Obsessing about Plastic Surgery!!

[Darktowerdream 420]

39 minutes ago, GreenTealael said:

I HIGHLY recommend Floradix Iron & Herbs

Thank you @GreenTealaelfor the suggestion. I’m totally exhausted financially right now but will add it to my vitacost list in case I can get it. I have to figure out my Vitamin order. I got this for this month ... Since it’s Whole Foods based though I’d prefer liquid or even gummies since they absorb better. It was just more in my budget but still Whole Foods based and non constipating. (I hope)

https://www.vitacost.com/garden-of-life-vitamin-code-raw-iron

the surgeries were more than just cosmetics to me. But right now I just want to make it through the incision healing phase. My main concern is the thighs of course.

I didn’t even remember I had a doctor appointment with my general practitioner on the 9th which I am dreading the trek, getting in the car, the heat and humidity and ... talking to her condescending (Fill in blank)

[ms.sss 15,580]

6 minutes ago, Darktowerdream said:

But right now I just want to make it through the incision healing phase. My main concern is the thighs of course. 

Arg, I hear you on the incision healing. I had a rough go at it...though the longer than expected healing process was mostly self-imposed. Sigh.

You are probably already doing this, but try to rest as much as possible and don’t do too much too soon (I was eager to get back to running and screwed myself. TWICE.). Keep the incisions clean and dry as much as possible. At one point I was cleaning (and drying) my worst incisions twice a day. I *think* it helped.

Good luck with your appt, despite them being (fill-in-blank-here).

❤️

[GreenTealael 25,336]

1 hour ago, Darktowerdream said:

Thank you @GreenTealaelfor the suggestion. I’m totally exhausted financially right now but will add it to my vitacost list in case I can get it. I have to figure out my Vitamin order. I got this for this month ... Since it’s Whole Foods based though I’d prefer liquid or even gummies since they absorb better. It was just more in my budget but still Whole Foods based and non constipating. (I hope)

https://www.vitacost.com/garden-of-life-vitamin-code-raw-iron

the surgeries were more than just cosmetics to me. But right now I just want to make it through the incision healing phase. My main concern is the thighs of course.

I didn’t even remember I had a doctor appointment with my general practitioner on the 9th which I am dreading the trek, getting in the car, the heat and humidity and ... talking to her condescending (Fill in blank)

Floradix is liquid and mostly food sourced.

Right after surgery your can become depleted of Iron very quickly especially if you already had borderline low iron. It maybe an expense that you think you cannot afford but its quickly & highly absorbed. Low iron makes even breathing a task. Without proper oxygenation of the blood wound healing can be delayed. (I'm sure you know all of this)

Another option is to have hematologist give iron infusions, which work infinitely faster than any thing else.

Speedy recovery!

[ms.sss 15,580]

1 minute ago, GreenTealael said:

Low Iron makes even breathing a task. Without proper oxygenation of the blood wound healing can be delayed. (I'm sure you know all of this)

I. DID. NOT. KNOW. THIS.

😳

[Darktowerdream 420]

59 minutes ago, GreenTealael said:

Floradix is liquid and mostly food sourced.

Right after surgery your can become depleted of Iron very quickly especially if you already had borderline low Iron. It maybe an expense that you think you cannot afford but its quickly & highly absorbed. Low iron makes even breathing a task. Without proper oxygenation of the blood wound healing can be delayed. (I'm sure you know all of this)

Another option is to have hematologist give iron infusions, which work infinitely faster than any thing else.

Speedy recovery!

I would prefer liquid, I will finish what I have and see what I can budget in next month. I got a coupon for vitacost so will see what I can do. I think I am going to ask my doctor about my hemoglobin and try not to let her piss me off ...

and if I can get my hemoglobin tested if it’s low then insist on infusions.

I think I eat healthy I already take Whole Foods based Multivitamins and eat iron rich foods. My iron itself is good. My hemoglobin before I left for surgery was ok, then before leaving I had the double balloon enteroscopy, my general doctor said to mention some levels on my bloodwork (Not the hemoglobin) to the gastroenterologist but I only saw him 1/second in the procedure room. And about the same after. My procedure was upsetting and provided no answers.

