aphephobicfriend
5 days post-op (again)
Dec 10, 2012
I say, I am somewhat shocked that I (and my parents) could willfully go through another elective surgery, but here we are again. December 6, 2012, I had a tummy tuck + lipo + muscle tightening. I've noticed since from the other surgeries that my pain tolerance didn't recover- I still start making noise and remarks when things hurt rather than shutting up about them. It's almost like I can't be silent anymore, I get too afraid.
I didn't manage to lose much weight pre-surgery like I would have wanted to. In fact, I clocked in at about 186 on the day of surgery, which is much more like my usual weight than the result of any ambitious diets. It was a crazy semester, and I didn't get to exercise nearly as much as I would have liked to. The surgery also came right in the middle of craziness happening with life and school- at the time that I'm writing this now, I still don't know if I will be living in Houston or in Gainesville next month. But that's a long story.
My surgeon put me on a liquid diet two days before the procedure- which I was none too happy about. After all the weeks of liquids with my stomach surgeries, I hate liquid diets now. What was even stranger was that he made me take this liquid that flushes out your system two nights before surgery- after doing a full day of clear liquids. I think- one or the other man! So I was a bit of a bear those two days.
The people at the surgery center were infinitely nicer than all the nurses I've dealt with at all the hospitals I stayed at. That was a pleasant surprise. They got an IV started, my doctor marked me up, they shaved my pubic area a bit, and I was in surgery around 8 AM. Waking up was hard. I noticed almost immediately that my abdominal muscles were having spasms, and man they HURT. Furthermore, even though my doctor said he usually over hydrates his patients to force them to get up and go to the bathroom, I could not pee before I left the surgery center. that led them to catheterize me, which I was NOT thrilled about, and I had to take it home. When they did hook me up I had almost nothing in my bladder, and the liquid was dark yellow- I was so mad, I TOLD them I didn't have to pee! Having the foley though proved to be a wonderful thing for me- my mouth was super dry from the medicines I had been given, and I was able to drink as much water as I wanted without having to get up once. I actually didn't get up once, though my parents tried to encourage me to. The muscle spasms were really intense, and I was terrified to move.
The next day, I had to walk to the car and then walk from the car to my surgeons office. It hurt, a lot. My body was so weak that my legs were shaking like jello. I moved like a slug. not my finest moment. My pain was barely at my tolerance point as it was, so walking even a few hundred feet had me teary and exhausted when I made it to the exam room. The nurses removed the catheter and they asked me if I wanted to see my new stomach. I honestly didn't want to. I was scared about how it would feel when they took the abdominal binder off of me, and I didn't feel like doing much of anything at that point. When my doctor came, he was all smiles and said it looked very good- he told me I seemed "underwhelmed" at my stomach. I told him I was just in a lot of pain and I would be very excited soon.
I had been going going going so much lately that I never really stopped to look at pictures, or see (more recently) what I could expect from this abdominoplasty. I have a new bellybutton that is high up and (in my minds eye) weird looking. I also have a big patch of dimply/not smooth skin on my right side. My doctor did fuss at me about the peritonitis (Sp.?) I had after my emergency surgery- he said there was a bunch of scar tissue that he had to clean out. I’m not sure if that’s the spot where I have the dimple now, because I remember it restricted my breathing but I thought it was on my L side not my right side.
I expected the binder that I have to wear to be different from the other ones I had after my gallbladder and my other WLS. But this binder is exactly the same. I wish it was slightly bigger, and was holding things in slightly tighter, than it is.
I spent another night in the hotel room after my 1 day visit, because me and my parents didn’t want to try to brave the 21 stairs to my mom’s apartment. Both of my parents were incredibly supportive of me and went and got me whatever food I asked for, and were extremely willing to fetch for me even in the middle of the night when I needed water, tissue, pain killers, etc. The next morning, I came up to mom’s apartment and I’ve been here since then. Mom has a massaging chair which reclines, and I fell into it almost immediately and moved very little outside of going to the bathroom.
My doctor told me I could shower after on day 2 after, but it wasn’t until day 4 that I wanted to. I was able to stand up (bent over really, since I’m not supposed to stand straight yet) in the shower and once I toweled off I actually got a good look at my body. It was (is) much smaller. I’m very happy for that. It’s still very surreal, and doesn’t much feel like me, but I know it will come to feel that way more and more in the following weeks.
I have two drains, which are not a big deal at all remembering the four I had at one point. I know they won’t be so fun to take out, and neither will the staples, which will come out on my next post op visit tomorrow.
Everyone had been warning me that constipation was an issue- I ran into that on night #3. It hurt so much and my parents were running around trying to find laxatives/stool softeners that would work, while communicating with my doctor. Anyway, now that we’re over that hurdle I’ve been taking my fiber pills again and taking a stool softener every day so I don’t experience that again.
Another much more significant issue I’ve had is nausea. I was not in any way nauseated the first day- partially I think at least due to the fact that I had a huge appetite and ate and drank a ton. Well, on night 3 and 4, I started throwing up hourly. I would just wake up and puke into a bowl, and then go back to sleep. This would happen for several hours. I was taking anti-nausea medicine, but it didn’t help. Let me tell you, vomiting when you have a ton of stitches in your abdomen is NOT fun. It was very scary, I often felt like I was tearing things. Last night, we finally were able to switch the nausea medicine to one that worked, and I made sure that I ate as much as I felt like I could before I had my antibiotic. The result- no puking!
I’m excited for my appointment tomorrow- I want to ask my doctor about the dimply area on my right side, and if it will go away. I also want to know about (eventually) piecing my belly button. It’s just too cute to not, I think. I also want to hear about when I can change positions while sleeping, and if I can eventually switch to spanx rather than this abdominal binder, which I’m not sure holds everything in as well. Generally, I just feel like I will be more able to think of questions now that I’m not just overwhelmed with the pain.
So, that was a long update. It was a nice distraction for me, since I woke up and the rest of my family is still asleep. I am starting to nod off again, so I will bid farewell for now.
Ann
