panicking,stressing or just not sure.

On August 24th 2009 I had a panniuculectomy with a TT and a hernia repair that was the size of a dinner plate. the hernia was located right below my breast and above my belly button. the PS removed 15 lb of skin from my lower abs which was the panniculitomy. He could not remove much skin for the tt because of the hernia being so large. MY PS was a little upset that it didn't go as planned. My muffin top i guess is what they call it  is what I am not happy with because i thought he could take off all excess skin and he could not. I was in the hospital for 6 days on a liquid or soft diet. I weighted 185. NOw after 14 weeks I weigh 200. I am a little scared and panicking and I am not sure why. I wanted to know if this is normal or I need to do something different??  I have 3 protien shakes a day and a meal at night.  I see my PS once a week still because my inscion came back open were it all comes together. I have a hole that is healing very slowly. My PS says not to worry . I am getting worried. I have come along way and I don't want to go back to were i WAS. I have lost 180 lbs all together. I am watching what i eat and weight weekly. Just sure if this is normal.?! THanks

I don't have much advice.  I just wanted to say that I also had a complication on my back and had an open wound for MONTHS.  It does take long and is very emotional; but there is an end.  Keep trusting your doctor and doing what you are supose to and you will get through it!

I also lost 180 pounds CONGRATULATIONS. 

are you still swollen, could it be water weight?
Susan

I am not sure. I told my ps cause i still see him once a week. he is not to concerned about it. 

I don't have a lot of hard and fast rules that I live by, but one of them is ... if my doctor isn't worried about something, then I cross it off of my "to do" list. 

If the surgeon isn't concerned about the weight, then it is PROBABLY just swelling.  Swelling is no joke, to be sure -- but if the doctor says no problemo ... then don't worry yourself.

Swelling, I am told, goes away after a year for almost everybody.  I'm just four months out, and if I don't wear a garment (and sometimes even if I do) then I swell like a sea sponge.

Hope this helps!

Charming always comes through with the advice that makes me relax about this PS stuff and feel more comfortable.  I agree (and am working on this right now) that if the doc isn't worried, then I shouldn't worry - he's seen and done this a whole lot more than I have!!! 

My doc checked my weight and I didn't gain or lose anything after surgery - but he said not to worry about weight - that it could go up quite a bit or down quite a bit depending on the swelling and can change daily!

I have my compression garments and binder both still on - went one day without binder and blew up and hurt!  So, Charming - if you're still wearing the compression garments at four months, are you still wearing the binder or did you get rid of that (if you had one)?

I still need to wear the garment daily and really also at night. 

Some people do not tend to swell, but I sure do -- The surgeon removed about 10 pounds of crud, and I have only lost half a pound!!! 

But . . . no binder for me.  No longer makes a bit of difference, and it limits my mobility, which ALSO increases swelling.

So, just a regular tight flexees thingie, and tha'ts it for me.

As everyone else has said, the swelling and fluid weight can be tremendous.  Try all the things that you've probaby read here - wear your garment/binder, rest, feet up - higher than heart.  I know the other day I weighed and was so happy that I was back in my normal area to weigh again that night because my feet, legs, arms and hands felt really full.  I was up 12 in one day!  Also drinking will help to flush out fluid, so don't skip on the glasses of water.

I still watch my weight like a hawk, and have a comfy range, but I know that when I'm recovering from another surgery to just make sure that I eat healthy and don't over eat and not worry about the scale too much.  Also, we are not able to workout like we were right now, it is also hard.

If your incisions are still open, etc and you had these issues, it very well could be water (fluid) weight.

My mother gained right at 11 pounds in one day from her PS.  I gained about 6.  (We each weighed the mornings of our PS before going in because we were curious what PS would do to our weights.)

The fact of the matter is, if you aren't taking in the extra CALORIES to gain, you know it can't be a "real" gain.  That's what I always look at when I see a gain on the scale.  Did I suddenly start eating the calories to cause that? No?  Well then, it's not a real gain.  I just need to pee or poop or wait until it's not my time of the month or wait for swelling to go back down, etc, etc, etc.  I can always talk myself down from a panic that way.