Only Time Will Tell - Bangalore, India

I am female, 30 years old, 135lbs, 5'3" My surgery was yesterday, so I'll be updating this as I progress through the healing stages. I received liposuction of my abdomen and sides. I plan on returning for work on my inner and outer thighs, but both my doctor and I decided I'd feel a lot better if I did everything in stages. I took before and after pictures, and as soon as the "heavy-duty" bandages come off, I'll take and post after shots as well.

3/27/2012 Day of Surgery My appointment was for 1pm, and as soon as I got there, I filled out all the consent forms and was escorted upstairs to the procedure room. The procedure was done under local anesthesia, so I was awake and alert the entire time. After pictures and a marker party (both done standing up), I crawled up on the table and she started injections in the spots where the holes would go. I'll admit, the numbing medication was incredibly painful, but once it took effect, I didn't feel the punctures she made at all. After all the holes were made, she inserted a cannula and started spreading the lidocane solution. I couldn't even feel it. Then came the cannulas and the power assisted liposuction. This felt fine in some places, and it hurt in others, depending on the level of anesthesia applied. Five hours later I was done.

Day 1 Post Op I have ruined so many pairs of underwear due to the draining, I'll have to make a special shopping trip. Despite the tons of cotton and gauze they wrapped me in before putting on my compression garment (a girdle), I'd managed to completely leak through everything (including my clothes) before I made it home after surgery. (Boy was the taxi driver surprised! It looked like I'd peed my pants. I was told to come back the next day for a changed dressing, and not to remove the one she applied at first, so I suffered through being wet and drippy the entire first night. Did not get a lot of sleep.

Just back from her office where they exchanged bandages, and I'm already leaking again, but not nearly as much. One thing I hate - the girdle + cotton + tape + gauze is incredibly hot in the middle of an Indian summer, and there were several times I felt like I was going to pass out from heat stroke, despite all the water I drank. But now, back at my flat in the A/C, I'm feeling much better. I still feel twinges when moving around, but the pain is easily bearable. Sitting is difficult, but only because the girdle does not allow me to bend at the waist AT ALL.

Day 2 post Op

The draining has almost stopped! I'm very excited that the leaking has stopped, the thick gauze is having no trouble keeping up with any liquid escaping, and I was actually able to leave my apartment today. The pain has subsided into a general sore sensation, and while bumps are uncomfortable in a car/auto-rickshaw, they don't make me feel like additional damage is being done. (When I had my c-sections, anytime we hit a bump, I felt the need to put my hand over the incision to make sure my guts didn't spill out! This is nowhere near that painful).

But with one happy thing comes a new irritation. I'm starting to bruise quite a bit, mostly right under the girdle, which makes sense because gravity and the pressure are forcing all the blood into my lower hip and crotch area. My privates look like a war zone, which is odd, because the area doesn't hurt at all.

I can already tell that I look slimmer - I was able to wiggle into a pair of my old capris, and actually button them, which is no small feat considering I'm wearing probably three extra inches of gauze and girdle. And since these pants used to be very tight around my middle, they're making me itch to see my new body, which is smaller already.

I'm still getting out of chairs like a pregnant lady (using my arms to shove me belly-first to my feet) since I can't really bend in the girdle, but already my movement is much easier, and while I'm still taking pain medication, they are an option instead of a necessity.

I'll take some pictures tonight and get them posted tomorrow, but until then, here are my pre-ops

Added the first post-op pics - these pics are from day 2 Post-Op
I noticed that my right hip still has a little bump, I'll likely mention this to my doctor when I get my outer thighs worked on and see if she can correct. That's assuming it doesn't correct on its own.