February/March 08 plastics

[losingjusme 12]

congrats fran

[marypetunia 0]

Hello Salsa,

I had a partial unfill before surgery on March 7 and was SO glad I did! I was very swollen, still am pretty much...and having a tight band before the surgery I KNOW it would have been horrendous afterwards....and would NOT have been a good time to get "stuck" for an unfill! (Cuz you're belly is swollen and bending backward would not have been easy)Definitely get a slight unfill (my band doc removed .4 cc two days before) if you have a tight band now.

Dear Losingjusme and Karey!

SO GOOD to see you doing so well! I am so glad for you! YAY! I'm right there with ya, healing well and so thrilled to be on this side of it all! What a difference! I dropped two pants sizes already and the 14 pounds she removed is staying gone, YAY! The first thing I said in post op as my friend lifted the covers a bit was, "I can see my legs!" LOL! Life is good and I'm so grateful!

Blessings to all, Mary

[kareyquilts 1]

Salsa: Check out the Make Me Heal website. They have lists of questions to ask your doc, as do many other websites. Just google your procedures and you'll get lots of suggestions. I would look careful at the doc's pictures. One thing that helped me choose was asking the different surgeons how long my procedure would take. I got from 10 hours to 5 hours. There was no way I was going with the doc that thought it would take 10 hours! He was young and I decided that he was slow and in-experienced. Didn't like his before pictures either. Good luck!

Who has started back to exercising? I went walking today and was very discouraged. I have some nerve damage on one of my hips and the walking made it worse. How is everyone elses experience getting back into the exercise mode?

[nurseamy 2]

I walked/jogged 1.5miles yesterday.....can barely move today,but plan on doing it again this evening:wink2:

[salsa1877 10]

Thanks for the help. Here is the post that I wrote somewhere else, but you have all been helpful so I thought I would post here as well.

So I went in for my consult on Friday and I didn't get good news. The plastic surgeon that we saw doesn't want to do the surgery because it is going to be VERY EXTENSIVE and he feels that it is too far away from home. He said to do it I would need, MR, the regular horizontal TT incision and then a vertical "T-incision" as well. He said I have NO elasticity left in my skin! He was a very good surgeon and feels that he could do the surgery, but the likelyhood of complications (separated incision, infection, seromas) would just make it too risky to do when we live 3 hours away. Plus he said that with them removing 10-15 pounds of fat the shock to the system could be too great for me to be that far away. So he refered me to some surgeons over here (we don't live in a big city AT ALL!) When I called the 4 that are here on Friday these were the results: 1 said they wouldn't do the surgery because it was too extensive, 1 didn't have a financing program, 1 said they didn't have financing BUT they would try to get it approved through insurance because of my back pain, and the other one didn't answer. The one that didn't answer does use CareCredit and I did get approved for that last night so that is an option. Also, my SIL lives an hour from the original surgeon that I saw so I have a call into him to see if he would do the surgery if we stayed with her for a month. She graciously said that would be just fine. SOOOOOO I still have options. Also with the ability to get financed through CareCredit, I can expand where I look for surgeons and have it done in WA and stay with my brother as well. My problem is that I am running out of time. I have to have the surgery done from the end of June through the first 2 weeks in July. Anytime after that I don't know that I would be ready to go back to work at the end of August. I am a high school teacher...from what you have experienced how long before you think I could go back full time. Would 1 month be enough considering the first week is just inservices where we don't do anything and then I could sit and teach for the first couple of weeks as well. I would work from 6:30 am to 3:00pm and half days are NOT an option.

Edited April 6, 2008 by salsa1877

[marypetunia 0]

Hi Karey,

Yes, I'm having a hard time geting back into the walking as well. The hip nerve pain sounds awful, my pain is mostly in the lower abs and some in the hips...thought everything was going to fall out of me that night and I'd only walked about 1 mile as well! I wondered if it was because I'd switched compression garments at the same time, I have since gone back to the heavy duty one for a few days and actually feel better but I haven't gotten out to walk again because of the weather here. She told me it would take some time and to go slow...looks like we have no choice in that one. I too was an avid walker/jogger. I definitely know the jogging has to wait...ooohh..just the thought of jogging right now makes me cringe. But....someday! Good to hear you are doing well otherwise.

Mary:thumbup:

[losingjusme 12]

salsa,

sorry to hear that. hopefully the original surgeon will OK it with a month with your SIL

karey,

i've been walking 2 times a week for about 3 weeks now (started 2 weeks after surgery).

my body HATES it and i swell like a freaking balloon after that and the next day im really tight (skin wise) but i gotta do it...

i am up to a whopping 2 MPH now. i need to increase it to 4-5 times a week cause i have my minnie marathon may 2-4 at Disney and it's 9 miles... yikes!!!

