GMaJen

Choosing a surgeon and Days 1-3 It's Sunday night and my surgery was Friday morning (1/12/24). My gastric sleeve was 3/24/23. I lost almost half the weight before my Gastric Sleeve surgery. I chose to have my surgery in Tijuana, Mexico because of the cost and I have a friend who lives about 45 minutes away in Mexico and my father lives about 2 hours away. I started my research reading about medical tourism in general to get advice on what to look for and what questions to ask. I started my search with Realself.com and chose surgeons with 4+ stars,10 or more years experience, and who said they were part of the American Board of Plastic Surgeons or the American or International Societies of Aestetic Plastic Surgeons. I read all the reviews I could find, noting all the bad things said, and verified they were actually listed on the board or society sites. One of them wasn't. I made virtual appointments with 3 and chose Dr. Rodolfo Casillo Calderon, who is listed on both the American and International Societies. He originally told me I had to wait until a year after my surgery, but I reached my goal and my weight stabilized in early October so I was able to move the date up. I uploaded a bunch of pictures to myTouchMD and when we did our call he explained in detail what he would do, complete with drawings on my pictures. He explained possible problems and what could be included in my package and that I would have a patient coordinator to walk me through it and answer questions. I had told him I wanted a 360, breast lift with gummy implants, and a BBL (i've always had dents in my butt and got called board butt in high school). He told me he didn't think I had enough fat in the area he was working for a BBL, especially since some of the transferred fat would die, but he would see what he could do. I asked for the best medicine package and told them I didn't need transportation to/from the airport since my dad and friend would provide that). I also told him in the future, I wanted my inner thighs, maybe my arms if I could get a good price at the same time and a face-lift. He told me that was too much to do in one surgery, that the face-lift would be one and the thighs and arms another, and they had to be at least 6 months apart. He sent me a quote for the 360, breast lift with implants and lipo and said it included the mons reduction and lift but not the BBL. The quote included the surgery, labs, cardiology evaluation, compression garments, meds, hospital stay of 1 night, and 6 nights in a recovery home that has 24/7 nursing staff and food. $12,699. I paid a 20% deposit and paid the balance during my pre-op lab appointment. I also filled out paperwork and met my coordinator. When I talked to Dr. Castillo in person, he took the pre-op pictures and told me again that he didn't think I had enough fat for a BBL, but he would see what he could do. I was disappointed, but trusted his judgment. I woke up after surgery in recovery, and they took me to a room and bolstered me well with pillows. I had a catheter, so I didn't have to move. My right toes felt numb and I couldn't feel my left toes, The nurse said it was from the anesthesia and would wear off and it did. I could feel and move my toes again. I had good service ar CER Hospial and spent the evening eating, drinking and watching TV. I asked for a snack and they got me some crackers (the cafeteria was closed and I didn't want jello). The next morning (Saturday) Dr. Castillo came in and talked about my surgery. He put 320cc in my right breast and 240 in my left and explained it would take a while for them to drop. He also told me he did a little fat transfer to my butt and gave me instructions to reduce death of the fat and stressed that there wasn't enough fat for a ful BBL, but he did what he could and it mostly came from my hips. Then his nurse came in and gave me my meds and instructions for aftercare. My patient coordinator from his office also came in and told me I'd get picked up by Casa by Linda's driver at about noon and asked if I have any questions. Shortly before noon they took my catheter and IV out and the nurse helped me sit up and helped put the compression garments on me, then I got dressed. The drive was a bit scary. The driver said it was like driving in New York with people pulling out and changing lanes without enough room. He told me interesting stuff about Tijuana and prohibition, how the margarita came to be made, and about Rita Hayword's history, getting discovered, and changing her name. I was helped out of the car and to my room, which has a queen hospital bed. The head was inclined and my space was pre-padded. I got in bed and they explained the remote and how to call them and asked if I had questions, needed anything, and if I was hungry. They brought me lunch and my friend came with my backpack and snacks. I was able to get out of bed and put my stuff away. My laptop, tablet, and snacks are all in reach. Sitting up is the most painful. Lying down in my nest of pillows is not as painful, but hurts pretty bad. To get up, I put the foot of the bed down, the head up, and roll to the side, then use my arm to push myself up. To get back in bed, I get on the bed on my knees and position my knee at the far side of my nest, then lower myself sideways and roll into the in the nest. My breasts aren't hurting at all. The compression garments has an open crotch, so you don't have to mess with it to go to the bathroom. The staff here respond quickly to requests and bring me my antibiotics and pain meds, and so far the pain is tolerable and I've been able to walk. You walk hunched over and slow. Linda has come in several times to check on me and see if I need anything. She is originally from Canada and is a US citizen, married to a local. This morning, after breakfast, I took a shower. One of the staff helped me with my compression garments (it hooks down both sides) and got the water ready. There is a seat in the shower with the shower head within reach. I hosed myself down and she handed me a washcloth and put soap on it. I didn't have to ask her for help as I was able to bring my legs up to wash them (it wasn'teasy). After I rinced myself off, she put antiseptic on gause and applied it to my incisions. I dried myself and got into bed to wait for the return of my compression garments (they washed the blood out). When she returned with my compression garments, she put gause in my new belly button and over the incisions in the back that had bled, then she helped me hook the garments up, putting a square of gause over my nipples. Nothing else to report. Unlike Friday and Saturday, I slept most of the day.

