28 Years Old Always Had a Podgy Tummy

So I have been stalking realself for a while now and reading up on many different ways I could get rid of the stubborn fat on my tummy. All your reviews have been so helpful in guiding me to the right surgery! I want to now tell you all my experience.

A little about me: As a child I was a little chubby (people used to call me bulldog cheeks) but around the age of 11 I lost all my puppy fat due to a healthy diet, ballet, tap and jazz dance 2 hours a week for each one and netball 2 days a week. I became a very active child and was in good health. However I still didn't have a figure like the other little girls, I noticed this when I was around 14 (I guess I didn't care before this point) but I always had a slight podge on my tummy and a little fat on my back. Every body still called me skinny however as I hid it well in clothes ect- I have always been a size uk 8-10, even through out university I maintained a size uk10. Post university I decided to finally get rid of the podge and worked out hard (even had a personal trainer a while) for about a year 6 days a week- still couldnt shift the tummy - it became smaller for sure but was never flat and always had to battle with it. Anyways now at 28 I have finally decided to get the surgery after reading all your reviews.

I was originally going to go for the lipo injections but read all the negative reviews on them and ruled that out. I then went to a few consultations regarding laser lipo and thought this would be more practical.

I finally decided on Dr Sanjay and he advised me that for my shape vaser lipo would be best as it would sculpt me better then the old laser lipo technique which is just fat removal. He was very informative and lovely to speak with and even answered all my irrational questions.
He took a look at me and pin pointed the areas which I needed done, which was my upper and lower abdomen, flanks and mid back. I also added I wanted my inner thighs done, as I wanted a little gap.

I went home, fully informed and feeling good about it all. I recieved a quote 2 days after and spoke with a lovely lady called simi who informed me of al the costs and what I would be getting with my procedure (all post care and sedation was included). I then came and paid the deposit, this was 50% of the procedure cost and I got fitted into my garments (i chose a pretty long one with 3 different settings for tightness), and had a blood test done and got given my pack with informative info and meds.

I decided to go with Dr Sanjay and booked the vaser in for the 22nd of January.

1 day Pre Op: I was ridiculously nervous so much that i was having nightmares about the procedure from the day I put the deposit down. However I read a lot of reviews and due to you guys I managed to actually prepare myself and focus my energy a little. So I went and bought: Diapers (for leaking), PVC sheets (massively needed), some towels I didnt mind throwing away, size 16 clothes (your wrapped in so many bandages your like a marshmellow and no other clothes will fit you), a little blanket and some surgical tape.
The night before the procedure I took out the little pack the doctor had gave me, It had 2 iodene sponges, arcoxia, cirpobay and vitamin c inside with all my reading material. I took one tablet of arcoxia and ciprobay with food the night before and washed myself with the iodene sponge. I couldnt eat or drink past 12am so literally had about a litre and a half of water and 2 dinners to make sure I was fine the following day.

The day of: My procedure was booked in for 11am. So I woke up at 9, showered with the second iodene sponge, took my pack with me. I was informed I was getting IV sedation with local anaesthesia, so before my op I had researched this... most people just said they had fallen asleep waking up to the procedure being done. however it is actually safer to have the patient responsive and to communicate with the doctor so Dr Sanjay said he didnt want me completely asleep just in a twightlight haze.

This freaked me out as I was prepared to just sleep not feel anything and just wake up... I didn't want to interact with anyone or be aware of anything. However the nurses were very sweet and so was Dr Sanjay and they calmed me down. He drew all the marking on me and talked me through everything before anything happened. They then took my blood pressure and inserted the IV. I kept asking for some sort of sedation before the IV went in so they gave me an injection to relax, which I feel didnt do much but I guess it stopped me freaking out.
I walked up to the procedure room and got given fluids and lay down. I kept saying "dont start im awake i can feel everything, I need sedation!" (I can imagine I was probably on of the more nervous patients he had done- but he was very professional and calming). There was music playing and they covered my eyes with a mask so I couldn't see anything, I had been given sedation through the IV so was in a twilight haze (even though at the time I didnt think i was), I went in and out of sleep and was responsive to the doctors when they asked me questions or got me to move. It wasn't scary when I was awake though... kindof like mmm okay im in surgery... greatttttttt ... time to turnnnnn. Not OMG im in sugery awake aghhH! (which is what I thought it would be like). During the surgery I didnt feel a thing really, just when they got to my inner thighs and when they went through the belly button, I just said OW and they gave me another injection to remove the soreness and came back to the areas and I felt nothing. Also would like to note that the skin is much thinner on the legs so it hurts more. generally speaking on a pain scale I would give it a 2 out of 10. The surgery was 3 hours long and they removed about 3 liters of fat from my body.

