I am home!

First let me say thanks To Amy W. for updating everyone on my progress.. she is the best!!

I am doing ok, the pain the first night was excrutiating, I will not lie :-(  I would stand up and see stars and so nauseated and got orthostatic with my blood pressure.  It was a rough first night and into the second day.  I stayed the second night b/c I also had a high fever (almost 102).  Doctor Recinos said that it was b/c I wasn't able to cough well with the pain and the binder and not breathing as deeply and felt I was dehydrated.  Asked me to walk more and push fluids.  I did and it worked.. He gave me roxanol for pain (oral morphine) and even had to add a small dose of valium to give me some relief from the muscle tension.  I guess I am a baby but it was killer the first night.  I felt it along my lateral sides mostly where he had to sever the fibrous tissues first where I had all those adherant places.  He said I had blood loss from that but did not get any blood.  He feels it will come up on its own.  My surgery 7 hours and recover 2.5 hours.  I was so cold in recovery they had to put a bearhugger on me.. I remember shivering so hard and that causing me so much pain.  Geesh.. why me.. lol. 

The binder is yeah.. tight and full torso and has biker shorts with bra straps.  So he wants me to wear the dang thing for 3 months, not sure how I will poo with this thing on.  I asked him.. he says "good question".  ACK lol.. said cut a hole to make it bigger if I have to but not to take it off for best results.  OOOOk. I also got allergic to the tape and have blisters that opened up on the back side of me and raw red places.  Putting antibitoic ointment on it and telfa so it doesn't stick. But other than that I am doing FINE lol.. I am home and each day is getting better...

He was so happy with the results my husband said.. he was almost "giddy".  I can't really tell yet.. and not sure when I can take pics as he doesn't want me to take it off except quickly to clean the incisions here in a couple days and replace the silicone and dressings.  I have 4 drains, and 2 pain pumps.  I will remove the pain pumps myself tonight or tomorrow (almost empty).  I do this a lot as a nurse and not worth me going 30 mins in a car and having an office visit copay for.

I will keep you updated.  I was 144 lbs before surgery, they took off 7 lbs of fat/skin and now weigh 145, pretty normal I would think with the swelling.  Just walking, drinking a lot and getting my protein in.

Well anyways, thanks again for all the support and well wishes and big shout out thank you to AMY! You are the bestest for keeping everyone posted on my progress!!!

I love my December family so much!

Hi Melissa,
Welcome home, and happy ability to feel good enough to post. I was hoping you would. 3 months seems like such a long time to be in that thing. Seems like it will mold and decay by then. And to think you have to go through summer. But then, the beuaty that will be forever lasting will make it all worthwhile. I am so happy for you. Maybe one day I will get the nerve and be willing to do it too...old age be damned!

nancy

so glad to see that you are home.....the pain will get better with time as you might have noticed...take it easy and do as little as possible. As far as the binder,please wear it as much as possible since it's such a big help...and it sure helps with the swelling and improves your selfessteem as you recover...I had a binder which had an opening from the front to the back and did not need to make off to go to the bathroom. I hated that thing but I think it was the most important factor in my excellent recovery.

Take care of yourself!!!!!

Love

Beatriz

Hi Beatriz!

Thanks for the tips!!! I am going to keep it on, but I feel so darn swollen under it.. like it could almost pop.  I did get to take it down for a moment to clean around the incisions and then reapply the silicone strips he uses (decreases scarring) and gauze.  Having a thing tank under the garment has helped so much.  It was so itching and irritating before that.  Got that tip from someone on the plastic surgery board.  Mine is full torso with bra straps and has biker shorts attached too.  It is quite something but not bad, zips on each side with eye hooks for closures.  I just can't wait to see what it looks like after all this swelling goes down.  They took off 7 lbs but I am weighing a couple pounds more than I went in.  I was 144 the day of surgery 146-147 today.  So I know there is a lot of swelling there.

Thanks again for all the well wishes also! Having people who have been there before provide tips is so awesome!

Hugs!

I am glad you are home and on the road to recovery:)
Take care of yourself and do not do to much!!!! 
Hugs!

Glad to hear your home and doing as well as can be expected with such major surgery =)
Another tip I got from my surgeon when we did the breast reduction at age 25.. wear your tape or steri-strips for as long as you can stand it, even up to a year, to help keep the incision line from "stretching" into a wider white line.

I forgot when I did my knee surgery, and it's wider than I would have liked, and wider than my breast reduction scar line.

*hugs*  Keep your patience, and don't try to do too much.

With that said, I'm taking breech baby girl to bed, and praying the next two weeks flies by while I sleep.  Yup, still no somersault.  Think on Weds, I'll let you know what our C-Section date will be.. or shortly thereafter, is they do a sonogram.

Awww...big but gentle hugs for you!  This whole week you have been in my thoughts and prayers.  A local friend a few years ago had a lbl but maybe not as extensive as yours and it was tough going the first few weeks for her.  A rough surgery and so sorry to hear you had so much pain the first day.   Your post-op garment sounds very high-tech and will no doubt give you great healing results.  Hope that your weather stays cool enough for it to be comfy! (I'll add that to my prayers for you!) 

Today was the Bloomsday run and I kept trying to keep you in my mind as a good example but not having trained properly I just couldn't run, run, run the whole time.  It was great fun and I hope my time was good.  Results not up on the website yet, darn.  Oh well, did that and got the t-shirt.

I'm so glad Amy posted your progress this week, I only had a few minutes here and there to check in and it was so great that she kept us updated.  We all love you here and were crossing fingers and toes out here that you'd do well. 

Keep up the great recovery work!

More hugs,
Molly

Thanks for the prayers Molly :-)  I am doing really good now so they must be working!

How great that you participated in Bloomsday again! YAY for you! Had to feel good and I am sure your time was even better than last year!! Congrats!!!!

OMGosh!!!!!  THE THINGS WE DO FOR BEAUTY LOL

I HAD ALREADY PRETTY MUCH DECIDED THAT I WASN'T GOING TO HAVE THE EXTRA SKIN REMOVED AND NOW AFTER READING YOUR POST I KNOW I DEFINITELY WITHOUT A SHADOW OF A DOUBT I'M NOT.  I AM SUCH A BIG BABY IT WOULD PROBABLY KILL ME.

I AM SO THANKFUL THAT YOU HAVE DONE AS WELL AS YOU HAVE AND ARE BACK ON THE MEND.

BTW:  I WAS GOING TO POST THE WEEKLY WEIGH-IN LIKE YOU HAD ASK BUT I FORGOT TO  DUH  SORRY

I HOPE YOU WILL BE COMPLETELY SATISFIED WITH YOUR RESULTS

BLESSINGS

MINI ME

OH pelase don't let my first 36 hours postop scare u, I shouldn't have been so blunt about it maybe.  It is fine now, honestly.... it was a rought beginning but it got better and got better fast!!!

What did u find out about your tests?

No problem on the weekly weigh in.. we will do it this wednesday!! 

Talk to u soon!