I'm in Swell Hell, and other musings from recent plastics

[MichiganChic 3,262]

Well, I'm 6 days out from a breast lift/augmentation and bilateral medial thigh lift (with the long inner thigh incision). I had abdominplasty, butt lift and bilateral brachioplasty last August. The swelling from the first surgery in August was just starting to go down, and now it's back in full force! I'm up about 15 pounds from my lowest weight, and I have to say, it's the swelling that is miserable! And, the Water weight went directly to my arms and abdomen and hips, as well as the thighs and breasts. Basically, everything that I've worked on is a magnet for Fluid retention. I feel like a stuffed sausage.

However, this second surgery is much easier to recover from that the first - night and day difference! Even with two large drains still in my groin, I'm not feeling too bad!

One of the reasons I decided to do this it to feel "finished". I hate it when I can't complete something I set out to do, and I just felt so incomplete with all the loose skin. While I'll never have a perfect body, that was never my goal. I think my surgeon got me closer than I even hoped. I also believe that it will help me maintain my weight loss. While it's no guarantee, I do think that it might help, but I guess only time will tell.

For anyone considering plastics, there is a lot to think about. I had some open wounds from the first surgery that took nearly 4 months to heal, but I still think it was worth it. I have swelling that I find miserable, but even if it lasts a year, it's temporary, and it's way better than loose skin. And I do have a lot of scars, but they are fading, and will continue to do so. That loose, flabby skin was never going to tighten on it's own. I feel much better in my skin now, even with the swell hell I'm in.

So, while I thought I'd come here to complain about it, I also have to say I don't regret it! Things haven't settled into place yet, but even still, I look way better than before. Even though it's a difficult surgery to recover from, I'd do it again (but thank goodness I don't have to, lol!) Thanks for listening!

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

People always ask me... how painful was plastics. Actually, I had very little pain. Like you - the real challenge is how long it takes to recover. My wounds healed up fine - no openings - stiches were all gone by 21 days post op and no wound issues AT ALL.

My swelling wasn't even that bad...however, recovery from plastics is HUGE.

I am looking forward to hearing about how you feel about your thighs. I did the small lift and while I am so glad I don't have the long scars, i sure do wish my thighs were as tight as my arms are....

Hang in there - swell hell shall pass!

[Djmohr 6,965]

Thanks for sharing your journey. I know that I am looking at some plastics in my future for sure and it is helpful to read about your experience.

Keep us posted.

[hadouni 301]

Sorry to hear about your discomfort but CONGRATULATIONS on getting it all done!

I'm going in on Tuesday for a panniculectomy and belly-button fix. I'm schedule to have ab plication but think I will skip that part and just do the panni & belly-button. I can't wait to get rid of the icky extra skin! Not looking forward to drains but I'm trying to convince myself it's a small price to pay for the end result!

[MichiganChic 3,262]

@@CowgirlJane my thighs were just AWFUL. I had really uneven, droopy skin, terrible cellulite, and puddles of fat and skin around my knees. I can see that I still have some cellulite, but it's a million times better. I don't anticipate it improving with time. Even with the swelling, though, they already look so much better. Pretty even, and fairly lump free The long scars are worth it to me. You could see all those puddles of fat and skin through my clothes, even with Shapewear. And that was really miserable in summer months. I could never wear slim pants because my knees looked square in them, lol! I've seen your pics, and I think your thighs look great. I don't think I would have gotten the long scar if I were you, either.

I never took any pics, but I'm going to get them from my doc, and post them here along with the "finished' product at some point. And I agree, recovery is slow from plastics. I can't imagine having everything done at once!

[AvaFern 3,516]

I am three weeks out from my last batch of plastics (brachioplasty and thigh lift this time) so I feel you on the swelling. My arms were so bad my fingers swelled up like those little vienna sausages the first week. I had the groin incision thigh lift and I have to say I'm not a fan. I am hoping that over time they will improve, but at this point I really want my doctor to just go in and redo them again when I finish out the back part of the lower body lift. I didn't want the scars going down my legs, but now my top half is great (I had boobs and Tummy Tuck for my first surgery) and my bottom half is not awesome at all.

I hear you on wanting to be "finished". I am totally over surgeries at this point, but my butt is so not awesome compared to other areas I hate to not finish the masterpiece, lol. I feel like the first two weeks of recovery is great, because you can noticeably see improvement. I was fortunate both times in that I had basically no pain. Then weeks 3-5 are annoying because I feel like I see no improvement and everything hurts because I feel like I can totally twist one way and then nope, not healed enough yet. At six weeks, hopefully this time like last time, I will be back to feeling normal.

Good luck to you in your recovery!

[BigGirlPanties 957]

still waiting to hear if any plastics are covered for me... but I appreciate everyones input on this subject!

[MichiganChic 3,262]

@@hadouni what's an ab plication? I didn't love the drains from my abdominplasty at all! I have them now in my groin (and they are inserted all the way into my knees!) but they don't bother me that much. Kind of dreading having them removed, though!