9 weeks 4 weeks wearing my compression garment except when showering or it being washed. 4 more weeks wearing it all day, but sleeping without. Took it off forever a week ago. I was doing housework for my MIL a few days after taking it off, leaning over to scrub a couple tubs I noticed a slight pain in my stomach to the right of my new belly button. Not sure if it was the belly button or ab repair that I irritated. It wasn't bad, but it did tell me not to rush it. I also noticed that my scar in the back started itching again. It isn't that drive me crazy itching, and I attribute it to not having that slick protective layer to keep it from being rubbed by clothes or the seat. I'm also able to massage my breast scars without pain now. When I first tried after the incision healed, it irritated it and I started getting sharp twinges. . As far as the way it looks, my breasts look great. I love the gummy implants. My 360 looks a little saggy. Either he didn't cut enough off, or it's still the inflamation. 2 months is supposed to be too early to see what the final result will look like, so I'm hopeful. It definately does look better. Looking forward to getting my thighs and arms done next. I don't recommend my surgeon because they never answered the questions I emailed asking how much the skin they took off weighed or how much fat they lipo'd. I also never got the card for my implants or the before pics he took. He was great leading up to the surgery and during my follow-up appointment, but once I left Mexico, nothing.

4 weeks, 3 days Sorry for the delay in posting. The first week after I got home I slept a lot, night and day. Eating and drinking enough is hard when you sleep so much, so I haven't been meeting my goal of 64oz fluid and 100gm of protein, but I've been getting at least 48oz fluid and at least 60-80gm of protein. My protein oatmeal with extra protein added and my Pure Protein Bars with 19-21gm of protein is a huge chunk of that. 3 weeks in, after sleeping most of the day my body decided it was done with that, and since I'd just slept all day, it chose to stay awake at night. I've been trying to get my sleep pattern under control, but when I went to bed at 10:30 I awoke at 1:24am refreshed from my nap and last night I went to bed just after midnight and woke up at 4am and wasn't able to get back to sleep. I think this time I'll be able to stay awake all day though, so I'm hoping to sleep through the night tonight. I've still been having a hard time with my diet goals since I am trying to sleep at night. If I didn't have the luxury of working at home on my own schedule, I might not be having such a hard time sleeping because I'd be forced to a regular schedule. My husband has had his reservations, but has been supportive through all this because I promised I'd take care of myself. When I feel bad for being gone so long and now sleeping on the couch instead of snuggling with him, he tells me that I've just had surgery and I'm healing, sleep when my body tells me to sleep, and if the couch is more comfortable than sleeping reclined in bed, sleep there. At least I'm spending a few hours snuggling with him at night now. A couple days after retuning home I took my surgical tape off and discovered that I'd pulled a couple stitches. Remember those painful sneezes? I'm pretty sure that's when it happened. I have mighty, full body sneezes that sometimes makes my arm go numb and always said I'll probably die because I sneezed while driving. The wound didn't reopen. There was no bleeding or seeping, there were just larger scabs and one had a tacky feel. The scar in that area in front is going to be uglier than the nice thin scar in the back. This isn't the surgeons fault and nothing would have been different if I'd been there for a follow-up and he took the tape off. I'm waiting for the last scab to fall off before I start using the scar gel and massaging the scar. I have been concerned about the puffy area just above the scar across the front. I told myself it's probably just inflammation. They tell you not to judge the way you look because you won't see the final results for 6 months to a year, but it's hard. When you look at before and after pictures, the after pictures are long enough after for the inflammation to be gone. I went to a friend's commitment ceremony 2 days ago and another friend there had a lower body lift and BBL here in the states with one of the best surgeons (they have more money than me). She had her surgery 10 days after mine and she has that too, so I feel better. To summarize how I felt moving around week by week: Week 1 was difficult getting in and out