altopower

My bandiversary is 10/29 so it's almost two years. I lost a lot of weight and had plastics in March (panniculectomy and arms) that ended up with some complications. One of those was a serious infection in the port area that ended up with surgery on 8/2. Not emergency but, well, I saw the lapband doc on Monday and he told me we were going to surgery the next day. It was a bigger deal than I'd realized. Fortunately the band itself had not eroded at all and the port was in perfect condition; it was just the pocket around it that was a big mess of infection. My wound was 5.7 cm deep and an inch and a half wide post-op and it's still open a wee bit even after 2 months. I'm now scheduled to get a new port on 11/22 so I can use Thanksgiving holidays to stay home and recover. I've lost a lot of work time this year already and I don't want to aggravate my boss. I started eating poorly after the plastics because I was terrified of having PB's while I was recovering with that big abdominal incision. Ice cream was so tasty and went down so smoothly and it led to other unhealthy choices. I really miss having my band work and am having to really work super hard to get rid of these 15 lbs that went on so fast. It's scary how fast it will come back. Obviously I have not really absorbed the eating changes that I thought I had. Looking forward to seeing how others are doing!

This was very helpful. I talked with my surgeon today about scheduling the port replacement but in my case, it was because I had a serious infection in the port area but the port itself was fine. He is 97% sure that the infection came from plastic surgery, which I had in early March (panniculectomy and bilateral arm lifts). I've had an open wound for 7 weeks with another 2 likely for it to close completely. That has to heal first before we move on to the next one. I'm glad to see the difference between regular and low profile ports. I'm going to ask for the latter, since I've lost so much since the original lapband surgery. I didn't know what to expect in terms of pain and ability to eat post-op (didn't want to have to go through the "sip 2 oz every 4 hours" stuff if I didn't have to! This revision surgery certainly sounds painful but easier. Thanks for posting!

My left shoulder/neck pain lessened a lot post-op (10/29/9/09) but a month ago I had sudden surgery to remove a big infection in my lapband port area. I've had severe gas pains at first in the shoulder but then down to the belly area, kind of moving around from place to place. I don't think there is much if anything I can do about it. It's definitely better than it was immediately post-op but I'm expecting to have this for quite a long time. The best way to ease the pain is to get up and move around, and to massage the sore area. Apparently this isn't unique to bariatric surgery. There are a lot of other patients of laproscopic procedures such as appendectomies who also have the same gas pain issues. Doesn't make mine easier to know that but at least I know it's not JUST us.

I had my brachioplasty in CT on March 3, 2011 and my scars already don't bother me. My surgeon used Tegaderm over both the arm and the panniculectomy scars for 2.5 months, and it made a HUGE difference in the smoothness of the scar. The lower one isn't raised at ALL while the arms still are a little bumpy - but not much, and it's already fading. We also used compression with ace bandages on both arms for about a month. It was starting to drive me crazy coz wrapping Ace bandages one-armed (and that one also post-op) was challenging. The bandage kept falling off or cutting off my circulation! I would do this again in a heartbeat and I hadn't really thought about doing it at all until the doctor suggested it. One of my lapband doctor's nurses told me that if insurance didn't pay for it, that I should pay for it myself to piggyback on the panniculectomy surgery. Already being in the OR and having the surgeon & anesthesiologist. would seriously reduce the costs. The surgeon said we should go ahead and ask for it since it was my first plastic surgery post-lapband and I was lucky that insurance DID pay for it. I was told later by my primary care doctor that the plans were changing and it was unlikely that the arms would have been covered effective the new fiscal year (which we are now in). I just squeaked by!

Oops, I thought I had posted but obviously forgot! I finally got my drains out at the five week point. One was clearly ready to come one, collecting only 20cc or so a day. The other one had more, above the 30cc target, but the doc thought they should both be removed because it had been 5 weeks. I'm finding that I'm a lot more swollen and am keeping an eye on things to see if it's "jiggly like waves" which means Fluid easily removed by a needle. Mostly I feel tight and stretched and in need of a serious diuretic! If things haven't gotten better by Monday, I'm going to give the office a call. So sorry you are still draining about 150cc a day - is that total or in each drain? Because i was also draining about 140-160cc total at 4 weeks, now that I think of it. Hang in there, you WILL get past it! In a word - yes. At least for the thighs, tho the stomach area is okay. I just try to move a bit more and it helps. But then I forget and I'm stiff again. You're not alone. Good luck with it! Anne

I have to be at 30cc daily total per drain for it to go. I know for sure that #2 will come out, since it's down to 25 cc/day (and last week it was at 65, so there's definitely a change!). Drain #4 still produces 55-60 cc but it, too, is lower than last week. The doctor did say something last week about possibly taking them both out this week because it will be 5 weeks by then. We'll see what happens. Thanks for the support (as I sit and drink my Breakfast Protein shake). Much as I hate the stupid drains, I know they're doing their job. It would be nice to have more options of things to wear, tho!

Hi, it's me again. I'm now 4.5 weeks out and STILL have two of my drains, one of which I know I will lose this week and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the other will, too. I wish I'd known about pushing Protein pre and post op. I barely ate my first week and didn't eat much the second, either - but I could definitely have made Protein shakes. Except my arms didn't bend well and it hurt to shake the blender bottle! The other thing I could have done more of was milk the drains. I did it but was afraid I'd pull them out so didn't do it nearly as much as I could have. I admit to being pretty obsessed with it now, and look! the drain(s) are coming out. I probably did too much too fast as well, but since I live alone, there really weren't a lot of options for me. Protecting the belly meant using the arms and visa versa. Let's just say I'm happy I'm this far out and not back where I was. Julie, you asked Answer is yes! but I figured out that it's a combo of swelling (and numbness) and the fact that the TT pulled the skin BELOW the incision line up, making the pubic area look like I'm wearing a codpiece. The swelling does seem to be going down and I'm hoping that when the binder goes away, it will help. After all, when the binders on and squeezing us in the middle, the stuff has to go somewhere! Hope you're doing okay.

I had the arm lifts and tummy tuck (but very little muscle work) on March 2, 2011 so I'm almost 3 weeks post op. You DEFINITELY want to stay overnight, and you will need to be sure you have someone to help you when you get home. I was lucky to be sent from the surgical center to the university health center infirmary for four nights, and having help, especially trained staff, deal with surgical drains, getting me up and down, and dealing with pain control was a godsend. My surgeon said that it's the muscle work that adds to the healing and pain for the TT patient. If it's mostly skin, it heals faster and hurts less. Ask your doctor how much work he's planning to do, muscle-wise. I'd put three weeks off as a minimum. You're having multiple procedures that will heal at different times. You want to be sure you can get around easily and sit comfortably. I'm planning to go back on Thurs. of this week, which will be 3 weeks plus give me two work days and a weekend to help rest up if I need it. Good luck!

Hi guys - I'm 2.5 weeks out from a tummy tuck and bilateral arm lifts. I got 4 drains from the TT (out of the butt, which is not comfortable) and was able to get rid of 2 of them at 2 weeks. But I still have two and they are collecting up a lot of Fluid, which makes me concerned that the doctor won't remove them on Tuesday. I know this is an important part of healing, but I can't help but wonder: Is there something I can/should be doing to help move the fluid along and out of me? Change what I eat or how I move? I could really use any advice before I go crazy. Thanks in advance!

Thanks! I'm a side sleeper and am hoping I can actually sleep on my back, elevated at both ends. And that the cat doesn't think I'm doing it for her!

How long do I need to have the head elevated post-op? I did get a bed wedge pillow but am just curious how long it will be needed. My TT and brachioplasty are in 3 days. Thanks!