A Tale of Two Arm Lifts (rs & ms.sss)

[DaisyChainOz 343]

7 minutes ago, ms.sss said:

LOL you are right! the keyboard letters are not mirrored...now why did I think they were?

Ok, now I've got another mystery for you. in the Before pics, my left hand had the IV in it.....and I took both sets of pictures with the same phone...

????????

Hahaha... it's a mystery for sure!! 😛 Those IV opioids are pretty dang good stuff hahahahaha

laughing with... laughing with hehehe, not trying to be a SmartyPants, it's funny I work in hearing, and the amount of times I will tell someone when testing them that they will hearing the sounds in their right ear first... only to have them stop the test and say, "it's in my left... " me check equipment, no definately your right.. "oh that is my right... oh sorry..." lol hahaha

[okayestmom 232]

I was able to stand straight at the two week mark. I maybe shouldn’t have though, because it caused a little bleeding in one spot. It didn’t hurt because I am mostly numb. I can do it now with no issues. I am still sore when I get up especially if I have been sitting for a while.

I am actually getting a little worried that I am eating to much without exercising. I walked on the treadmill yesterday for a mile, but my watch no longer logs that as exercise. I was pretty tired though.

I wish I could walk my dog, but she is 70 lbs of ADHD every time we see a deer, squirrel, or other dog. Her harness works good, but it is still a lot of muscle to hold her back. My youngest son helped me walk her the day after Christmas. My other dog, Bandit, weighs less even though he looks bigger (he is a Great Pyrenees Chow mix which makes him fluffy), but he is 10 and gets to tired to go very far, he also likes to try and lung himself in front of cars.

I really miss my daughters dog, I called her my obesity dog because she was leash trained and friendly when she came to stay with us. Unfortunately, she got hemolytic anemia and even though we spent to much on blood transfusions we had to put her to down last year (she was only 3). My 70 lb dog, Sandy, still has her squeaky toy (it is the only toy she hasn’t ripped apart).

Maybe I am more emotional after surgery. I am certainly off topic. Now I have to find a pic of my daughters dog Remi to include. My daughter adopted her while she was in College. After graduation she found employment in the Dallas area, housing is more expensive up there and doggie day care is what I used to pay for human day care. My husband grumbled the whole time, saying he told her not to get the dog, but he loved her. It had to be me that said she hasn’t eaten anything in 5 days it’s time to let her go. Remi was a black mouth cur mix she survived parvovirus as a pup.

We tell people that Sandy is a lab mix, but I am pretty sure she is mostly pit bull. She has hip dysplasia, but it doesn’t slow her down much (we are both not symmetrical haha). She has stairs for getting in and out of the truck. Also, she was overweight at 77lbs, we had to put her on a diet. She likes carrots, so those are her new treats. She should be 65lbs so we are still working on it, never had an issue with leaving food out for the other dogs, I guess obesity really does have genetic factors. Also, I think my husband was giving to many treats because he ran out of people to feed when our youngest moved out.

I have a follow up appointment today, so I will ask about when one should be able to stand up straight.

[ms.sss 15,585]

@okayestmom your pups are adorbs. It's clear you (and your daughter and your husband) are dog-lovers! Love that Sandy is asymmetrical too. Bwha-hahahhhahaha 😂

Could you go for the walk and have someone else hold the leashes?

I'm feeling restless myself these days as I haven't left the house since Friday. It's raining and slick out so a quick walk outside is a no-go. I'm resorting to pacing back and forth on the front porch every couple of hours. Mr. said I could tag along with him to go to get an oil change for his car later. I'm actually excited.

[mousecat88 2,280]

On 12/28/2019 at 12:35 PM, ms.sss said:

Sorry everybody, I'm on a posting-spree at the moment...

Here is a pic of the compression garments in play these days (I'm aaaaaaaalmost standing up straight!)