of bed and it was painful. Week 2 I had the roll and push method down pat so it was easier to get up and down from bed and I could move around better, but when I'd first get up I'd walk more hunched over and this was when I had the really painful sneezes. It was easy to not push myself and to remember not to lift things or bend down because I could feel the pain in my stitches. I was very itchy. Week 3 I was able to move easier and could reach for things, but I could still feel it pull at the stitches, but it was more discomfort than painful so I was having to remind myself not to lift things and to not twist. This is when the itching was at its worst. Week 4 I'm getting stir crazy because I am still not supposed to drive and I promised my husband I'd take care of myself, which means following doctor's orders even if I think I'm OK to drive. Because of the mini BBL he did, I'm not supposed to drive for 4 weeks, then for 2 weeks only short distances "if I have to drive". I was moving normal, but I could still feel it pull at the stitches, but not really uncomfortable, just a pulling sensation. I still itched really bad, but it wasn't as constant. Now I don't really feel any pain except now that I'm sleeping without the pillows and my hips are on the bed, I am not sleeping on my right side because the incision is still a little tender when sleeping with weight on it there. Thankfully I can sleep on my left side and it doesn't hurt. Of course, I haven't slept more than 4 hours that way yet. I was supposed to wear the compression garment 24/7 except when showering for 4 weeks, then for 4 weeks I can sleep without it. I cheated and slept without my compression garment and drove a night early. It was really nice to snuggle with my husband without it even if it was from on top of pillows and just for a little bit because I couldn't sleep. I snuggled lying on 2 thick pillows with my hip/butt between them because of the mini BBL. After talking to my friend who had her lower body lift and BBL here, I'm rebelling a little bit. She was told she could sit on soft furniture without a pillow and sleep in bed without pillows keeping pressure off her butt. I'm still obeying my doctors orders regarding sitting because I can't find an entry on Google supporting that you can sit on soft furniture, but after talking to her I decided to sleep without the pillows under me. I have a thick Temper Pedic Memory Foam pad and REALLY want to snuggle with my hubby and sleep normally. I sleep on my side and he didn't transfer fat to my hips, that's where he took it from. As mentioned above, I can't sleep on my right because it's still tender there when sleeping on it. Of note regarding my breast lift/implants. I don't talk about them because they haven't hurt at all until recently. I get twinges now at the lower scar. I've had implants implanted, removed, and implanted again, so 3 surgeries and the scar tissue at the bottom of my breast is pretty thick and now that the incision is healed I need to start massaging it to break that scar tissue up. The first time I had implants (2006) it did hurt. I had to lean to the side to get one hand wet, then lean to the other side to get the other wet, then rinse the soap off the same way because leaning forward hurt, and it took almost a year before I didn't look like I had super pecs (they sit high when they are new). I'm assuming it didn't hurt this time and they have already settled because the skin didn't need to stretch. Maybe the signals from the incision from the lower body lift overrode anything my breasts might have wanted to tell me as well. When I hit 6 weeks and "can drive", I'm going to drive to Missouri. My Mother-In-Law has cancer of the esophagus and they need help taking care of her. I can work from home and they can't, so I volunteered. She needs help bathing and having her diaper changed, her feeding tube needs cleaned and feeding bag filled, and she and her house needs taking care of. She is on hospice, but not close enough to the end to have daily helpers, but she has a nurse stop by twice a week and a helper come twice a week for a couple hours, so I can save heavy lifting for the helper. I'm going to ask my husband to take some 4.5 week after pics so you can see what it looks like soon after the incisions heal. I'll post again at other intervals so you can see progress as the inflammation goes away and the scar heals. Other than that, I will post if I feel I have something relevant to say regarding my progress. I'll only post about my MIL as it relates to my being able to care for her due to my surgery because this isn't a cancer support forum.

