couple of questions for post plastics...

I'm 5'7 and was a solid size 6...never an 8, once in a while a 4 if it ran big.  My compression garment is much bulkier than my spanx as it has the hooks and zippers on the sides.  I had an lbl/bl and he said that he only took off about 2.5 lbs of skin.  He said my skin was very very thin.  It was a 6" wide band all the way around my body.  I still have plenty of swelling and the clothes are pretty big...even jeans.  I'm thinking I'll end up a solid 4 with some 2's even.  My hip measurement before surgery was 38" and waist 27".  I know I'm  smaller than that now but haven't measured yet.  As a young "firm" woman I remember my smallest was 36" hips and 26" waist.  I'm sure I'll be back to that...at least I hope : )

Laura

Interesting!  Our BMI's are similar I think - I'm a pretty solid 22bmi - you're 21?  You're in the US too right?  My US clothing is a solid size 6 - some of my canadian clothes are size 8.  Really depends on the store - but many of our canadian stores clothing sizes seem a bit smaller than US.

My surgeon also said my skin was thin - he took off 2kgs (a little over 4lbs) but was surpised it didn't weigh more based on the amount he took off.  He said it was "lighter" because there was little skin. 

I'm happy to hear that you're hips/waist is smaller!  I didn't measure pre-surgery - I should have!!  I wore a comfortable 29' jean...but that was more because of the hips - I could have gone smaller in the waist.

I weigh the same today as my lowest pre-surgery weight (which I really only saw twice!).  I'm still swollen as well.  I noticed that my ribs are showing on my back now...and my neck bones are VER Y prominent.  I'm thinking I shouldn't lose any more weight - trying to figure out what this will look like after the swelling is down...I don't want to go too low.  Balancing act, you know?

1) how long until you drove again?  Any issues with driving?
I was driving at about six days out, just down the street to take my daughter to swim practice, and things I absolutely had to do. 

2) how long did you wear compression garments after TT and brachioplasty?  My surgeon said 2 weeks on my arms...but I really want to protect my scars....not sure about tummy - we haven't talked about that yet.  My doc wants 3 weeks (which I will be this upcoming Tuesday) but said that I could extend that if I like.

3) when did you start putting bio-oil or something else on your scars?  Doc recommended after 3 weeks I could start massaging.  He said that the massaging was more important that what I used to do it with, but I will probably use bio oil.

4) what about other restrictions?  Swimming?  Excersise?  Sex? 
I was free to swim or bathe after the drain came out (2 weeks) and had sex actually after one week, when I still had one drain in.  We were careful and I had no pain, so felt like it was ok.  Exercise I am still working on, I'm afraid to get back on my treadmill for fear of stumbling and hurting myself.

5) How far out before you really felt that you were back to normal? No pain - could do everything you could before - that you could start to just LIVE in your new bod?  I'm getting there- but at three weeks I have phantom nerve tingling and irritation from the binder that drives me nuts.  My midsection is extremely sensitive (I had an anchor TT) and even my clothing rubbing on it makes it so sensitive.  My mons was lifted and that is so snug down there that it's not very comfy to do lots of things.  I did manage to get back into jeans this week, and that was fantastic.  I would be more excited I think if I wasn't doing the thigh lift in December, which will lay me up again.  :(

Sex at 1 week with a drain!! WOW!!  My husband doesn't even want to LOOK at my incisions, let alone have sex - he'd be too afraid to break me! lol  My drains were in my groin - so that's out anyway!  They just came out today.

I get the sensitivity in your tummy - I had the anchor to and the numbness/tingling is driving me crazy!!  I had a mons lift too - but minimal.  I do find that I need to "adjust" when I sit down, things kinda don't "sit right" yet. 

I did wear jeans out today!! ;0)

At a week out, my incisions were completely closed and barely even pink...and the drain was out of my hip, so it was easy to just tuck it next to me when we were going to have sex.  Hubby was leaving for an out of state business trip and would be gone over a week, so it was do it then or wait...and I don't like waiting.

Honestly, I am of the weird sort of person that receives so much comfort from intimacy that I seek it at strange times.  Even when I have a cold, or headache or whatever.  It is better to me than a painkiller....but just as addictive...lol.  My husband is tolerant because he knows I will persist until I get my way.  In regards to this, I will admit that part of me wanted to have sex right away to see what it would be like.  My mons lift w/lipo has everything pulled forward in a strange (to me anyway) sort of way, and I wanted to make sure that it would not create problems sexually.  My fears were laid to rest, and I am confident now that it won't be a problem.  I did the same thing after my hysterectomy, because I was very scared that things would be different. 

I actually completely understand that.  When I first took my binder off in front of my husband for my first shower - he looked away (because of the incisions and "yuck" factor - but it was hard to remind myself that it wasn't me!).  My first instinct to make him prove that he was still interested and attracted to me! lol  But at 3 days out, that probably isn't a good idea.  ;0)  I also kinda wanted to make sure everything "worked" in this new bod...I was glad to see all the people post here that 3 weeks was good!

today is 8 days post op for me and i have all the same ??? so good job erica for asking!! i just want to feel normal again and i wish i had these 2 drains out! my next appt with ps isnt till friday so i will have them this whole darn week! i will be calling this morning to see if i can get in earlier then fri.
i hope more post ops chime in because these are great questions! im 1 week out and wouldnt even think of sex! im too tired!! im itchy and miserable and hoping to feel somewhat better this week....we shall see

I hear you on the drains!! I'm so luck that my dr sets up home health care nurses and gave them orders to take out the drains when they are under 30mls. So I got them out yesterday. Still have an arm drain until tomorrow as she couldn't get it out. I hate that one most - hard to hide!!

I wouldn say I'm miserable any more, but still very sore. Trying to ween myself off the heavy duty pain killers and onto just advil but that is making me MUCH slower and sore. With the drugs I'm GOLDEN! Lol

About the compression garments, I wore mine 24/7 for 8 weeks (my doctor said 6) and that included tummy and arms. I used these silicone strips at 5 weeks so the garments helped keep them in place. The garments also helped a lot with keeping my swelling down. When I went without at 8 weeks out, I was swelling a lot, so I used them during the day only and at night, not.

And about swimming, my doctor said if it's a public pool to be very careful to make sure all of my incisions were totally closed! Made sense to me!

Do you think the silicon scar sheets made a difference? I've heard mixed reviews. I'm going for a followup tomorrow and I want to ask about all this stuff!!