Liposculpture of Abdomen (With Gentle Etching), Flanks, Inner/outer Thighs and Knees. Newark, DE

Hi all! I'm so glad I found this site - it has been really helpful in making my decisions about the surgery I opted to have. On Sept 9th, I had a LOT of liposculputre and thought I'd relate my story and continue to update my recovery. I had several pre-op consultations with my surgeon in which we disucssed what my over all goals were and what procedures would help me get there. I'm very athletic but have those stubborn areas of fat that just won't go away so I had liposculpture for my flanks, upper and lower abdomen with mild etching, inner/outer thighs and knees.
My surgery went fine though it was my first time under general anesthesia and I apparently didn't do too well coming out of it - I was very confused and wasn't even sure that the surgery had taken place! It took maybe 30 - 60 minutes for me to fully come around and start making sense of things - and to start feeling a little like I had been beaten up!
I went home the next day and recovery has been slow. When the Dr. tells you there may be SOME bruising and SOME swelling, oh good god I wish they were more forthcoming of what you might ACTUALLY see! I am thankful to this site for educating me with pictures and actual patient stories! Let me tell you, I am BRUISED! Holy cow! And the swelling extends to some really odd places that weren't part of what I had treated! I'm not too freaked out but the overall area where I am bruised and the crazy deep purple/blue of the bruises was a bit overwhelming when I actually saw it on MY body! I took mostly Tylenol for the pain after surgery but I wish I had something a little stronger for the first 2 - 4 days. I hurt. Ugh! Sitting/lying still wasn't a problem but when I went to move, gads! That was no fun at all!
Like I said, I'm 9 days post op today and a good bit of the bruising has resolved, though there are still larger areas of deep purple/blue and I am still quite swolen but I'm taking measurements every week to keep track of that and am not expecting it to resolve too quickly. I'm also starting to ITCH! Zow! I'm happy about that because it means I'm healing but it's sure is annoying - especially at work when I can't always scratch what needs to be scratched!!
I AM worried about the amount of pain I'm still in. Again, I'm doing lots better than the first few days but I feel like every time I start to move or go from one position to another (sitting to standing, standing to lying down, lying down to getting up, etc..) my skin is tight and my muscles just won't move. I guess I had hoped this too would have resolved a bit by now but it does not seem to be getting better. I know that the swelling is likely limiting my range of motion but I'm getting really concerned over the "pulliing" I'm feeling when I try to move. Anyone else have this issue? How did it resolve?
I'd love to hear from others to see if anyone else has had this crazy stiffness and inability to move around. Seriously, I shuffle-walk like I'm 90 years old and getting up out of bed or out of a chair is about the same! It hurts and I'm SO stiff! Please tell me this is all normal!
Since I'm at work at the moment and taking a break, I won't post picture right now. :) I'll take care of that later today from home. And I'll continue to update with my progress.

Finally, getting around to uploading before and 2 week after photos.
The good news is:
1.) The feeling of having my skin ripping/pulling/scraping across my muscles whenever I change positions has greatly improved - not perfect, but once I get moving, things seem to loosen up a good bit and the pain is greatly reduced. My thighs are the worst but I still have this ripping/scraping/searing/pulling sensation in my abdomen.
2.) The bruising is getting much better as is the swelling. I took before measurements of my bust, waist, hips, each thigh and each knee. The 1 week measurements made me laugh - wow, was I swollen!! Not so much in the bust measurement but the waist, hips and knees were quite a bit larger than the before measurements. Sadly, my thighs have seen the least change from before to 1 week after to now. Hm. Let's hope that changes.
3.) I went back to the gym today! OK, I didn't do anything remotely like what I consider a workout but I moved (treadmill for 1 mile, elliptical for 1 mile, light upper body weights and VERY LIGHT stretching). It felt GREAT! So far, I'm not feeling any repercussions. We'll see what tomorrow is like.
Now, the "bad": (I say "bad" but take that with a grain of salt)
1.) My lumpy tummy! Ha! I'm truly not that upset - I know it will take a few more weeks to even out and look less lumpy. At least that's my hope. I can't wait to see the etching start to show a bit.
2.) I'm not seeing much change in my thighs. :-/ I know it's early and that my thighs and knees will be the last to get rid of the swelling so, OK, patience.
3.) Overall, I was hoping to see more improvement between the before and after pix. Yes, it's still early. OK. Patience. I know. Ugh! It doesn't help that when I search bef/aft pix online, I see some really nice improvements and wonder if I'll see the same improvement. I still feel my body is so strange looking!

So, that's my gripe for the day. I know I need to be patient for all the pain & swelling to go away and to see the results I would want to see after having 2000 cc removed from my 5'4", 135 lb self.

More later....

Well, I had a "moment" last night. I don't know why I hurt so much yesterday but it felt like I had taken 10 steps backwards and I let myself break down and have a good cry. Not sure that helped anything but... perhaps it got some of the impatience and frustration out of my system so I can move on.
I'm doing better and have made it back to the gym, though I'm only working out at maybe 25% of my usual effort, if even that (usually, I lift weights and 3 days a week join up with some friends to do the Insanity workout - which I LOVE). It actually feels good to walk a little and get my blood moving and I've been able to work out my upper body a good bit, being careful not to engage my abs too much since I'm still very sore and somewhat swollen. Also doing some gentle stretching - realllly gentle. Maybe I over did it and that's why I hurt so much yesterday. I don't know but yesterday I felt like this surgery was the BIGGEST mistake I had ever made, that I would NEVER feel normal again and that the pain would NEVER go away and that I would be stuck like this for the rest of my life. Yes, I know, it was a pity party but, honestly, I was miserable and mad that "I did this to myself". *sigh*
I'm OK this morning - still sore but not like yesterday. I took my 3-week measurements and am happy to say that in my waist and thighs, it looks like the swelling is down considerably and that I'm now measuring LESS than my pre-op measurements by just a smidge. No so much in my hips and knees. Hm.. OK. It's still early in my recovery and I'm probably still swollen some. The bruising is alllllmoooost gone but I still have funky green/yellow/blue bruises here and there. I also have numb spots that are oddly VERY sensitive to the touch and I'm still experiencing that ripping/pulling/shredding feeling when I move after sitting for a while. That still freaking HURTS and takes a bit to work out so I can move around. I can't wait for that to go away!
I haven't taken 3-week pictures yet but will later today and will post them - not sure there will be much of a noticeable difference but we'll see. My tummy is still really lumpy and seems a bit more so since the swelling is down a little and I have some new dimples in my behind that weren't there before. Not complaining, just noting a fact.
Hoping to get to the point where I don't hurt anymore - SOON. My 3 week post-op appointment is Thursday and I'll hopefully hear that I'm healing well if not just a tad slowly.