26 Year Old - Liposuction on Abs, Flanks and Back- DETAILED REVIEW + PICTURES - Miami, FL

I am now 23 days post op and here are all the things that I used to help my recovery. I am glad to be doing this now as some things have come up at this stage of my recovery that I would not have thought I would need at the beginning.
The surgery centre gave me a faja, an ab board and these rectangle boards that I do not know the official name for. Make sure you get all these and ask Dr Hanabergh how to place them in case it is different for each person. It is important you wear them all day every day.
1. Antibiotic Ointment
For this I used the Neoporin Pain + Itch + Scar. I think this brand is the only one on the market that has that 'scar reducing' feature. This is used to put on your incisions three times a day till they have fully headed. I am now 23 day post op and I am still using it on 3 of my 8 incisions. I have still scarred sadly :-( but maybe I would have more without this. The pack I got had 0.5oz/14.2g and I am on my second one. I will not need anymore.
2. Antiseptic Wipes
I like to wipe my incisions every time I apply the Neoporin to avoid infections and stuff. I do not use it in the morning or at night when I apply my Neoporin fresh out of the shower, just when I apply in the middle of the day.
3. Arnica
This is a cream to help with swelling and bruising. I was very swollen and bruised and this really help soothe me. It was hard to rub it in during the earlier days as I was so sore to touch, but I did my best to put on my stomach, sides and back both morning and night after my shower. I have finished the one tube I bought, and although I still have some bruising and such I do not find it necessary to buy another one.
5. Anti-Bacterial Wash
Not infecting or irritating your incisions is very important. I am not one to use scented body washes anyway, but I felt it was best to get an anti bacterial body wash to use while my incisions are healing. I just got the Dettol original soap one because it is cheap as chips and I trust the brand.
6. Wee Wee Pads/UnderPads
These are used to stop blood and fluid from leaking onto your bed, sofa, car etc. I bought wee wee pads instead of under pads because I found them on sale, but they both work the same so get whichever. I pretty much stopped bleeding and leaking after about four days, so only used about 50 pads. I ones I bought were 60 x 60cm.
7. Tissues and Wet Wipes
These are just handy to have on hand.
8. A vomit bucket
In case the pain meds they give make you as sick as they did me, it is very wise you have a bucket by your side at all times. I had it both next to my bed and in the car when I was with Dara just in case. It need not be a full on big bucket, even one of those dish bucket things that go into the sink to soak stuff will work. Or maybe even some of those sick bags that they give on the plane. That might be a better idea instead. Or some plastic bags. Either way have something. You do not want to be struggling to run to the bathroom in your fragile state if you need to be sick.
9. Towels and Bedding
You will need a fair few towels and bedding if you do not have access to a washing machine. I was lucky to be in a hotel with staff so so nice about washing items that got blood on it. Sleeping with the wee wee pads meant there was very minimal blood leaking on the bed. Double stack your pads and make sure you cover more area than you need to in case you shift in the night. Also cover your pillows as somehow blood ends up there. Then between you and the cover you put over yourself, put pads with the plastic part facing up, then a towel THEN your cover. It seems like a lot to do but anything to not ruin stuff.
10. Plastic bags
I would not advise disposing of things with blood and fluid directing into the bins...it just does not seem clean to me. I would say to put it into a plastic bag, then into the bin. The same way you would put baby's nappy into a nappy bag first, not just directing into the bin. You can put your used pads, wipes etc in there.

