SonoBello Procedure - Thrilled with amazing results- San Antonio, TX

I just had my surgery Monday morning (3/25/13). I had upper/lowers abs, waist and hips done. Really felt no pain during the procedure except for a couple times when she was up close to my ribs. I had a stress ball that I squeezed the heck out of during that time. After the procedure I felt pretty good until the nausea set in. Threw up in the office, but that's how I've always been. The way I see it get that stuff out of my system. Don't remember the drive home and went to bed. Woke up a few hours later, threw up again, changed my dressing pads, had some crackers and back to sleep.

Woke up again around 10:15pm and literally felt no pain, kinda weird. Got up, pottied, ate a few turkey cheese crackers, drank water and again back to sleep. Up again at 5am to potty, which I was able to by myself. Now 8 am, approx 24 hrs after procedure started and while I'm sore, the only pain I feel is from having to lay on my back all night. I'm going back in next Monday to do inner\outer thighs. I'm excited to take this journey with other folks like y'all to compare stories! Spent most all of day 2 sleeping. I did get up and shower, but that wiped me out. Laid back down, back to sleep.

Day 3 (3/27/13) - Up, showered and dressed for work. Felt a little worn out trying to get ready, but just took my time doing it. Again, the only real "pain" is back pain. I can't seem to get comfortable with that. The abs/waist and areas I had treated all seem good. All a little tender to the touch and some slight bruising setting in. Mostly up under my boobs/ribs area. I did notice a small rash on my right side, which I think may have been from the saturated pad on my skin. It's getting better now that the draining has subsided. I still feel like I'm gonna break (or hurt) if I try to bend in the middle. I'm finding myself being very cautious with every little thing I do so as to not have to bend. But wouldn't you know, I've been dropping things like crazy. I have gotten pretty good with picking stuff up with my toes and placing it on a stool and then very creatively leaning over with one leg extended to pick up the item. I'm kinda feeling some of the swelling setting in, but still not really in any pain. Will post pics soon.

Day 4 (3/28/13) - went to work again for a full day. Again took my time showering and getting ready. Still not feeling any unbearable pain, more just an uncomfortableness. I've been reading other stories and hearing about how swollen and bruised so many people are. I have a few small bruises up near my ribs and a little on my sides. Im a little swollen but no where near the size i was before surgery. I started the week before my surgery and was drinking A TON of water, nearly 100 oz per day. I also started on the Arnica pills two days before my surgery. They are like little sugar pills, take 5 at a time 3 times a day. I truly believe that by doing those and the extra water has really helped me.

Day 5 (3/29/13) - Good Friday - thankful for the day off work, but not going to lay in bed all day. While getting up and moving around is not the most comfortable, I do believe its helped keep some of the swelling down. Sleeping has gotten a little better. I was having a hard time sleeping on my back, but have now been able to gently turn on my side and sleep a while. Too bad I go in on Monday for inner/outer thighs...guess ill be back to back sleeping. I do still have one incision that still seems to be draining a little. I would like to know if anyone has purchased their stage 2 garment from somewhere other than their surgery site. I've been looking them up online and it seems they are overpriced if I got through SB to order it. Hope everyone has a nice Easter weekend, I'll post again after surgery 2 on Monday. What a fun way to spend April Fools Day! :)

