Surgery yesterday - body lift, thigh lift, arm lift, flankplasty, breast lift

Just remember what happened last time around at the three week mark, swelling isn't fun and doesn't feel good. But once you get passed that it does start to get better. Don't push too hard yet.

I also wanted to tell you that I saw your newest photo uploads and you still look as young and beautiful as ever.  But I understand how you feel. I look at my post op photos and I see that my wAist is still too thick, and that I have lots of jowling and really need that face and neck lift. When what I really need to look at is how wonderfully youthful my body looks. I will get my small waist back with exercise and look once again like I did in my 4 mos post op pix. I worked put really hard the last two weeks before surgery to build my body up for recovery, and the exercises made my waist larger. As for the jowls, and marionette lines in my face, I know they will look a little better once I am not swollen, and that they will be gone once I have my lift.

i still do not feel small. I thought thwt I would wake up feeling that way. I know that I am not a large person any longer and my surgeon so much as told me that he did not think I could get any smaller. So whatever it is, I know it is in my head and that I have not gotten use to my new body yet, which is what my surgeon told me at my 4-mos post op.

I am thrilled with my results and yet I can look at myself and still see flaws. That is not really a negative commentary on my surgeon's work but rather a commentary on how I see myself. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of self esteem, I will even admit that I am vain. But I also am critical of myself and others. These high standards that I hold have enabled me to excel in my career and achievements but the price that I pay is the pursuit of perfection can at times cause me to not fully be in the moment and appreciate what I have achieved. For today, that is an awesome body that most women my age do not have and I will ignore that while my body may look 29yo I look like my head of a 49yo has been transplanted onto it, LOL!

I know that I am ranting and rambling at this point but hopefully I have given some women pause for thought. We might think that weight loss surgery will be the answer. But then we find we have hanging skin. So then we think plastic surgery will be the answer. But then we find that we have scars. No amount of surgery can make us perfect or our lives perfect. I am saying this as much for anyone reading as well as for myself. So when swell hell roles around and I feel like I will be fat forever or that there is something wrong with me like a seroma or ??? Then I will come back and read this post again and take my own advice.

I think I will be fine this time around. I say this Because I was not feeling well today and I did not freak out about it. During the course of some email exchanges with my surgeon about my symptoms, he asked if I felt that I needed to go to the hospital. I told him only if there was a reason to do so, and that I did not want to freak out over nothing like I did last time. I told him that I was not afraid to be here alone and that he should just tell me under what criteria I should go to the ER.

I also now know my surgeon very well unlike last time where I questioned his advice I have put my trust in him this time. There is a lot of security and peace of mind in that.

 

 

I did end up calling dr. Capella this morning because I was awoken from a deep sleep with shortness of breath. I did not think it was concerning so I lay there for a while to see if it would stop. I tried to go back to sleep and then I thought what if it is a PE and with that the SOB got worse. I had promised him that I would call him so I did. I told him that I was not sure if it was SOB to be concerned about or if it was caused by anxiety. He told me to have the front desk send a paramedic and he would be able to tell me. Net net it was not a PE and probablly the SOB was y induced by anxiety. My BP ms pulse were elevated and that is usually the symptoms that accompany my panic attacks - along with lightheadedness. The paramedic told me that SOB related to a PE would be very difficult and I would not be able to speak complete sentences. 

Just spoke with Dr Capella and he told me that he has seen PEs that are not severe as described above. I just wanted to let anyone reading this be aware of that. If you should experience shortness of breath then you need to call for help immediately. Do not assume it has to be severe. Thanks!

Glad it was just anxiety, I totally understand how scary that can be, it's am I having this attack because I am dying or am I having anxiety because I am scared I am dying.  Either way It freaks you out.

I was pretty calm. We assume it was anxiety-provoked because my BP and pulse were elevated. I was having a whole lot of anxiety about a month ago and I was convinced I would die in surgery. Thankfully I got that out of my system and I was calm going in.

I've been following your story for months. I've learned so much from you and appreciated your insight, candor and humor. I'm so happy for you and hope uour recovery continues to go well.

I'm scheduled for a hernia repair, fleur de lis tummy tuck, breast lift, flanks and arms on Thursday. It will be about a 5 hour surgery. My husband is terrified that I'm going to die during surgery, that I will leave him and our young children, that I've been lucky in my many other surgeries but this time I won't be. He wants me to write down my wishes for a funeral, what I want done with my body... He's supportive and understands my journey but he is so scared and now it's REALLY affecting me. I'm doing what I can to help him but what did you do to help yourself through the fear?

Jennifer

I was having panic attacks and I was convinced I would die from the surgery, too. I have never had a 6-hr surgery and it scared the heck out of me. I am afraid of dying from the anesthesia. I always have been. There were so many signs along the way that were red flags that I should cancel the surgery. I wrote about this extensively on RealSelf review of this surgeyr and you can find me there under MyBariatricLife if you care to read it.

How did I stop? A few things happened and I am not sure which one was the cure or if all came into play together. First, I decided this hysteria was enough and I would let go. I also cut out caffeine as I had been a heavy coffee drinker. My PCP put me on lisinopril because I was having BP spikes, light headedness, and SOB (panic attacks). My ObGyn upper my antidepressant. Based upon the symptoms I was having my doctors did a ton of tests looking at rare diseases that could impact my surgery (phenochromocytoma etc). My Endo, PCP, ObGyn, and surgeon all assured me that I was OK for surgery. I spoke to my surgeon a whole lot so that I was emotionally prepared to go into surgery and all my questions were answered.

One of the blood tests revealed that my cortisol levels are high. This makes me over react to stressors, and I have no control over it. I left Indy before we could finish all the tests with my doctors and come to a final conclusion. What it seems to be is that I suffered a traumatic event in early June that was related to plastic surgery. This caused my cortisol levels to go high and resulted in a sort of PTSD and I would get panic attacks (never had them before). The upcoming plastic surgery was stressful in and of itself but made much worse by the reminder of the trauma I had suffered, and with the cortisol levels high I could not cope at times. My husband suggested that I wait until I was stable. It was a horrible road to get here but I was determined not to be stopped from doing what I wanted to do. I had to prove to myself that I could do this. You know when you fall off a bike you have to get right back on and ride it, otherwise your fear will keep you from ever doing it again. 

When I go back to Indy I hope to get a quick resolution of this elevated cortisol level. My life has been hell the last few months. 

Kudos to you for not only getting back on the bike, so to speak, after the hell you went through, but finishing an incredibly long race in style and with grace! Thank you for sharing. I hope you find answers and resolution to the elevated cortisol levels very soon. As for me, I know I'm healthy, and the two surgeons would not do this if they had any concerns. I have faith in their skills. I'm trying to focus on me and my mental outlook and let my husband and mom share their worries with each other and just give me support. Spending as much time as I can cuddling and kissing and loving up my little ones, too. Thanks for sharing.

Good luck! I look forward to reading your journey!