general_antiope

Fanny thank you so much for the suggestion! I will get some magnesium and try it out. I read a lot about RLS and don't like to take medicine if I need to but minerals would work for me. Skinny, I've always been intolerant of cold since my lap band surgery. Honestly if I am anything less than comfortable or toasty warm I turn into an angry shrew. I absolutely hate being cold, would rather be in pain. LOL. The temp here has dropped horribly (for PA) and I crank my heat up. I glare at the dog when she wants to go out and we make it as brief as possible. She's learning to pee quickly even though she wants to stay outside and freeze her little toes off. I noticed at night I was going from hot to cold, sweaty to shivering the first two weeks after surgery, but then I was fully clothed and under blankets and hadn't found the right ratio of clothes to fan to heat. Off to take a hot shower and blow dry my hair Will try to get pics.

Thanks skinny Last night was interesting. First of all, I think I am figuring out the problem...I must have a small food allergy or something cause the restless body feeling stops around 3 - 4 am. I might be eating too close to bedtime. I'm only eating 2 meals a day, just not terribly interested in food, and taking advantage of it. So I'm going to try to eat at 5pm and only drink Water. Also, there is noticeable improvement in my scar movement. I can stretch about 85% to 90% of how much I want to stretch, and it makes me feel great. I was able to sleep on my side last night, and turning from one position to another doesn't cause me any discomfort like it did. My armpit holes are about 90% healed now. When I stretch to reach for things I don't feel that unpleasant tugging at the hole. And the creepy arm stitches feeling is almost gone cause they're flattening out more every day. Much of the redness has disappeared on my stitches all over in the past 48 hours, so despite my battle with insomnia, my body IS getting the job done. Last night's battle was with my left breast, the one that's healing slowly. It is a ITCH FEST on the nipple. Sweet mother of god, this could be a torture technique at Gitmo. So not even kidding. I have what appears to be a teensy hole on the areola that is healing the same way my armpit did, with the yellowish healing matrix and all. But the itching and sensitivity on this breast is through the roof. I couldn't tolerate any fabric on it last night. I was in the bath at 9pm running warm water over it, putting lotion on the dry parts of the skin, tossing and turning, wailing at the ceiling, in the bath again at 12:30... But they say the itching is healing. And I'm putting up with it. Lord almighty heh. I did get some sleep last night. Once it settled down, again around 4am, I slept a solid 3 hours on my side with no restlessness. Now I'm overly tired cause I think I spent too long in bed. So that's the haps. I think today or tomorrow I will take week 3 pics and show you guys closeups of the awesome scarring and flattening "hems" that are happening. It's nice to see progress!!!

My nips are hypersensitive, too...but I'm starting to get feeling back everywhere else, in my hips and stuff, slowly but surely. I'm sure your nipsies will come back!! :biggrin:

And damn, did I just crash. All the sleep deprivation just turned me 180 degrees. Gonna try to power nap right now. Ugh. Amazing how fast that happens.

Hey skinny! By popping stitches I mean the tensile strength of the outside stitches is fading...it's like a drawstring going slack. It gives me much more comfort! I wake up and see white or clear stitches poking out of my skin...doesn't hurt...I just snip them off. Last night I was still restless til 4am, but I WAS able to sleep on my favorite right side for an hour or so with no discomfort! That improved the quality of the sleep immeasurably. Looks like it really is my back griping about doing all the work in the recovery. So I'm going to talk to my chiro tomorrow and see if he can do a gentle realignment, or at least use that fabulous massager on my back. I want to stretch really big, soooo bad...but I can't do it all the way yet. I wonder if part of this restless feeling is just frustrated muscles. I was very active before, lots of sun salutes and such. All this inactivity makes me a little crazy. Today I feel pretty good. Walking the dog caused no pain whatsoever, even when she was being a turd and yanking on me. I felt like my old self, back in control. So we walked a little longer today. I made a huge list of things I HOPE to accomplish today, and I'm now off and running before I turn into a couch lump again. Going to work for a few hours, try to sort through the last three weeks. OH! I got some before pics from my doctor. I posted some to the makemeheal site. OMG. What a freaking difference. I am SO, SO, SO glad I got this done!!!! I remember living with all that skin around my belly and hating it, because I knew I was slimmer under there. Clothes didn't sit right. My arms were pretty loose. Nothing horrible, but bad enough for me to feel major insecurity when thinking about dating a man. Ironically they sent me the before pictures from my first consult, when I was 195. I got the surgery done weighing 215 :biggrin: right now I weigh 200, with all this Fluid and crap, so I'm pretty sure I'm down in the 190s right now. I look the same size except more streamlined. Docs say I should lose no more than another 10 lbs while I'm healing towards the 3 month mark. That would put me in the 180s...we'll see how I look!

