Hello, everyone I had promised to post my story, so here goes. I had my stuff done 2 weeks ago to the day, hips, butt, abs, thighs, and arms. Here are my takeaway lessons:
- If you have trouble taking pain meds (i.e., become nauseous), lipo could be a very big deal for you. I cannot take pain meds at all. I just throw up and throw up and I even faint. I had thought that I was going to be OK because I brought with me a very strong anti-emetic (anti-nausea) drug called Zofran that I had used with a previous surgery and it really helped. But the hospital wouldn't let me take it and they wouldn't prescribe it for me (it's so expensive they usually only use it for chemo patients), and I didn't want to take it on my own without their permission in case it interacted with something so, sure enough, I puked my guts out and passed out at least three times. (I even threw up on my garment, which you can imagine was just awful. The poor nurses had to mop me up every 2 minutes.) In fact this led to me staying in the hospital 2 nights.
- I was just not in good shape at all. Couldn’t eat, green, etc. Plus, I was in a fair amount of pain since I couldn't take any narcotic pain meds. I was on over-the-counter Tylenol only 12 hours post-surgery (and he took 6,500 CCs!!) so I was a fairly hurting unit. I did not take even one pain pill or sleeping pill that I had waiting for me at home...I hate to say it, but if you don't know if you can take pain meds (never had surgery and never taken them), you could be in for a nasty surprise. My anesthesiologist told me 20% of people are sensitive to them, though I would have think I am worse than most.
- High-volume gals, drains are your friend! I knew that I would wake up with surgical drains, but I had no idea that they would be such a big deal. I had 10 drains pinned to the front of my garment. These are big suckers. They look like clear plastic torpedoes, maybe about 3 inches by 5 inches, and I had 10!! They're pretty gory, too, but easy enough to dump out. What I never understood was that I would not be able to go out in public until these came out since I literally looked like I was 9 months pregnant with a very bumpy baby. My poor son (6 year-old)! He touched them on the outside and said in an incredulous voice, "Is that your BODY??" I had some terribly lame excuse. Get your story in order in advance!! I think I really scared him and that was too bad.
- Drains are your absolute best friends because they suck out all the garbage that would make you swell and otherwise run out all over your bed and clothes. As gross as they were, I believe they kept me much less swollen and bruised. I couldn't wait to get them out but I was happy I had them for 4 days. (After day 3, one started pressing on a nerve in my leg, horrible burning pain...I was more than happy to see it go...)
- Three words: Padded toilet seat!! If you are having anything done on your thighs and butt, GET A PADDED TOILET SEAT. You simply CANNOT imagine the pain of sitting down on a normal toilet seat, even to this day. When I first came home (no padded seat) I sort of folded up a towel to go and it was messy and did not work well. For peeing, I sort of squatted over the bowl without sitting down; it had to be a lovely sight!
Thank God for LipoSite!! I have found it immensely helpful, especially now on Day 15 that I am swollen like Puff Mommy. I have done very well with the swelling so far, was down at least 1 size immediately post-surgery and almost cried from happiness when I saw my (never before) flat tummy when the bandages came off. Now I am 80% swollen but doing well most days (except today). I find the swelling can really play mind games on you and it helps to have support here. Last night before I realized how swollen I was I started trying on clothes (had had good luck prior to this) and NOTHING FIT. Not even pre-op clothes!! Oh, hello, I am swollen, DUH. It's just hard not to panic, as I think all the vets know. Anyway, it's been a very interesting 2 weeks. I certainly don't regret it and don't expect to. Thanks for the support!!
- Lauren