Enterprise01's Brachioplasty with Liposuction

[enterprise01 0]

Hi, everyone. Thanks for all the positive thoughts. It's been a bit rough. I'm bandaged from my shoulders to my wrists and cannot bend my arms. My poor mother has had to do everything for me. I can't even take a drink of Water without her help. I go back to the doctor tomorrow at 12:30 and I'm hoping he'll take the bandages off and put me in a more comfortable compression garment. I've gained 5 pounds from Fluid retention. Ugh. My fingers looked like sausages this morning, but the swelling is slowly improving.

The surgical procedure itself wasn't that bad. We got to the hospital at 6:00 a.m. yesterday and I was fully dressed with makeup on for the TV show. The camera crew was late, so they didn't actually film me until around 9:00 or so. They did a brief interview with me and asked me about my weight loss, the lap-band, and why I wanted plastic surgery and what other procedures I might have done in the future. Then they filmed me in the hospital gown with Dr. Heller explaining what he was going to do and marking my arms with a magic marker for the procedure. Then the camera crew went to wait in the hallway and filmed me as they were taking me to the OR. I believe they filmed part of the actual surgery, too. The anesthesiologist I had was the absolute best. Anesthesia is usually very hard on me, so I told him about the problems I've had in the past. Well, this time I woke up as if I had been taking a nap. I was fully awake and alert, without nausea, within 30 minutes after the procedure. In the past, it has taken me as long as 8 hours to come out of anesthesia. This was definitely a much better experience.

The surgery ended up taking 3 hours, which is an hour longer than expected. At first Dr. Heller was going to keep me in the hospital overnight, but I told him I was feeling well enough to go home, so he let me go. I think he knew I would need a lot of help and thought I'd be better off in the hospital. Thank god my mom is here. I have a drain coming out of each underarm. We're emptying the receptacles twice a day. Each time they've only had about 10 ccs of bloody fluid in them. Let's hope those drains come out tomorrow. They are a bit of a nuisance, but otherwise not a big deal at all.

Here are the latest pictures of me. I haven't bathed in 2 days, my hair is greasy, and I had a cyst removed from my face today, so I'm completely gross. And I look like I'm auditioning for a zombie movie.

[I'm still here 0]

Yeah Enterprise01 ~

Look how TINY your arms look !!!!! :whoo:

So glad to hear you're home and doing okay - I have been waiting to hear from you.

OMG - the DRAINS !!!!! :omg:

Please keep us posted, and maybe I'll see you soon at Dr. Spivak's office . . .

[enterprise01 0]

Thanks, Lynn.

Forgot to mention that the pain isn't that bad. I'm taking 100 mg Darvocet every 4 hours and that's keeping it under control. There's more discomfort than pain.

[Tulip 0]

I'm so glad to hear from you. You look really good to me, and your arms are so thin. I can tell your fingers look puffy from the fluids, but that will go away.

Let your mom help in everyway you need. I'm glad the darvocet is taking care of pain.

Keep us posted. I've been thinking of you.

[losingjusme 12]

glad you came out well!

are they going to put the procedure on youtube that you know of? would be interesting!

your arms DO look so small - even with the bandages. hope you get tubes out soon.

[Paulax 8]

Aw, glad to hear you are feeling OK. Your arms look awesome even in bandages.

Continued healing and rest those arms.

hugs

[I'm still here 0]

Thanks, Lynn.

Forgot to mention that the pain isn't that bad. I'm taking 100 mg Darvocet every 4 hours and that's keeping it under control. There's more discomfort than pain.

Okay honey - it's time for a little update . . . How are you feeling? What's up with the 'drains', etc. . . . ???

I hope you are feeling much better and are getting really excited that this is behind you. You skinny-minny you!

[kareyquilts 1]

Your arms already look smaller. Congratulations. I'm sure you're going to be pleased.

[Buffie 1]

I'm sitting here looking at your pics and I'm feeling scared SH***LESS for this surgery in a couple of months. I remember the drains all too well from my TT and how awful it was when they were pulled out. You look GREAT, it will all be so worth it in the end. I think I'm going to have to ship my kids to my parents' house for a few days after surgery. Do you feel like you were good to go home the same day? I'm having breast augmentation at the same time and it's a day surgery. I have no clue what the breast augmentation will be like, I'm not having a lift so it shouldn't be too bad, I believe the implants will be placed over the muscle so the recovery won't be as bad (or so I've heard anyway). When do the full length arm bandages come off?

Hang in there!!

[JulieNYC 4]

The worst is behind you! I can't wait to hear that your drains have come out and that they've put you in a more comfortable garment so you can bend your arms. You're in the downhill run now!

[enterprise01 0]

I'm so sick of these drains. They are very annoying. I saw the doc on Friday and he wanted to leave the drains in over the weekend - better safe than sorry. He took all the gauze off and wrapped me in a plain ace bandage, so I've had better use of my arms since then. I cannot lift my arms all the way up or put them all the way down, though. My appt on Monday is at 2:30 and the drains will come out out then. Yay! They will also put me in the compression garment then. The worst part of all of this is not being able to shower. Julie, I'm sure you can relate. My mom washed my hair in the kitchen sink for me this morning and I felt a lot better after that. The other problem is that because of the location of the drains, I cannot wear my bra up as high as I normally do. The breasts are sitting down low and that's getting uncomfortable. The pain has not been bad. Darvocet every 4 hours is quite sufficient. I'm also taking 10mg of Ambien to help me sleep at night.

Buffie - I did feel well enough to come home the day of surgery, but I needed a lot of help. Thank god for my mom. When you have your brachioplasty and breast augmentation, make sure you have someone there to help you. I really don't think I could have managed without my mom.

Here are a couple more pics. Lynn, don't let the picture of the drain deter you. For some reason, it looks much more gnarly in the photo than it does in real life. You can tell from that picture that Dr. Heller removed all the fat I had in my underarms. That fat would push up and hang out over my bra, so good riddance.

[TheGh0st 9]

Amazing! I am so HAPPY For you! Those drains were a real pain coming out for me on my TT but at least it is over quickly. (Small comfort I know) How long will you have to wear the compression garments? And when will we be seing some unwrapped pics?

[sweethot143 2]

wow! your arms look tiny! even being wrapped and swollen. I think you are going to love your new arms! congrats

[enterprise01 0]

OK, here are some pics of my unwrapped arms. Be warned - it's graphic. The left arm has a lot more swelling then the right. And there's a pocket of Fluid on the inside of each elbow, with the left being worse.

Here's the left arm:

[enterprise01 0]

Here's the right arm: