Finally, a post-op update (LBL + Arm Lift with Dr. Michaels)

I'm now nine days post-op and I think my brain is finally functional again. I've been weaning myself off my painkillers and the benefits are real, yo. I'm not sure if I over medicated for fear of pain getting away from me or if I medicated appropriately, or what, but for what it's worth my pain has been manageable with a few exceptions.

Sunday, June 4
I skyped with my mom in the morning and then Lance and I went out to see Wonder Woman at the local theater. Fun times for both of these things. Then I hung out at home for a bit and got ready to head to random hotel in Arlington with Art. It was an easy drive, nice area, clean hotel that smelled clean. Comfy bed and nice water pressure. I took my final meds, showered with hibiclens before reading and depressurizing. I fell asleep pretty early.

Monday, June 5
The alarm went off way too early at 4am because we needed to leave for the hospital at 4:45 and I needed to shower with hibiclens one last time. We packed up and Waze said the drive would take about 15 minutes. It took about 25 because I missed a turn on a boulevard that went on FOREVER before there was another turning place. Thankfully there was no traffic and I'm sure the houses we passed were all in the multi-million price range. Driveways AND yards in DC? Yeah.. those don't come cheap. Nice drive. Would have been nicer in the day when I could have seen more, but then there would have been more traffic - so you can't win. It was strange driving on roads I've only heard about in traffic reports!

We got parked at the hospital and traversed the distance from the parking garage to the hospital wing - it wasn't more than a 5 minute walk. I'd been under the impression that the hospital was newly renovated, but apparently it was newly reconstructed. Really pretty details, lots of USB/sockets. I was happy with the attention to details.

I got checked in - first person of the day. Not thrilled with the receptionist who seemed more interested in getting back to his phone call, but whatever. Then I made the mistake of going to the bathroom. Females - never go to the bathroom when you get to the hospital, especially after fasting all night! We didn't have to wait long before getting called back to a room. Where, of course, I had to pee in a cup to make sure I wasn't pregnant. Argh :P

This started the revolving door of people. Anesthesiologists, nurses, nurse anesthesiologists, various other kinds of nurses. Lots of questions. Finally my surgeon came and he marked me all up. Art got to help by holding my wrists up so I could maintain the arm position that was necessary for marking. The surgeon took pictures and, hopefully, will send them to me. Lots and lots of purple pen all over my abdomen and arms. This is totally an exercise in faith and not for the weak of heart. At some point I got my IV put in. The nurse apologized that it would need to go in my wrist instead of my elbow. Shrug.

Eventually it was time to go back to OR. I remember saying bye to Art and I don't remember anything else. Not even counting down or getting the face mask or anything. Strange - I normally remember that stuff.

---Surgery Happened---

And here's where things get fuzzy. I remember waking up in recovery. I remember that I was told things went well and took less time than planned. (Yay, refunded money!) I then remember that they REFUSED to give me pain meds before transporting me to my room so that when I got to my room I was in agony. I specifically told them I needed something for the pain, which was 9-10 at that point and that I did NOT want them to let Art into see me until my pain had been managed. (I did not want Art to see me in that state and be worried.) Sadly Art is a sneaky ninja and he had already been summoned and he got to my room before I got my pain managed. I was NOT a happy camper and, let me tell you, once pain gets to that level, it's really hard to being it back down. So I got a ****tail of valium (for muscle spasms), oxycodone (for pain), and dilaudid (via IV for breakthrough pain). I was totally dopey.

At some point Art told me that the surgeon removed NINE pounds of skin and was astounded at how skinny I was! I guess he wasn't expecting me to be so skinny under all that extra skin. That made me happy. :)

I never had nausea, but I did get one of those behind the ear patches and it didn't come off until June 13. I could have taken it off on June 8, it just wasn't high on my priority list.

At some point Lance arrived for the second shift and Art headed home.

The other thing I remember from that night is that at midnight two of the nurses came in to get me out of bed and make me walk. This was agonizing and I'm shocked that Lance slept through it. Basically, this was the second worst part of the entire experience - the first worst being lack of pain meds prior to transfer. Getting out of a bed is really hard when you can't use your core or your arms. I kept on asking, "are you sure I'm not going to damage myself?!" Sitting up is really, really hard. Then, once you've managed that, you have to twist to swing your legs over the edge of the bed. LOL. I think I thought dying would have been preferable. But I made it. I walked my 10 steps, turned around, and then had to try to get back into bed. WTF. They're just like "swing your legs up so you're on your side and then roll to your back." What?! The body does not work that way. Not at all.

