Is spring break enough time to recover from Abdominoplasty?

I was back in school (getting my masters) 10 days after surgery.  And you and sit and study and nap when needed.  It will be a little challending, but I think that you can do it.  You will look great for your honey moon.  Also, my scars look GREAT and everything healed up beautifully.  No problems.  As in the arc of all surgeries, there are some that are more complicated than others.  Mine just happened to not be complicated.  If all goes well, which more go well than not go well, then you will be fine with your time frame.  I had a LBL and BL.  The BL was the easy part.  If you have not hac kids there will not be a need for muscle tightening which makes things a whole lot easier.  A month after my LBL and BL, I had arm lift and abdominal lipo.  I say GO FOR IT!!!!  :-)

I have not had children so that might really help.  I'm hoping to have an internship this summer, but I don't know any occasion in my life where I'll have 4+ weeks to take off.

I think that you will be fine.  Like I said, I survived being in class. 10 days post op.  I had to sit and stand and then sit again....to make it through, but I did make it through.  You will be fine.  Go for it and do what you need to do.  You will get through it.

It sounds like you're young if you're in law school, so the recovery should be much easier, especially if you are fit. I had LBL, BL/BA, arms, thighs, and face done a month ago. I would have been able to sit in a class for a few hours/day at two weeks. It would have been a bit difficult for me to focus on the readings/lecturers because of the pain meds I was one. Definitely by week three I would have been fine and I had a lot of stuff done with no complications. Now at four weeks, I'm perfectly fine.

If I were you, I would do it and I would do both at one time to only have one recovery. God luck

I had an abdominoplasty with extensive muscle repair and an extended BL (no impants) on November 6 with zero complications.  I took off 3 full weeks from a desk job (at local College).  Returning full day at 2 weeks would have been a physical challenge for me.  However, your class structure will be a little different than an 8 hour day.  Will your classes be back to back or will you have time to move from one class to another with a break in between?  I promise you at 10 days, you will not be in a position to 'rush' from one class to the next within the usually alotted 10-20 minutes.  Speaking from my personal experience, my concern will be for your concentration levels.  I was only on narcotics for the first 4 days and weaned myself off of them but even at 10 days, every time I sat down to read, it was lights out after about 30 minutes.  Healing is exhausting work.  My other concern for you is the weight of your backpack.  You will have lifting limitations imposed by your surgeon, each one is different.  Will you be required to carry your books to each of your classes?

As someone who makes her profession in higher education my advice is talk to your instructors when school starts in the next few weeks and explain that you will be having a medical procedure done over spring break and would like to work with them the week after spring break to see if you can get the lectures online and communicate with them electronically if you are not able to sit in class all week the first week back.  Even if 1 or 2 won't work with you, which will surprise me at the level of law school academics, those are the classes you have to make and the others you can work from home to stay caught up.  This way you are not pushing yourself and allowing your body the needed healing time.

Also the whole 'boob pull' thing is a myth. They are 2 very different surgeries that work equally well being done together or separate.

Good Luck

Pam

Thank you.  Law school does take an awful lot of concentration and reading.  I am often exhausted after a full day of lectures anyway, without healing, so I think you're right about that being the big concern.

My classes are in one building, all right next to one another.  And my classes are usually at 10am and 2pm everyday, though I pick up one more class this semester and I need to look up where it is.  I take a rolling backpack as it is so hopefully that would be ok, though I would have to find out how to get it into and out of my car.

It may just not be doable.  I will see how I did with this semester's grades and that will help me determine how much effort I will be needing to put in.  I do know one girl who had her appendix out this semester and was back after just a couple days (I figure this is a much less invasive procedure) but I do know the professors did not call on her.  This is the benefit of law school--no assignments, really, just reading and keeping up in case you're called on.

don't count it out yet.  Having your classes spread out work to your advantage by giving yourself a mental and physical break. I could have gone back to work at 10 days if I could be work a few hours, break, work for a few hours, break.  Rolling backpack is good.  By day 10 you can lean it against the passenger seat, squat down and put your hands under the bottom and lift up with your legs.  You wouldn't be using your abs/pec muscles at all to get it in the car.  (I live alone and learned a bunch of tricks about lifting with my legs rather than core to get by).  As for the lectures, if they are not available online then request permission to record the lecture.  I teach one class and I have a special needs student who has a pen that is also a recorder that she uses to take notes and records classroom discussion even though I provide my lecture notes online.  If you work with the instructors in advance, the majority will accommodate you willingly.  Of course, we have all encountered those few hard-core that will not be hopefully you won't draw them this semester.

I believe it can be done if you go into knowing where your challenges will be.

I agree Pam.  I spoke with my Professor well in advance of my procedure and she understood and accommodated me.  I went back to class with drains in and I did have to stand about 30% of the time - just where the drains were placed made it uncomfortable to sit that long - I needed a break.  But she was on board, did not call on me.  I was not on drugs but that time either.  It was weird bc when I first walked into class I was kinda disoriented but soon thereafter got into the flow of my class and it was actually very good for me and my healing to take my mind off of surgery.  It was a nice mental break.   Also, like you Pam, I did fall asleep HARD but I think with the flexibility of her schedule, she can go to class, fit in cat naps, study and get a good night's sleep.  Recording the class is a great idea and I did not even think about my backpack.  For my class, I just brought in my notes and legal pad to take notes  as I was prepared and did not need my books.  I hope that this has helped you.  I still think that you will be fine as I assume you are fit, young and healthy and you can do this.  I was in good shape before my surgeries and as a result , I had a good recovery.  Just communicate with your professors.  Pam's advise was perfect.

I had a TT & inner thigh lift on 11/19.  I took 2 weeks off work and worked from home the third week.  Honestly though, I could have begun working from home about 7 days after surgery.  I travel (fly) twice weekly for work, so my surgeon wanted me to stick close to home for a few weeks. When traveling or sitting in a chair for excessive periods of time, my sutures felt very tight each time I got up, and I would have to move around a little bit to get comfortable again, but it was just uncomfortable, not unbearable. 

 My recovery was VERY easy (would say it was less painful than recovering from lap-band surgery because there was no excess gas trying to work its way out...)  I got the drain out a week after surgery  and have only had minor swelling since then.  I was told though, that it appears I have a high pain tolerance because I seemed to bounce back so quickly, so I could be an unusual case.... 

I have also not noticed any change in my boobs after the tummy tuck and don't think I will need any additional surgeries  (at least for quite a while)...

Best of luck - DO IT!  You will LOVE it!  I can hardly keep my clothes on! 

I had much more than a TT/BA done and I think I could have survived going back to school after 10 days (perhaps not as a 1L though when stress was much higher) iv'e been through law school). You should definitely have a plan so that you are not carrying/lugging around heavy books, and spending too much time away from home beyond what's necessary to go to class. You will be uncomfortable but it's doable. I honestly had a lot of physical energy after surgery but couldnt do a whole lot just because of the swelling and discomfort. Mentally I would have been ready to go - I only took tramadol post op - no narcotics. 

As I've learned, the word "recovery" has a wide range of meanings - the point where you can sit/stand/walk vs time for incisions to close vs time for swelling to mostly subside vs. feeling completely normal again. Im almost 7 weeks out and I feel like my "recovery" is just beginning in some sense of the word, but pretty much able to do just about anything - run, cycle, dance. I can't take a bath or swim because of openings that will take a while to close, but that's alright. 

I think you should hurry up and get the consult going and a date scheduled - youve been thinking about it/tlaking about it for a while - just DO IT :)