Day 10 (abs) Day 4 (legs) - Well, it's been 4 days since my 2nd procedure where I had inner/outer thighs done. I'm a little shocked to say that it was not as pleasant as my first procedure. When they gave me my "cocktail" I asked for the same as I had the week before in procedure 1. That one was a breeze and I felt hardly anything. When I got to the table, I looked at the clock and realized I was still coherent enough to know what time it was. Not a good sign. I mentioned it to the dr and she said my body was "used to" the meds. She assured me I'd be fine and she would take her time and if I needed a break to let her know. Well, I'm not one for prolonging the pain so just get it done. For it to have been a less extensive procedure, there was more pain. Nothing that squeezing my stress ball and holding my breath a few times couldn't get me through, but it was definitely more pain. The only good thing was it was a much faster procedure. I did not throw up this time afterwards, but again, don't remember much of the car ride home, being put into bed, or the rest of that afternoon. Woke the next morning and holy moly, my legs BURNED!!! Like literally were on fire. Needless to say, most of Tuesday was also spent on meds and asleep. I did get up Tuesday evening and things were better. Legs not "burning" anymore, but very tender. I was able to shower, but sitting was a real pain in the bum. Literally!! Sliding off the bed, sitting on the potty or on a chair....YEOW!! My abs bruised very little and wasn't until day 4 that I saw any bruising. I think a lot of it was from overdoing on Good Friday. My legs, however, bruised immediately. I went back to work on Weds again, and with my legs hurting the way they were I was not able to work all day. Went home early and slept again. Today, I woke up feeling much better, but legs are sore. To best describe it, it's "bruised" sore. They are tender to the touch and if I sit too long they hurt. Once I sit and get settled the pain subsides some, but then standing again there is some pain/tightness. Once I move around a little, pain subsides. It's kinda weird. All in all, I'm still totally pleased with early results. I'm still swollen, but not so much that I can't see a difference. If you're on the fence, I would say go for it!

Day 15 (abs) Day 8 (legs) - Went yesterday for my 1 week legs and 2 week abs post-op appt. The nurse that saw me was amazed at my results, as am I!! They were all surprised at how much worse my recovery has been from my legs as opposed to my mid section. Honestly, I am too! I feared the first surgery just because it was so much more extensive. I figured, eh, inner/outer thighs, can't be worse then WHOLE mid section. But the nurse even told me, "You are one of a kind, because I never hear that legs are worse then abs." Anyway, my mid-section continues to heal. There are a few lumps I've noticed and there is a band just under my belly button that is super hard. I massage everywhere every night for about 30 minutes, concentrating a little more pressure on the lumps themselves. My legs continue to be black/blue from my who-ha to just below my knees. It's all still tender to the touch, but today I've noticed I can rub it a little easier then days past. I still feel like I have the "too small pantyhose twisted around my thigh" feeling when I stand, especially after sitting for too long. I have to take a moment to "stretch" my legs before I start walking. I still walk a little funny until it loosens up and then I'm good to go. Also, at this point, the itching has definitely set in. My incisions are healing nicely, but the two under my butt seem to itch worse then the others. I'm not sure if that's because of me sitting on them or what, but I find I'm scratching my butt and don't even realize it. Gotta watch that while in public. I've gotten some strange looks at the store. :) The nurse told me yesterday that the itching is a good sign that things are healing well. So, I guess I'll just deal with it. Still have some slight swelling in the midsection, but not too noticeable. In my legs, I've lost my knees to swelling, thanks to gravity. My legs seem to have swelled up a lot more then I was expecting. I'm looking at my before/after pics that I took and it's hard for me to see any change. But I was told last night that it was easy to see there was "less leg" there. Oh, what a good feeling! I went back to my zumba class last night. I didn't do anything crazy, but it did feel good to get moving a little again. Gonna try it again tonight. Continuing to drink LOTS of water. I still firmly believe that has really helped! If you are considering this, start drinking BEFORE your surgery!! You'll be glad you did!!

Day 31 (abs) Day 24 (legs) - Things are progressing well. Most all of the bruising I had on my legs is now gone. My incisions are almost all healed up. I still have some random, and sometimes weird pains, mostly on my inner thighs. Kind of a tightness, sometimes a tingly sensation, sometimes a deep, burning pain. I still have some hard areas on my stomach, mainly that "band" across, just under belly button. Most of the hard "lumps" have gone down. I'm still massaging the areas, though probably not at much as I should. I have not completely resumed my full Zumba teaching schedule. Last week, I tried to do more and that evening I was in a little bit of pain. For my stage 2 garment, I went all over town trying to find just what I wanted, but it did not exist. I did find, in WALMART, a body shaper from the Genie line. Ya know, that infomercial for Genie Bra? Yea, them! While it does go to my ankles (I really wanted a capri length), but it was only $20. It has held up well for daily wear/washing.