They drugged me, I fell asleep.

Tuesday, June 6
At some point in the morning I had to go to the bathroom. This meant getting Lance to push the summon nurse button. The nurse who came was smaller than I am and seemed to have no idea about what I'd had done. At one point she said something like "you only had your arms operated on!" and I'm there in tears trying to say that no, I had a circumferential body lift and lipo in my thighs and basically everything hurts. She actually yelled at me to tell me what to do and I tried to be polite and say, "Yes, I know what I'm suppose to do but I physically CANNOT do that." It was hell. Finally, with help from Lance, we got me to the bathroom and I peed, yay! (They don't let you leave until you pee, so this is important.)

The one thing this horrible nurse was good for was the suggestion that I sit in the chair, and NOT get back in the bed. Much better idea. Getting out of a chair is way easier than getting out of a bed. Only one movement required - forward. Instead of the two required for a bed - forward and sideways.

I can't remember if this happened before or after nurse from hell, but my surgeon stopped by to check me out, change my dressings, etc. Must have been before because I was still in the bed. He was awesome, kind, and really positive. Yay!

The guys got me an awesome stuffed dragon from the gift shop. I don't care about balloons and flowers and get well stuff but, dammit, if I'm in a hospital I want a stuffed animal to show for it and no one got me anything after my VSG.

Aside from those shenanigans, I don't remember much from Tuesday. My actual nurse had a plan and I was scared to be released because I felt so useless. But I got moving and my medication was managed, so the plan worked. I think I was released around noon-1pm? I don't remember exactly. I was wheeled out to the car and Lance drove me home.

Wednesday, June 7-Monday, June 12
I had very little memory of what happened during these days. The guys took great care of me. They managed my medication, had a schedule. Took turns being the on call overnight person. They helped shower me (I was allowed to shower two days post-op), they emptied my drains (I had two) and recorded the output, they covered me when I was cold, uncovered me when I was hot, reclined my chair, etc, etc, etc. They helped me in and out of my chair and were WAY better than the nursing staff at the hospital was for this. They mixed my shakes for me. They were super awesome. And I'm really grateful that they worked as a team so that neither one had to bear the entire burden of Gwen Care.

I worked on tapering my meds. I've got stuff I can't taper like Lovenox (blood thinner injection stabbed in the thigh each night) and some antibiotic I don't remember the name of. Plus the arnica pellets. I can't do anything about those. But I can do something about the Valium and the Oxy. I went from one Valium every 6 hours to 1/2 every 6 hours. This morning (Wednesday, June 14) I only took 1/4 and I think that'll be the last for me. The Oxy tapering is a bit more complicated, but I started at 2 every 4 hours and at my last dosing I opted to take 2 tylenol instead. I'll take Benadryl before I go to bed tonight to help me sleep and maybe 1/2 oxy depending on my pain at the moment.

Tuesday, June 13
Yesterday was a big important day! My follow up with Dr. Michaels! Art drove me and I got my drains out! Happy day! I also got my medical grade compression gear instead of the janky stuff I got at the hospital. Hospital abdominal binder and ace bandages are pathetic compared to what I've got now. Art says I look like a super hero. The Hunchback of the X-Men perhaps? I'm still not able to walk completely straight, but it's better. And the compression garments are so much more comfortable. The bottom part goes from just below my knees to under my bust. It's got hook and eye closures all the way up both sides and then a zipper over that. There's a hole at the crotch for peeing, but that seems too complicated for me. It's easy enough to undo the top three hooks/zipper for toileting. The arm things are like a two-piece shrug - like what you see ballerinas wear. They're compressive and they join in the back with hook and eye closure. I was able to get it off by myself this morning, so it doesn't seem too horrible.

Surgeon is super happy. I think my abdomen looks lumpy and bumpy but he assures me this is swelling that will reduce with time so I'm not worried. My scars look lovely. I told him a million times that I don't care about scar placement - I just want my scars to look like they were done by a plastic surgeon instead of a butcher. I think I got my wish. My butt seems to look good too. But I won't really know for 4-6 weeks.

Last night was a bad night for me. I think I tried to get off meds too fast and just could not get comfortable in my chair. I ended up in bed with a wedge pillow and two Benadryl and that did the trick.

Wednesday, June 14
And now it's today. This is the first day I've been able to think and stay awake for more than 10-15 minutes at a time. I've tried to email/FB post/whatever prior to this and I just can't because I fall asleep and drop my phone on my face. I'm feeling much more like myself today. Yes, it's taken me a while to type this, but I have typed this, which is pretty amazing. Hopefully it's coherent. (I also have stayed awake for 10 hours straight - no naps!!)

