POSTED UNDER Mommy Makeover REVIEWS
PART II of the Journey! Fleur-De-Lis Tummy Tuck & Laser Bra Breast Lift - Columbus, OH
ORIGINAL POST
See part one of my story here. It's my second...
WORTH IT$16,000
See part one of my story here.
It's my second week back to work. First week was rough, but the second is getting better. I got one of my drains out on my three week post op visit last Thursday and the fourth and final one is coming out tomorrow!! Yay!
liftedandtucked's provider
UPDATED FROM liftedandtucked
Post Op Day 25: Today I head to Columbus after...
Post Op Day 25: Today I head to Columbus after work to get my last drain removed. I have a feeling it's going to be a new world for me after that! I am really looking forward to it! It's been hard having this thing in me for close to a month. Whew!
I have lost some of my writing due to being over the limit here so kept writing for a few days on updates but did not check to see if they were coming through or not and they were not coming through past post up day 18.
So, from post op day 18 through post up day 24 was my first week back to work. I also "over did it" that week by going to an evening concert on Wed. night, knowing I had four hours on the road for Thursday after work for my week three post op Dr. visit. So by Friday I was swacked. I actually had to leave work early that day. I just could not stand the pain and weariness one more half hour, it was that bad.
This is my second week back to work but I made myself stay home more on the weekend and rest. That is very hard to do.
I also found that my compression garment that did not fit the week before, did fit by this past weekend. So I'm glad I did not buy the large and just wore my binder through that week instead of buying another expensive compression garment. The medium is snug but it is supposed to be that so it's good.
Here is what I learned about me and my recovery last week during week three:
1: All outings must be done first thing in the morning when I'm feeling my best. I begin to curl up like a shrimp around 1 pm and continue to curl until bedtime. (that is not as bad this week however, because my new compression garment seems to really help keep that to a minimum). Evening outings are just an absolute NO; it's just too much for me still. So matinees are the best outing. Not only do you get to save money by going early, but you also get to sit and enjoy entertainment instead of walking around a lot. Walking around a lot like a mall or a festival or even a concert, is not a great way to spend my time the first four weeks after surgery.
2: Oh the difference a good compression garment makes! I got the high wasted snap crotch brief that is made by Maidenform. Flexeez I think is their label on these. When I bought it, I did that based on the pants size I wore pre-surgery and so it was a medium. I got it home and could not get it over my swelling nor my two drains that I still had. Last week I was able to have one drain removed and so I gave it another try and I was able to get it on. What I learned about the CG is that unsnap the crotch and pull it up like a skirt. It will be a fight, this thing does not like it's job and so it is sort of like trying to get a horse to accept a saddle for the first time. It's going to fight you, bite you and buck. You will attempt to be a "CG Whisperer" to get this thing on, like in Horse Whisperer, but that is not going to work with this bad-boy...you will need to so some gymnastics and cirque du soleil moves in order to get this thing on, but the more you use, it, the more user friendly it becomes. It will make a world of difference in your day when you start using it. The support helps your muscles not get so tired and therefore "homo-erectus" begins to take place and you stand straighter, longer.
3. I over-did it during healing. I treated this like any other surgery, and I've had a few. Gastric Bypass, Complete Hysterectomy (open), Gall Bladder, Ruptured Appendix (open). This is not like any of those .... at all. With those, the more I pushed myself to walk, the more I white knuckled pushing myself to do things, the quicker I got back onto my feet. With this surgery, it had just the opposite effect. It sent me reeling in the wrong direction. I really learned a lesson here. I also have to admit that it's been ten years since any of my last surgeries and quite possibly it is that I'm just older.... but I really don't want to accept that awful thought. LOL So anyways, slow going is the way to get better from this surgery. Period. I also got myself into some bad nights by trying to get off the pain meds too soon. There is no shame in having to be on those things and I am not sure why I felt shame in using them past a certain day. If the bottle goes empty and you are still having hellish pain, it's ok to contact your office and see if they will phone you in another order. They normally will. Let go of the guilt and shame that pain is not your thing. Hey, it wasn't Anastasia Steele's thing either. (Fifty Shades of Grey comment) Pain is not our friend, and Vicodin (or Vikings Den as I like to call it) is a good one to kick our enemy away for us. Let it be the hero. That's what it does, it's a hero to rescue us damsels in distress.... Dang few of those these days, eh? Except for Christian Grey.... (but I did not read the book, or book 2, or book 3 in two weeks......ok I'm a liar liar pants on fire)....
I think I learned some more things too but will talk about those later, after I go over the limit for my part two to my profile. The pictures I have are on part one by the way. If you can find it. I am not sure it linked properly but it should be there somewhere. :)
Happy Healing!!!
I have lost some of my writing due to being over the limit here so kept writing for a few days on updates but did not check to see if they were coming through or not and they were not coming through past post up day 18.
So, from post op day 18 through post up day 24 was my first week back to work. I also "over did it" that week by going to an evening concert on Wed. night, knowing I had four hours on the road for Thursday after work for my week three post op Dr. visit. So by Friday I was swacked. I actually had to leave work early that day. I just could not stand the pain and weariness one more half hour, it was that bad.
This is my second week back to work but I made myself stay home more on the weekend and rest. That is very hard to do.
I also found that my compression garment that did not fit the week before, did fit by this past weekend. So I'm glad I did not buy the large and just wore my binder through that week instead of buying another expensive compression garment. The medium is snug but it is supposed to be that so it's good.