Day 14 - Flight home The flight home was unremarkable. I asked for assistance on Southwest's app and when I got to the airport I told someone I had asked for a wheelchair and He got one and pushed me to my gate. First one on, last one off because the wheelchairs weren't there yet when we arrived, but they were by the time the non-wheelchair passengers got off. He pushed me to the next gate and I sat and waited. First one on, First one off, but I had to ask another passenger to get my backpack down and carry it for me because they didn't come in to get me this time. He wheeled me to the street (no checked baggage) and hubby picked me up. I suggest you either check your bag or get a carryon with wheels. I used a backpack because I thought I'd be able to come back with less than 10 pounds and fit it under the seat. It was 12 pounds without my tablet and food for the trip, which I put in another bag. It was also stuffed so I couldn't put it under the seat. Half of the volume was my regular meds since I brought all the prescription bottles, plus my dad had purchased gauze and non-stick pads for me which are bulky. I'd read reviews that mentioned tearing stitches flying home from medical tourism, so I was determined not to lift more than I was allowed, so having that backpack meant I had to stay put and couldn't go buy water. I could have put the backpack in my wheelchair and pushed it to the store, but then I'd look like I didn't need the wheelchair and just wanted to get seated first. In retrospect, I should have known not to use a backpack. When I got home, I showered and took the tape off my incision, which had been peeling, but I wanted to leave it on for the extra protection during the flight. The incisions are dry and look pretty good except for one spot that looks kind of ugly, but isn't particularly painful. Hubby took a picture of it and I've sent it to my surgeon to ask if that was normal. It's good to be home.

i'm glad to hear it wasn't the surgeon. People are already scared to go to Mexico because of cartels. My friend lives there and it really annoys her. Everyone I talk to that spends time there says if you aren't involved in drugs, you have nothing to worry about. The police on the other hand, will pull you over and escort you to the ATM to bribe them. Another reason not to drive there (other than the crazy drivers)

Good for you! Your nutritionist needs to be working somewhere else. It's sad that everyone thinks it's OK to judge us. I educated a personal trainer at a gym (young guy) who, instead of giving me a personalized workout, gave me a lecture on diet. I told him I knew more about dieting than he ever would because I've read all the books and tried most of the fad diets because I've been dieting for 40 years, and that he should stick to his specialty. The doctor in charge of my nutrition team tried to talk me out of the surgery because I'd lost so much weight already. I told her I'd never had a problem losing weight, my problem is it always comes back and more, I want the metabolic reset so my body would be OK with me weighing less. No one understands the complexity of our metabolic set point. Scientists are studying weight loss surgeries in mice and have discovered all their theories are wrong or only part of the reason these surgeries reset out metabolic set point. No doubt their studies are funded by some pharmaceutical company so they can make a med to replace the surgery. Genetics, premature/low birth rate, health and neutrition issues, our culture and upbringing, stress and depression, habits that our bodies have become to crave... It isn't all about discipline. Compare people's attitudes toward Smokers, alcoholics and drug addicts, who get more understanding and less blame for the habits they can't quit (as long as they don't live on the street, beg, or look/smell bad). Broke people can get free rehab. Where is our free surgeries?

