TT, Lipo, BL (Reduction and Lift) and Perhaps BBL...... I'M SO HYPE!!!! - Dominican Republic

So still no pain. I have had none since the very beginning. My biggest complaint was discomfort from trying to find a position that's comfortable. The drains are a bother because I keep forgetting that I have them and they do impede mobility somewhat. NOTE: be sure your caregivers and monitoring the drains for patency and possible clots. Being thorough and ever the examiner, Dr Robles found II had a drain that clotted off and had to be removed and replaced ( I came home with that one). She also did a needle aspiration on my upper abdomen and pulled off about 150-200 cc of fluid that didn't get removed by the suction drain. There was no pain since my abs were still numb. There are numerous pills to take. One of the ones I took in the mornings made me extremely nauseous. NOTE: Eat before you take them; cool intervention was to put alcohol on a cotton ball and sniff it to alleviate the nausea.

Now my main problem(s). I happen to have skin that tends to keloid. I think that's one of the issues with my suture line. As you look at the pics, you will see where my suture line starts to lose its closure. Now, THIS IS NOT THE FAULT OF MY SURGEON. I'm a healthcare professional and have been one for over 30 years. I know when someone has done something wrong. Her procedure was perfect and my suture line was beautiful. If I was the norm and healed like everyone else the little delay probably wouldn't have even come up. Coupled with the fact that I already have back problems which would not allow me to bend over as far as and as long as I needed while my sutures were healing, slowed my healing process down a bit. I had a similar situation before with surgery on my tendons in my wrist. However, this didn't come up because the sutures did not dissolve in my wrist. I think the abdominoplasty sutures dissolved before I could actually heal.

This situation is indicative of my genetic makeup. Once again Dr. Robles was flawless. She came in and cleaned my suture line herself and decided to put in a few more where I had started to separate. She also put a few in my belly button and said that I was doing too much. Slow down, rest, and walk bent over as much as possible.

I've been home a week today and I've been in contact with Dr. Robles' office 5 of those 7 days between her, Dr. Gonzalez and Laura by using Whats App for text and pics (download this app and make your connections BEFORE you go). While in Santo Domingo, I went to the office 3 times and she came to the recovery house to check on us on Sunday afternoon. NOTE: Dr. Robles is extremely busy with surgeries done all day until the evening and lots of patients in and out for consultations, check ups, etc. She has a very competent Dr Gonzalez working with her as well as her assistant Laura. They are both highly professional, resourceful and the most delightful personalities.

Now my main issue is with my PCP who was to follow my progress as I recover. In my opinion, he basically lost it when I came back with a drain, which is not a big deal at all. My suture line disrupted his composure as well. I had such high regard for him; HUGE, HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT. He was supposed to do my short term disability paperwork, now he feels I need to consult a plastic surgeon here. NOT GONNA HAPPEN. I have full confidence in Dr. Robles and her team. What I am going to do is drop him as a PCP.

I've dropped a few pics to catch you up on my progress.

Surgery was a breeze. After I went into pre op and they gave me the infamous "blue pill" within 10 minutes it was lights out. I woke up in my room at the hospital with Dr. Robles' assistants checking on me frequently, as well as hospital staff. Dr. Robles came in on Wednesday morning to look me over to clear me for my return to recovery house. Here I am on post op day two. The only thing that's bugging me is the way my belly is scrunching in, but the other ladies said their abdomens looked the same at first. We'll see.

I'm back from the clinic to meet with Dr. Robles. She did her markings, asked if I had any questions. She also said I had to choose between getting my arms done and the back lipo. She explained that the more lipo you do, the betterchacI also did my CXR, last lab draw (HALLE-FREAKIN-LUJAH), and EKG. All good. I'm not sleepy since I work nights and usually awake, but I'm not going to kid myself. I'm nervous. Not scared just nervous excitement I guess. See you ladies on the other side...muah!