Hi jujuvee, yes I am...Kate Campbell in Exton, PA. To everyone: Just a general plea not to post any of my Make Me Heal pics on facebook. Too public!!! I'm comfortable sharing here, but there are lots of um, boys especially, who I don't wanna seeing my goodies...not without them paying me proper respect anyway. LOL. And dinner. Bunny wants to wrangle some Bang Bang Shrimp out of a fool before he gets to see the bewbs. crzytchr: Wow thanks, I feel like all I do is whine. The pain is not horrible. It's well controlled with meds. Thing is, it's just so WEIRD and uncomfortable. I have been having phantom itches on skin that no longer exists, lol. Right now, I'm struggling with sleep issues, which is making me apathetic, lethargic, and a little grumpy. I have some restless leg going on in my legs, arms and back from only sleeping on my back. Still can't sleep on my side, tho I tried a little last night. I know I keep saying it but every day it IS a little better. Even today when i get up from sitting for a while, it doesn't take as long to stretch out the hunched over feeling. Tiny but noticeable increments. I would do it again. I can see how great this will be when I'm done healing...I just wish I was better prepared for the length of healing. For arms, bewbs, and a body lift, expect 3-4 weeks of being jacked up. No way around it. But more stitches are popping on me every day and the redness is gone from one of my arm stitches and the scar is just AWEsome. Tiny!!!! Can't wait to see it all healed. It'll be worth it, of that I have no doubt. the healing now is a nuisance more than anything. Heh. I'm lucky tho, no complications. Kate

How exciting!!! Eight days!!! You should have no problem typing or writing, the tough parts are just reaching. Arm and bewb stitches should start popping and losing strength in the next 1.5 weeks. I already am having some stitches pop, and I cut them off with some suture scissors. The belly stitches will probably take another month, they're a bigger gauge. So you're getting bewbs and arms? or just arms?

My arms are healing slowest in my opinion. The armpits are closing noticeably, so that creepy sticky feeling of the healing matrix is lessening. It does sometimes feel like there's a bunch of clothespins on my arm, a general tight feeling, but it's not that bad...easily ignorable. Just "weird." Yesterday and today I've been having pain in the lower right abdomen...a pulsing, throbbing pain that was aggravated whenever I lifted or walked. Doc says "You're overdoing it again aren't you???" and says it's most likely scar tissue as long as I am not short of breath. So I'm sitting here like a lump watching more TV than I ever have in my life. On the upshot, I found a couple of infomercial items I now want to buy...a device to help me paint walls easier (point n paint!) and some closet organizational items. Someone call an intervention if I start raving about those shake weights. I can do most everything with my arms except stretch/reach. Gotta be careful washing my hair and blow drying it, I can feel the stitches straining. Truly, it improves a tiny bit each day...or I'm getting used to it. How long til your surgery, Mimi??

I cannot believe it took you 27 hours!! Did you miss Christmas??

So Allie. Here you are more than a month from surgery. What would you tell people who are curious about getting PS for extra skin but who are afraid of surgery?

