How to prepare

Well, I'm very excited!  I'm having surgery on 5/5 w/Dr. Ecko & Dr. Bullocks.  I'm going thru the Baylor Houston Residency Program having a LBL, lipo and full thigh lift.  What all have you guys done to prepare for surgery? 
I'm right at a month before, so were there any special supplements you started taking beforehand? 
I'll be given 1 compression garmet, is that enough? 
Do I need to order silicone sheets now or do they even really help?
I'll be overnight in the hospital, then @ the hotel from Friday til Monday, anything special I need to be sure & take with me?  Do I need to get a toilet seat riser or anything like that?
Any help or advice you could give me will be much appreciated!  Ya'll are just a wealth of information & it's so comforting to have an understanding support network out there.

Congratulations on getting a date!  I'm sure they already told you about not taking any Vitamin E, check your multi vitamin and protein powder.  I believe its 2 weeks prior.  I ordered the VitaMedica Plastic Surgery Vitamins.  Amazon.com was much cheaper than Makemeheal.com.  These are made w/o E and seemed to help with swelling and bruising afterwards.  I would get a second garment for sure.  My Doc gave us 2 sets.  One on and one hanging to dry.  This was great as they get very yucky on some days.  I assume they will put you in a handicap room so you should be Ok without the riser.  Those bathrooms are usually much larger with all the handles which helps a lot.  I found silicon strips on Ebay but once out of the garment they were too much of pain to stay on.  I've tried Mederma, strips, Bio oil, vitamin E cream, and even threw in some Cliniqne dark spot corrector. I don't think they made much difference for me as I am in the sun too much.  You may check with the hotel and see if they have a shower chair that was the greatest help for me and find some lanyards for your drains!!  The scars on my legs are the worst looking, I believe from the extra swelling I had so remember to elevate them as much as you can and keep that garment on!!  That's my 2 cents anyways.  Good luck, Toni

My Surgeon provided me with a very long list of drugs, vitamins and even food products that I was not allowed to consume 2 weeks prior to surgery - some of these are items that are popular among the WLS crowd - these are things that can interfer with clotting and healing. I didn't have WLS and I didn't have any issues with nutrition leading up to surgery.... but many WLS patients do (for example: anemia) so make certain you have pre-op blood work done early and checked carefully. If you know ahead of time you do have some issues with your blood work, do everything in your power to get your numbers up to the normal range now. And up your intake of fruits and veggies - there are phyconutrients in them that your body needs for healing and they aren't all in your vitamin pills/supplements.

I was given 3 abdominal binders but 2 was enough to have one to wear and while I washed the dried the other.  My surgeon's policy is to wear the binder for 2 weeks and then switch to those Spanz type girdles, I found those pull on girdles uncomfortable so I just kept wearing the abdominal binder. I mention this because you shouldn't spend a lot of money on these things until you know what you are comfortable wearing and what the schedule your surgeon provides you about wearing compression. Save your money for the new clothes you'll need to buy after the swelling goes down.

Take some time to read back over several months worth of posts - lots of information gets lost as posters heal and leave the board so they aren't around to constantly respond to these common types of questions when you ask.

good luck

Congrats! Dr. Bullocks assisted Dr. LoMonaco on my surgery, and although I never got to speak to him, I hear good things about him.

If you can up your cardio now, it really does help in your recovery process.  Also, strengthening your quads and calves now helps greatly in getting up and down post op. I increased my protein to 150 g a day, and that, too, was very beneficial in my healing process.

It's nice to have two garments so you can wear one while the other is being washed, but you can get by with one.

I had mixed results with the silicone sheeting.

As far as the toilet riser, I never even took it out of the box because I didn't need it.

All the best to you!

Thanks so much for all the wonderful advice!  I can't wait, ONE month from today! 

I would love to increase my protein intake & have a supplement that I love, Nectar!  BUT......I had to stop using it, BUMMER!  They increased & changed the iron I was taking & between it & the protein powder, major backup problems!  I swear!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was like I swallowed concrete & tried to pass it thru my body!  sorry...........TMI I'm sure!  This was w/taking stool softeners and a laxative every night.  Any suggestions on how to improve that would be GREATLY appreciated! 

So, YES...........order another compression garment. AND order the new multi vites! 

To order silicone sheets or not?  My surgeon did seem to think they helped some, but he wasn't confident it was alot.  Just felt that keeping it covered & moist was the best benefit, which he said the silicone sheets did.