Healing

i don't know if my PS was done right or if I am gonna end up on a table again but I do know that I am ready for my Tuesday appointment becaur I have a lot of questions.  Other than his questionable pain mainagment techniques and the fact that he sems to not like wls patients--He couldn't even answer to me how much I was swollen or not swollen--he didn't want to stick himself to a size.  I have no unrealistic visions of what PS did for me I just want some idea of weight loss well skin loss.  Now that I have see everything without the binderwe I dunno how thrilled I am.

Sounds like you have a lot of questions for your Surgeon.

I can tell you that most surgeons do not like to focus on how many lbs where taken off.  Skin weighs much less than you'd think so they may have taken off 8-12 inches of skin but it could only way 4 or 5 lbs and telling some people they took off 5 lbs might sound way low.  Sooooo every surgeon I had a consult with said they do not routinely tell the patient but if I remind them the day of surgery they will make note of it.  You can bet your last dollar that I reminded my surgeon the day of my surgery so I do know how much he took off.

Before your next procedure be sure to be clear with your surgeon what your expectations are and ask lots of questions.

Oh I asked him toooooooooons of questions.  I wanted to know what was going what was staying, the pain management etc.  but today I took off the binder and i swear my private area is either swollen to look like balls or thats how i am going to look and thats not what we agreed to.  I had a panni and a vertical abdominalplasty and at 26 I can't look like a man, I will be single forever.

It is very common for the "mons" to become swollen.   I know some people who got HUGE down there....but it is temporary....
The swelling will go down!

You won't have to be single forever....you just have to give your body time to heal.  On average it will take a minimum of 3 months for all the swelling to go down.  AND it is common for it to take 6 months before you stop the daily end of day swelling. Some folks still swell at 9 months and even 12 months out.

A lot depends on your overall health.
Do you smoke?  This will impact your healing big time!!
Do you cook with salt or add salt at the table when eating?  This will make you swell more.
Do you eat a lot of canned foods (veg, tuna, fruit, soups, broth, etc etc)? They are packed with sodium and it will make you swell.
Do you eat prepared frozen meals (WW, Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, etc etc)?  These too have lots of sodium and will make you swell.
Do you drink soda?  PACKED with sodium!
Are you drinking LOTS of water??? It will reduce your swelling....if you drink lots and lots of water.

Try adding some green tea...it really helps!  I try to drink 3-4 cups a day.
Do you elevate your legs a couple times a day?  You have to get them up high....needs to be higher than your heart so the fluid will drain.

Are you wearing your compresssion garment and/or binder 23 hrs per day?  I'm wearing 2...a compression garment to get the lower part of my body and the binder to hold my tummy in.  I have very little swelling.

Best wishes!!

That makes complete sense-- You would think a Pharmacy major would remember biology.  I wear my binder all day--but it cuts off right at the "mons"  So when I saw that today it was just a HUGE shocker.  I wasn't even thinking lymph system and where it would be going to swell.  Thats just one area I wouldn't  even think of for swelling.   I don't smoke I drink atleast 84 oz of water a day so I pretty healthy. 

Thank you for sticking the DUH back into my brain--regular biology just left me I guess.

I know what you mean about the binder ending above the mons.....that's one reason I climbed into a compression garment with legs....plus it helps reduce swelling in the legs and butt.   :-)

mine velcros like underware....sooooooooo uncomfortable.  I have been iceing everything because of all the bruises.

Try taking Arnica Montana (take 3 tabs 3x a day)........works GREAT to stop bruising (I had almost no brusing) and also helps reduce swelling.  You can find them on-line and I think GNC might sell it too but not sure about that.

hmmm i am the queen of viramins.  GNC loves when I come in,  but i think for being a retard and not realizing things swell i deserve chicken fingers or something for dinner tonight.

I'm sorry you are  not happy with your initial results, but I can tell you from experience that your private area is just swollen.  When my husband first looked at mine he said I looked deformed in that area.  When I first put on pants it honestly looked like a had balls in that area.  Now, 5 weeks later it's still swollen but it looks more like feminine swelling, barely noticeable. 

In regards to your surgery results, your body has a lot of healing to do and it's going to go through several changes before you become happy with the results.  I would like to believe you will be happy with the end results.

Good luck with your recovery.

Sherline