Smart Lipo - after gaining about 25 lbs over a few years. - Houston, TX

Weeks 2-4:
Everyday I get a little better. I've been massaging my little bumps every night. The bumps right above my incisions are going away - one started out about an inch long and about the width of a pencil but now its only about the width of a couple of toothpicks, I can barely feel it. The other started out as the size of a marble and now its only about the size of a small pea. I have other bumps on my stomach but they are still a little sore so i dont really mess with them alot. hopefully here in the next couple of weeks ill be able to start massaging those as well. I still have numb areas but ive started to regain some feeling back. and instead of numbness i feel soreness. I dont like the sensation of anything on my stomach. The garment is the only thing that isnt uncomfortable. I went out a few times without the garment and my shirt and shorts were very uncomfortable on my incisions and stomach. even the fan blowing on my stomach feels uncomfortable. i really hope this passes very soon!
Sleeping in the garment has become very very uncomfortable..and im starting to tolerate it less and less. It makes me feel so super hot that i cant sleep and i wind up taking it off in the middle of the night. when i do take it off laying on my stomach feels very uncomfortable.
At this point theres no more pain.. just a discomfort.

I decided to have smart lipo done after gaining about 25 lbs over a few years. I had never weighed more than 125 lbs my whole life and when that jumped to 150 lbs and gained 4 pant sizes my self esteem was almost non existant.

Day 1: Surgery (Tues)
The surgery took about 2 hours give or take. I had 3 areas done - upper and lower abs and the flanks. (flank is the V look you see on really muscley people). Basically the whole front of my stomach. They gave me 1 valium and 2 vicodin upon arrival. While it kicked in they started taking my pictures and then preparing my skin (washing, draping and marking the areas to be treated). When they were ready to start I was given another valium. They told me the worst part would be the numbing of the areas with the tumescent fluid. And they were right! The shots they give you to make the incisions you can barely feel. but once they insert the tool to release the fluid it hurts pretty bad. In most areas it was just a discomfort feeling. For me the worst part was around the rib cage. (they said alot of people say that the rib cage and the belly button area is very sensitive although it wasnt for me). I was given another vicodin to deal with the rib cage pain. Once everything is numb the rest of the procedure is really a breeze. the only time i felt any pain at all is when the tools they were using got close to the areas that were not numb. the laser is the coolest part... you can actually hear the fat cells popping! it sounds like a loud purring sound. so the laser pops the fat cells, liquifying the fat. then, once it is all liquified, he goes in with a suction tool and sucks out all the fat and tumescent fluid. Total amount taken from me was 1400 cc's of tumescent + fat mixture. (about 1 and a half liters.) After the procedure is finished they put band aids over your incisions with a little neosporin and a large gauze pad over that and the your compression garment. The garment is pretty difficult to get into obviously because its made to be so tight. its also crotchless so underwear go over it making it easy to use the restroom. The leftover fluid in the area drains out for the next 24-48 hours. dont underestimate what they tell you.. you will drain ALOT! its different with everyone but before i had even left the table i had drained through the band aids, the gauze pad, my underwear, an extra gauze pad and my sweat pants. Because its compressed the drainage goes all over the place. the drainage is blood - tinted and i had stains down to my thighs and up to my boobs. they say you can buy maxi pads to soak up the drainage - i recommend getting the Johnson & Johnson Surgical Pads Super Absorbancy for Heavily Draining Wounds. you can find them in the first aid area by the band aids, neosporin and hydrogen peroxide (all of which you'll need). The first day is uncomfortable. I was so sick from all the meds i couldnt keep anything down for the rest of the day.. which meant i couldnt take anymore meds. trying to sit or stand hurts. sleeping is uncomfortable. i recommend taking tylenol pm or unisom sleep aids otherwise you're in for the most uncomfortable night of your life like i had. changing positions hurts no matter what you do-just sleep on you're back.

Day 2: Day After (Wed)
I slept so stiff my whole body hurt. The straps on the garment made it worse. I found out later that if your garment doesnt roll down you dont have to wear the straps. that alone improved my overall comfort throughout the day and night.
The day after is pretty typical... sitting, standing, bending, moving around in general is uncomfortable. on a scale from 1-10.. 10 being the worst i rated this day a 6. then again i refused to take the full dosage of meds i was given because i was afraid of getting sick again. I ate and took half of a vicodin and even that made me queasy so i didnt take anymore. If meds dont make you sick then day 2 should be fine for you. You cant take the garment off for 24 hours and the first time you do its almost scary. i felt like without my garment on my guts were going to fall out.. im over a week in and that feeling hasnt gone away. After i got the garment off i almost cried. the results were amazing. even with all the swelling i could see that pretty much every bit of fat on my stomach was gone! the incisions were tiny and had already started to close. My nightly routine is this: shower as normal. wash the incisions with antibacterial soap. pat dry with towel and air dry for a few minutes. apply neosporin to the incisions and cover loosely with a band aid.(until the draining stops use a Johnson & Johnson pad over the bandaids). You can only be out of the garment for 2 hours at the max so while you are in the shower have someone spray the garment with hydrogen peroxide. this will remove the blood stains. then was on delicate cycle with cold water to get that peroxide smell out. dry on delicate low air or tumble dry whichever setting you have on your dryer. it has to be completely dry before you put it back on or it will stretch out as you wear it which defeats the purpose. Getting back into the garment is very difficult the first time. You obviously need help for the first few days.

Day 5: (Sat)
This was the first day the discomfort was almost non existant. I woke up with significantly less back pain so i was sleeping better. You cant (and wont want to) scrub the areas to get the marker off so the markings are still faint. I still have some numb areas all over. There is slight A-symmetry.. my left side is just slightly smaller than my right. They tell you to expect all of this. I noticed that the skin around my belly button was starting to tighten back up although the skin is still numb. A piece of advice- even though you may feel fine still take it easy. I ripped one of my incisions back open and it bruised and the pain came back immediately. (notice the bruise by the left incision in my pictures).

Day 7: post op appt
I still have alot of swelling and bruising. I still have numb areas which they said could last weeks to months hopefully it doesnt last that long. I ordered 2 garments and the post op garment is non zippered. the one you go home in is alot easier compared to the new one. its ridiculously tight and without zippers it makes it very difficult to get on. it took both me and my husband a few minutes of literally shoving myself into this thing to finally get into it. but after a couple of days you figure out how to manipulate it and Im now able to do it by myself. I take 2 advils in the morning and 2 at night and I feel fine. still sore but everyday i improve. They recommend wearing the garment for two weeks straight with only being out of it for 2 hours at the max. and then keep wearing it up until 6 weeks being in it as much as possible. Its pretty thin so i think that wont be too much of a problem. ill post my weekly pictures : ) The pictures so far my husband has been a little inconsistent and a few are a little blurry but you get the idea.