22 Year Old No Kids - Miami, FL

Hi everyone! I've been stalking this website for quite some time so I figured I would post my story. I'm 22 years old, 5'3 weight fluctuating between 120-130..and my entire life I've always resented my stomach. I know it's vain and there's so much to be thankful for in life, but being completely honest with myself it's true that I've allowed this insecurity to wreck havoc on my mental stability for far too long. I'm vegetarian, I eat relatively healthy (except when I'm going through a bout of depression in that case anything goes..junk food, booze, no self control) so I'm hoping this journey will catapult me towards self-acceptance and a generally healthy lifestyle. I've gone through phases over the past decade where I've been a gym rat. I would obsessively lift weights and do cardio for several hours 4-5 times a week. But I always give up in the end because I NEVER would see results in my stomach area. It's been an uphill battle. I've tried crazy fad diets, diet pills, starving myself and nothing works. My legs/arms/everywhere else always shrinks but my stomach won't budge. So hopefully this surgery will give me the push I need to begin my new lifestyle!

I'm currently 5 days out. I had smart lipo of my entire trunk (abdomen, love handles, and back) under General Anestesia on Friday March 4th 2016. The first day was relatively okay minus the disgusting amount of leakage EVERYWHERE. A tip I got from this site that helped me tremendously was using a period pad with a little surgical tape over the wounds while I was draining. It made clean up easier and it soaked up that bloody pus yucky stuff so it wouldn't leak through my garment. The second day, although I had stopped draining, was horrible. I felt like I got hit by a truck. I swelled up over 10 pounds. I woke up COVERED in bruises even in areas where no lipo was performed. I was (and am) covered in lumps and bumpy patches. I'm still completely numb on my stomach and my back (love handles never went numb). Finding a comfortable spot to lay down was impossible at first since I had lipo on my back, sides, and front there just is no way to get comfy. Hugging a big body pillow seemed to help. With each day I've lost about a pound or two of water weight. I'm still over 5 pounds heavier than my pre-op weight (which was 130). I've been drinking gallons of water and making sure to get up and walk around every once in a while. I went for my first lymphatic massage on Monday (4days post op). It helped A LOT. I can't even begin to describe how much it helped. I'm still feeling lumpy and misshapen though. The compression garment I was given has a zipper on the side which hurts really bad. I hope my swelling bruising and lumps go away, since I'm young and have no kids my skin should have pretty good elasticity. But I've seen horror stories on this page so I'm not really sure what to expect. I go in tomorrow for my first post-op meeting with Dr Simon. So far him and his staff have been nothing short of wonderful. But now that the surgery is done and they've been paid, I hope that the excellent patient care I've been receiving extends all the way through the healing process. Anyways I'm gonna upload a few pre-op pics (I don't have that many). If anyone can provide some words of encouragement, please do because I don't know anybody in my age group who had this procedure and the majority of people in my life think it's stupid so I don't really have anyone to turn to. Thanks for reading :)