Congratulations! What a great feeling! I celebrated by asking my husband his weight. He wasn't allowed to tell me previously because I didn't want to KNOW I weighed more than him.

Thank you for this. One of the reasons I'm rebellious about some of the diet rules is the nutritionist applies all the same rules whether you had a sleeve or bypass. I don't like the doctor on the nutrition team because she has static goals regardless of your personal abilities. I didn't get a "good job, you're getting closer to your goal of 80g protein and 800 cal." I got "It's been 6 months, you need to consume 100g of protein and 1200 cal." This was very disheartening because I told them my stomach would hurt from trying to force myself to eat the 3/4 cup portions she told me to eat and I felt like all I did all day was eat and drink and still wasn't reaching the prior goal. It passed me off and I just mentally told her to go to #&%$ and took it at my own speed. I found more help here than from her.

I had the sleeve and had to do a week as well. I was also allowed one small meal a day except the last day. I was only allowed protein drinks and decaf/sugar free liquids, but no fruit juice.

You look great! Was it the plane ride or poor work by your surgeon? I had my 360, breast lift with implants, and some fat transfer to my buttocks on 1/12 in Tijuana (I didn'thave enough fat for a BBL, but he did what he could and didn't charge for it). My surgeon didn't use drains. I stayed at a recovery home for 6 nights then went to my Dad's about 2.5 hours away so I only had the one follow up, but it all looks good so far. I'm planning on flying home on Friday. I have told the airline I need assistance to and from the gates and plan on only having a very light carry-on. Any advice for the trip home?

I don't remember the weight when my face got smaller, but I will say that I look 12 years older. I'm 59 and never looked my age. Getting bigger and bigger kept the wrinkles filled in. It bothers me because I'm not used to it. I have to look at other people my age and tell myself I don't look old, I just look my age.

Day 9 I didn't wash my compression garments yesterday because I just didn't feel up to messing with hand washing them. I had ordered an extra one from Amazon and had it delivered to my Dad's so I could take my time, but it didn't fit. I have another from a different brand that should arrive tomorrow. I did wash it today after my shower, but didn't get the blood out with the spray and wash. It wasn't a lot. Little dots along the incision line in the back and a bigger spot from the blister. My dad went and got me Neosporen and non-stick gauze. Maybe it will heal now if removing the gauze doesn't tear at it. I had to soak it just to get it off. I was surprised at how much it hurt without the compression garment. It wasn't terrible, but my new belly button had never hurt before, just the incisions in the front and my blister from the tape. I just feel tension on the back part of the incision. Didn't think I'd be happy to finally put it back on after it came out of the dryer. This particular brand can be washed and dried, which I didn't realize until today because the staff at the recovery home would take it away as soon as I took it off then immediately help me put it back on when they brought it back. Unless something noteworthy happens, I will probably not post for a few days.

I went through all my "small" clothes too. I was able to wear the smallest ones until about 10 pounds from my goal. When my pants fell down walking up the stairs with my arms full, I knew it was time to buy. I like Ross and thrift stores. I also bought from TEMU, though I return half of what I buy. TEMU ships from China and takes 2-3 weeks, so I had to predict my size or order something that would look good a little tight. My daughter in law and 2 of my friends are thrilled with their "new" wardrobes too. One of those friends is right behind me in her weight loss, so she really needed the clothes I gave her.

