24 days post-op and "The Shopping List"

Hi all!

I'm 24 days post-op from my lower body lift and brachioplasty. I haven't taken prescription pain killers in at least a week and I'm feeling about 90%. My posture still sucks from the surgery and there are a few places that don't feel amazing. I can't reach to full extension with my arms and sleeping in any position aside from on my back just doesn't really work. I am almost completely independent but I need help getting my compression garments on after I shower, doing laundry, acquiring food, and reaching things in high places. I'm able to drive with no trouble and do pretty much everything else.

Recovery from this surgery was significantly harder than I was expecting. I've had a number of other surgeries in my life and I've always been pretty speedy at getting back to normal. Even now I don't feel 100% and, when my online college class started two weeks post-op, my brain was not able to engage as fully as I would have liked. (Thankfully this resolved by the end of the week so I was able to get all my work submitted!)

My incisions are looking awesome, the glue is still coming off. I've got my second follow-up with my surgeon in a week and I'm looking forward to hearing what he says! I'm thrilled with the results.

I read a lot of posts prior to surgery and it was helpful for me to see people list the things they used in recovery, so I've compiled my own list for anyone who is doing their own research.

Things I used:

wireless doorbell - so this probably seems super weird, but it has been an invaluable ?summoning? device. My help sleeps soundly so whoever was on duty for taking care of me would take the receiver and plug it in in the room they?re in, and I?d have the bell unit on me. So if I needed help, I could just ring for them, literally. This has been super useful.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0186IPTKS/

waterproof bed pads - super useful. good for oozing incisions and once I had a time where I didn?t get up quite quick enough to go to the bathroom so.. yeah, nice to have
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MWJEQZ2/

zero gravity chair - my primary recovery chair. Definitely glad I got this. I lived in it for the first many days. I didn?t have access to an electric recliner, so this was perfect.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0032UY0BK/

wide, weight bearing strap (didn?t use this specific product, just something similar) - however, there?s no way I could have gotten up without help. We tested this before surgery and found that it worked perfectly to have a guy hold a strap between my incisions, stand with a staggered stance, and pull to get me out of the chair. Minor effort for them. Reverse the process to help me back into the chair because ?dropping? into a chair is horribly painful.
https://www.amazon.com/Olympiad-Strap-Stretching-D-Ring-Buckle/dp/B01M2V9Q9A/

shower seat - couldn?t live without this. I had to be showered by someone else for the first week or so. Even at three weeks post-op I like to be able to sit down for washing my hair since I can?t raise my arms up over my head.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00REPL8RI/

toilet seat riser - I got mixed suggestions about whether or not to get one of these but I?m super glad I did. I?m 5?4? but it still was hard for me to lower to the level of the toilet seat. I never had the arms attached because the counter is close to the toilet and I could use it as needed.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002VWK0UK/

tank tops - I wear these under the compression garment to protect the incisions from the garment.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CAXQV3K/

self stick wrap (didn?t use this specific brand, it?s all the same) - This was much easier for lining my incisions to protect them from chaffing than pantyliners in the earliest days. Combined with the nonstick gauze pads.
https://www.amazon.com/ExL-Performance-Self-Stick-Wrap-Self-Adherent/dp/B01MXE21LM/

nonstick gauze pads (again, didn?t use this specific brand, whatever size works for your surgery incisions. Must be non-stick!!) - This was much easier for lining my incisions to protect them from chaffing than pantyliners in the earliest days. Combined with the nonstick gauze pads.
https://www.amazon.com/Curad-Non-Stick-Pads-Inches-Count/dp/B001KYTYLQ/

pantyliners - These are awesome for things! I mainly use them to protect where the arm garments intersect with the incisions and where my bra band intersects with my incisions. I found that nonstick pads and gentle tape mentioned about were more useful in the first few weeks, but the pantyliners have definitely come in handy for lots of stuff. I bought 240 of them and I?ve currently used about 150 of them and I?m only 3 weeks post-op!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0029NYQ9W/

vitamin C, 500mg - my surgeon wanted me to up my vitamin C pre-op, so I got this.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GG87V2/

therapearl ice packs (there are lots of sizes and shapes available) - my surgeon didn?t specifically tell me to ice, but there were a few times when ice was nice. These are like reusable bags of peas :)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002OSWW34/

shower wand - My shower didn?t have a wand head, so getting one has been VERY helpful. I can wash myself while sitting on the shower stool and it?s easier for other people to wash me as well.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005IV0DAS/

reacher grabber - this was a last minute purchase, but I?ve been happy to have it. I use it a few times a day, there are probably times I should have used it more. This one is nice because it grips better than the ones I?ve used with rigid ?fingers?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00O47ILVA/

world?s ugliest dress - due to the combination of surgeries I had first (LBL/arms), I wanted something to wear that I didn?t need to pull up or pull down and that didn?t have sleeves. I bought a number of these to wear home from surgery and in the early post-op days.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MUC4OU0/

flexible straws - I have no link for these, because you can get them at any grocery store. I pretty much needed to use these for all drinking the first many days.

