Vaser Lipo 360

Since my last update:
- One week follow up visit went well-- got the okay for Arnica, Ibuprofen, lymphatic drainage massage, and activity as tolerated.
- Lymphatic drainage massage: first one was painful and I was still extremely tender swollen. The place that I go to does manual + ultrasound. I left feeling a little bit better it looked like there was a slight decrease in the abdominal swelling. Second one was more tolerable. They focus on the treated areas and try to smooth out the contour by giving a little more attention to the more swollen parts. I'm going to assume they get more tolerable and help the swelling each time. I got the package for 10 massages.
- Flank swelling decreased, and the uneven curve in my flanks started to smoothen out so now it looks a bit more symmetrical.
- Started taking Arnica tablets and putting the gel on my bruises about twice a day. Generalized bruising (worst ones are the ones on my thighs and the one above my butt extending to my lower back) look like they're slowly getting better each day.
- Went back to work on Day 10. I only wore the the compression garment with a tanktop underneath but put the foams back in right when I got home. My work requires a lot of walking back and forth for 12 hours. First shift back was tolerable but hurt my back. Second day was more tolerable, and I noticed that my posture was getting better and I could stand up straight. I still can't bend without my abdomen hurting though. The waistband from my scrubs left a weird line/dent across my stomach so on my second day I wore a small foam across that area.
- Day 12-- Original compression garment doesn't feel as tight anymore, even with the foams underneath. I switched to a smaller one. Still wearing a foam over the abdomen and two smaller foams on the sides. When im awake I put an ab board on top of the foam on the side to keep me from hunching over and bending at my stomach. I'm scared of leaving a crease there.

Day 3-- I took a shower Saturday night but had my bf closeby in case I needed help with anything. The 6 incisions have dried up (mid bra line, lower pubic area, one below each hip bone, inside the top of my belly button, and one on top of my butt) so it didn't hurt when the water touched my skin, but I still had this weird numb sensation where I didn't really feel the water hit my skin. Flanks and pubic area were the most swollen.

Day 5-- the swelling and bruising is unreal!! The swelling makes my whole trunk area feel so heavy. The first few seconds of being on my feet from lying down or sitting are the worst because it feels like all the heaviness just drops and it just feels so tender. My posture when I'm walking or standing has been terrible because I find that standing up straight hurts the lumbar part of my back. The swelling is the worst part. My flanks look so swollen that it looks like I have a muffin even when I'm naked. The flank swelling extends to the whole pubic area, even the labia, and even to the top of my upper thighs even though that part wasn't touched at all. My abdomen looks smooth but swollen, bigger than it's ever looked before. But that's expected; Dr Haramis told me patients that had coolsculpting before lipo tend to stay swollen longer in previously treated areas. For the bruising-- my lower back / right above my butt is very bruised, both sides just below my armpit going into the bra line are slightly bruised (this one looks like it's going away a little), a little bit below my breasts, my upper thighs, and the whole pubic area is bruised (although it's more of a lighter purplish bruise and it's more swollen and tender than anything).

It's a little little discouraging seeing how some people look smoother and less swollen than I do by their third day but I know everyone heals differently. I'm wondering how much the lymphatic drainage massage help, but I don't want to do anything on my own without seeing the doctor first. Hopefully after I start the massages the swelling and the tenderness that comes with it starts improving. I will have my first follow up this coming Friday.

I'm 29 years old, 5'1, no kids, roughly 118-120 lbs. I work out about 3 days a week at the gym with weights and about 15-20 minutes of cardio, and I have a pretty clean diet about 80% of the time. Heaviest weight I've been was about 140 lbs when I was 19. Still, my problem area remains to be this upper and lower belly pooch that doesn't go away no matter how hard I work out or clean my diet up. My lightest was 108 and I still managed to have that belly pooch. To top it off, being petite I do have a short torso so I never really had that exaggerated curve, just a really small one. On top of that, the more that I worked out, I noticed that I had a little bit of a bra roll when I wore sports bras and it would peek through when I wore tighter shirts to workout. Something that made me feel a little insecure and "bigger" than I actually was.

