Vaser Lipo by Dr. Precht - Seattle, WA

I drove to Seattle yesterday (a little over an hour for the drive there, then another hour for the drive home) for my first post-op appointment. The drive wasn't as horrible as I was afraid of- it was difficult but manageable. It was super hard to look over my shoulder to change lanes though! I have not been wearing my ab board (it's uncomfortable and makes the sides of my garment bulge away from my skin) but I do have a lumbar/ back support board that I wore for the drive and it was pretty helpful.

Dr. Precht said everything looked good (I'm still pretty swollen), took off the little plastic things that were over my incisions in my upper back, and reminded me to do a lot of walking, drink a ton of water, and watch my carb & salt intake. I've been pretty good about my carbs and salt, fairly good about my water, and ok on my walking. She also said that I will need to start massaging 2-3 times a day to keep scar tissue from forming and have a better result. I told her I was concerned about the wrinkles/ bulges in my garment along the zippers and she gave me some foam to wear down my sides (where the zippers are). I also talked to her about my worries over my lower abs looking uneven when laying down and she said everything is still swollen & settling so not to worry about it. My next appointment is in 5 weeks, we should be seeing pretty good results by then and they will take my post-op pics at that appointment.

I was getting a little discouraged because I feel like a swollen pear, like my stomach area is all huge and I see stuff about other people who see instant results with Vaser. I was feeling like I didn't really get much in the instant result department, and starting to worry that my swollen-looking abdomen is here to stay (maybe it makes me feel worse cuz always before I could suck my stomach in, and right now I can't do that and I feel like I look pregnant or something lol). I am not seeing much of a difference when I look in the mirror. BUT today I took off my garment and took some pics so that I could compare with before, and there is actually a difference (even tho I don't feel like it when I'm looking in the mirror lol). It is not nearly as much of a difference as I am expecting, but I have to remind myself that I am only 5 days post-op and I still need to give it several weeks for swelling to go down. I am impatient!

I still hurt (super-sore muscles feeling) and it still hurts to do much bending, but I am able to move easier now, and I can actually bend a bit further and reach things nearer to the floor. Sitting is still rather uncomfortable, and I prefer to either lay down or stand.

I miss Bacon Cheeseburgers and McD's French fries soooooo much. But I'm being a good girl and staying away from them.

Oh! A quick note on my weight. I used to weigh around 115 (a little over 2 years ago when I got my butt done that was how about much I weighed), over the past year and a half I gained a bunch and have been fluctuating between 130-135. I was 132 at my pre-op appointment. I was 139 the day after my lipo. Today (5 days post) I am 133. I know that you don't really lose weight with lipo and I'm not too concerned if I don't lose much, just wanted to include it :)

No puffy eyes when I woke up this morning. I feel about the same as yesterday (maybe a tiny bit better) but I feel like I might have been on my feet a bit too much yesterday. I know I am supposed to be walking quite a bit, but it’s so hard to get in and out of bed that I spent a lot of time standing. I had a bit of numbness in my fingertips of my left hand thing morning but it went away after a bit. I’m starting to feel a bit itchy around my torso. The muscles in my upper back/ shoulders feel sore (no lipo there, it’s just from using my arms more to leverage myself around the bed or maybe from the straps of my garment). I don’t feel quite as sore in my upper abs and lower back, although they are still pretty sore. All of the numbing stuff that was lingering in my lower abs is gone now, I can definitely feel the soreness there, and in my sides! I don’t seem to have hardly any bruising yet. I still can’t bend over, and it’s still practically impossible to get anything from near the floor. I would really love to wash my hair!!

Woke up with slightly puffy eyes. Actually feel a bit better today- it’s a noticeable difference over how I felt yesterday. It’s still very hard to get out of bed and I hurt all over but after walking around the house for a few minutes I feel a bit better. I’m also walking better- still fairly slowly but not the zombie shuffle I was doing yesterday!

Went to a movie today- sitting is pretty uncomfortable but standing/ laying is ok. Ate some eggs this morning, chicken salad for lunch. Didn’t feel nauseous at all. Still definitely need my pain meds. Taking Benedryl at night, my antibiotics 3 times a day, my Arnica, and started my Bomelian.
I took my first shower this morning (you are allowed to take a shower 24 hours after, as long as you aren’t out of your garment for long, but I wanted to give it an extra day and Dr. Precht said that was fine). I only had a little bit of leaking last night, it’s definitely way less than it was at first. Taking off the garment wasn’t too bad. I laid down and my husband helped me. My lower abs look a bit uneven- hopefully it’s just the swelling, but one side looks noticeably bigger than the other (it might be just when I’m laying down though, I don’t think it was too noticeable when I was standing). My belly definitely looks flatter when I’m laying down- it’s so exciting! I can’t wait to see my final results lol. When I’m standing up I look all sorts of puffy and swollen and not that much different. Except for my upper ab area/ around my ribs under my boobs. That area definitely looks tinier- from the front it’s a noticeable difference. I have a waist curve again- YAY!

I think it would be quite a bit easier if I had a second garment. Even though we washed & dried it while I was showering, I still had to wait a bit for it to finish drying after I got out of the shower.
I tried the ab board for a few hours in the evening. I’m not sure how I like it. It makes walking a bit harder, and it causes the sides of the garment to puff out a little instead of hugging against me. I might need to find some foam or something else to go under the garment though. There are bulges in the zipper areas of my garment and I’m paranoid about them causing funny rolls/ creases as I heal.

I went on several walks today, but I couldn’t really increase my distance. They were still only about a block each (round trip).