But somewhere between there and preop bloodwork my hemoglobin dropped drastically, before surgery! The last it wa# that low was after my gastric bypass surgery ... It was perplexing. To keep me safe they gave me blood transfusions. That’s how good my surgeon was. He knew my underlying chronic illness and kept me safe.

2 hours ago, ms.sss said:

Arg, I hear you on the incision healing. I had a rough go at it...though the longer than expected healing process was mostly self-imposed. Sigh.

You are probably already doing this, but try to rest as much as possible and don’t do too much too soon (I was eager to get back to running and screwed myself. TWICE.). Keep the incisions clean and dry as much as possible. At one point I was cleaning (and drying) my worst incisions twice a day. I *think* it helped.

Good luck with your appt, despite them being (fill-in-blank-here).

❤️

crashing now. Didn’t sleep last night. Doing my best not to stress. My main incision stress point is an awkward spot. It’s a T incision in the thigh area I guess inner thigh incision, it’s where the opening of a Faja hits. Maybe it’s combination medial and lateral thigh lift. I’m not sure. Right where the two incisions meet is where it opened on my left side which is my bad side to being with. I use a low dryer on cool to dry everything very well and also as my doctor calls it use fan therapy for the open incision. Next is the Bactigras. I won’t scare anyone with pictures. But since I’m on top of it, it could be worse.

I won’t yet ask my doctor about a wound care specialist until I try myself the Bactigras. But I know one mention she will blame me for where I had surgery but any complication is on HER not monitoring my bloodwork and my health.

I’m worry watching my left side, it’s a small open spot and hoping it heals before the stitches start loosening. But a lot of the other parts of the stitches are doing well and some parts completely closed! It’s hard not to stress an area that’s involved with toileting and such. Aka high stress point. Thankfully I guess my myalgic Encephalomyelitis comes in handy I’m too fatigued to do much. But do everything myself, except laundry. Showers take forever and exhaust me. Catch 22? This is depleting things I can’t get back but still I’d not change anything.

explain later after I rest. Need to ask my surgeon how much skin he removed too.

[ChubRub 1,702]

Good to hear that you are on top of the wound care. Hope everything heals quickly!!!

[Darktowerdream 420]

On 7/6/2020 at 7:16 PM, ChubRub said:

Good to hear that you are on top of the wound care. Hope everything heals quickly!!!

@ChubRub just as I think things are slowly going better and I started using Bactigras on the open incision on my left T thigh lift. Another stress point opened up today that I thought was doing well. I just had a pad to catch any Fluid leak from the incision which was less but then this evening it had blood on it and suddenly there was a open area of incision right at the center.

it stressed me out wondering what I did I’ve tried to be careful. If I’ve bent a little too much. My sleep is restless and sweaty. I have to sleep on my back head and feet elevated. Sometimes I shift my weight off my backside the best I can. But the dr had said as long as it’s not sudden movements the stitches are strong. But he also said 3-4 weeks is a vulnerability point. With two different areas of stress points now I’m stressed of how to move, sit and sleep.

even if I technically know what to do. It’s stressful.

I contacted my surgeon and he got back to me immediately. I’d had a fever yesterday so he thinks it was a Seroma and that this is good that it opened and drained. I need to wear the Faja to Help prevent it from happening again. More wounds to treat but hard to reach myself ...

I’ve a doctors appointment With my primary care physician Tomorrow I forgot I had scheduled before surgery. The low hemoglobin makes the incisions more vulnerable. My hemoglobin should have been good. She should have been on top of things. I’m tired of her attitude.

I don’t regret the surgery or where I had it, or my surgeon. I would not change it. I’ve dealt with a lot in my life and this is just another. But my resources are running low. I knew this with M.E. I accept it. I need to adapt the best I can. Most people don’t approach this with chronic illness.

sorry for rambling. I know this is par for the course ... I just can’t figure out how to get a decent nights sleep. And not pressure the incisions.

