Pageing Dr. DX or anyone else who knows!

Hi Guys, Well I haven't been around much lately as work has now blocked us from getting on Messageboards. I am having my panniculectomy and bilateral mastopexy together by 2 different surgeons in the operating room at the same time.  My date is February 27th. Can anyone tell me what to expect.  What will the pain be like?  I hear it is much worse than the RNY surgery.  What about eating when I get home, back to liquids or regular food?  What else should I be prepared for? I don't even know what other questions to ask. The doctor says I will only lose about 10-12 pounds from the skin removal, but Iwill go down at least 3 to 4 more sizes (I am down 9 sizes already).........can't wait for that! Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Alan

Hey Alan... Here is a questions that I the knows about....as we speak...4 weeks ago, I had the lower body liftt...a little more involved than you prodecure, but not by much... The pain was a non issue....ok I had them tigheten the belly too....so I felt tight....like someone giving me a big hug, but it never ended....I hallucinated on the morphine, so after 5 hours of that noise, I went non narcotic...my weapon of choice is kids liquid motrin....and I was fine...slow and easy....if you got a chance to work on your arms...build them up wuick..and use them to assist with the transfers... Claustraphobia was a big on for me....the compression suit, was really unnerving...I never thought of that,,,,but it was tight, and always there...I didn;t think it would bother me but it really drew my attention... if you stay in the hospitital, they will give you liquidsf or the fisrt meal, adn when you pass gas, they will let you eat what you want...passing gas is one of the first things that they look at to see that your inside are not being goofy.... The drains are an issue....they are nasty little F**kers....but if you have a job that allows you work with them...just ignore them...be careful in the bed..they will spring a leak and much everything up...trust me my sheets are in the washer as we speak...again from yesterday... Hope I hit the high points....if you need anything else just chat back... enjoy the ride.. Russ

Alan, Hey, great to see you…. Agreeing with everything from Russ… Just perception differences. The drains were a bit of a nuisance, but not as bad for me. My pain level was minimal, but in my case it was because my Surgeon Was VERY forthcoming with the drugs, and into Pain Management. I had 3 different pain meds to take home post-surgery- Small pain, Medium Pain, and Breakthrough pain. Because there is general anesthesia, the same “Pass-Gas” business is stressed To make sure your system is waking up from surgery and working properly again. Swelling went on much longer than I anticipated. First 3 weeks it was omnipresent, then tapered off slowly. Still had some swelling in the afternoons 5 months later. Ice packs help the swelling a lot. I had a good compression garment that took about a week to get used to for me. Do watch popping open a drain. One of my came open and it looked like I had defrosted 12lbs of porkchops in my boxers. I had No infection or “Necrotic (dying) Tissue” to deal with, But infections and minor tissue death from not reconnecting to adequate blood supply

Are the top two complications. To bump up your odds against infection- Sterilize the house and yourself prior to surgery and be just crazed about it. Bleach the shower and kitchen and such. ”Don’t come near me without using Purell and washing your hands!!!” For helping with tissue healing speed, Get off of Caffeine and any hint of nicotine at least a week or two before surgery and get protein levels high And get some extra exercise. Anything that helps raise Blood Oxygen levels And helps the capillaries grow and “Do there Thang.” Ask your Doc(s) about scar reduction stuff. My scars are Super-Tiny.  Like little lines drawn with a red bic ballpoint pen, and fading still. Raising protein intake and overall albumin levels with something like Zero-Carb Isopure will help speed healing. Get a good Compression Garment like one of those from Veronique® They are often sold as 1^st and 2^nd stage garments….such as- http://www.thesurgerystore.com/compression_garment/bodysuit_zipper.htm Your doc will more than likely have recommendation for such. If an option go for the one with hooks and zippers rather than the type that “pulls on.” They have openings to use to go to the toilet, but it’s literally “a crap shoot” with those. Get something you can take off quick when you need to without too much hassle. Have some extra pillows on hand too.  It’s hard to find a comfortable position to sleep for a while.  If you ‘turn’ in your sleep, you’ll get little unexpected pains that feel like - ”OOOOWWWW, it’s Tearing!!!” but just avoid and find a position that you can sleep in without putting strain on the suture sites. Those little stabbing pains can crop up for quite a while….. That’s all I could think of………….

 

Best Wishes-

Dx