Late 40's Utah Mom of 4, Looking to Get Rid of Long-time Stubborn Fat!

Uggh! I feel like they're going to explode! Water pills had better start working.

We went in on Thursday afternoon for my 24 hour post-op appointment, and the nurses were visibly concerned with the amount of swelling I have. The doctor came in and ordered a water pill Rx, and I'm hoping the swelling goes down soon. I look like the marshmallow man, I’m that swollen.

Along with that, my blood count (iron?) was terrible. They told me when they did my PRE-op work the morning of the surgery that my level was just right at 11.5. They say anything below a 10 is concerning, and will cause them to postpone the surgery. Also, my pre-op blood pressure had been right in line with where it should have been (can’t remember the exact numbers).
However, my post-op level on Thursday afternoon 6.8!! Not good. Also, my blood pressure was extremely low-- I think it was 92/54. So things are not good as far as my iron level and blood pressure are concerned, and I'm sure that's partly why I am SO exhausted.

I have continued to basically just sleep and sleep, but I finally took a shower this afternoon (2 days post-op). It felt so great to get cleaned up, but I had a lot of drainage that wasn’t pretty. I tend to bruise very easily, so again, I’m not surprised to see that I’m a brilliant purple color. I’m definitely sore, and still taking the pain pills every four hours, but I am going to try and back off on those tomorrow.

Pictures are of when I got unwrapped for a shower. I am grateful for the compression garment, it really does help me feel better. I don’t love all the extra drainage pads I still have to keep on underneath, but hopefully those will be gone soon.

2 days down . . . it has to get better from here, right?!

I arrived at 8 am to prep for the lipo surgery, everything went smoothly. They did the basic pre-op blood work and blood pressure tests, which came back right where they should have been. The doctor came in and marked me up all pretty with blue marker, and I asked him to do some extra work on my flanks and back that I hadn't originally asked for. We added $500 to the total cost, so my total was now $4000 for all areas to be done. I figured I'd better get it all done at once, I didn't want to have to come back for a re-do anytime soon.

They gave me a Xanax pill about 30 minutes before the surgery to help me relax. It obviously did the job, because I totally fell asleep on the operating table before they even gave me the epidural! There was no counting down from 10 . . .I was at a zero long before that. My anxiety level was remarkably low to start with, so it didn't completely surprise me that I could fall asleep naturally just from the Xanax.

They told my husband afterward that everything went smoothly, with no complications, other than the fact that I could NOT wake up. I was out cold. I don't remember them even trying to wake me up, getting me dressed in the compression garment, or even getting out of the surgical center. The first thing I remember is a very fuzzy recollection of my husband and son helping me into my house. A couple of hours later, I finally came to enough to start being semi-coherent.

I have basically just slept for the past 24 hours, with no more than about 15 minutes of being awake at a time. I can't even fathom these people who say they go to work a day or two later, I would just be in a coma! The pain hasn't been as awful as I expected, but I am just SO tired. The combination of the procedure itself and the pain pills have taken a real toll on me.

The likely complication at this point has been my swelling. My face and feet are soooo swollen, but my hands are the worst. I can hardly bend or use them at all.

Photos are all taken day of surgery -- pre-op and then later that night.