Six week post-LBL -- update, tips, long post

I don’t have any great “after” pics yet but promise I’ll post “before” and “soon-after” pics so people have an idea of the early results.  I’m 53 years old and had VSG in May 2013.  Lowest  weight was 132; was 145 at time of surgery on 7-8-15 and currently weigh 130 lbs.  Seven pounds of skin/fat were removed. I had surgery on a Wednesday (it lasted 7 hours 45 minutes) and went home on Friday. Since we live 3 hours away from Kansas City I was really, really glad I spent two nights in the hospital.  

The good: Been working at least part-time since post-op Day 5.  I have a desk job and was able to telecommute.  On post-op Day 5 I began working 4 hours per day; 1 hour at the desk and 1 hour of rest. Frankly, it was a nice break from sitting around and obsessing over every little thing.  On July 27^th I started back to the office with half days and worked from home half days at my leisure.  I returned to 8-hour office days on August 10^th.   Surgeon thought return-to-work plan “optimistic” but I proved him wrong.

Was able to get all 6 drains pulled on post-op Day 9 and I have no more binder as of today – hurray!  Incision looks fantastic, better than anticipated and I haven’t had any spots re-opening.  Healing of new belly button is progressing nicely. Swelling is minimal and I’ve lost 15 lbs. in the last 6 weeks (7 of that from LBL fat/skin removal). At two weeks post-op I was fitting into all my work pants and dresses while wearing my binder.  I may need a smaller size in a couple things but essentially everything still fits – it just fits a LOT better!

Flat tummy that no longer hangs out of the bottom of my shorts or panties.  That was my only expectation and it was met 

The bad:  Discovered I'm allergic to hydrocodone.  Caused itching so intense that I almost had panic attacks and made myself bleed.  Once I made the connection I stopped all pain meds on post-op Day 2. I used Benadryl or a sleep aid to help at night for the first couple weeks. 

Fatty necrosis, which is not to be confused with skin necrosis.  Fatty necrosis = not uncommon.  Skin necrosis = bad.  Fatty cells get deprived of blood flow and die underneath and become hardened areas that you can’t see but you can feel.  One of these areas required the doctor to open up a tiny spot and it drained like crazy!  It’s almost completely healed two weeks later.  Doc says those hard areas will take months to liquefy and go away . 

Developed a sinus issue in the hospital and starting coughing/sneezing unpredictably and uncontrollably.  Worst. Pain. Ever. and I’m known for having a high pain threshold.  Had me in tears and near hysterical that I was popping every stitch and ruining my muscle repair.

The pain of muscle repair and lipo is no frigging joke.  Believe people when they tell you it'll hurt much, MUCH worse than any stupid incision.  

The ugly: Continuing body image issues.  Now that the bottom half is firmed up it makes my top half from the back look even worse.  I carried a lot of excess fat and skin on my back from neck to waist and the LBL doesn’t fix that (a tiny bit, not much).  I still have lots of skin rolls/draping.  Many people – my hubby included – don’t have all that excess droopy skin on the top.  I do…and it looks awful.  The good news is that I rarely look at my backside and can find good shapewear for the top half. 

I’m also critical of two areas on the LBL: 1) I have some skin puckering on the right side above the incision line, about 3 inches long.  2) Most disturbing is my crooked butt crack!  Yup, the top of my crack takes a definite jog to the right and looks ridiculous!  No one is ever going to see it but my doctor, husband and me…still! 

Best advice I got:

-  Recliner:  I rented a lift recliner and used it for 3 weeks.  Never slept in it.  Used a wedge pillow and slept in a real bed and switched to my own bed at 3 weeks post-op (sleeping on my side, sleeping on back with no wedge not allowed). But you’ll want a recliner for the day time.

-  T-shirts for under binder, cortisone cream, gel ice packs, Benadryl.   All vital.

-  Bromelain/turmeric for swelling and Arnica Montana for bruising.  Little miracle pills! Get them.  You can start bromelain before surgery but must wait for arnica until after surgery.

-   Clean out intestines before surgery.  I started Miralax three days prior.  The day before surgery I drank only liquids (protein shakes & Gatorade) and started 2x/day stool softeners.  I had my first BM the day after surgery and had one every day after that.  Zero bathroom troubles for me. 

-  Lay down when taking off binder AND putting it on.  My one fainting episode was when hubby put the binder on while I was sitting up.  He thought he’d killed me 

-  Grabber.  I was dropping **** constantly and couldn’t bend over to get it. 

-  Back scratcher. See “itching” above.

-  Individual alcohol wipes for stripping drain tubing. 

-   ScarAway silicone long strips. Just started using now. Much more comfortable than the paint-on silicone stuff my surgeon gave me (made me itch! Everything makes me itch!)

Stuff I had but never used:

-  Female urinal.  By the time I left the hospital I was a pro at getting on and off the toilet.  Never needed the toilet riser either.

-  Lap desk.  Thought I’d use this to work on my laptop but I was more comfortable sitting on a padded chair at the table and working.

-  Walker.  I used it one day (to make my husband feel better) and never used it again.

-  Sanitary pads for cushioning drain holes.  Never needed them.  

I hope this post helps those of you who are contemplating plastics or who already have surgery scheduled.  The question I get asked the most is: “Was it worth it?”  If you’d asked me the first 10 days I don’t know what my answer would have been – I didn’t even see my body uncovered until all the drains were removed.  But I’m really liking the view now! 

The puckering will go away as the stitches underneath dissolve.  I had the same thing and totally obsessed about it.  Then one day, it was just gone.  Don't know what to say about the crooked butt crack!

Sounds like you did great.

Really glad to hear that the skin puckering will relax - thank you!  

I am glad you are doing so well, Tracy. It's funny how we are so different. I would not have needed anything on your must-have list and maxi pads and the toilet riser were really my most important must-haves...lol.

Great post Tracy!

Excellent info. I need to get tips for my upcoming brachioplasty Sept 24th. 

Your doing fantastic! 

Annette 👍

It is funny how different our recoveries can be.  I had lots of the same things on hand but really only needed the soft cotton shirt to wear under the binder and the alcohol swabs to facilitate stripping the drains.  While some things were a struggle - toilet usage - for the first few days, I was able to do them slowly.  I also had lots of silicone based creams and sheets and as it turns out that was a waste of my money and time so early out - I scar badly and to this day I can still see my thin red lines from procedures that I have had years ago. 

The Bendaryl, cortisone cream and gel ice paks were musts because of the INSANE itching - and I'm still having that to a degree (not as bad once I got off narcs).  When my tailbone/butt area gets super itchy it helps a lot to sit on that gel ice pack.  Takes it right away :-)  

I have a question, what type of binder did you have.  After this what type of garment do you wear?  Scheduled surgery 10-13-15.

It was a 12" abdominal binder that was put on me at the hospital. Now I wear a tight cami compression top from Maidenform.