So some info I forgot to share since getting discharged yesterday:

• During my last in-hospital chat with my surgeon he mentioned the following tidbits:
  • I was the smallest, if not the smallest person he has performed body contouring on. (but not the smallest person he's performed any surgery on because he also does alot of reconstructive surgeries on burn patients ).  He and the team kept exclaiming how "tiny" I was all throughout registration, and throughout the lead up to the surgeries.
  • A total of 400g of skin & fat was removed, though he said it was mostly skin.
  • There was only a "little bit" of muscle tightening done on my abdomen
  • There was minimal lipo on my flanks and pubis, and no lipo on my arms nor stomach.
  • He ended up performing some corrections on my left nipple as well as my right.  My right nipple was in a weird state from a previous breast reduction: there was thick scarring or something with a fold that sort of inverted one side of it.  Anyhoo, he said he fixed the right nipple, and that he also made the left one smaller so that it would match in size (the left was already bigger than the wonky right one going into this round of surgery, and the fix made it look even bigger, so he addressed the issue by resizing it).
  • He had predicted pre-surgery that I would not need to have the drains in very long due to my size.  On discharge day, he said the drains could probably come out the next day, but it being a Saturday, and he not being available, he said I can wait until Monday.  Boo.  Too bad because I hate these things.
• Some MacGyver tips:
  • My mom gave Mr. her cane to let me use for a couple days when he came to pick me up at the hospital.  That thing was/is a life saver!  Not that I needed it to actually walk, but it was cool to have to lean on and hold my body weight when my back got strained and I needed to take a break mid-walk.  As an aside, if I could have got my hands on a walker it would have been better as it would be more stable, but I still love me this cane.
  • Travel neck pillows are awesome to use to make the transition from sleeping incline to reading/laptop-use incline much easier, and not have to re-arrange so many pillows (I didn't need to stay in a recliner after all, just the bed with pillows was enough)
  • A low stool at the side of the bed also is useful to get in and out of it
  • My ace bandages were making me itch on my arms, so I put on a compression garment on and then wrapped the bandages on top. The plan was to return these garments because i think they are little too big on me as the shoulders keep sliding off and then the arms slide down.  But I guess its good I didn't get around to returning them yet because putting it between my skin and the bandages has eliminated the itch problem.  It does however, now fit nicely across my chest (it didn't before) because I've got ace bandages wrapped around my boobs.  I'll probably ask my mom to tailor them since I've used them now.
• I am pleasantly surprised that I can feel me getting better with each passing day (if not hour!).  I am sooooo much less hunched over today!  And my arm movement range has also improved.  Still can't reach the second shelf in the cupboards, but this morning, I could brush my hair (just the sides and back though, lol)
• I do have a near constant (mild) feeling of dizziness though.  I think its the pain meds and all the laying down.  Am making myself do laps around the kitchen every hour and will just take one narcotic today (vs. the two), hopefully the dizziness improves.
• I am not all that hungry and haven't really eaten much since the day before surgery.  I'm likely sub-400 cals for the past 3 days.  I am also not getting in as much water as I'd like to.
• I am going on 5 days poop-less as of today.