So I woke up and I was in serious pain. I remember my legs were shaking, and I mean REALLY shaking, moving in a little bouncing motions knocking together. This room was cold when I came in before my surgery but not the point that would have me shivering like that. I also remember reading someone else's review on here and she mentioned this happening to her, so I was not scared and did not feel the need to ask the nurse why this was happening. I later found out from my nurse Dara that this is a normal reaction after having anaesthesia. Just some advice here guys, before you have any surgery it is very important that you educate yourself as much as possible with all things regarding pre op, the surgery itself and post op. Although I had wanted lipo for years I decided in a split moment end of April that I was going to do it. This then just left me just over four weeks to do as much research as possible. I was not aggressively studying or anything but every night if I had 30 minutes or so I would go onto YouTube or here to do some research. This knowledge I gained allowed me not to be scared when certain things would happen. There are still many surprises and lessons to learn as everybody will react to things differently, but I feel I have been prepared for about 75% of what has happened to me so far. So after 10 minutes or so the nurse said it was time for me to leave. I cannot remember if I saw Dr Hanabergh but I think not. But I also did not ask for him either. I had brought with me a medium length red floaty dress which both Dr Hanabergh and the anesthesiologist commented separately during our pre op conversations that the red colour would help to hide the blood :-| Hahahahahahaha. I recommend taking something that can easily be put on, definitely not trousers. In fact I think a long robe would be an even better option than a dress. I was already in my compression garment so the nurse helped me with my dress and into a wheelchair. They wheeled me out and I caught a glance at the time, a few minutes to 6pm. I had been there a total of 4 hours on the dot. They opened the door and there was Dara waiting for me with a big smile of her face. In that moment I was so grateful to have her there. She spoke a little to the nurse and off we went. I have to mention here that nobody schooled on aftercare but I assume that is because they all knew I had DaraRemember that Dara was recommended to me by my coordinator Alejandra because they work with her often. They trust her. I know Dara was giving constant updates to both Alejandra and Dr Hanabergh regarding my progress, such as taking pictures of my incisions and sending it to them. If you are going to taken care of by a loved one it is VERY important that they school you and that person on how to deal with the next 72 hours. They are the hardest for sure. Dara wheeled me to her car and with her help get in. I am 23 days post days post op, but I remember even on the 10th day was I still struggle with sitting, laying down and getting up, but it gets better each day. Every morning I would need to hold onto the nightstand for support to get in and out of bed. And getting in and out of cars was also very hard. We began the 20 minute journey to the hotel, and the pain I was in made me say to Dara 'Why did I do this?' and 'What have I done?'. Yes at that moment I regretted my decision of having the surgery as I could not imagine having this pain overnight. I hope I am not scaring you all :).. Aside from pain I remember being extremely hungry. I had not eaten since midnight which by that point was 18 hours ago. Dara later told me that if I had eaten anything just a little too big at that point I would not have been able to keep it down, but instead something light like crackers would have been perfect. So here is a tip, have some crackers or light crisps like pringles incase you are extremely hungry after surgery. We got back to my room and I had already opened up the bed ready to lay in, with wee wee pads double stacked down all over including the pillows. After I was in, she left me to get soup from one of the nearby restaurants. I sipping a generous amount then she gave me some pain meds and antibiotics. I am not even joking guys but after about 15 minutes my pain reduced from 100 to 50. I was so happy I would not have to sleep in that pain! I did however throw up about 10 minutes after taking the pills. Those painkillers were a blessing and a curse. Yes they took away a lot of the pain very fast but they would always make me incredibly nauseas and I would vomit once a day. I do not know if it is because I am small person or that never have drugs of any kind in my body, but I am super super sensitive to narcotics. After about the third day Dara suggested I take ibuprofen as I could not handle the side effects of the painkillers anymore. I had the option to have Dara overnight at an additional cost but I really felt I could deal with things now that the pain meds were in me. Plus I knew she was on the other side of the phone if I needed her. She had me set my alarm for 2am to take the painkillers and antibiotics again. It was about 8pm by this point and she left about an hour later. When I woke up at 2am to take my meds, I felt hungry so I had more of my soup from earlier which thank goodness was just on my bedside table. I'm not sure if I could have gotten up alone. So that is it for my day one kids. I survived it :-) Hope that was all very informative for you all. My overall feeling at 2am was pretty calm. I no longer had that bad pain that I came out of surgery with so I felt I could handle the recovery. My faja was really quite bloody by this point too but I had wee wee pads over and under me to stop things leaking onto the actual bed. It all started to sink in that I had done it and I was looking forward to seeing the results. Until next time folks!

Hi I know I am taking wayyyy too long with these updates but I really have so much to stay. I really want these posts to help you guys out as much as possible. However today I am 7 days post op so I decided to quickly show you guys some pics. The lighting is not the best and I am still very swollen but the change can most certainly be seen. I am actually smiling as I am writing this..I am just so happy. I know that in three weeks when I start working out again I will have legs, bum and arms to match, and by then a lot of swelling will be gone. I am going to break some hearts this summer :-P I have checked out of my hotel and am on my way to see Dr Hanabergh to get some fluid I have drained (more info about that to come) and have an overall check up. Surgery Day part 2 coming soon. Promise! [RS bleep]