I felt like all I did was eat and drink. That was my job, all day long. My biggest problem was that if I slept in or my work was keeping my attention, I'd fall behind on my drinking. I was so glad when I could start drinking more at once. Do your best, just don't let yourself get dehydrated. I always have water and drink flavoring in the car. I drink best while driving and walking because I have nothing else to do. As some of the others say, I drink up until I.m about to eat. How long I wait to drink after depends on what and how much I ate. I get a warning hiccup if my stomach is full. If I don't stop, my stomach will hurt.

I had more intensive pre-surgery tests done for this surgery than any other. They will make sure you are healthy going in and have an entire team who are dedicated to making sure you are healthy when you come out. Most of my "pain" was gas and after the day of surgery, the discomfort was more annoying than anything. Coughing was the worse. If you cough, press against the larger incision. The worse part was actually the taste in my mouth in recovery, and they wouldn't give me water to rince with. They said it was the anesthesia, but I don't remember it ever being like that. Maybe because they would usually let me drink.

I have totally switched to collagen with the missing amino acid added. It isn't whey or dairy (grass fed beef collagen) and mixes best in warm liquids. I think it's tasteless, hubby says it's slightly sweet but doesn't have a "flavor" like whey protein. As a bonus, as well as being protein, it's good for joints, hair, nails and skin. 45 calories, 11g protein per scoop. 44 scoops per container. My dietitian approved it as long as I use one with the missing amino acid. I get mine from Amazon. Price just went up to $27. I get it for $24 with subscribe and save. Are we allowed to share links here? I'll just copy and paste the description. Giant Sports Collagen Peptide Powder - Hydrolyzed Complete All Essential Amino Acids with L-Tryptophan

I have really smelly gas too. My doctor has me eating 100g protein a day. Almost everything I eat is protein and usually the only veggie I eat is green beans. I almost never eat potatoes, pasta, or rice. I consulted Dr. Google and found out that excessive protein will make your gas smelly. It isn't supposed to give you more gas though. Some fruits and fructose can cause bad gas too. You may already know that a high fiber diet, lactose (dairy), beans and some veggies do too.

Day 8 Returned to my Dad's in S.CA. I asked a couple times about my med pass. The doctor said the recovery home would have it. Linda said my driver would have it. Don't take anything for granted. The first thing I did when the driver got there was ask if he had my Med Pass. His response was "You don't have it?" I asked the girl who walked me to the car if she had it and she said "Your doctor didn't give it to you?" She got in the car with us and called Linda, who had gone out of town for a few days. Linda got back to her promptly and told her it was a QR code and the driver had it. All of us thought it was a printed pass. The driver did have it. Mexico is still making improvements for medical tourism, maybe the QR codes are new. We drove by all the cars waiting in line at the border. The med lane ends close to the front of the line. It took us about 30 minutes instead of hours to get across the border. I had the driver drop me off at Starbucks at The America's Outlet Mall right by the border ($60 US) and my Dad picked me up there about 20 min later. We had a 2 hour drive to his house. I leaned back the best I could during both drives and at Starbucks, but my stitches were hurting when we got there and I was glad to lie down. I didn't pull a stitch or anything, it was just a lot of activity, bumps and a few quick stops.

Days 6 & 7 Yesterday was just another day. I slept around meds and feedings until about 3pm then binge watched Netflix. I'm still sore, but managing. Today I had my post surgery follow up with my surgeon, Dr. Rodolfo Castillo Calderon. He said I'm moving extremely well and warned me to take it slow and not bend. I found out I was using the BBL pillow wrong. He didn't transfer much, but I'm hoping I didn't kill it. He had told me I didn't need a BBL pillow since I work from home and have soft cushions and explained how to use pillows, but my pillows kept shifting at night so I wanted a BBL pillow anyway. You are supposed to support your weight on your thighs and let your butt hang. I chose the circular pillow and it puts pressure all the way around, including fat transfer spots. The BBL pillows are more like yoga blocks than bed pillows, very firm. I also got another lecture on the importance of belly button cleaning and stuffing it with gauze to keep it dry. He was annoyed that the staff at my recovery house used tape to hold the gauze when the compression garment would have held it in place without. He put some antibiotic on the open blister and covered it. If I were staying longer I'd have another follow-up or two. The stitches will dissolve and he didn't use drains. The pain meds I was given are available here over the counter, so I asked the staff to call the pharmacy and order me a couple boxes. I have the written prescription in case they stop me at the US border.

