Few post-op LBL questions

My surgeons office called today, everything is all set up between my hernia repair (general surgeon) and my LBL (plastic surgeon). 8 weeks to go, I can't wait!

How long were you on pain killers (ie. the yummy strong stuff)?
Did you graduate down to regular tylenol and for how long?

How long until you could bend over (to feed a cat)?

Did anyone experience hair loss like after WLS?

Thanks for the input.

Bev

I had my LBL & brachio on Wed (7/15) and I think was off the Darvocet by Sun/Mon and just took a couple of tylenol. Still take one at night for sleeping along w/ the valium for the muscle spasm. But after the first week I haven't had to take anything during the day for pain.

I still don't bend over to feed the dog, my mom still comes over daily to take care of most things (laundry, dishes, meals and dog) If I need to get something down low I do more of a deep squat so I don't have to bend at the waist and use my leg muscles.

So far no hair loss but I really didn't have much after my WLS either.

Good luck w/ your surgery.

Sonya

I took Percocet for 5 days, and nothing after that.  I still cannot bend over (LBL on 6/10) per dr orders, but have gotten very good at squats and picking things up with my toes!  I did not have the hair loss like with WLS..in fact I have had none with either procedure.  Good luck!

April

Wow that's great that you guys didn't have hair loss with WLS or plastics. I had open wls, maybe that's a bit harder on the body. I lost about 70% of my hair, all grew back though.

So it's looking like bending over isn't going to happen for a while. How long until you could squat decently? I have no idea what it's like to have an incision all the way around and how it affects movement. I am just wondering how long I will need to stay at my parents; my main concern is feeding the cat and cleaning the litter box.

Thank you
Bev

My DH and I were just talking about hair loss.  I have not had any hair loss with any of my plastics, but I did have significant hair loss with my DS.

I would not worry about feeding the cat.  If you have trouble bending over you could use one of those grapper things to get the bowl and put it down.  And if worse comes to worse cats can jump so you could feed the cat on the counter.  The litter box is another matter entirely.  You could get one of the long handled pooper scoopers that are designed for cleaning up after dogs in the yard if bending is an issue -- but you might not be able to pick the litter box up to change the litter for a couple of weeks depending on how heavy it is.

Red

I took the pain pills for about 4 or 5 days then tylenol on an as needed basis.  I was off everything after a week.  The worst pain for me was the first 3 days and even then it wasn't excruciating.  I was expecting worse.  I'm not gonna lie.  I bent over probably at 3 weeks but I always lifted one of my legs upward so I wouldn't be directly bending over.  I'm short too so I'm not too far away from the ground!  LOL  I didn't do it too often though.  I also used my grabber thingie all the time for about the first 3 or 4 weeks.  Mainly because I was always dropping my cell phone or remote when I moved my blankets off me.

I had lots of hair loss with my WLS and none with by LBL.  It's not a common occurrence with PS from what I've seen on the boards.

Good luck to you!
Melissa