Hey Allie thank you so much YES I am feeling hotter as time goes on. Can't wait for the swelling to go down, my hips are so swollen I can't keep underwear or pants on. They really took any ass that I might have had, and my pants, now that the drains are out, are all falling off my butt!!! WTF!!! So I'm playing with some exercise routines to start in a few weeks when I'm cleared for working out to add mass on my hiney. LOL. Lunges and squats will soon become my best friends. Doc says the swelling will go down and give me more curve in the back. In the meantime I call myself "Tubey McTuberson." Small price to pay for all the good I got done :thumbup: Still not sleeping through the night, the thick incision around my waist goes numb and wakes me up. I'm sure it'll ease up when the stitches eventually dissolve and flatten out. It's exhausting for the moment. I'm going to take pics of the stitches on the side of my boob that HAVE flattened out. Oh, my, lawd the scar is VERY thin and is already fading - it's not dark pink or red. Guess these dudes knew what they were doing. Will let you know when I have them up. Skinny, lol yeah I dunno about the post op thing. I know I Didn't Feel Right and I guess I was trying to shake it off. Ha.

WOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DRAINS ARE OUUTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111111111 lol. Oh man thank god. It was minimally aggravating but I got through it. Each drain had its own pain. First, they numbed the openings...which I did not feel. Hooray for numb skin, LMAO. Who wants to feel a needle in their vajayjay? Not me. That was a pleasant surprise. The right drain had a startling moment of EEEK when I felt tugging/tearing on internal tissue in my back...like skin had overgrown the drain. Good news was, the pain was instantaneous....stopped immediately. More good news: nothing ripped, Doc said it was a good thing (liar, people say that when birds shit on you, too...still a LIE. What is good about bird shit?!?! Nothing!) and it meant the tunnel was closing up, that it's not totally a good sign if your drain comes out easily. The second drain hurt at the opening, burned. But that side just seems like it was uber sensitive anyway, cause the first drain that came out of that side stung, too. But nothing unbearable. I tried to make a joke out of it in the moment and said "FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUDGE." Like Ralphie in A Christmas Story. Guess Doc was concentrating, not even a chuckle. I do feel tons better...I hope I sleep better tonight. Docs told me a story of Me After Surgery. Apparently I was quite "belligerent" on the table and kept trying to get up and fight them after I was brought out of anesthesia. LOL. The Phys Asst told me it was kind of funny...and now that he says it, I feel like I have very faint memories of people yelling at me and me just being stupendously pissed off. I remember people saying "Stop moving, Kate" lol. They say I'm healing fabulously well. In addition, I've been given a green light for having my nightly baths...the doc says nothing's really going to get IN or go very far, but since I am bleeding a little from my drain holes I'll give it a few days to calm down. I'm a bath ho. It's my nightly bath ritual...might be why I am not sleeping right! I need my lavendar aromatherapy, dammit. Have a great holiday, everyone!

Thanks skinny I like how low the scar is. I'll take more pics of the belly incision once the drains are out tomorrow. I do have before pics, but my doctor has them. I asked for them but they are super busy...I'll mention it again tomorrow. It is a drastic, drastic difference. But when I get them, you'll see how majorly they changed my mons. It's so small now. Hopefully I can have them email the before pics tomorrow...and I'm sure I'll be prancing when these DAMN drains are out. lol. Our bellies do look very similar

I can't thank you guys enough for all the support. I really felt better listening to all the words of encouragement. I took some pics today, I'm beginning to like them. My belly is ridiculously swollen. I have this fantasy that it's all one giant seroma. lol. oh well. I love the side/profile pics, I can't believe those are my bewbs. I know if I lose another 30 lbs that I will have more sag. My thighs may need a lift then, too. But I'm feeling better about things in general. The Works, Arm Lift, Brachioplasty, Reduction, Breast Lift, Mastopexy, Pictures, Photos pass: th3workz

Hi Skinny! Checked out your week 5 pics. I have a few stretchmarks as well below my belly button, I never heard of Strivectin...does it work?? I also have stretch marks on my bewbs, figured I'd have to live with it. How is your swelling now? I guess you have another 8 weeks before it's all gone...does the doc know approximately how many lbs or inches of swelling you still have?

