Back, Flanks, Abs 47 Year Old Male - Chevy Chase, MD

1/18/03 had liposuction on my back, flanks, and fat injected into my buttocks. The fat injection was more about my long term health and where I will gain weight instead of looks. I frankly didn't care how my butt looked. I have to go back later this week to have the abs done and look forward to finishing it up.

I was a little concerned based on all I read here about the recovery. I have a bunch of kids and needed to be back to work and back to being a dad quickly. So far, it has exceeded by expectations by a long shot.
Day 1 I stayed at a hotel and had a lot of leakage. Probably filled about 10 towels at my hotel. I can only imagine the person cleaning the room wondering if someone was shot in my room :) The surgery itself was painful at times but manageable. Knowing what the end result would be kept me motivated through the pain. Certainly the fat injection in my buttocks was the most painful.

Day 2 I was really sore. Couldn't put my shoes on or bend over without pain. Took my meds and rested for the most part. Drainage stopped overnight so that is great.

Day 3 I was much less sore and was able to go for about a 1 mile walk with my kids. Couldn't wait to take a shower on Day 4! Started to feel itchy.

Day 4 (today) Woke up and took a shower and cleaned my compression garment. Feel 90% better today than day 1. Still tender but have energy and definitely could work today if I wanted to. I took the day off just in case I needed it. Some people said they almost fainted when they showered but as for me, I felt great! Loved the look of my back and flanks already but I know I have a long way to go with the healing but the worst if over for those parts. Still need to get the abs done later this week and anxious to finish that up.

I've been taking Arnica, Bromelain, and finally got to put on Arnica Gel after my shower today. The incision sites are TINY- I can already tell they will be nonexistent in a month or two.

Here are my suggestions based on my limited experience:
Put a white T shirt on under your compression garment. Someone else here recommended that and it definitely helps.
If you are itch, I found a trick that worked great for poison ivy. Take a hair dryer and put it on the hottest setting. Hold it up to the skin or the coompression garment. Heat up the area to where you can barely take the pain anymore. usually that shuts down the itching for a few hours.

1/24/13. Six days post surgery the bruising and pain are decreasing. Feeling pretty good and looking forward to finishing my next surgery on Tuesday to do my abs. So far everything has been exactly as the doctor said it would be. Couldn't be happier.

1/27/13
Bruising and pain definitely getting better. If it wasn't for the compression garment and for the fact that I go back from my abs in two days, I would have worked out at the gym today. Swelling is a bummer but getting better by the day. Starting to feel the hard lumps everyone talks about. Can't really tell on the results yet but pleased overall so far. The fat injections were definitely the most painful part of the surgery as well as the recovery. If I didn't do those, I have a feeling I'd be doing even better than I am.