33 Year Old with Realistic Expectations - Miami, FL

sorry I haven't been around in a while. Here are pics I took at the 8 week mark. I'm proud to say that I didn't sit or lay in my butt for exactly 63 days straight!!

Is the procedure/recovery painful? How painful is it? My experience included moments of difficult pain and moments of almost no pain. I had someone with me the whole time so my recovery was easier, but he didn't help with the pain. A lot of the pain management has to do with expectations and prior experience. I've had worse procedures like a tummy tuck and have given birth to three children. Compared to that it wasn't bad. But compared to a sprained finger it was very painful the first few days. If you've had kids, you can do this. If your biggest trauma in life is a hang nail, then you will find this procedure excruciating.

The pain meds help a lot. Sure there were times I went to the beach and got my nails done, but they were preceded and followed by times just lying down in the back of the car or taking long naps. I felt a lot of pain at times, but there were other times when I was feeling relatively normal. The pain comes in waves. Once you get up from a nap you feel stiff but energetic, but after an hour the discomfort/light headedness starts to catch up with you. To call it pain is probably not entirely accurate. I think soreness is probably a better term.

Don't be fooled by pics at the beach, because there were plenty of times I just slept and rested. One of the hardest parts is sleeping on your stomach all the time. After a while you just want to be on your back or sit on your butt and you can't.

After the first few days the pain becomes far more manageable, but even now at day 11, I still feel like I was beat up.

For me, the pain doesn't bother me as much because I'm seeing results I love.

It's been a couple of rough days since having the drain pulled. I've gained nearly 10 lbs of water weight and most of it is concentrated in the pelvis and legs.

When I called Vanity, they said this was normal and that I should continue to move around (get up 10 minutes every hour) and drink plenty of fluids including pineapple juice. The problem is, the more I move around the more swelling I get.

What I thinking is happening is that since the drain has been removed and the holes are closed, there is no place do the fluid to go, so it follows gravity. The more i stay on my feet/knees, the more it pools in the pelvic area and legs.

The return flight was a pain. It was delayed 8 hours, and while we were able to get out of the airport and head to the beach, I believe that being on my feet for so long contributed to the problem.

I got through the TSA with no issues and the flight attendants were very understanding. Thankfully we had a seat between us on the flight home so I could put my head in hubby's lap and stretch out a bit. I sat on my bbl pillow for takeoff and landing.

Since coming home, the swelling has subsided a bit, but my thighs are much larger than they were before removal of the drain, and the left one is about 25% larger than the right.

Finally, I've had a headache for nearly three days. I read online that it could be related to lying in a prone position or due to the anesthesia or a rebound headache due to the pain med.

Overall, I'm doing ok, but I'd love to have the swelling go down soon.

Anybody else get swelling like this or headaches?