Need your opinion: can I work from home on day 7 after LBL and BL?
No kids here, thank god. I can barely imagine taking care of myself after this surgery, let alone another human!
I forget what my RNY doc prescribed for pain meds - but I am going to call and find out. There was one that didn't make me so so so sick. I am also going to request a Scopalamine patch for pre-surgery. And Valium too! ha ha.
I always get a Scopalamine patches before surgery. Anesthesia is EVIL, and you do NOT want to be vomitting after muscle tightening :) You probably won't need Valium. You'll be nervous before the anesthesia team gets to you, but they will give you happy drugs and you'll drift off into dreamland. Good luck! I LOVE my body after LBL and my BA/BL. LOVE LOVE LOVE. The only issue is that now I look better naked than clothed. My husband isn't complaining.
After VSG I was back to playing tennis in two weeks. I will be 9 weeks out from plastics tomorrow and haven't played tennis yet. The difference in recovery is much worse for plastics. I had a lower body lift with TT and muscle tightening, arms done and breast lift/implants. At about 7 days I could check email and answer a few questions by phone but I had no interest or energy. I remember saying on day 12 that if I had to go back I guess I could but I was so glad I didn't have to. I work in sales so I could do some work from home. I went back on day 16 and was still very tired and came home exhausted. I still get tired and by about 4:00 I'm ready to unplug!
The first few days I used a recliner ( I looked into renting an electric lift one but ended up not getting it). After the first few days I moved to the sofa during the day and then my bed at night. I took a sleeping pill at night so I just stayed in one position all night propped up with blankets and pillows.
I took pain meds every four hours(I advise taking a stool softener along with it) for probably the first two weeks. Then I started getting terrible headaches so I cut my vicodines in half and took them only as needed. I always took a half pill at bedtime with sleeping pill up until about week 7.
The back part of the lower body lift didn't hurt at all...never did. The muscle tightening is what hurts and over shadowed the pain from the breasts and arms. Once the stomach started feeling better that is when I noticed how much the arms and breasts hurt. I had a complication with my breasts having a reaction to the tape and ended up with terrible blisters. At 9 weeks the scabs are almost gone and are starting to look good.
I guess everyone recovers at different rates. My doctor felt like I was ahead of schedule, especially for how much I had done. I don't think you should be terrified. Pain meds will help. Ask for Exparel which I thought really helped, though I don't have anything to compare it to. You will be tired and need help moving around but just sitting isn't so bad, just make sure you don't cough or sneeze!
"Whether you believe you can or you can't ....you are right! " by Henry Ford
This is really helpful information! Thank you so much - I am learning so much from everyone's experience. I know a lot of people say they get backaches from being hunched over. That definitely freaks me out. Interesting that your back never hurt. I am having a breast lift but no implants and no arm lift.
