UnCharming on a Whaaaaaaaaaaambulance

Thank you, thank you, thank you Heidi for the "it will all be worth it in the end" perspective.  I keep forgetting that, and I need to be reminded more often.

Charming I want to start by giving you a HUGE
I am not one of those people who are driving and pole dancing.  Although I am not bruised or having infections I am ectremely swollen at 10 days post op.  I tried to go out today to Walmart and find some comfortable clothing in hopes of returning to work sometime next week and when i got home I had to take a Vicoden and I slept for 4 hours!!  I was exhausted.  The only reason I left the house today was because I was getting so darn depressed staying in the house like a lump on the darn recliner. 
Like you, I used to pull my stomach fat around dreaming what I would look like without it.  Am I happy with my surgery?  Absolutely.  Would I do it again? Absolutely!  But keep in mind this is MAJOR surgery and our bodies need time to heal.  We are all diffrerent and recover at different rates.  Try not to compare yourself to others.  Listen to your body and give the process time.  PM me anytime if you need to talk.

Omigosh, Susan -- I left the house on Sunday to get my hands and feet and hair done -- totally worthwhile, but OMG I was totally exhausted.  I don't even remember much of that day.  

It's not even how much I'm bored ... really, I'm so simple minded that I could keep myself occupied for hours wiht a stick and a patch of dirt ... it's the idea that I CANNOT do just what I WANT to do.  And being tired.

I will say that I really upped my protein today, and I am feeling better.  But holy cow, do I want this stage to be OVER and OVER and OVER!!!!

Thank you for your support, it is very very much appreciated!

You an' me both, sob sister. I still gotta sleep on my back on a pillow pyre, 9 weeks later. I'm probably at about 90% physically, but 75% swell wise-- I'm a helluva sweller. At three weeks all I could do was lie still and groan a lot.

Last night I had my first major bout of swell hell -- I don't think I had enough room in my body for swelling, plus breathing, plus normal organ function.  I was NOT HAPPY!

In any event, you have certainly been an inspiration for me.  I don't know how you managed to go back for more, because as far as I'm concerned this is the last surgery I'm having ever, under any cir****tances, I don't care WHAT!!!!

However, I actually am starting to like falling asleep propped up semi-upright on a pile of pillows.

It is a difficult journey both physically and mentally.  I told my mom once that plastics is not for the faint of heart or weak of mind.  After each of my surgeries I had a break down.  I was so tired; physically tired, tired of not being able to properly care for myself, tired of needed help all the time for the littlest thing, sad because I didn't have the energy to play with my daughter.  Luckily these moments didn't last long.  Physically, I was lucky in that I only had to take pain meds for 1-2 days for pain, then 2-3 more for sleep.  BUT I did have my first set of drains for 5 weeks, then another set for another week (6 consecutive weeks) and that sucked.  At any rate, we all progress through tis differently, but I think we all have the same goals; to be the best we can be, to give ourselves the gift of acceptance, and to look great and feel great about the new bodie we have worked so hard for.  You will get though this and will look back on all of this a fleating moment compared to the rest of your life.

April

Omigosh April, I can so totally relate.  Last night my littlest boy (nine) cried for about an hour because school is coming up, and he thinks it's pointless torture because when kids are in school they don't get to be with their parents, which is what they really enjoy.

Meanwhile, he is also crying because right now he can't really, REALLY hug me.

This poor little guy!  I really felt like hell, but he was feeling downright lonely and cut off ....

and whose fault was that?  MINE!

A kindred spirit! Thank the lord there is another one - I am in the same situation though I am not but 10 days out - but no hope for street dancing at 2 weeks or drag racing at 21!  Leekage that stinks so bad I want to barf !!! A permanent indentation on my ass from the recliner - I am staying at my daughters with 2 rugrats - UGH!!!!!!!!!!!   I long for peace and quiet nd something norml - a shower would be so nice but no dice - see Dr on Tuesday which will be 2 weeks - maybe remove one drain??? I doubt it by the looks of things - lovely purple skin but shiny!!!   Whoever gave us the right to decide to do this to ourselves???  Why could I not be happy with that lovely flap of skin?  And the Dr said oh I tightenened you up big time!  He was so proud of himself!!!  You can cry on my shoulder and I will reciprocate if you like!!!

Diane, your post gave me the first belly laugh of the day, honestly it did.  Omigosh I am heinously purple and swollen and shiny.  I was told I could shower as long as I "air dried" myself first, and to tell the truth everything is so taut and stretched that it looked shiny and I really couldn't tell what was still wet and what was not.

Here's food for thought .... women of yore had 8-20 kids over a lifetime.  They must have sagged big time.  And yet they did not torture themselves over body inadequadies, and apparently their husbands still found them sexually attractive.  In fact, girls' diaries from a hundred years ago show that they were much more concerned about their spiritual and emotional development than what they looked like.

What have we done!  And your "whoever gave us the right to decide to do this t ourselves" question is really hitting home very HArd ABOUT NOW!!!

I actually am right there with you. My recovery after my LBL was over 2 months long. I was GREAT for the first couple of days and then hell begun around 3 days post op. I couldn't sit on anything hard because it was too hard on my lack of bum, I couldn't sit on anything soft (like a pillow) because I would wobble and it'd pull against my incisions. Laying down was impossible because I couldn't lay flat, so I would sit up which put more pressue on my incision around the back. I tried to stand to relieve the pressure, but I would get too weak within 20 seconds and would have to sit down again.. which was very painful, like I said. Couldn't stand up straight because the skin was pulled SO tight at my hips but I couldn't hunch over too much because it pulled at my back.  

I had my surgery Nov 6th and ended up in the hospital in the middle of Dec because I hadn't slept in a month due to the extreme pain I would experience at night. Tylenol 3's didn't do anything for me and no doctor would prescribe anything heavier because I was at home alone too much.

I had a lot of permenant sutures reject from my LBL incision so I had weeping wounds right up until about 1 month ago when the last one finally decided to show itself so that I could cut it out (I had 8 reject in total).

I also had a 2" wide wound at the back of my incision where my incision pulled apart around 1 week post op, that took 7 weeks to close up.



BUT TRUST ME. It will get better! LOL I promise. I am better now.