Fanny you look GREAT!!! I am so impressed you're out there partying it up 12 days after surgery! You must have one amazing doc :tongue: How do you like your D cups? Getting used to them yet?

Allie I especially liked the part about feeling you match on the outside who you are on the inside. I can feel some of that right now! I'm sure it will improve with more drainage, too, whether I lose more weight or not. You are having such a great time and it's so fun to watch you come out of your shell. You've arrived. You're there. Congratulations on making it out of morbid obesity, honey, you have BEATEN THE ODDS!!! You took back your life. I am so happy for you!

Hi mimi - lol I have NO IDEA how I'm supposed to deal with the armpit hair right now. They actually made my armpit smaller. They took out a bunch of sweat glands and told me I prolly won't need anti-perspirant anymore. Or need to shave. But I have a very, very thin line of hair growing next to my scar. I'm not touching it right now, just gonna let it go all Tina Turner if it has to. Maybe I can look into a medspa to remove that hair permanently. I can't imagine shaving the scar area and feeling remotely good about it! Docs said if anything, I might want to use deodorant, but I won't be sweating from mah pits anymore. Total bonus. So right now I'm totally granola. No makeup, no deodorant, no shaving, no bra, no underwear. I am as trampy as ever. lol. I did my hair once and I was pooped for two hours afterwards...so I let it air dry curly and hideous. Oh well :tongue: I'm healing. who cares.

