1 week post op AL/TL and lipo

What a week.  I had the arm lift, thigh lift, anchor cut revision (tightening) and lipo to my chin and abdomen.  This has definitely been the slowest recovery for me.  With my other PS (LBL w/anchor cut, breast lift,  butt auto augmentation, lipo and fat graph) I was at a better place physically by this time. I felt much more exhausted with the LBL than with this one.  It's just the immobility that is driving me nuts.  I am walking better and can finally brush my hair and get myself dressed.  I haven't tried pulling a shirt off over my head yet but I can put it on. I'll do that later today. 

The incisions are still very tender moreso in my thighs.  I still don't completely sit on the toilet unless I "have" to.  I did this morning and it's still not comfortable but I think it's because the way the toilet seat seat curves down towards the center. If it were flat like a chair it would not be so bad.  It pulls on my incisions too much.

On day 5 I started spacing out my pain pills a little further apart to help with the constipation which has helped.  I don't need them so close together anymore.  Yesterday I tried to not take them but it didn't work.  The incisions started feeling like they were burning/stinging so I took one just to get the edge off and will do so until they are gone in a day or 2.  Otherwise it would hurt more to sit/stand. Once I'm done with these then I'll switch to Tylenol if I need to.

The areas that are the most bothersome is the underarm and where the incisions meet in the groin.  It's hard to keep the underarm covered so I just feel like it rubs on each other.  You half to walk with your arms pretty high so they don't touch.  The incision in the groin is a tricky area to keep dry and rubbing too.  You have to walk like you have a rash.  What a sight that is let me tell you!  LOL  My incision goes pretty far back so I don't know if that makes a difference. 

My fingers quit swelling like sausages on day 3 or 4.  My forearms do swell by the end of the day.  My feet and legs have been swelling everyday but it seems more obvious on my feet.

I have been so distracted with my limbs that I haven't really paid attention to my lipod areas.  My chin is looking good.  I have to wear my compression garment 24/7 on that but I take a peek at least once a day! The lipo to my knees is the most tender area right now as far as the lipo is concerned.  I really had some fat on the inside of knee that bulged out even after my weight loss so I'm glad that most of that will be gone.  They did a little lipo on 1 of my outer thighs and that's not really bothering me. My sides are really black and blue from the lipo there.  Looks nasty.  It is very tender when I take off my garment and hurts more then.  It's not bad as long as I have good compression on it.  So other than my breast and my hands and feet, there really isn't an area that doesn't have some type of compression.

All in all, I think I'm doing pretty darn good.  I still need help with things but not nearly as much as the first 4 days.  I'm sure I was really driving my family crazy then!  They had to cover my feet when I got cold, adjust my pillows over and over, pick up the pillows when I dropped them when I couldn't reach for them, turn on the light/turn off the light, brought my food and drinks to me, help me shower, etc.  I hated being so helpless but they have really stepped up and I'm so glad.  This is the first time my teenage daughter has asked me MULTIPLE times if I needed anything!! Doing anything that doesn't benefit her is usually out of the question!  LOL  I really looked pitiful those first few days and I'm sure they felt sorry for me.  They were teasing me one day so I put my hands up and acted like a zombie and they just cracked up laughing!  I'm pretty tired of looking and walking like a mummy though!

Sorry this was so long, but I'm bored and do nothing bu****ch TV and read once in while!

Hope everyone is doing great in their recovery.
Melissa

Hi Melissa,
Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us.  As you now I'm going for the same stuff in 2 weeks so I am really benefiting from learning from you.

Best wishes on your continued healing.  How nice that you are so close to the finish line with all of this....

TTFN
Ruth

Your recovery sounds pretty much identical to mine. You just feel so helpless those first few days and you don't want to move. You take for granted the little things you could do before, like reaching up and turning off a lamp switch...LOL  It'll pass fairly quickly as far as regaining your full extension but you are going to be tender for quite awhile. The lipo is so darn destructive and leaves you feeling like you've been beaten with a baseball bat. It's a little over 4 months since I had those 2 procedures and my incisions are still tender to the touch in some spots and I still have numbness. I'm convinced most of that was from the lipo.

Hang in there, Melissa. Each day will get easier. You'll still be annoyed by discomfort and the limits of your mobility but it just gets better and better each day that passes.

thanks for the update....sounds like you are moving right along.  That gives me hope.  My pre-op was today but I got a call at the last minute asking me to re-schedule until tomorrow because Dr. Iz had to go do an emergency surgery.  I go tomorrow at 11:30.

We talked about lipo briefly but I'm gonna ask about it again tomorrow.  I need the knees and outer thighs done too! 

If I read in another post correctly , you didn't have your surgery at Methodist?  That's where I'm going.  Hmmm...wonder why the different locations? 

I've got 8 more days to go!!!!! 

 

Dr L is assisting so that's probably why.  I know they do some of their surgeries at Methodist and some at HHSS.

Please keep me posted!!

Sorry it's a harder recovery. HAng in there and take it easy