10 days post op Brachioplasty and Abdominoplasty both with Lipo
Well, the surgery wasnt so bad, as I has anticipated. However, the pain...oh the pain! Not necessarily in my arms, but the TT hurt (and still hurts) like hell! I had made the downstairs bedroom all set up prior to surgery, so I wouldnt have to endure going up and downstairs. I purchased a commode (to alleviate having to walk too far to the bathroom), a hospital table (to make sitting up in bed and playing online, to pass the time, or to eat in bed), and extra pillows for comfort. Well, I by the 2nd day, I was sending my fiance out to the store to buy me a recliner, because getting in and out of bed was horrendously painful. Each time i moved, in any direction, I felt like I was ripping myself open. The PS sent me home with a binder, with cushions underneath, a non-supportive bra with cushions under my armpits (which isnt very comfortable, and i still have to wear the bra and binder with the cushions for another week, and then I can use my regular (supportive) bra, but will then also have to switch to spanx shorts for support rather than using the binder.
I am the type of person who despises sitting around doing nothing all day, and having to rely on others to assist me with daily things. I have many animals (1 pig, a fish tank, 2 cats, and 6 dogs, one of which my fiance thought would be a great idea to buy me a bull terrier puppy 2 days prior to surgery)...he obviously wasnt thinking or planning for having to take care of all the animals, the housework, me, AND attempting to housetrain a new puppy. Men! HAHA. So needless to say, the first week, i pretty much stayed in bed, doped up on pain meds, and did my little lap around the dining room every few hours, to avoid getting any clots. Boy was that painful... walking around hunched over for days, caused me to have SEVERE middle back pain, of which I still am having, even tho I am walking upright for the most part, even tho i can feel the TT skin pulling. Im afraid im going to rip open one of these days :( ALso, from sleeping in the recliner, i would put a fluffly pilow under each arm to elevate them, and then one pillow on myr right side of my head and go to sleep.Well, from sleeping like that, I ended up getting a kink in my neck 2 days ago, and i still cant fully move my head to the left without some sort of pain.
The last 2 nights, i have been able to sleep in my bed upstairs. I have a craftmatic-adjustable bed, so I am able to elevate head/feet if needed. I am still trying to find the right combo so i dont wake up in pain every morning. I'll wake in the morning, just laying there, feeling pretty good, and then I think "wow, i feel pretty good, maybe i can do some housework, or take the dogs for a walk, or do some laundry"..and then reality slaps me in the face, and punches me in the stomach the second i attempt to move. OUCH! Then I say to myself "ok, forget all that was planned, let's just make our way downstairs, one step at a time, and have a cup of coffee, and then do nothing all day". Takes me a few minutes to roll my way out of bed. Bending hurts, twisting hurts. Everything hurts. ANd, to top it off, I am set to go back to work this friday. Luckily I have a desk job, however, my big issue now is, finding work clothes that fit! I attempted to put on my size 6/8 jeans that i normally wear. Nope. My waist is small however my hips are swollen beyong a size 6. I found an old paid of size 10 jeans, and managed to squeeze my ass into them, but they were uncomfortable. So now i have to go to the store and buy bigger size dress pants for work, just til the swelling goes down. Hoping the swelling goes down alot, very soon. But from what I have read online, it can take anywhere from 3-6 months! YIKES!!!
Also, PS reccommended Scar away for the scar therapy. Ive done a little bit of research, and see that Embrace is highly helpful, but EXPENSIVE. for the sixe of my scars, id have to pay out like $600 just for 30 days of therapy. Bio-oil is reccommended, AFTER the scar has healed. So i really dont know which one to go with. I dont really care about the TT scar so much, noone is gonna see it anyways. But im more concerned about the arm scars. Not that i would be walking around with my arms up in the air for all to see. But would like to wear tank tops and feel somewhat normal.
So, yeah recommendations on scar therapy would be appreciated. Which ones work, which ones dont. Which one is messy or hard to remove?
Thanks in advance for reading this. Sorry it was so long.
I got these for my TT scar - I cut them in half lengthwise. I think they worked pretty well (my scar is very flat and pale now):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001KY3IOU/ref=od_aui_deta ilpages00?ie=UTF8&th=1
Liz 5'3" HW: 219 SW: 185 GW: 125 LW: 113 Desired maintenance range: 120-125 CW: 119ish
on 3/31/18 9:48 am
I appreciate your update! My new hobby seems to be reading other's experiences and trying to set my expectations to a realistic level fir my surgery in May.
My surgeon recommends Biocorneum. I think you get it from the plastic surgeon, so it can't be inexpensive. But he says it's the best silicone cream out there for scars right now. He suggests waiting 6 weeks after surgery to start using it.
I planned for the worst and hoped for the best!
The Biocornium is around $100 for a 3.5oz bottle and that is supposed to do (1) 6" scar. I think if you're not terribly picky you could get a lot more mileage out of it. I actually haven't started using it yet.
VSG: 1/17/17
5'7" HW: 283 SW: 229 CW: 135-140 GW: 145
Pre-op: 53 M1: 22 M2: 12 M3: 12 M4: 8 M5: 10 M6: 11 M7: 5 M8: 6 M9-M13: 15-ish
LBL/BL w/ Fat Transfer 1/29/18
My surgeon recommends Biocorneum which is FDA approved.
VSG with Dr. Salameh - 3/13/2014
Diagnosed with Binge Eating Disorder and started Vyvanse - 7/22/2016
Reconstructive Surgeries with Dr. Michaels - 6/5/2017 (LBL & brachioplasty), 8/14/2017 (UBL & mastopexy), 11/6/2017 (medial leg lift)
Age 42 Height 5'4" HW 319 (1/3/2014) SW 293 (3/13/2014) CW 149 (7/16/2017)
Next Goal 145 - normal BMI | Total Weight Lost 170
TrendWeight | Food Blog (sort of functional) | Journal (down for maintenance)