I then was transferred to the recovery room and I even got up went to the loo myself, had some fruit sat up and chatted to my bf and fell asleep for 3 hours. When I awoke though this was a different story. I felt generally fine when I was laying down... everything was still numb so was okay for pain. Then the nurses got me up to a sitting position. I started crying, sweating and felt very dizzy and was dry heaving (there was nothing in my body to throw up really). I got given a sweet to raise my blood sugar and lay down. I had a little bit of juice and tried again... this time thank goodness successfully. Got in my bfs car, he drove me home (only a 15 min journey) and had to walk to the apartment which is not a lot of steps. Got to the room and through up the orange juice and started sweating and feeling dizzy again. He lay me down and I felt a little better so had some water.... which I then threw up 15 mins later. I just dazed off to sleep after all the drama and awoke at around 9.30 feeling much more perky. I got to a sitting position without throwing up. I then had a small bowl of chips cheese and gravy and 8 chicken nuggets ( i was starving) - we did this in stages though because of the earlier vomit issue. I then took my tablets and fell asleep watching a movie. Now in a lot of reviews people have said that they had a terrible first night... I couldnt feel my tummy unless I was moving and I had no back pain so literally was out like a light and awoke at 7.30 where I had 2 fried eggs on toast, my morning medication and fell back asleep until 10.30. My bf came back to help me from work and I could get up by myself, so I changed and walked around a bit (normal speed) and am feeling rather chipper now. Feel like i have done about 1000 sit ups but not serious pain at all. Im bending back and forth and can now get up out of bed myself and walk around and go to the loo easily. This is pretty much where I am now in my recovery. Im laying here and writing this review. My bf says he can see the changes even though im completely wrapped up. The doc said I could take off my bandages and shower today or I could come in tomorrow morning and he would check me out and do it himself and help me into my garment. Im opting for the latter... I now have a grave fear Im going to have all this loose skin hanging off my tummy and I just cant see that by myself (even though it may not even be there) - I just would prefer the doc to do this. I also start work on Sunday so am seriously nervous about that- I have a desk job so that is fine I guess... we will see tomorrow.

Also you 100% NEED some one to be there for you at least the first day and night. I could not have done this without my bf, he has been so supportive, changing sheets and badages, helping me in and out of clothes, cooking for me, giving me my meds, helping me in and out of bed, taking me to the loo! PVC sheets are a god send as you will leak a LOT! remember to eat and drink as your body has gone through a lot.
Also as a general point- People that get their arms and a big back section done at the same time as their tummy, I feel for you as I use my arms to push me up and I have no pain on my back (he went in from the bra line at the front and only touched it a tiny bit) so can lay on it easily. I feel if you had no area that you could lay on it would be a much more traumatic experience. I have generally been very comfortable.
So far as its day one, I think I am in a lot less pain than other people, but only time will tell. I am going to put not sure for now as I havn't actually seen whats under the bandages. Hope this has helped people.

Hi guys, so just wanted to update you from day 1... So after I had written the review was feeling generally fine. I just stayed in bed all day pretty much until the evening waiting for my bf to come home. However before he did I needed the loo and had to venture to the toilet myself which was very difficult and sore. Walked at granny pace, did my business and in between this time my leg wraps fell off, which caused me to freak out. So i kindof just sat in the bathroom until my bf came home (half an hour later) and we both decided as I was soaked in fat and blood and the bandages had already half come off that we should just take the hit and shower me and put me in my garment. The tape was soooo sticky and v painful to remove so we did the water loosening the adhesive trick. couldn't still bare to look at myself just in case there was sag but turned and was looking generally good for the 1st day. I also want to add that a lot of people had their bandages and compression garments on at the same time. The doc didn't do this for me on day one, he told me to rest up and leak out and then put the compression garment on after I showered and removed the bandages. Showering felt nice and was easy, dried my self off thoroughly dabbing. Checked all my incision wounds and they seemed to have all closed up. The doc took a lot of my fluid out during the procedure so my leaking and healing was good. Also I have quote thick skin so didnt bruise at all (i never bruise anyways so expected this) . My bf then cut little pieces of gauze and put them over the areas that were cut with a little tape and we then put the dreaded garment on... this was not fun. Was really tight and I was already sore so sore plus tight = pain! I walked around with my garment on for a while and standing straight up I felt fine and actually quite good like everything was being held in together well. Sitting was pretty terrible as it digs in and I havnt put my sponge or anything in yet as the dr wants to see me today before we decide on a course of aftercare action.
At night I was warned by the dr and other patients that the pain gets worse as you swell more from the day... yes this is true, I was a bit of a mess in the evening, whimpering and my stomach felt like it was trying to explode out of the garment. I know its VERY IMPORTANT to keep the garment on and not loosen it so I tried to think happy thoughts and forget it. I didnt want to take the prescribed pain medication as too many meds give me a bad stomach (which btw happened earlier that day). I eventually fell asleep to a movie and even slept on my sides during the night which is a pro. I woke up at about 8.30am and was afraid to move. Eventually needed to pee so about an hour later I tried to get up by myself, to my suprise I am feeling a WHOLE lot better today. There is no getting up and down struggle and straightening myself after standing (which took a few painful mins yesterday) is no longer there. I walked around a little and had some cereal for brekkie and tok my meds. Now I am writing this review and will hopefully be seeing the doc later so will keep you guys updated.

I have attached some before and 1 day after pics- please note I didn't wear garment on day one so am not as compressed as other people but today I notice I am a lot smaller than yesterday. (will put up day 2 pics later)
I notice that my rounded tummy issue is now flattened out, I have some swellling just above my belly button in a line which you can see in the pic, its sore to touch but hoping it will go down and flatten out. My love handles are much smoother and there is a hint of a waist maybe? lets see, I am hopeful.

yesterday after my review I went to see Dr sanjay, he is very happy with the results and informed me the skin will contract back after a few weeks/months.

Came home had food around 4.30 and didnt have dinner... error. Woke up at about 6.30 feeling horrendous, so much pain and nausea. Went to the loo and then sat in bed feeling v faint and dizzy. Had some breakfast now feel a ilttle better but think I am very dehydrated.

Was meant to start work today but think there is no way as I feel horrendous.