Tummy Tuck Time - Annapolis, MD

I have lost over 170 pounds since my Lap-Rny in April 2002, and have kept it off for successfully, so I am due for some skin removal and muscle tightening, and a little lips. Are there any supplies I should stock up on for the post op period? I remember before my gastric bypass someone recommended buying a long handled wooden spoon to wrap toilet paper around to help reach my behind when wiping, as bending and turning during that time was out of the question. Will I need the spoon again? :) Any other items you found helpful? I always dread the first bowel movement after surgery anyway- the pain men's always stop me up and stool softeners never help me. Any preventative ideas?

The surgery went well but unfortunately it has not been smooth sailing since then. Dr. Chappell filled my sutured area with Exparel and sent me home with a compressions garment on. The first night wasn't too bad but several times I felt my ab muscles go into involuntary spasms or contractions. They woke me up a few times during the night and made it very hard to get into position to get in and out of bed. (I wish I had followed the recommendation to rent a hospital bed!) Like a Charley horse-completely out of my control and unbelievably painful. Any engagement of the abs to move was excruciating. Lots of draining still coming from one drain and not as much from the other. So by Wednesday, getting up and down was the big problem. I wanted to get out of bed but as soon as I started to try, I got faint and started to black out, then the ab mspasms began and it got to the point where I couldn't take a breath. My BF thought I was having a panic attack, because of the pain, which pretty well sums it up. Unfortunately thinking about the muscle spasms was enough to to start them and cause the shortness of breath, and my BP was about 80/50. so we called my dr. And was told he was in the OR at the hospital so it might be best take an ambulance in to have him take a look at me.
At the hospital they did a CT scan and found a small PE in the right lower lobe. So they started talking about giving me blood thinners to prevent more clots, but also discovered my hematocrit had dropped from 41 to 27 since preop testing, and my hemoglobin from 13.1 to 8. It continued to drop to 6/20, so they took off the corset and put in an IVC filter. They gave me Valium for the spasms, which have gotten better, and a PCA pump for Dilaudid. My h&h kept dropping and the draining is still bad so they have give me three units of blood so far. Once my blood levels stabilize they will send me home on heparin, assuming there is no bleeding anywhere else. The question right now is do I put the garment back on? I forgot to ask the doctor when he was last here and he warned me he wouldn't be looking in on me over the weekend.

Finally got released after my H&H and platelets stabilized and they could stop the heparin and start me on Coumadin. At one point I tried to put the corset back on but it was too uncomfortable. Felt like I was stuffing pop'n fresh dough back in the can. So I still wonder how much damage has been done to my results by not being able to wear the garment? The incision feels good, a little tight and some tingling at times. There is a little swelling around the incision. I still have one drain that is putting out about 85 ml of dark red liquid still. It's even leaking around the drain site which is a bit annoying. Sometimes I stand up or move and it starts to drip so I have to have a pad handy at all times.