33 Years Old, 4 Kids, I NEED THIS EXTRA FLAB OFF!!! - Dundee, IL

I decided to do liposuction after a year of working out with a personal trainer and feeling results rather than seeing them. Four years ago I was very fit and athletic, even after having kids. I was a size 8-10 and didn't have any worries. When I was diagnosed 3 years ago with hypothyroidism and also had to have an emergency hysterectomy my body went crazy! The only way that I can explain it, is my body betrayed me in every possible sense. I went from being fit and slender to a size 16-18 without changing any thing in my diet or regime. And let me tell you, trying to keep the west off was a joke. Nothing has worked until I met with my personal trainer and we started targeting my muscle rather than my fat. I have lost inches but no weight on the scale, and it's disheartening every time I look in the mirror.
So 2 weeks ago I decided to use the rest of my tax return money and invest in liposuction of my abdominals, flanks, and saddle-bags....all of my trouble areas. Today is the day of my procedure, and I am more nervous about the IV than anything else :-). I've spent countless hours reviewing other stories on real self and thought that putting my story out there might help someone else.

I'll add before pics and measurements later on for review :-)

So after my procedure yesterday, I had a small but painful issue. I didnt get my pain meds filled in a timely manner by Walgreens and ended up spending an hour in some blinding pain in my thighs. Walking around didnt help and neither did laying down. Once the pain meds got to me, it was fine.
I walked around a lot last night just to keep my body moving. Set my phone alarm for every 3.5 hours to take my pain meds so that I didn't have a recap of the earlier pain. Seemed to work just fine.

Today I was able to go to walmart with my mom to get another compression garment for when take my shower tomorrow. I don't want to wash the one I have on and not have another one on for the time it will take to wash and dry it. So I spent $20 on a garment to hold me over on wash days :-). I make sure and get up and walk around about every 30 minutes or so but I do find that relaxing and shutting my eyes comes very easy to me.

Overall, I feel great. I can already see a difference in my thighs and my stomach. When I take my shower tomorrow ill post pictures. Ill apologize right now, I'm not good with taking pictures but I do my best.

I was able to sleep last night in four hour increments, which was very nice. I woke up this morning feeling very stiff and very swollen.

The only way I can describe how I feel is big uncomfortable blisters on my body. They don't burn or hurt, they are just filled with fluid and are bothersome. Fluid moves around and my skin is warm to the touch. In fact, when I touch my skin under the CG it is so smooth...very weird. But the CG is definitely my best friend.

I tried to take a shower yesterday but it didnt work out for me. Each time I tried to stand up, my blood pressure went down. So, I put a step stool in the shower and sat on it and washed the parts that were important, lol :-). After I felt a bit better, I took a sponge bath and finished getting cleaned.

overall I feel good. It's getting easier to get up out of bed. It will be nice when I get to see more of the results, but from what I could see when I took off the CG, my skin is still very swollen so I don't look so very different. Ill add some more pictures in a week or so when the swelling starts to go down.

I went to work today. That was interesting. I have a desk job, so all in all it went fine. I hadn't realized how plush my recliner and bed were until I sat on my work chair. I could feel my belly instantly begin to swell. My thighs started to swell too. I got up every 20 minutes or so to walk around and it helped. Only worked a half day, so I'm at home resting :-)

I did take some pictures after my successful shower. I think that the difference is becoming more visible. I also tried on a pair of jeans that I haven't been able to wear in 4 years, and the darn things fit!! I can't wait to see what size I wear when the swelling goes down.

Pre-op pant size was 16
5 days post-op pant size 12

This has been an alright week. I've been able to go to work each day and sit at my desk. The only complaint that I had was a burning sensation on my right side above my butt cheek and at my lower back...like the region that would be covered up by underwear . It made it difficult to get up from sitting or if I turned the wrong way, the burning feeling was enough to stop me in my tracks. But it was fleeting and not every time.

I went to the doctor for my 1week post-op visit and he took out my stitches. Uncomfortable but bearable. He made them tiny so it took a bit longer to get them out. He said that I am healing very well and the swelling is normal. No seroma!!! I am able to go into a different garment if I choose, but I think ill just stick with the one he gave me and use the one I bought at walmart while I'm washing the other one. I like the idea of being able to click and zip up the garment rather than having to strain trying to get the one piece from walmart on. Because I'm still swollen its a bit painful to get the one piece up...it's painful over my hips...but once it's on I feel great.

I'm walking alright. I feel like a stretching sensation upon rising out of bed or even a sitting position but ipi think that's normal. Hopefully it is...I think it's my skins elasticity and if so....totally cool!! I didn't think I had elasticity left. :-)

Here's day 8 pictures. I think I'm looking better everyday. At least I hope so. I know I made the right decision and the minimal pain that I felt was nothing worse than a tooth ache.