Girl. I am stealing your leg pic to show my surgeon as to what I want mine to look like next year when he does my Excess skin removal. LOL.

[mousecat88 2,280]

I like how flat my stomach is, but I am really upset as to how prominent my stretch marks are. They aren't any more prominent than they were prior because I had really really thick stretch marks ever since I was a kid, basically, and they all got pulled down from the TT. I was hoping they'd all be cut away, but that is impossible. Eh. Vanity. All the ones below the belly button are gone, but all the ones from up high got stretched down.

[okayestmom 232]

So I asked about standing up straight at my appointment today. The surgeon of course said everyone needs to listen to their own surgeon. Then she said everyone tightens things up differently and hopefully they consider age and skin type when doing so. The only reason surgeons don’t want you standing up straight right away is because they don’t want you to pull apart your sutures. So basically standing straight timeline is about what is comfortable for you.

[ms.sss 15,585]

2 hours ago, mousecat88 said:

I like how flat my stomach is, but I am really upset as to how prominent my stretch marks are. They aren't any more prominent than they were prior because I had really really thick stretch marks ever since I was a kid, basically, and they all got pulled down from the TT. I was hoping they'd all be cut away, but that is impossible. Eh. Vanity. All the ones below the belly button are gone, but all the ones from up high got stretched down.

I'm liking the flatness (and wrinkle-free!) aspect of mine too

My stretch marks were on my hips and they seem to have been excised.

However.

There seems to be some skin discolouration that I guess was previously hidden in the crease where my torso and thigh connect. Now that all the skin there got stretched out, it is now easily visible. I'm hoping exposure to some light/sun/air will even out the skin tone there eventually...

Btw, I now have an even greater appreciation of your ability to go dancing for 3 hours so soon after your surgery a couple weeks back! I am 2 weeks PO tomorrow and I am still slightly hunched over AND I was so pooped from merely walking around the block earlier that I feel asleep on the couch afterwards. You've got super healing powers.

Edited December 30, 2019 by ms.sss

[rs 1,473]

@ms.sss when do you think we can shave under our arms? Pretty soon I'm going to be able to start braiding under there! Also, have you used deodorant again yet? Dr said I can use it, but I haven't because the incisions freak me out.

[okayestmom 232]

I get pooped out from just walking around too, so apparently I didn’t get the super healing powers either. The Doc I saw at my follow up yesterday was the intern. I still have a lot of soreness in my thighs, she felt around and said I do have a lot of loose skin where they did the liposuction. During the conversation I told her that WLS patients that pursue plastic surgery keep more weight off at the 10 and 15 year mark, so there is a health benefit. Surprisingly she did not know this, but she did say that they will probably be allowed to do more procedures in the near future, and that they could do more with my thighs. While that is certainly good news, I wasn’t talking about me getting more surgery. This is like giving birth, I need some time to forget about the pain before I do it again. 😂😂 Plus I am terrified that I am gaining weight without my usual gym schedule. I was a slow loser and even gained some on this journey. The gym not only helped with my weight, but my overall health and well-being. At first it felt like a second job I had to go to. I started going twice a week to a 30 minute beginner class and doing the free Sat. morning class.

The weird part is that the gym I ended up at isn’t air conditioned and only has space heaters. The staff is basically former athletes (some with significant sports injuries) and most have degrees in kinesiology. They do have personal training, but the 30 min classes are only $10 and they make sure you are doing things correctly so you don’t hurt yourself. They even give you a modified exercise if they know you have a particular injury. I almost wish it was a chain so I could share this experience with everyone. I never would have tried lifting weights if I wasn’t at this gym. I miss it now even though I couldn’t lift that much. I can ‘t wait to get back at it. There probably isn’t anyone on here very close to me (Central Texas) but the name of the gym is Oppose Gravity and they are on Instagram. Plus, the gym members come in all sizes and shapes. I started in a beginner class and I couldn’t do one sit up, I can do a bunch now. I also could barely do a squat because of my bad knees, but all the exercise actually improved my knees and I have less clicking than before. There were a couple of times I have had to wear the braces because I did to many burpees or jumping. I also cannot do an actual push up yet, but I will get there. I can plank and do girl push ups.