rolling table - I don?t have a link for this, but something like an ?overbed? table if you look on amazon. Super useful to have next to my chair during the day and then to have at my bedside at night.

other people - this is the number one thing I needed for recovery. My people handled ALL of my medication. They set timers so they would know when to medicate me for which I?m grateful. Had I had to handle my own pain management I would have ended up undermedicated and in pain, or overmedicated and in a coma. I didn?t actually touch my pill bottles until I put them away for storage. They also helped me get in and out of my chair with the aforementioned strap. They helped me shower. They help me get my garments on. They mixed my shakes for me when I couldn?t actually shake the bottles. I believe I could have done this alone, if I had needed to, but it would have been significantly more challenging, miserable, and potentially dangerous if I had tried.

lanyard - for attaching drains to when I showered before they were removed.

stool softener - you don?t want to strain post-op. I started off doing stool softener?s pre-op and post-op 3x a day. I also use a half dose of miralax in my protein shakes.

all the pillows - both throw pillows and bed pillows. I wanted them in random places at random times.

second set of compression garments - my surgeon gave me one set, I found that I wanted a second set so I could wash and dry one set while wearing the other set. Mine are from:
https://www.medicointernational.com

Things I probably didn?t need, but were still nice to have:

foam wedge bed pillow - this has been nice, but it?s taken me a while to be able to be in the bed anyway so? I dunno.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009HHLBKK/
cover for foam wedge bed pillow
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NZGLGU4/

folding step stool - I don?t recall actually using this in recovery, but hey, it?s not a bad thing to own!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GJ0XKME/

leisure bra - not sure why I got this? I?m hoping it might come in handy for other surgeries?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FGAOCV2/

bromelain powder - I?m not sure if this had any positive benefit or not. When I was reading through the old posts in the forums here I read a number of suggestions that pineapple/bromelain could help reduce swelling. So I got this powder and add 1/4 tsp to my morning shake. No idea if it helps or not.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002DXVK74/

countdown clock! - I used the hook to hang this on my fridge and it was just fun to have. I liked seeing how many days were left to surgery every time I was at the fridge - good motivator!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06W9JMJLL/
magnet hanger for countdown clock
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LXN82HJ/

cane - at no point have I NEEDED to use a cane. However, it?s been nice to have when I?ve been out a few times, especially the first few times post-op because it?s a visual queue to people to tell them ?hey, be careful around me.? I?ve also used it a few times while being garmented because sometimes dude can yank a bit and having something for stabilization purposes is good. I also used it for support while getting in and out of the shower.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0013O2VX6/

compression socks - my feet got really swollen so I ended up getting compression socks to help. They didn?t work super well with my bottom compression garment, but they helped the few days I did wear them.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FFZJETI/

Things I didn?t use at all:

bottom buddy - I was worried I wouldn?t be able to wipe my butt so I got this. Never took it out of the case.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000G39ZIY/

body wipes - I was worried I?d be smelly, but I got to shower two days post op so these remain unopened.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0061QL8EE/

bacitracin - I?m allergic to neomycin so I got these all to try for wound care. I used the bacitracin initially, but then it was problematic since the area (belly button) was too wet so I was told to stop using anything. But, regardless, it?s good to have topical stuff that I can use in the house, so I don?t feel bad about having bought these.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017258NJ0/
amerigel
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001ZA3YW/
silver solution
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004YHL3FG/

organizer bin - I got this to keep all of my post-op drugs together. That never happened since, really, I never ended up touching my post-op drugs anyway.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CBXNNOS/

leg rest pillow - I can?t really say I didn?t use this at all, because I used it for like an hour total. I didn?t get much use out of it with the LBL and arms, maybe it?ll be more useful with the thigh lift.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LXPM2CN/

Great list, Gwen. Thanks for sharing.

That is a good price on the non-stick gauze, but I just used the maxi pads I got from the dollar store for everything. I just did not take off the covering over the sticky part and they stayed in place under my support garments. They worked well for me and I am cheap.

I had intended the same thing, but for whatever reason the guys had trouble with this and preferred the pads. Since they were the ones handling it and I was out of it, I really had no input in the matter! :D

That's a good shopping list. I've been thinking about a tummy tuck but I'm not sure if I want to go through all the pain. Still have little kids at home and I don't know if I can do that much down time. I am starting to save up and hopefully will be ready in 5 years for a tummy tuck once the kids are older.

I would definitely recommend waiting until the kids are older - so great plan! I can't imagine having to be responsible for someone else immediately post-op.