was on top and seemed to be about 3 inches tall. I assume that was the fat.Two assistants cleaned me up, put the maxi pads in place and wrapped me in a white mesh. They then put the compression garment on me. This bad boy looks like a spanx shorts jumper. It goes from my knees to my shoulders (with a very sexy hole for pottying LOL). My instructions are not to remove the compression garment for 24 hours for any reason. I will of course comply. I want and need this to turn out as best as possible.I am sore. For sure. It does ache to turn or to stand up from a seated or lying position. I've been mostly lying on my couch with my feel elevated. I have gotten up a few times to potty and refill a drink - really just to move around some. I am of course DYING to see myself without this garment, but I must wait until tomorrow afternoon to shower.I am 5 1/2 hours post op and no leaking has seeped through the maxi pads that were placed following surgery. Not sure what to think about that. I'd much rather stuff to seep out than stay in and make me more swollen that I have to be.I'm typing with the help of two hydrocodone I popped about 30 minutes ago after I awoke. Otherwise I feel pretty ok. Just slow and sore and achy. I do hope the second day will be bearable, as I've read that many find the second day of recovery to be the best....I will update throughout the week. I am off all week and latter half of week is a holiday. This was planned pretty well.