Thigh Lift - What to Know and Tips for Recovery

So after my crazy week of sick hospitalized kids, and now back to regular life. I am coming to realize that 2 things are not quite right. I am trying to wrap my head around the whole business of revisions. At my last appt the surgical assistant agreed that my hips do not have symmetry. Not horribly off but enough to bother me. On my thigh right up close to my pubic area, there is still some skin laxity. And it is something I feel should not have happened. It struck me odd that he did not draw lines on surgical areas before I was put under. I feel like if he had, they would have gotten all the areas looking saggy. But laying flat does not give the same. That is what I was told about my hips. I just feel its [RS bleep].

they will do revisions free within 1st year after surgery, but why take someone through that. Do I allow them to fix the areas..or come up with funds again and go to someone new? Any suggestions, thoughts or experiences? I read about this all the time, but it makes me nervous even when I read other people going through it. Where does the line of trust begin and end?

I will post photos of the areas later...ugghhh. At any rate my next appt in March revisions will be discussed. Just feeling sick to my stomach..........a revision to my inner upper thigh means lots of pain all over again.

Hi Everyone,
Sorry for the MIA. My boys ages 9 and 12 were both admitted to the hospital and just got home after 6 days. Having 2 boys in at the same time in different rooms was hell, emotionally and physically. Not to mention, having had a panniculectomy and thigh lift a month ago, does not make a hospital stay on a rock hard cot easy. I was unable to rest, put my legs up or stretch out. By day 3, running between rooms and long walks down forever hospital hallays took my seromas to a whole scary height of pain. My kids Drs were so concerned they made me leave to have them drained. I had planned on doing it anyway, but at my regular appt. I had not noticed how horrible my swollen legs had become.

So I went to surgeon and he tried to drain them. Over and over I got stuck with a needle and he could only get small amount and air. He commented it had become a hard mass. He took my leg and squeezed hard and we felt a pop and the flush burst out. It felt like hot water out of a faucet. It squirted so bad and suddenly we had no chance to measure it. I surprised all of us that there was that much fluid collection as it didn't show it from surface. The pain went down right away and I was able to walk without a limp.

His parting comment was that it was going to come back especially since I was not going to be able to return home and rest. He was right. That night at the hospital was particularly bad. I think between the boys needs, nurses coming in and out, Drs, respiratory therapist, ect, I was standing and walking for a straight 16 hours. By the time I laid down my legs were so swollen bending the knee was tight. Of course I woke up with brand new seromas. I will drain them again next week. I knew as long as I was at hopsital it would keep happening. So today, day 6 we are finally home. I am in my recliner, feet up and to sore to move.

I would post pictures but I am to tired. I wished I could have done a before and after drain picture. Its not fun.I will need to have a revision in 3-4 months Dr said. More on that later. Also need revision in my hip due to incision there. Anyway, I am okay despite the complications. those are really due to my inability to properly rest and recover not the Drs fault.

Lesson—do not underestimate the importance of rest and elevation. And be patient when complications arise. Calm is so much better than panic and thankfully I remained calm.

I will post pictures when I can.

Can't believe it. It's been a solid month already. 31 days, 4 weeks, tons of tears and frustrations....but way more cheers.

What I can tell you is that when people say recovery is a emotional roller coaster...they are right! Over all I have been doing okay. The 1st 2 weeks it was all about surviving the pain and figuring out how to move my body with 4 drains. Then it was the staples and peeling surgical tape combined with swelling. Now it is just frustration with how swelling comes and goes, and makes it hard to assess how you feel about your body. But even with all that....there are so many wonderful new curves and less unwanted ones...I am happy.