Hi ladies...yeah wow, it all came crushing down on me today. I'm having trouble keeping up with my life ... I'm not sleeping well (up every 3 hours to pee, uncomfortable, etc as I have no meds) and the simple act of showering, dressing myself, grooming, feeding and walking the dog only long enough for her to pee is draining me by 10 am. Aunt Flo arrived today and I am dealing with mega cramps, which feel funny because my abdomen is numb, so I can't tell, literally, what the pain is from...could be constipation, ab muscle, a signal to pee....??? LOL. I keep going to the bathroom and am surprised at whatever it is my body needs. It's a guessing game. I try to make it fun. I managed to get some loose boy shorts on to handle Aunt Flo and some pads...had some misery where it was pulling on my drain's suture...but today I just lost my shit. I lost it. I have been bawling all day, by myself, enjoying my misery and feeling like I'm on the edge. letting it all out...I'm sure it's partly my period, partly the aftereffects of surgery, partly the need to drain more Fluid, and a lot o it is just being freaking fed up with EVERY move and breath I take being accompanied by pain and struggle. It's not terrible, it's not debilitating, but every simple thing I try to do is just a fight. I feel like I've been fighting since I woke up from surgery and push-push-pushing. So, I had a number of ridiculous big crying episodes today and was glad nobody was around to witness it. On top of all this stress, my dad, who I work for, has not paid me in 2 weeks and it caused a money jam. He was not open to talking about paying me (his company's in trouble) and now I'm starting to wonder how the hell I'm going to survive. Just feels like it all clobbered me at once, today. It got a little funny tonight after dinner when I thought I was recovered and I realized I was watching Marley&Me and was bawling my EYES out at the death scene of the dog...I was howling "WHY AM I WATCHING THIS TODDAAAAYYYYY"...kind of funny :tongue: But let's look at the positives. First, it truly is easier to walk around every day, my pain and tightness has lessened. My arms don't feel quiiiite as creepy, or tingly-sore-weird to the touch, my bewbs of course are rocking the hotness, things ARE healing every day. I'm also finally done with the Lovenox injections. They were making me considerably nauseous and eating was just out of the question this week. I went into the hospital at 216, this morning I weighed 200. Even with my swelling I'm still dropping weight, I'm sure I'm technically already in the 190s. My face is looking thinner, and I still am in love with the proportions of my shoulders, the slope of my bewbs, the thinner-ness of my arms. I have pranced carefully once or twice topless in the bathroom mirror. I am sooo looking forward to going clothes shopping, even for an interim outfit. If I get home soon enough on Xmas eve I will brave some stores and try on clothes. Why not? I need an outfit for Christmas, maybe it's the spirit lift I need. Fanny, I'm not sure why it's different. I got a full belt lipectomy...they took off a significant amount of skin (13 lbs) and I definitely skated the line trying to recover from the loss of blood volume, praps that is delaying my recovery? Plus you were (smart) in the hospital for a week, I bet they kept your blood volume up with the liquids. How has your swelling been? Skinnyjeans - Yeah I'm doing everything. Tomorrow I really need to vacuum, dust, do some web design, change the sheets on my bed...and I'm probably going to get some coffee and sit down at my computer and see if I can afford to have a maid service come in to clean my place. Another great thing is that I did have the foresight to hire a service to come in and run the dog. Today a marathon runner showed up to kick my dog's ass. It was her first run...and she did reallly well. She came back in smiling like I've never seen her smile, so I have them lined up for a few days this week to help keep the dog tired so I don't have to walk her as much. Allie, I wonder if your lifting restrictions are cause of your implants? I don't have implants to the bewb healing has been uneventful. With the exception of a stray stitch poking out of my nipple, they're fine. they don't hurt in the least and the swelling has gone down. I definitely have not gotten any policies about lifting stuff, they just want me to take it easy on the pulling of the stitches. It's not hard...I can tell the difference when a certain motion uses my muscles, or if it uses my skin, you know? OK ladies. I hope I'm all cried out and wake up feeling awesome tomorrow. Tomorrow is the last day of having these drains in...then Thursday I'm driving for FREEDOM. Thanks for listening to all the whining. The good, the bad, the ugly...this is reality I guess :biggrin: I am soooo SOOOOOSOOOSOSOSOSOSOSOOOOO glad the majority of the pain is over. There were a few days there where I could hear a tiny voice going "what the HELL HAVE WE DONE?" But I'm glad I did it all at once, I'm glad I had no concept of how uncomfortable I was going to be, cause, yeah I prolly would not have done it unless I had someone living with me to care for me. I'm a little miffed at the doctors for not adequately preparing me for this, especially when I asked them on multiple occasions what my concerns were. So I have about 2 - 4 more weeks til the stitches in my arms and bewbs start popping and losing their strength. Can't wait to ogle my bewbs. Another 6 weeks til the belly stitches are gone and it starts to flatten. OH! Did I mention I like my belly button? It doesn't look all perfectly circular and fake, looks pretty good. OK I think I have exhausted myself out. Will try to sleep now. Kate

Hi ladies, here's an update I'm driving and home and independent again, much to the surprise of my docs. They told me most people who get what I got done are down and out for 2-3 weeks, apparently I am progressing fast. I was thinking if you didn't expect me to be mobile then why only 5 days of percocets?! Hmpf. Would have been NICE to know I could have taken it easier...I pushed myself. I tried to take some pics but I am so swollen still, it's just kind of depressing now. lol. My right side is healing faster than the left, my right breast and arm stitches are healthy and pink and flattening out...the left side is like 4 days behind. It's crazy. I am still draining significantly from my first two drain holes. The doc says I may have some seromas, or clogged drains. possibly both. But I can't get up to see them til Christmas Eve, so, four more days of these horrid drains I can't wait to get out!! I have had a little separation in my armpits...docs say it's incredibly common and always heals. Just creepy to see a hole there...but I'm not in pain. The tightness in my arms has lessened and I'm not restricted...I can carry groceries, drive, dress myself, walk the dog. I'm not sure if I'm doing more than I should, but I can so I do. lol. The one thing I'm bummed about is that the docs are leaning on me to NOT lose more weight. They said no more than 10 lbs in the next 3 months. And then maybe no more than another 10 total...I'm sure its cause it will affect my results, maybe my bewbs will get a little droopier again but it will never be what it was pre-surgery. I just don't like the prospect of staying 180 lbs. That wasn't the plan when I got my band fixed...I want to get fit and help other people, be athletic...but I'm going to just relax over it and see how things pan out. maybe I'll be happy, maybe I won't...but I am definitely happy with what I have now. the biggest thing I like is watching my biceps, triceps and delts move when I do something silly like pick up my purse or pet the cat. It's the way it's supposed to be, it makes me feel more connected to my body, you know? To be able to see normal stuff like my muscles moving. Heh. I would love to see what happens to my flat belly when I lose more weight and develop my abs...will I get a waist?? These things I want to know. Sure hope Aunt Flo holds off til I can get the drains out...Not wearing underwear is not conducive to Girl Time. LOL. OK that's all I got...gonna try to sleep, I went down in a 2.5 hour nap today out of nowhere.