Yeah, I gotta say, my belly looks phenomenal. She did such a great job, I can't believe it! I can post a pic of that. This was at about 4 weeks post op, so still swollen. You are no doubt going to love it! Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

Edited December 18, 2014 by MichiganChic

[MichiganChic 3,262]

@@AvaFern congratulations to you on your recent plastics! Don't you just love your arms? I refer them as my "freakishly thin arms" even though there is nothing freakish about them. They were fat my entire life, and then super flabby and still fat, so this seems so foreign to me. I love the way they fit in clothes. The scars were a great trade off for me.

My fingers swelled up like stuffed sausages, too. you couldn't see any veins or bones in my hands, and the skin was shiny. I thought the arms hurt worse than the abdonimoplasty at first, because they were just so tight.

I had my butt done with the abdominoplasty, and it's way way better than it was. Looks great in clothes, but nothing is ever going to be as good as that belly, lol! I'm with you, I want to feel like it's all one body and have it match. I think that it does for the most part. I also have to remember that I'm 52 and weighed over 300 pounds for years. That's a lot to recover from, so all of this is just icing on the proverbial cake

[hadouni 301]

@@hadouni what's an ab plication? I didn't love the drains from my abdominplasty at all! I have them now in my groin (and they are inserted all the way into my knees!) but they don't bother me that much. Kind of dreading having them removed, though!

Yeah, I gotta say, my belly looks phenomenal. She did such a great job, I can't believe it! I can post a pic of that. This was at about 4 weeks post op, so still swollen. You are no doubt going to love it! Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

MichiganChic- you look AMAZING. They did such a great job!

Ab plication is where they sew the abs together above and below the belly button. I'm probably not spelling it correctly. My understanding is that is how they tighten the abs when they are separated from being stretched open too much/long. Not as separated as a hernia but not as tight as they once were.

[JerseyCityGal 231]

Do you mind if I ask how expensive all this was?

I'm going to need my arms, stomach, breasts and inner thighs done and my insurance doesn't cover any of it.

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

Ha - I couldn't imagine so many surgeries so I guess that is why I went "jumbo". Pros and cons... I had a long lonely recovery in the fall of 2013. Friends were so concerned because I walked like a 95year old lady... I was pretty down and out for quite awhile.... but... plus side it's DONE DONE DONE!!! After reading other people's stories i am not really sure I suffered any worse.ha. You know, like it sucked limiting activity and binging on netflix day after day... didn't really matter how many procedures I had for that one!

Now, my obsession is deciding how to improve my face!

[MichiganChic 3,262]

MichiganChic- you look AMAZING. They did such a great job!

Ab plication is where they sew the abs together above and below the belly button. I'm probably not spelling it correctly. My understanding is that is how they tighten the abs when they are separated from being stretched open too much/long. Not as separated as a hernia but not as tight as they once were.

Thank you! I did have the sewing of the abs - I've been calling abdominoplasty. And it really hurts. Mine were separated pretty wide, probably from pregnancy, she said. I'm sure morbid obesity didn't help any!

Why are you not going to have that done?

[MichiganChic 3,262]

Do you mind if I ask how expensive all this was?

I'm going to need my arms, stomach, breasts and inner thighs done and my insurance doesn't cover any of it.

In Michigan, I paid around 24K for all of it. My insurance paid an additional 3-4K, as it covered the panni. I went to a reputable surgeon about an hour from my home. I had another consult about 30 minutes in the other direction from my home and in another state, and the costs were about the same, but without the legs.I chose my particular surgeon because she didn't think doing the legs would be a problem at all, and the other guy said there was no way he could do them. Since they are now done and look much better, I think she was right!

I seriously considered going to Mexico, but decided against it because the travel is just so far, I couldn't fathom it. I felt like I would need to stay 2-3 weeks and didn't want to be away from home that long. I've seen some great results, though.

The costs really depend on the part of the country you go to, and they vary greatly from physician to physician.

[MichiganChic 3,262]

Ha - I couldn't imagine so many surgeries so I guess that is why I went "jumbo". Pros and cons... I had a long lonely recovery in the fall of 2013. Friends were so concerned because I walked like a 95year old lady... I was pretty down and out for quite awhile.... but... plus side it's DONE DONE DONE!!! After reading other people's stories i am not really sure I suffered any worse.ha. You know, like it sucked limiting activity and binging on netflix day after day... didn't really matter how many procedures I had for that one!

Now, my obsession is deciding how to improve my face!

I agree, getting it all done at once is a bonus! This recover is so much easier that LBL and arms, but I still can't imagine adding any more misery to that first assault, lol!

I am already thinking about my face, too! Actually, not my face so much as my neck. I don't mink looking my age, but I sure hate looking older, and I think my neck makes me look older. I just don't want to mess with my face too much. I'm debating on trying the laser, or maybe just going for a neck lift. The girls in my docs office were telling me about a procedure that she does in her office and only involves the neck.....

I swore I wouldn't get sucked into the vortex of plastics, but seems like one thing leads to another! I find myself thinking - just one more tweak - as if I were decorating my house or something!

But your face looks great to me. What are you thinking about?