2 days out from LBL, BL, arm lift

So Thurs morning I got to the hospital at 5:30 to check in for a 7:30 surgery.  The whole marking up process was interesting and took like half an hour on its own.  Another plus is that by talking to the anesthesiologist in person I was able to convince him to let me keep my invisalign in during surgery!  Yay!

So the original estimate was about 10 hours but Dr. Michaels said it could run as long as 12.  Well it did end up running almost 12!  But in the recovery room he said that I did great and he was happy with everything.  He had gone out to meet my mom in the waiting room and told her similarly that he was thrilled with my results and thought I'd be super happy.

The next morning he came by around 6am for rounds to swap out my bandages and show my mom and I how to do it.  So at that point I got to see everything but the incisions on my back.  Of course they're gnarly, but the placement was great and I can tell that once I'm all healed up I'll be very happy!

The best news has been that I really haven't had that much pain.  I mean, I'm sure the pain meds are helping greatly with that, but I was worried that even with pain meds I'd be hating life for the first few days.  Sooooo glad that wasn't the case.

I was hoping to post pics but I seem to be having technical difficulties.  As soon as I can figure it out I'll get some posted!

Congrats! I'm so happy for you!

Congratulations on your surgery! I am having LBL with Dr Michaels next thursday. I would love to hear about your pain levels and recovery along with any advise you have.

My pain levels have been 100% manageable since waking up from the operating room, and that's coming from someone who doesn't have a high pain tolerance.  I'm assuming that like I did, you were given some brochure that talked about some special type of med they can inject into the incision site while they' working to help reduce pain in those first few days?  I can't remember what it was called, but I din't get it, and I'm still fine.  In fact, yesterday I started cutting back on my oxy even and I'm still ok.  I up it for my dose to go to sleep or if I've done anything particularly taxing, besides shower and changing the dressings.

If you'tr really wanting to know about the pain, it can totally vary from person to person, but i just don't think it's bad.  The hardest part has been CONSTANTLY feeling like I'm nodding off to sleep in the middle of typing texts, reading emails, having conversations, etc.  Even now 3 days out I'm just tired all the time.

Thanks for the feedback. It helps a lot as I am starting to feel some anxiety much like I did before my RNY.

I managed to finally get a few pics posted that were taken right after my first surgery.  Still super hunched over and forgot to get good arm shots of those scars.  Everything looks rough, but that's because I'm still covered with marker lines and the incision glue.  I think by the time a of that is all off in a week or 2 I can get another round and they'll look way better!

So glad to hear it went well!  Can't wait to see the good "after" pics :-) 

Managed to get some kinda crappy after pics posted in my profile. No luck getting them in the post though. I'll try to get better ones up soon! 

You look fantastic! 

Annette 

The pics look amazing and the lack of significant pain is amazing too. Keep taking care of yourself!