Edited July 9, 2020 by Darktowerdream

[Mary Anne McGonagle 0]

Weight fluctuations

[ChubRub 1,702]

On 7/8/2020 at 9:45 PM, Darktowerdream said:

@ChubRub just as I think things are slowly going better and I started using Bactigras on the open incision on my left T thigh lift. Another stress point opened up today that I thought was doing well. I just had a pad to catch any Fluid leak from the incision which was less but then this evening it had blood on it and suddenly there was a open area of incision right at the center.

it stressed me out wondering what I did I’ve tried to be careful. If I’ve bent a little too much. My sleep is restless and sweaty. I have to sleep on my back head and feet elevated. Sometimes I shift my weight off my backside the best I can. But the dr had said as long as it’s not sudden movements the stitches are strong. But he also said 3-4 weeks is a vulnerability point. With two different areas of stress points now I’m stressed of how to move, sit and sleep.

even if I technically know what to do. It’s stressful.

I contacted my surgeon and he got back to me immediately. I’d had a fever yesterday so he thinks it was a Seroma and that this is good that it opened and drained. I need to wear the Faja to Help prevent it from happening again. More wounds to treat but hard to reach myself ...

I’ve a doctors appointment With my primary care physician Tomorrow I forgot I had scheduled before surgery. The low hemoglobin makes the incisions more vulnerable. My hemoglobin should have been good. She should have been on top of things. I’m tired of her attitude.

I don’t regret the surgery or where I had it, or my surgeon. I would not change it. I’ve dealt with a lot in my life and this is just another. But my resources are running low. I knew this with M.E. I accept it. I need to adapt the best I can. Most people don’t approach this with chronic illness.

sorry for rambling. I know this is par for the course ... I just can’t figure out how to get a decent nights sleep. And not pressure the incisions.

How did your PCP appt go? Hope she wasn't still giving you a hard time about your surgery!! Fingers crossed that the wound care is going well and that you are on the mend!!!

[Darktowerdream 420]

11 hours ago, ChubRub said:

How did your PCP appt go? Hope she wasn't still giving you a hard time about your surgery!! Fingers crossed that the wound care is going well and that you are on the mend!!!

Hi @ChubRub I meant to update. I saw my PCP and also updated my surgeon on everything so I wanted to get results before I came here.

I don’t communicate very well but didn’t let my doctor have a chance to say anything bad about the surgery or my surgeon. I just told her what procedures I had, and what an excellent surgeon I had as well. I wanted answers as to why the heck my hemoglobin dropped unexpectedly which I didn’t get a real response from her. I explained to her had it not been for the excellence of my surgeon things would not have gone as well as they did. That I had two blood transfusions due to my hemoglobin unexpectedly being 10.2 she didn’t understand the concept that it needs to be higher for this type of surgery (and should have been because it was the last time I was tested before I had the double balloon enteroscopy) I gave up trying and just got her to do bloodwork for baseline hemoglobin, ferritin, Iron etc. last time my ferritin was only 7. My iron was ok though. I did previously have some elevated liver level which I needed to see a gastroenterologist about (according to her)

I got the bloodwork results online fast. And the two blood transfusions actually helped my levels a lot. I think because I needed them they help longer. My ferritin actually improved to 39. My hemoglobin is right on the normal range of 11.7 (11.7-15.5 range) so hopefully is helping me heal better. My iron is good. The liver level is borderline high is probably altered by the blood transfusions as well and falsely low and needs to be monitored. My B12 is off the charts which to me should be of concern it’s a Water soluble Vitamin it shouldn’t be high in the blood unless there’s a problem. My RDW is high. Something I thought weird before my surgery I noticed about something called eosinophils, mine as long as I can remember were zero. This is a type of white blood cells. All of a sudden the numbers spiked ... I find that strange. The same for my others, like lymphocytes not out of range but a sudden spike up.

anyway but I digress ... my surgeon is pleased with the bloodwork but did say to have it repeated in three months to have a kind of new baseline because this is from the transfusions. It also helped that my BMI was so low. Otherwise honestly he might not have done surgery. But ... it happened and all in all it went well. And the open incisions are things that happen. And with the Bactigras although difficult bandaging them they are slowly improving. It does annoy me I can’t reach the one in the back to do myself.

so yesterday was exactly four weeks after surgery. I actually removed the surgical drain myself last night. It finally slowed enough to come out. I knew it was time and how to remove it but confirmed it with my surgeon. My mom was like you should have been a doctor or nurse ... 🤣 it didn’t bother me in the least. Should it have?

