35 Y/o Male Abdominal and Flank Lipo - Houston, TX

I've always had love handles. My weight was about 205(Im 6'6") in high school, and I had love handles that I was self conscious about even then. In college my weight increased to 265 after a few years of not exercising, drinking beer, and eating like, well, a college student. Of course, at the weight, I had a belly, etc. I wasn't taking my shirt off unless I had a gun to my head. Towards the end of college, I got motivated, and got down to 230 lbs. Thats the weight Ive basically held since.

For my wedding two years ago, my wife and I dieted, and exercised like madmen. We ate six small meals a day, worked out twice a day, and in six months I got back down to my high school weight of 205. I was very lean, and more muscular than ever, but still ultimately not comfortable with my shirt off because I still had love handles. It just came down to genetics.

Ive since gained back to 235, and decided to at least talk to a surgeon. Im comfortable I can maintain this "weight" forever. I used the same surgeon my wife used for her breast augmentation ten years ago. The surgeon was amazing, and assured me that I was an ideal candidate, as it was obvious I wasn't using the surgery to lose weight, but to change my proportions.

My surgery was Friday, just over 48 hours ago, and I feel pretty darn good. I had tumescent lipo on my flanks and traditional on my abdomen. I had a nasty headache after my surgery that is just now mostly gone. My movement has been restricted by a Dale brand 12" wide compression garment. To be honest, that has been the hardest part of this. The garment makes it hard to eat a normal meal, and you feel just a little nauseous all the time because your abdomen is being compressed. Im not terribly comfortable, and I think work tomorrow will suck. But this has been much easier than I expected. At this point, the toughest part seems to be the idea of keeping this thing strapped to my body for six weeks. Thats pretty amazing, if you ask me. I took some before and after pics, after being 24 hours after surgery. Ill post those soon.

OK, we are at day 5 post surgery. Dressing around the thickness of the foam is proving aggravating. Today I finally found a pair of jeans that I can wear and look normal. Going to work is tough. Again, virtually no pain, but im terribly uncomfortable. The binder itches horribly. Ive read to wear it over a shirt, but I cant imagine doing that until after Im done with the foam.
The bruising is getting worse. There is almost none at all except for around the foam. The swelling started getting worse yesterday around midday. I noticed that it feels more like Im pushing out against the binder vs it pushing in. You can just feel yourself being more full as the day wears on. I usually unhook the binder for five minutes or so when I get home, then strap back on. Other than that and showers, its stayed on.

FYI, you cant get away with not mentioning something to co workers. As easy as Ive had it, my movement is affected significantly. Im telling everyone I threw my back out, and wearing a brace for now.

The post pics are from 24 hrs after surgery.

Basically a week in, took a pic this morning to show bruising. Garment is frustrating, itches horribly.