Revision Recovery - is it really much easier?

Hi All,

It's been a while since I posted.  I'm looking for insight/experiences on how revision surgery compares with original surgery in terms of pain and recovery. 

I had a LBL/medial thigh/butt aug last December and brachioplasty and breast aug last August.  My recovery from the Dec. surgeries was rather difficult and took about four months to start feeling normal again and for wound openings to heal.  

I'm scheduled for revisions to the front of my LBL (moving up the scar, which has dropped) doing a second round of medial thigh lift in the front (removing and pulling up more skin, which has pooled around my lower thighs/knees), lipo on my inner thighs, knees and a little area on my lower back, replacing one breast implant (which looks smaller on my chest than the other), and revising about 2" of scars on each arm.

Sounds like a lot of work, but my surgeon says it's a bunch of little things and it will be much, much easier than my Dec LBL surgeries.  A sign of this is that operating room time is estimated at only three hours (as opposed to 7 before) and he says I'll only need to take a week off work. He told me that on a scale of 1-10, my Dec surgeries were an 8 in severity, recovery, etc., and this one will be about a 3-4. 

For those who have had revisions, does this sound accurate to you?  Was post-op/recovery a lot easier in comparison?   My last surgery took so much out of me physically and emotionally, I'm really scared to go back for anything more, as I just don't want to deal with complications and have just now started to feel good.   On the flip side, I can't enjoy my new body because my lower thighs/knees still look really bad to me. Thus, I'm eager to get the revisions done and have all this surgery behind me and do so before it gets really warm. 

Would really appreciate thoughts/insight based on your experience.  Thanks!!

I can't speak to anything you're having done since I just had a revision to the top part of my anchor cut on my LBL. I could hardly tell I had anything revised there because I didn't have any pain. Maybe it was because the other surgery areas were more painful. The only thing that I think may be a little painful might be the thighs but hopefully nothing like the original surgery. A couple of inches on the arms doesn't sound like much either. Even though you're not having a "big" surgery I would imagine all those little areas will add up so you may be tired for a couple of weeks.

I recently had revision surgery for my  tt and breast augmentation in February along with extensive liposuction to my entire back.  The only pain I really had was the liposuction area of my back.  It's been almost 10 weeks and my back is still pretty sore. 

The revision areas gave me no problem at all.  The pain to my belly and breasts were minimum, I discontinued pain medication 48 hours after surgery.

Good luck!

Sherline

I can only speak regarding brachioplasty revision, but I had about a 3-inch section on one arm revised, and it was MUCH easier than the original arm lift.  Very little swelling, and I had pain for just a couple of days (used only Ultram, nothing stronger).  It did, however, take just as long for the scar line to fade as it did after the original surgery.

Lora

Hi Michelle,
This is the first time I've checked the boards for months. I'm also going in for revisions from my LBL & thighlift with Dr. A. soon. My 1st surgery was also nearly 7 hours and he said this surgery will be 2-3 hours. I have the same apprehensions as you but I'm eager to get it over with. I hope you are doing well and this surgery was a breeze in comparison! Sending healing vibes your way & let us know how you are when you are up to it!