Tummy Tuck and Chest Lipo 5/14/20

I'm three years post-op VSG. Went from 316lbs to steady 188-192lbs. I've been in that range for over a year.

I still feel fat. Mostly because of the loose skin on my belly and persistent fat around my nipples. Of course people say things like, "you don't need it," or, "don't lose any more weight!" Which is of course a totally messy thing to say, because they almost surely haven't been treated like a morbidly obese person. Going from 48-52" to 30-32" pants, it's like going from being partially invisible to visible, strangers are 100x nicer and more polite to you, and people don't assume you're stupid, sick or impulsive. But feeling fat is still in your head.

I think that only (formerly) obese people understand that feeling, where the residual self image as fat overrides reality. A few weeks ago, I was clothes shopping with a friend and I made a comment how much smaller he is than I am. He responded that even if I'm a little taller, we wear the same size shirt and belt. I couldn't even process it. To me, he looks 3 times smaller than me... I used to be more than double his weight.

Booked with Brandon Reynolds, M.D. of Reynolds Plastic Surgery in Las Vegas, Nevada. He made me feel comfortable right away. Another doctor I consulted with had suggested flank lipo too, but Dr. Reynolds recommended doing one side of the body at a time.

I am nervous about anesthesia - VSG was the only time that I've been under as an adult (when I checked in for VSG they gave me a dose of morphine early to get rid of the jitters). I'm also concerned about the pain and recovery since I will not be able to take much time off of work. At least I have a desk job, and am mostly seated during the day. I only needed two days of pain meds after VSG, we will see how I hold out after this.

Well the hard part is past now. Checked in for surgery around 9 yesterday morning. I was Dr. Reynolds' second surgery of the day. We met for a few minutes, also with his anaesthesiologist, Dr. Reynolds - his brother! (I've known their family nearly 14 years). We had the surgery at Smith Plastic Surgery's new center, which opened in January, and is immaculately clean and bright. I only remember a couple of minutes in the theater though before they dosed me with anesthesia. I was talking with them at noon... and next thing I knew I was being woken up around 6pm.

They reassured me everything went smoothly. Pain was crazy intense and I was shivering heavily when I woke up. They gave me a fentanyl patch and that calmed me down in seconds. They loaded me up to go home around 630-645pm. I was still only half coherent from the fentanyl, I remember it (12 hours later) but have gaps of time missing.

The pain was escalating at home until I took the hydrocodone/Norco which got me to sleep. I was up about every 2-3 hours in the night. One saving grace is that we bought a sleep number bed last year that adjusts shape. I joked that made us honorary seniors, but it has now been useful.

My post op appointment is in an hour. I haven't been able to see anything yet because I didn't want to loosen the binder.

Cleaned up the bandages and checked out the stitching on day 2. Perfect lines! I am completely pleased with the placement and belly button. Impressed with the amount of lipo he was able to do. It looks like the top of my abs and rib cage will have immediate definition once the swelling subsides.