Day 31.....my greatest foe right now is seromas. Most people have family and friends to help out during recovery. I have no one. I literally had to hire someone to bring me home from the hospital. I didn't even know I was supposed to have been inpatient for 2 days until 20 minutes before they rolled me into the OR. Having been told by Drs office I would be going home at or around 3PM, I only had a sitter till 4PM and a person from a home health aid to be with me until 8PM that night. Needless to say the recovery has been really rough. I have 2 special needs boys, and I have repeated that to the point some may be sick of hearing it. But if you are a parent of a special child like that you know how demanding it is. It was a mini miracle to pull off the surgery at all. I am disabled and was blessed to find a surgeon who was willing to work with my Medicare and not charge me upfront. I was blessed to put away just enough money for 3 days of home health aid (insurance would not cover that sadly). But past that, even with drains in, I had to carry on and do way more than what is safe to really. My Dad, who is 78 years old and 1500 miles away, was worried and helped me get a few more days of care, but that all the help I had. And my Dad is all the family I have. He is too far away and even if he was here, he is not able to step in with my boys at all. I spend too much time at the hospital and Drs office with my boys to have made personal friends, those die hard gal pals...which I really really miss in my life. The kids father is a very unhealthy dangerous person emotionally and physically so he is not around. His family have no intention on being supportive, so it's just us three. Sacrifice is all I know. In fact, I had been sleeping on the floor on a foam pad for 3 years up until the 26th of December when Easter Seals NC surprised me and had a bed delivered. My boys case manager found out I was on the floor and couldn't imagine me on the floor recovering. So there is another incredible thing. So believe me when I tell you, to have accomplished this surgery at all was a complicated, brave and foolish thing to get done. But I wanted to reclaim just a little bit of me. So far, these 2 procedures have done that. I really didn't care anymore that I had to get very sick to have any hope of insurance coverage, or that Drs were fearful because the complications from old injuries from a spinal cord trauma had piled up, or that I was supposed to have done 4 other surgeries 2 years ago and made things worse not being able to do any of them. None of that mattered once I got the word this was possible and I was not waiting for it to disappear even if it meant a wickedly painful recovery. It was worth it.......every painful tear.....worth it ! Just to get even a little bit of me back.....20 years of an abusive marriage.........losing myself in abuse...I needed some of me back. AND I GOT IT. Whoever says it's a superficial thing and shallow to need plastic surgery to feel good is an idiot. There are dozens of reasons to make these procedures life saving, physically and emotionally. I got a bit of both.

Opps, okay where was I. Geeze....common girl....31 day post op update.....

Okay. I am doing alright. My biggest complaint is the swelling and pain with the seromas I am fighting. I get weak really fast and the pain is usually when I am doing far too much...which is all the time. But really, I feel as though I am doing better than expected all things considered. All 4 drains are gone, 30 staples pulled out, umbilical stitches were taken out and some of the internal ones are now pushing out as they should. The incisions are beginning the long process of flattening. I have not started using any lotions or creams. Just don't have the money to invest in extras. I still wear my abdominal compression as much as I can tolerate. It is starting to fall apart. 2nd phase compression garments run $100 and I can't afford those. I wear a extra firm shapeware at Drs suggestion when I take the binder off. My thighs are a big problem. No compression garment, wrap or legging seems to work. Mainly because of the seromas I have and the way it is shaped. But I do wear a very tight ace bandage around the seroma itself and that helps with the pain. I am back to wearing my AFOs which are for my chronic ankle swelling and weakness as a result of my spinal cord injury. They happen to help prevent my lower legs from swelling right now which is a bonus.

I am frustrated with the left side in general. All my swelling issues are on that side. Most of my pain is on that side. I notice that if I do too much bending the abdominal swelling gets really bad fast. And it does not resolve as quickly as it was. I am positive it is from doing to much. Things like shopping and cleaning up are the worst.

Moving on...so far this post reads depressing. On to the awesome stuff. Even with swelling I have literally shed tears looking at a silhouette I had thought was gone forever. Funny how it also makes you crave more as you can finally see the promise of a body you dream of getting back and even better at that. Having missed out on life for 20 years, gaining any of that positiveness back would be life infusing. But seeing a belly that no longer drags a huge flap of fat and skin is transforming. I want to cherish and protect this investment and treat my body well. Or at least as best I can with the demands I face. I do not regret a single thing! I would do it again.

I will post a numbered list later that is compact and to the point. Today I just wanted to share where all the jumble of feelings and thoughts are. And they may not all make sense. It would take writing a book to share the depth of my life's challenges and what I have had to overcome alone... but sharing just a portion feels right. So many storied in the background here. So many things to celebrate in one another.

I posted updated pictures. I included some with the seromas highlighted. My Dr is monitoring them so don't worry for me. I will let you know if something foreboding comes up. My next appt is Thursday. I am anxious to get my left thigh under control though. It is becoming more painful and problematic. So far however, he has been supportive and reminds me to be patient. Thankfully no new infections have popped up so I am keeping fingers crossed a solution will be found this week........other than needing to rest which simply is not an option for me. My boys will be admitted to hospital Monday or Tuesday, and that is not going to give me any rest. The pictures may help others wondering what seromas can look like.

I'll answer whatever questions I can, as I constantly say. Hopefully my next posting will be a bit more focused. I am far from that right now. Thank you for your patience and interest. It means allot.

Pictures here include some from my Panniculectomy. That full story is under that treatment section.

Again sorry for the jumbled messy manner of this post. I hope to have a better organized one soon.