Upper, Lower Abs, Waist, Outer and Inner Thighs - Portland, OR

6/18/2012 Week 6.

I have gone a lot of this week without the 2nd stage garment, not intentionally but because I do need to wear it to run, have to wash it and just with timing haven't managed to get it back on. Most of the discomfort is gone but I do have some reseidual hypersensitivity in the waist/ flank area. The feeling is similar to having the flu...and really sensitive to even the brushing of a t-shirt on the skin over that area. There is the occassional pull or odd feeling on the abdomen as well but overall the discomfort is mostly gone. I am not yet hwoever comfortable running without the garment because of skin movement.

I have not changed size or lost weight at all. Nothing. My shape has changed, my stomach is flatter and waist indents more, my thighs around my lower buttock are shaped better and overall I am please with the improvement. While I am happy so far, the discomfort was more than I anticipated. I have had a boob job and this was far worse I think because the discomfort affected the whole body and all movement, limiting my ability to exercise. I also hope for more change over time and would have liked to see a bigger change for the price. So, the results are worth having had this done, I guess I would have paid most anything to rid myself of some of the fat pockets I had. But at the same time I would feel much better about the results if I had paid $3K rather than $6K. For the price I expected more drastic results. I will post pics as time allows.

Post Op Day 20:

I should have mentioned in my last post an interesting observation I have made. I have been wearing my compression garment stage 2, 20 hours a day (sleeping in it then wearing it to work under scrubs). 4 nights ago I started just wearing it during the day (12 hr shifts) and sleeping without it. My skin is still very sensitive/ tender to the touch and I have found this to be true sleeping. What is also interesting is that rolling and getting out of bed without the garment in particular requires a lot more care. Skin moves when rolling over and with that there is tenderness as if the skin is not yet attached. Yesterday morning I did not roll and get up as carefully as I should have and I felt a tearing feeling inside. It was not in a location of one of the holes otherwise I thought I would find blood on the sheet. It was strikingly painful and although subsided in a few minutes, I felt a minor tenderness there all day.

Also, my garment was in the wash so I thought I would wear the binder given right after surgery just for support of the abdomen and the back area I felt tearing. This worked OK but my legs then became tender as well. So, I determined that even at nearly week 3, I am not ready to go very long without the compression garment. This to me indicates that I am still very much healing. Not sure how much swelling remains but it is hard to imagine that I have much. But, the soft tissue is still recovering from its insult.

I have seen absolutely no weight change or change in my measurements as stated above. I have seen however a cleaning up of my thighs, they are a little tidier looking and I feel my abs are a little bit as well. Not much, not where I want them or was hoping for by a long shot but I am mentally preparing myself for a redo of the tummy.

Day 19:

Post op was day 17. No weight change. Measured today and no measurement change.