I've had coolscuplting done before. I did like the results but over time, I wanted something more drastic-- perhaps something that would leave me not having to suck my belly in for bikini pics or in a bodycon dress, or not as much I suppose. I had my first consultation done in January 2019, where the doctor told me he only would do the procedure under general anesthesia. The thought freaked me out, I really didn't want to be intubated and I remember going home crying and feeling helpless. Months passed by and I continued to usual healthy eating and exercise routine. I would fluctuate between maintaining a good size, to being a little smaller, and after vacations where eating out all the time was a must, it would only take me about 2 weeks go get back to my "normal body." But that still wasn't enough for me. I thought to myself "my stomach only looks flat when I wore high waisted leggings" or that it only looked good first thing in the morning after wearing a waist trainer overnight. I made an appointment to see a second doctor, this time with a different mindset, I really wanted this, and while the thought of general anesthesia still scared me, I came into the consult with a more open mind. My consultation was with Dr. Haramis on August 16th at Associates in Plastic Surgery and I booked my date the same day. Dr. Haramis was informative and was open to what my thoughts and expectations were, without being too overbearing. I expressed my fear of general anesthesia and he was more open to other options. While this time around, I WAS more open to general anesthesia, it was nice to know that Dr. Haramis does care about what makes his PATIENTS comfortable.

9/19/2019-- the day of surgery I was scheduled for 10:30. I was instructed not to eat or drink anything past midnight. I took a shower and only put on deodorant, not even facial moisturizer, put my hair in a ponytail, and wore a black sweater and had black sweatpants to change into. I got there at 10:00 and was instructed to go to the 2nd floor which was their surgical suite. I was greeted by a nurse that gave me post-op instructions, and provided me with the gown, underwear, and hair cap, and went over consents, etc. After she stepped out the anesthesiologist stepped in to talk to me-- very kind, gentle, informative, and easy to talk to. Answered all my questions about anesthesia and that really calmed my nervous down. Then after she stepped out Dr. Haramis walks in with a nurse, he marked me up and double checked with me to make sure we were doing all the parts we discussed earlier (I had a pre-op appointment 9/16), and took pictures.

I finally walked into the operating room, the anesthesiologist started an IV on me, and I think from that point she might have given me something to relax me. I didn't fall asleep right away, didn't feel loopy, but just felt calm. (The anesthesiologist did say she would give me medication to relax me before the actual anesthesia.) I remember have a little conversation with the nurses as they started checking my blood pressure and hooked me up to the cardiac monitor, and before I knew it I was fast asleep! I know Dr. Haramis said he was going to start with me face down and I really don't even remember being turned, or anything like that. Never felt groggy or loopy before falling asleep, just being relaxed and talking to everyone then someone just said it was time to wake up! It was 2:30 PM and they said I was asleep for about 20 minutes after the procedure. They did say I was orally intubated. My throat felt a little sore, like how it feels when you have a cough, but not as painful as being sick with tonsilitis or anything. Not as terrible as I anticipated it to be. I was was a little cold, not freezing, but I was just shivering a lot. I was already in the compression garment with pads underneath. The nurses helped me get into my sweater and sweatpants (thank god I brought loose sweatpants and slip on shoes). They helped me into a wheelchair and took me all the way up to my boyfriend's car and helped me sit.

During the ride home I was still talking to my bf, but still feeling lightheaded. We got to the home about 25 minutes later, first thing I did was eat. I felt physically hungry but I could barely stomach down chicken noodle soup and rice. Afterwards we changed the dressings because the pads were already drenched. Where we went wrong the first time was not putting the puppy pads on the bathroom floor because I leaked all over the toilet and the floor. It looked like I was dripping blood and I felt like was gonna pass out, like my face felt flushed and I just felt generally weak. But I pushed through it, got into clean sweats and went to sleep. I woke up at around 7:30pm for dinner. Took percocet right before dinner and my antibiotic. I was able to stomach the soup down better. I was even walking around and did the dishes. After that we changed my dressings again and I threw up. Still very bloody but not as bad as last time.

I woke up to pee at around midnight and there was still a little bit of blood in the toilet. Then again at 1:30 and there was no blood.

Today 9/20/19 is Day 2. I took the percocet right before I started making breakfast. Felt a little dizzy while I was turning around and getting stuff in the kitchen but my boyfriend was nearby in case I needed help with anything. I preferred trying to be on my feet as much as possible because I didn't wanna swell up even more. I felt nauseous on the middle of making breakfast so I think it might be the medicine and not the after effect of the anesthesia. I've been trying to rehydrate with lots of water and gatorade to bring the swelling down. At around 10 AM we changed all the dressings underneath the garment so we took it off and we got the first glimpse of my body! Abdomen is still swollen but when I turn to the side I was shocked-- it was like a straight line from my abdomen to pubic area. I also didn't leak any fluids or blood. My stomach still feels numb and the left side of my flank feels is more swollen than the right, which I'm assuming is normal so I won't freak out just yet. Dr. Haramis already checked up on me last night and told me to text him if I had any questions. Right now the pain isn't like that sharp incisional pain anymore but just more of like generalized swollen tenderness aorund my torso and back area. I've got some bruising around my armpits and underneath my breasts but not so much in my abdomen, and some on my lower back and flanks.

So that's Day 2. Super excited to see how the rest of my outcome turns out!