Here is what I learned about me and my recovery last week during week three:
1: All outings must be done first thing in the morning when I'm feeling my best. I begin to curl up like a shrimp around 1 pm and continue to curl until bedtime. (that is not as bad this week however, because my new compression garment seems to really help keep that to a minimum). Evening outings are just an absolute NO; it's just too much for me still. So matinees are the best outing. Not only do you get to save money by going early, but you also get to sit and enjoy entertainment instead of walking around a lot. Walking around a lot like a mall or a festival or even a concert, is not a great way to spend my time the first four weeks after surgery.
2: Oh the difference a good compression garment makes! I got the high wasted snap crotch brief that is made by Maidenform. Flexeez I think is their label on these. When I bought it, I did that based on the pants size I wore pre-surgery and so it was a medium. I got it home and could not get it over my swelling nor my two drains that I still had. Last week I was able to have one drain removed and so I gave it another try and I was able to get it on. What I learned about the CG is that unsnap the crotch and pull it up like a skirt. It will be a fight, this thing does not like it's job and so it is sort of like trying to get a horse to accept a saddle for the first time. It's going to fight you, bite you and buck. You will attempt to be a "CG Whisperer" to get this thing on, like in Horse Whisperer, but that is not going to work with this bad-boy...you will need to so some gymnastics and cirque du soleil moves in order to get this thing on, but the more you use, it, the more user friendly it becomes. It will make a world of difference in your day when you start using it. The support helps your muscles not get so tired and therefore "homo-erectus" begins to take place and you stand straighter, longer.
3. I over-did it during healing. I treated this like any other surgery, and I've had a few. Gastric Bypass, Complete Hysterectomy (open), Gall Bladder, Ruptured Appendix (open). This is not like any of those .... at all. With those, the more I pushed myself to walk, the more I white knuckled pushing myself to do things, the quicker I got back onto my feet. With this surgery, it had just the opposite effect. It sent me reeling in the wrong direction. I really learned a lesson here. I also have to admit that it's been ten years since any of my last surgeries and quite possibly it is that I'm just older.... but I really don't want to accept that awful thought. LOL So anyways, slow going is the way to get better from this surgery. Period. I also got myself into some bad nights by trying to get off the pain meds too soon. There is no shame in having to be on those things and I am not sure why I felt shame in using them past a certain day. If the bottle goes empty and you are still having hellish pain, it's ok to contact your office and see if they will phone you in another order. They normally will. Let go of the guilt and shame that pain is not your thing. Hey, it wasn't Anastasia Steele's thing either. (Fifty Shades of Grey comment) Pain is not our friend, and Vicodin (or Vikings Den as I like to call it) is a good one to kick our enemy away for us. Let it be the hero. That's what it does, it's a hero to rescue us damsels in distress.... Dang few of those these days, eh? Except for Christian Grey.... (but I did not read the book, or book 2, or book 3 in two weeks......ok I'm a liar liar pants on fire)....
I think I learned some more things too but will talk about those later, after I go over the limit for my part two to my profile. The pictures I have are on part one by the way. If you can find it. I am not sure it linked properly but it should be there somewhere. :)
Happy Healing!!!
Replies (1)
March 19, 2015
I can't believe your back at work .I.m 3weeks post op and know i cannot do it. I.ve pottered about the house trying to do stuff but felt shocking by t.time. swelling and discomfort. Can.t face work yet no way
UPDATED FROM liftedandtucked
Post Op day 26: I am happy today because yesterday...
Post Op day 26: I am happy today because yesterday the fourth and final drain was removed. Why I wore white capri pants to the appointment is still something I'm asking myself. Seems like what little draining that was happening from that drain site, did not care that the drain was not there anymore. Even though the nurse did a great job covering it with bandages, it leaked through before I made the 2 hour trip home. So needless to say another round of laundry to get a blood stain out. Hopefully for the last time.
I asked about maderma, since I did buy some before my surgery and have been waiting to use it. He told me he did not advise using it because he does not think it works. But he did say that he does recommend using something called Bio Oil so I looked that up today on Amazon, but I think I will drop in to a pharmacy and see if I can pick it up today so I can start using it right away.
Was super exhausted last night when I got home. Still that way this morning. I am so tired of being tired so easily. At one point last night I really said out loud "this was not worth doing". I was tired still and I was hurting. There are some good days and it does get better but it gets better so slowly that it just gets to a point when I ask myself why I even did this. I know it's only been 4 weeks this week and I know it is normal to have these thoughts too so I know there are better days ahead and someday I will not tire so easily and someday there will not be any pain in my day. I just wish it were here already. :) Ok, time to go get coffee. I think my first day without any drains is going to be wonderful and I'll be singing the praises of this surgery before 24 hours is up again like before. :)
Happy Healing!
I asked about maderma, since I did buy some before my surgery and have been waiting to use it. He told me he did not advise using it because he does not think it works. But he did say that he does recommend using something called Bio Oil so I looked that up today on Amazon, but I think I will drop in to a pharmacy and see if I can pick it up today so I can start using it right away.
Was super exhausted last night when I got home. Still that way this morning. I am so tired of being tired so easily. At one point last night I really said out loud "this was not worth doing". I was tired still and I was hurting. There are some good days and it does get better but it gets better so slowly that it just gets to a point when I ask myself why I even did this. I know it's only been 4 weeks this week and I know it is normal to have these thoughts too so I know there are better days ahead and someday I will not tire so easily and someday there will not be any pain in my day. I just wish it were here already. :) Ok, time to go get coffee. I think my first day without any drains is going to be wonderful and I'll be singing the praises of this surgery before 24 hours is up again like before. :)
Happy Healing!
Replies (1)