FINALLY home from nursing home post -plastics......ready to catch up and 'give' back!

Patti,

I've been a little out of touch with my own drama. What did you have done?  Obviously, something I want to research a little before I decide to do anymore.

Glad you are home.  We do this so we WON'T go to nursing homes.

Janet

Hi Janet,   I'd had double thigh lift Mon. Oct. 20, with six-day inpatient stay due to having MS.  Went home three days, then back to hospital and released to nursing home for skilled nursing care six days, returning home yesterday morning.  Long story short, having been at goal over a year, had been losing balance and falling, so neurologist recommended thigh lift.  Will be having lower tummy tuck in the spring, then a butt lift next fall.  So grateful I was able to choose which to have first, so chose the most serious.  After this, the other two will be a piece of cake!  Will catch up on the board here and get back to you as I learn about your struggle.  Take care of you!  Hugs, Patti

Patti,

I'm not struggling (knock on wood).  There has been relatively little pain involved with this. I've been amazed.  I'm not sure I can do the double thigh lift. That's the inside, right?  I look like a shar pei, but will have to just continue.  I'm done.       I think.

Glad you are doing better. Want to keep up with your journey, too.

Janet

Hi Janet, still gaining strength and stamina--can't believe each day just gets better, though still using walker, taking lonooooooooooong naps, etc.  Will try to keep the eyes open long enough to put pic into my profile:  before, during, and in six months, the afters.  Hang in there--this will all pass and be but a dim memory eventually.....Hugs, Patti

Aloha my "twin surgery date" sister! (almost)

Wow....you have gone through hell and back it sounds like, but you have maintained your sense of humor and I so appreciate your sharing with us your experience.

Janet just had surgery and I'm loving her shares as well. I think we pay more attention to people's experiences that are similar to our own, or in my case what I'm having done on Dec. 3rd........a tummy tuck basically. Your situation sounded more like a NECESSITY rather than a want-to-look better situation like mine. I sometimes think I'm going to be punished with complications since this is totally voluntary and not a necessity. I hate when I think like that...but sometimes I do.

I'm trying to imagine what having both thighs done would feel like, and I can't. Can you bend your legs? How about using the potty? I'm sorry for the blunt questions, but I'm so curious and am bracing myself for what's coming.

Thanks so much for sharing with us!! I hope your recovery from here on out is smooth like your RNY was, and that in a short while you are in here telling us that life is GREAT!! Sending you a big hug and mahalo.

Aloha nui loa,

Maui Karen

Aloha surgery almost-sistah!  They can take the extra skin and fat, but gotta leave the humor there!  I haven't had the time nor energy to even read the boards, other than do a quick update, so am finally working on getting caught up.  Gotta read about Janet's situation, as she'd mentioned having her own cir****tance occur.  Yes, this was a necessity, due to excessive loss of balance and falling, which ended up not being MS related.  The extra skin/flab was affecting the core balance.  Then, next spring will be a mini-panni, then next fall a butt lift. 
Can you bend your legs?  Took a couple weeks, but can finally bend at the knees and pick up something on the floor.  Will be three weeks out tomorrow, and still cannot move leg/foot well enough to wear anything other than slip-on shoes or slippers.How about using the potty? With sutures inside both thighs, from just below the knee to the groin, potty issues were/are very tough.  Sure strengthened the arms, stomach, and lower leg muscles in the hospital just from transferring in and out of bed and chair.  Initially the suture pain was intense, though they opened up for drainage, which is excruciating to actually see the three gaping holes.  Surgeon removed the internal drain last Tuesday, and that area's open twelve centimeters per nurse visit earlier.  It's over an inch deep, very red now, and red seeping.  Surgeon forewarned me this is all natural, that the body is now healing internally and that the holes will naturally close themselves.  However, the largest is right at the groin and may likely need a pit stop on OR for surgical closure.  I've kept both a paper journal and photo journal of this 'adventure'.  The ones of the upper thigh incisions appear very vulgar, though they're tasteful and exclusively upper thighs with private parts covered--still they'd look questionable to the unknowing eye!  The pics are in a file on my computer, so will be available for anyone requesting pics, which I'd only privately Email so they don't end up on YouTube!   Thank you for your sweet words!  Hey, it's currently gray skies and windy 28 degrees with wind chill in the teens...please share a Maui moment so I may live vicariously through your experience this cold dreary day!  Humor remains intact, wanderlust is attempting major shift to the far southwest!  Big hug and mahalo right back at'cha Karen!  Patti

Glad you're home. Take care of yourself. Lay off the Ambien!

Very funny--never again.......Thank you for your enduring friendship!  Hugs, Patti

Patti, it really is true that there is no place like home. You have been through a ordeal and I am glad that it is getting better. Just take it a day at a time and before you know it things will be behind you.

I am so glad that you are home now and that you will be more comfortable. Now that you are in familiar surroundings you will heal better and feel so much better.

You remain in my prayers and I pray for a speedy and good recovery for you.

Thank you so much Brenda!  Yep, there surely is no place like home, and my fifteen-yr old tabby cat is just clinging to my every hobbling move.  Too cute!  This has been an enlightening experience, that I originally thought the sutures would just heal and it would all be over.  Ha!  Didn't have a clue that they automatically re-open for drainage, and it hurts like heck feeling like an alien giving birth in now the left thigh, and three spots on the right one.  The home care nurse was here this morning and measured them--'twelve centimeters', 'six and a half centimeters', three centimeters......I can't look at the deep holes and all the red, it makes me want to upchuck.  Never wanted to be a nurse, and would prefer not being able to see the gouges, as knowing how deep they go just makes them hurt more.  This will take four to six months to subside, so patience IS a virtue--just wish I had some!  Thanks again! Take care of you!   Hugs, Patti