Spaghetti! That's what I forgot.

Day and night 5, Food and Meds The website said everyone speaks English, but 2 of 3 assigned to me don't speak much of it. We use Google translate, which is close enough to get it across. I didn't take a shower yesterday because I didn't like being helped with it and I figured since I sat in bed all day, at worse, I had a few crumbs. I suggest you do shower every day to keep an eye on your incisions. The really itchy spot turned out to be a blister. I've never been alergic to tape, but I have a couple blisters under the tape they used to hold gauze on.I'm able to get in bed without hurting now. I'm hoping it isn't just because I'm on pain meds. Starting day 3, I've been walking 2 or 3 times a day for a few minutes. Today, I walked for 15 minutes. Needless to say, I walk slow and hunched over. They gave me compression socks at the hospital, and I thought I put them in my bag when I got dressed, but I didn't. I tend to sleep most of the day and work and watch TV at night and go to sleep for the night after midnight meds. Before coming, I sent them dietary needs and asked if I could bring my own breakfast. I told them I'd had gastric sleeve and can only eat 6oz at a time, and no eggs or seafood. Unless you are adventurous or bring your own food as a backup, I suggest you be specific as to what you want to eat. I've had chicken or turkey, potatoes and salad 3 times (OK); soup 3 times, veg, chicken veg with barley, and veg with a big meatball (OK); tostados with weird stuff on it twice (not OK); I'm missing one meal, I think I told them I wasn't hungry and they asked if I'd like ice cream (I said yes and they brought a small bowl). For breakfast they make what I brought for breakfast, protein oatmeal and add a scoop of collagen with the added missing amino acid (they always use too much water). In addition to the oatmeal and collagen protein powder, I brought cheese and crackers, pure Protein Protein bars, and beef jerkey (I'm a rebel. It's low in fat, high in protein, low calorie, I spit out gristle, and if they ever have to cut a ball of gristle from my stomach then I'll give up beef). In the hospital, my doc gave me meds. The 2 antibiotics were to be taken every 8 hours, but not together and with food. The pain pills was take #1 and if it isn't enough take #2 2 hours later. #3 was only 3 pills and were the strongest and only to be taken at night if the pain was excruciating. I turned them over to the nurse at the house. They give me both #1 and #2 pain pills every time (6am, 8am, 2pm, 4pm, 10pm, midnight). I didn't object because I want to be as pain free as possible and they don't make me fuzzy). When they wake me up at 6am they give me fruit or peanut butter toast so I have something in my stomach. They don't bring food at the other times, but they know that I eat my snacks between meals.

Day and night 4. I'm getting better at getting in and out of bed. As long as I am taking my time and remembering to bring the foot of the bed back down, it's almost painless. I've started getting back in bed by doing the reverse and it does hurt. I haven't pooped since a couple days before my surgery, so I asked for stool softners twice. Morning of day 5 and still haven't, so will ask for more. Adjusting position on the bed is challenging. By using both feet and my elbows and being careful not to use my stomach, I can move up, down, left, or right without pain. I can't sit up more or even pull the hair out from behind me without hurting though. If I want to add a pillow so I can sit up straighter to eat, I have to get up. During the night the bra compression garment started cutting in painfully. I also have a couple spots that have begun to itch.

Thank you. I'll keep posting updates.

I just edited it to add how I get back in bed.

Thanks for sharing. In a little over a week I'll undergo a 360 with a breast lift and implants and these are very encouraging. I admit to being afraid of the pain too, but everyone has said that it's worth it. I figure if they could do it, so can I.