Art is off to Origins today for the weekend and Lance is working from home to take care of me. He'll need to go into the office for a few hours on Friday, but I feel confident I can manage on my own. Especially since he'll be there to help with the morning stuff and every day is a little easier. We're going to try to see It Comes at Night on Friday and then The Mummy on Saturday. I am excited. My first BS class starts on Monday. I'm not so excited about that one, but it is what it is and I'm confident I'll be able to brain by then.

So... thoughts. I've had a lot of surgeries in my life and this is the hardest I've ever had. Not being able to rely on my arms or my core is **** Even if I'd just done the LBL it would be **** But, what, I'm nine days post-op right now and I see the light at the end of the tunnel and know that I'll be fine. So at least there's that. I would never recommend someone do this without assistance - preferably two people to assist. Assistance is a full time job and putting it all on one person would be challenging.

Coughing sucks. A lot. And anyone who tells you "just press a pillow into your stomach and it'll be fine!!" is a LIAR.

And that's about that. I'm open to any questions. I hope to post pictures at some point, I just don't have all of them yet.

Congratulations! And welcome back to lucidity!

Thanks for the great update, too. I think many of us were eager to hear from you and also hoping everything went well. Best wishes for a continued, excellent recovery.

Coughing can be a ***** for sure, and the pillow is only mildly helpful. If you feel a sneeze coming on, do whatever you can to suppress it - that will be an experience you won't forget or want to repeat.

Also, don't be surprised if you tire out really easily and possibly doze off during the movie and/or feel the need to get up and move around in the middle of it.

Looking forward to the photos. Take care!

Welcome back to the land of the living, and brings back fond/not so fond memories. I always say the first week is a blur. I was always one for sleeping through recovery I know they wake me up and talk to me but I don't remember it so the first thing I remember is being in the room and Dr. Michaels being there, not in recovery.

I remember Dr. Michaels telling me I was really skinny under all that skin, it is a mindblower. Glad you got the drains out that's huge. And you'll be surprised your body will continue to change for a couple months.

The compression garment really helps, after a couple weeks I did get a spanx as well to alternate with. He just said it had to go from my bust line down to my mid thigh

Rest, and keep taking care of yourself

When can I sleep on my side??? I forgot to ask.

When you comfortably can, would be my answer.

I'm a stomach/side sleeper and that was probably the hardest part of my arm lift: having to sleep on my back for three weeks. I was SO HAPPY when I could finally sleep in my normal positions.

BTW, I'm so impressed you could get your arm compression on yourself so soon! It took me a good three weeks to be able do mine myself.

I had a Bad Night last night with coughing. Luckily I'd pretty much weaned myself off the Valium and Oxy so I risked taking Tylenol with Codeine and I slept in a bed propped up on my side. Bliss.

For the arm things. I have the kind that are two sleeves and they hook and eye in the back. I mentioned to Dr Michaels that they seemed impossible to do yourself and he said that he thought the idea was to pull them on, hook them in front of your body, and then sort of duck your head under the back part. Does that make sense? It's hard to explain in writing.

So I tried that to get it off yesterday morning. Just reached back and grabbed the neck part and pulled it up over my head. Voila! It worked. Then I could easily undo the hook and eye in front of my body and slide the sleeves off. Pretty cool :)

I definitely think I need help getting the bottom garment on still, but I can get it off with no problem. And I could probably get the arms on myself, but having help is so much better.

I also need help showering but that amounts to someone to hold the wand for me occasionally, someone to grab the wand from the high hook and put it back at the beginning and end, and someone to wash my hair.

All that said, I would not want to do this alone.

And my belly button looks gross. Did I mention that yet? :P

I don't remember there being any rule but I think with the breasts they want you to wait longer so I would ask him. I wore those camisoles with the bras to bed for a long time even after I stopped with the industrial bras

Gwen I'm so happy things are going well. I totally appreciate you being upfront about the experience. I wish you a speedy recovery. Take it easy. If you figure out a way to cough that's less painful please share.

I'm glad you are getting better daily. It sounds like it has been a tough recovery but also that the results will be worth it. You are a brave soul!

Honestly the coughing last night was the worst of it. I'm grateful I was pretty much off the Valium and Oxy and that I had Tylenol with Codeine from my VSG. Coughing is the worst. Ever.