It is done ...

Hi Guys I'm back.... I had my tummy tuck and arms as well as the thigh lift done last Tuesday, everything went "text book" as the doctor said. My hands are much less swollen tonight and it is easier to type, it's not an easy thing to go through but even at this early stage the results look impressive... thank God for painkillers. He took over 4 pounds of skin and about 300ml of fat (< 1 pound), I have an appointment Tuesday to remove the drains (I'll be very happy about that). I'm also very happy that I had help from my sister-in-law, though I think I'm pretty strong, I would never made it through the first week without her help. Love Lucie

hey Lucie: Were you self-pay or did you get some of it covered by insurance? Thanks!! Amy

Hi Amy I had to pay for this myself...but it wasn't as much as I thought, I shopped around for a very good surgeon at a good price. This was my Xmas present for many many years , hopefully it will last longer than my other mid life crisis gifts. Lucie

YEAH Lucie!!! Congrats. I'm green with envy. Think I'll take my extra skin and sail the world maybe I can get some more spots marked off my map! LMAO! I'm glad all is well and so happy you had help during this.

Lucie, I have been thinking about you and wondering how you are doing. I am glad to hear that you are doing well. I look foward to seeing your results at the next support group that we meet up at!! Tanya

Congratulations, Lucie! I'm so glad everything went well for you! My surgery date is February 18th. I was wondering if you can tell me what you do with the drains after the surgery. How did you manage with all of them? I only had one drainage tube after the gastric by-pass, but I'm going to have 5 after the Tummy tuck and arms' surgery. Hope everything keeps going good for you! Take care. Your weightloss buddy, Jane

Hi Jane, I had 3 drains, one in my backside for the thigh lift, and 2 for the tummy; I didn't have any for the arms. I also had a on-Q pain pump, you should inquire about that because they insert these little wires that inject pain killing medication at the incision, it lasted about 3-4 days, then you simply pull the wires out, well worth the money. I had to record the amount of drainage for each drain for a 24hr period and the drains were removed when they drained less than 25cc/24hr. Two drains came out after 8 days and the last one came out yesterday (14 days), the stitches in my arms were also removed yesterday. They will also show you how to "strip" the drains as sometime blood cloths get lodged in the drain tube. What I did to shower and such is have one of those little nylon pouches tied around my waste and I'd put the drains inside so they wouldn't dangle. Other times they were pinned on the girdle. I also did something that I whish I had done for the gastric bypass, I rented an electric hospital bed for the month (cost around 200/month, including delivery and pickup). Because you have to sleep on your back, I put a pillow under my knees and one on each side of me so my arms could be elevated when I slept. You will have a very tight girdle and binders for your arms, make sure you have help to put them on, as you won't be able to strain with your arms or tummy when you have to change and clean your dressings everyday. Only this week have I been able to manage this by myself. It is not as serious as the gastric bypass but it is way more difficult to get around at the beginning, so I also bought one of those little retrieving arms in case you drop something on the floor, silly little things like that can be very frustrating. I'm starting my third week of recovery and feel much better, I started sleeping on my side (only a few hours) and I'm using a lot less pain killers, the swelling is much less but still there, so I can't really tell the results, though the arms look really good (that's if you don't look at the stitches... looks like a shark bite ). Please don't hesitate to e-mail if you have any questions, everybody is different, but hopefully I can help. TTFN (ta ta for now) Lucie