[kareyquilts 1]

Salsa: I think you could go back to work full time after 1 month, but 5-6 weeks would be much better. Sounds like you're having some extensive work, but it will be worth it. Please keep us posted!

LJM: A mini-marathon in May? You are very ambitious! I got up to go walk this morning at 6:00 and it was raining cats and dogs and nows it's snowing! Are you using the treadmill? My doc said no treadmill and no ellilpitical yet. What a pain!

[losingjusme 12]

the mini (Minnie as in mouse) is only 9 miles and i'm walking it...

doc OK'd a treadmill but absolutely NO INCLINE whatsoever... that will be another few months i think. he was really hesitant, but i explained if i go walking somewhere and i get tired, i have to walk back.. with a treadmill i can just get off. he seemed to be ok with that answer.

now that its really nice here (texas) im going to start walking at the park. they have a trail that can be as short as 1/2 mile or as long as i think 3 miles, so it will work well with my training.

sorry to hear about your weather... ick.

[Esmeralda 2]

I had my work done back in Feb 21 and I posted a few weeks back that my boobs were to high and I wanted them lowered well after my fourth week I went to see my doctor and he agreed that they didnt come down at all and that he needed to do my another surgery to lower them well my surgery was last week (04/03/08) exactly 6 weeks after my original surgery, I have to tell you that it went great I had surgery to relocate my implants and replace one and my boobs look great I am so happy now, I went to work the very next day with minimal pain and but some disconfort. I only took the pain meds 2 days because I didn't need them. Today is Monday and I feel normal no pain and I am not even sore, if it wasn't for the tape I have covering my ariola were they did the surgery I would say I didnt even have one. I am lucky that I am one of the few that didn't have pain from my original surgery and I had allot of stuff done at once and recovered very soon.

I went dancing last weekend (salsa dancing) and I felt great after no soreness or swelling. O one thing did anyones period change following your plastic surgeries?? Mine did the second time I normally start the 12th of the month and I started on the 4th??

[kareyquilts 1]

LJM: I think I'm going to use the treadmill at a slow pace. I'm extremely frustrated with not being able exercise. But when I try to it wipes me out. I also feel like my hormones are way out of wack! My ob/doc said that going off the hormones for the surgery and losing the belly fat has me out of balance. She's been giving me progestrine shots, but I still feel tearful. No reason for it, my life is great! Frustrating! Anyway, do you just push yourself, or should I take easy? I really don't know. Maybe a combination.

Esmeralda: How old are you? You had your breast redone and you went right back to work?! I'm very impressed. You're amazing!

[Esmeralda 2]

I am 33 years old and yes went to work the very next day, I was tired and a little sore but nothing I couldn't handle. I am also a single parent of three boys (12, 8 and 2) and Friday night we had a soccer game so after work I went home rested for about an hour and went off to the game, Saturday morning I went to work at 5:00am, church at 9:00pm and had a party for my boys at 5:00pm, by Sunday I felt normal again but I did have 2 soccer games so I have to keep going because I have nobody to help me out with my kids so I have to keep up with there schedules.

[losingjusme 12]

LJM: I think I'm going to use the treadmill at a slow pace. I'm extremely frustrated with not being able exercise. But when I try to it wipes me out. I also feel like my hormones are way out of wack! My ob/doc said that going off the hormones for the surgery and losing the belly fat has me out of balance. She's been giving me progestrine shots, but I still feel tearful. No reason for it, my life is great! Frustrating! Anyway, do you just push yourself, or should I take easy? I really don't know. Maybe a combination.

Esmeralda: How old are you? You had your breast redone and you went right back to work?! I'm very impressed. You're amazing!

i do NOT push myself. the minute i know i should be done, i'm done. i dunno what it is, maybe a weird nerve twinge or something that i know isnt right, i get off.

good luck! :Dancing_wub:

[Esmeralda 2]

3 weeks after my Tummy Tuck, Lipo (on the waist) and breast lift with implants, the doctor told me that my swelling was almost gone but I still get my days where I swell allot like on Thursday after my surgery my stomach felt and looked very swollen. I am lucky I heal quit fast and I feel really good. Maybe I can start excersing soon so I can start lossing weight, I never did loose any from my actual surgery.

[StephC 0]

Esmeralda - please repeat. You had a Tummy Tuck and went to work the next day? Or was that after your second surgery? Wow! I hope I bounce back like that.

Karey - I'm sorry your hormones are still outa wack. My sister has warned me and so I'm preparing myself that I might get the hormone weirds. My sister said no one warned her and she thought she was going insane. At least you are aware that its the hormone imbalance.