My surgeon said I can resume normal routine and I thought what is normal routine. The thing is with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis when I have surgery, especially major surgery, or even things not as major, I need to relearn my new level of normal ... I lose pieces along the way but it is the price I pay but it was a price I chose to pay to start getting rid of the effects of the extra 106+ lbs of weight and fighting it most of my life.

This for me was not about cosmetics but most people won’t see it that way of course now I will see some cosmetic things. Like my knees/calves. And that my butt has no volume so right now it’s like sitting on blocks not butt cheeks ... but I’m not thinking about those things right now just continued healing. I don’t know what my bra size will be just that it’s not nearly empty skin now and just looks normal. I trusted my surgeons judgment to base it on my frame size so it’s 200cc silicone (total 370cc size) he removed 2lbs of skin which doesn’t seem like a lot but my weight was under 102 lbs at the time of surgery. I’m still below my goal weight (106lbs) but right now it’s 105.3 but that’s dressed and with Faja and compression stockings. I’m swollen probably because I removed the drain and also ventured out into the heat humidity to get groceries. And admittedly I cheated a tiny bit on carbs but am getting back on track. I am just focused on healing ... why am I rambling ...

I think people don’t understand that I live every day with chronic pain and fatigue and I’ve been asked why I don’t look happy about the surgery or results. It’s not that I’m not. They are probably seeing the pain and fatigue and assuming I’m not happy. That kind of pisses me off but that’s the story of my life ... people who can’t understand lifelong chronic illness or why I had this surgery.

sorry for the long response that you didn’t ask for 🤣 Edit: I’m finding out from my surgeon where I can find the before and after photos to share here.

Edited July 15, 2020 by Darktowerdream

[catwoman7 11,212]

35 minutes ago, Darktowerdream said:

I got the bloodwork results online fast. And the two blood transfusions actually helped my levels a lot. I think because I needed them they help longer. My ferritin actually improved to 39. My hemoglobin is right on the normal range of 11.7 (11.7-15.5 range) so hopefully is helping me heal better. My Iron is good. The liver level is borderline high is probably altered by the blood transfusions as well and falsely low and needs to be monitored. My B12 is off the charts which to me should be of concern it’s a Water soluble Vitamin it shouldn’t be high in the blood unless there’s a problem. My RDW is high. Something I thought weird before my surgery I noticed about something called eosinophils, mine as long as I can remember were zero. This is a type of white blood cells. All of a sudden the numbers spiked ... I find that strange. The same for my others, like lymphocytes not out of range but a sudden spike up.

High B12 is usually not a problem. Mine is always over 1000 and has been over 2000 before. On another site I'm on that has a lot of vets (as in people many years out), many of them like theirs around 1000 or more since they feel better then. Mine was just under 1200 when I had it checked three weeks ago, and the surgeon just shrugged (I wasn't worried because I knew it wasn't a problem. But his non-response every time (because mine is ALWAYS over 1000) just confirms that..)

your ferritin is still kind of borderline. And the previous reading 7 - is REALLY low. 39 is OK, but I'm glad she's going to recheck it in three months just to make sure it doesn't tank again.

of course, I'm cognizant of the fact you've got other health issues, and my responses are based on people without any - so in your case, YMMV with these...

[Suzi_the_Q 257]

Thank you so much for sharing your story. I have chronic pain too, so I can only imagine how hard it is to have that and CFS. You're doing great, and are such an inspiration! ❤️

[Darktowerdream 420]

Hospital BC Facebook group has my before and after pictures up. You can have to join to view. I’m not sure if they share pictures here on the forum.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/HBCPlastics/

[ChubRub 1,702]

On 7/18/2020 at 6:27 PM, Darktowerdream said:

Hospital BC Facebook group has my before and after pictures up. You can have to join to view. I’m not sure if they share pictures here on the forum.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/HBCPlastics/

Awesome!! I requested to join the group, and am just waiting to be approved. Can't wait to see your pics!

[ms.sss 15,580]

2 hours ago, ChubRub said:

Awesome!! I requested to join the group, and am just waiting to be approved. Can't wait to see your pics!

Same. I requested a couple days ago, and still waiting, lol