Now I just need to find a way to make going to the gym my job and vacationing/shopping for my free time. Guess I need to buy a lottery ticket...my adult children call them poor people tax, but I call them $1.00 hopes and dream tickets. As long as you just get the one every once in a while...

[mousecat88 2,280]

3 hours ago, rs said:

@ms.sss when do you think we can shave under our arms? Pretty soon I'm going to be able to start braiding under there! Also, have you used deodorant again yet? Dr said I can use it, but I haven't because the incisions freak me out.

I still don't put deodorant ON the incision line and it's been 6 weeks. I put deodorant all around it. I also JUST shaved on the incision line for the first time last night. I was just doing my lower armpit and had a few long stragglers around the scar line. I put some deodorant on a few days post-op and it burned so I just avoid that area for now.

[Orchids&Dragons 9,047]

4 hours ago, okayestmom said:

I call them $1.00 hopes and dream tickets

High-risk investment portfolio!

[ms.sss 15,585]

6 hours ago, rs said:

@ms.sss when do you think we can shave under our arms? Pretty soon I'm going to be able to start braiding under there! Also, have you used deodorant again yet? Dr said I can use it, but I haven't because the incisions freak me out.

Bwha-hahahahahhhaa 🤣 . Seriously, there is always at least one post that has me laughing out loud whenever I log onto here....

I haven't shaved yet, nor have I used deodorant. I can't really raise my arm high enough anyway and I've still got steri-strips on. Though I do tend to sweat under my arm garment at night (these things are NOT breathable) so I stick some paper towels under there so I don't smell so "ripe" in the mornings. Thank goodness I can shower now.

If/when I do start shaving/deodorizing, I'll likely do what @mousecat88 is doing and work around the incisions. I haven't actually seen the incisions yet under there, and I anticipate that I will do a little freaking out myself. Yikes.

...braiding...LOLOLOLOLOLOLzzzzz

[ms.sss 15,585]

@okayestmom :

During the conversation I told her that WLS patients that pursue plastic surgery keep more weight off at the 10 and 15 year mark

I have read this as well. One aspect for me at least, is that I just sunk a bunch of money into this so I BETTER keep the weight off! Avoidance of money-wastage is a HUGE motivator for me, LOL.

...gaining weight without my usual gym schedule. I was a slow loser and even gained some on this journey. The gym not only helped with my weight, but my overall health and well-being. At first it felt like a second job I had to go to. I started going twice a week to a 30 minute beginner class and doing the free Sat. morning class.

I was a total couch potato too pre-wls. Started out small like you, and now I consider myself relatively active. Prior to the plastics I normally run 5km a day plus 15-20 mins of some strength training of one body part or another. I started walking around the block (600m) a couple days ago and while it was exhausting, it felt really good to be moving around again. I'm itching to get back to my running routine as I have this irrational concern that what little muscles I have are wasting away....

Do you know when you will be cleared for exercise/lifting?

..my adult children call them poor people tax

omg, that is what my family calls them too! LOL

Edited December 31, 2019 by ms.sss

[2Bsmaller18 436]

How many days post op we’re all of you able to drive? Go to the grocery store by yourself etc?

[ms.sss 15,585]

7 minutes ago, 2Bsmaller18 said:

How many days post op we’re all of you able to drive? Go to the grocery store by yourself etc?

I'm 2 weeks post op today and I haven't done either of those yet...though if I had to, I'm sure I could do a short grocery run by myself (if I didn't have to drive there). I don't think I can drive as I would not be able to comfortably do a hand-over-hand left/right hand turn on the steering wheel...

Edited December 31, 2019 by ms.sss