Thanks ladies. What a day. This morning my mom just took two of my drains out - It only hurt some on the one side, I was breathing through it like labor and was fine The other side just felt like pressure. The change is IMMEDIATE. I am more comfortable moving, even with two still in. Today is the first day I feel like I don't need pain medication. I've been struggling with constipation despite stool softeners and laxatives. We had a break through last night lol. Amazing how good you feel. AAHHHHhhhhhhhhh... I'm off all meds right now, and am out of my bra. Things are healing nicely, no infections. Looking forward to going out to Breakfast with mom today. I may be on track to go home this weekend. We'll see...we know how I like to overdo it Thanks for the info, Allie and Skinny! I seem to have needed meds a little longer than others. But today I feel completely clean and not sore. Can't get over how fast it changes. Mm, now my stomach is rumbling for some eggs! The next two drains will come out next week - depending on how the next week goes, I may just take a train and a cab to the docs. There's no way I wanna sit in Christmas Eve traffic so close to New York! Love everyone! woo hoo out of the woods!!!! :ohmy: Kate

Mimi, the surgeons are 2 hours away in Hackensack. I'm in Philly. I traveled to NYU as well to get my band. I'm just into research and finding the best people in a reasonable distance. If I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna find the best docs :thumbup: Found out later Hackensack is one of the top 50 hospitals in the US. It showed...the care was excellent and the food menu for patients was elaborate, lol. GREAT food. Yes, I just said great hospital food!!

Hi Fanny, let us know how it goes. So far, my volume appears to be equal and my nips are even, but one nipple is sliightly bigger than the other. I can't tell if its from the sutures or what, but I could live with it. Now that my swelling is going down in the bewbs I definitely look more natural and less implanty. Interested to see how it may still change as I lose more weight. How is your pain level right now?? Are you off your meds yet?

Hey Allie :thumbup: So how long post op were you able to drive? Be off meds? I can't wait to get two of the drains out tomorrow. It's so bulky, I look like I had a sex change operation, LOL. I'm planning on driving up to N Jersey to get my last 2 drains out and a progress check on Christmas Eve. I'll be almost 3 weeks post op. Do you think I'm pushing it?

It felt like my major swelling was fri and sat. My bewbs have drained some and look better. My face arms and hands are almost normal....and two drains are starting to deplete. Drain 1 is barely putting out one ml for the past two days, drain 3 is at like 30 - 35 a day and dropping. Drains 2 & 4 are still at 100+ a day so it's obvious which ones are coming out first! I felt really good today. The majority of my walking was almost straight up. I take a minute or two to stretch but I am gaining stamina frighteningly quickly. I walked around pottery barn for half hour, then succumbed to the car and a nap, but then helped make meatballs for my mom (I declined since meat binds me up and I'm about to take 3 dulcolax tonite!) and a few hours later pitched in with the dishes. So far I can care for myself except getting pants and socks on, and some bandages. Feeling pretty positive with these improvements that I may be off mess by Friday which is my goal. I'm surprised at how much I can do with my arms, so I do it but try not to push it. On the mend! How is your cold, skinny?