Time for Loose Thighs and Saggy Skin on Bum to Go Bye-bye - Minneapolis, MN

At 21 I delivered a great big beautiful baby boy after 4 months of bedrest. I also adopted 85 lbs on my 5'5" frame. Unlike most young skin, mine did not bounce back. I have had ugly loose skin on my thighs and buttocks ever since and I'm finally ready to have it go away. Dr John Ness is performing a circumferential thigh lift and butt lift on Monday Sept 29. To get the best results for the problem areas he is making the incision 3/4 or all the way around the upper thigh since that is there the problem areas are. So the incision will be in the groin around the back crease of the buttock and all the way up to the upper outer hip area. He'll remove quite a bit of skin from the lower area of the butt and the upper thigh. I'm incredibly excited and scared at the same time. More to follow!

Well today was the day and thanks to the meds, I feel pretty good laying flat. But in the recovery I went from la la R.E.M land (which is the most heavenly feeling) to quickly being brought back into reality-ville by the nurse. The pain was terrible but the IV pain meds quickly kicked in thank goodness. Not much for lipo - we were going to do the whole calves but he told me yesterday that we won't because it's too painful with this procedure because I need to walk and the pain from lipo might prevent me from walking.

I'm a little scared by how incredibly tight my skin feels but I guess that's the entire purpose, right? :) I just fear finding out too much skin was removed - which would be horrible because there's not solution (or good solution for that). But I was reassured by Dr Ness that it was the correct amount and with the strong anchoring to the bone, that we won't have a problem with popping open, migration or labia distortion. Measure 2-3 times, cut once. He's really a great, caring doctor. He takes the time and he doesn't appear to have an ego or unhealthy ego I should say.

I'm in my lovely compression garment and have no idea how things look, but I'm sure I'll see it tomorrow in my 1 day post op. He marked me extensively to keep everything within the bikini lines. The goal is to have a nice curve to my butt and a slight crease under the area closest to the inner thighs, but for the incision to smooth out on the areas as my butt leads to the hip. I don't want a big crease across the entire lower buttock or a droopy butt. Can't wait to see and will let you all know how it looks with pics. Drowsing off now … Fingers crossed everything goes well! I'll be resting for at least 4-5 weeks with no activity other than safe amounts of walking, supplements, low-sodium diet, water, no stairs, no cars, minimal sitting when the time is right. As so many of you have rightfully preached … SLOW, SLOW, SLOW.

Day 2 was definitely better than day 1. That's what's nice about recovering -- generally each day is noticeably a little better. I felt pretty good until I fell behind on my pain meds, then it was tough to get back to the more comfortable zone. My sister stayed with me which was such a delight. She's a nurse practitioner which is a gift as I'm recovering, and it's just so nice having her here to reminisce, which is rare these days when we're all so busy. I had quite a bit of swelling down my legs and in my groin area (and a lot of pain in my right side of my groin where the anchoring is placed), but the swelling and pain has subsided quite a bit. Because we have so many stairs coming up to our house and inside our house to get to the bedroom, Dr. Ness and Michaela were kind enough to visit me at home last night for my 1 day post op check up. That was incredibly kind of them considering I know they have busy days and are probably anxious to get home. Dr. Ness opened the front of my compression garment and I looked down and had zero bruising (thank you Arnica and all the other factors, including a good surgeon). My legs looked so smooth and my incisions were covered with tape but looked good from what I could see. I actually was afraid to look at my legs -- almost as if I'm afraid to see how good they will look. How odd right? I haven't seen any other area but I think tomorrow or Friday I'll take a shower and get the full view then.