Manatee

I declare goal! That's it, I'm done as far as I'm concerned. 180-190 is a fine goal range, and the body shape is coming together. I doubt I'll ever be completely happy with my look, but so be it. Time to move on That's a medium shirt, a 34 pant, and on a good day a flatish stomach. Good enough for government work.

"non scale victory" I was poking around and happened upon a drumline jacket from my 2nd sophmore year in college. Just out of curiosity I tried it on, and danged if it didn't fit just fine. In fact, it was a bit big. So I'm not where I wanted to be yet, but I've made it back to 1990

Yup, another plasics followup Dropped by the friendly grinning doc's place for yet another stab-n-grab at the fluids. 70 cc this time, bringing me to an even 500 cc out. That's almost 17 fl oz, so we're now up to a grande FiveBucks expresso. We spoke at length (8 whole minutes!) about the pain and what to expect. He says now that I should be at 80% completed in 10 weeks, 90% at 6 months, and the final product won't be there for a full year. I was surprised by that, I honestly had no idea that the timeframe was that extended. I'm certain that we weren't talking that far out during the consults. Ah well. About the pain, he said that it was generally caused by the deep stitches that tie into the muscles, and that it will eventually go away as the stitches dissolve. He did pop for another pain pill prescription, so I suppose that will be fine. I'm not big on things that fog my brain, but if it gets too bad I'll take some. So there it is. I think I'll quit posting about this process now. Unless there's significant change, things should just rock along for a while.

Dancing with the Stars The Amazing Race

The great thing is that one can watch the whole 2 hour show in about 15 minutes via TiVo

How do I feel? I have gotten several questions from different places about how I am doing post-tuck. I debated posting all this, but then I figured that those who might follow would really want to know. So, here it is, take it for whining if you want. I hurt ALL the time right now. The pain runs from a dull ache in the morning to agony as the day moves on. If I exert myself in any way, I feel like I'm ripping in half. Walking for a long time inflames the abdomen, to the point that all I want to lay down. I didn't even get to finish the whole Graceland complex tour. I am effectively an invalid in many ways. I cannot run, cannot lift more than light weights, cannot ride my bike, and have to be cautious of every move. I move like a 70 year old. Because of this, I can feel my physical conditioning going away. I'll be a jellyfish before I can get back to the gym. All of this would be OK if I were happy with the results, but at this point I am not. I know that I am supposed to be patient, and the doc says things are on track, but I look in the mirror and I still see that damnable roll sitting there, mocking me. I can hide it, mostly, with clothing, but the whole point of this thing was to look good in the nude. Now I'm just a fatty with a scar I'm certain things will be better in the future, but for now, I'm not all that sure the work was worth the cash.

1261 miles So I drove to Mississippi and back this weekend. It really inflamed the area, but all is well now. Finally out of the compression suit during the day, still have to wear it at night for 3 more weeks. Doc pulled off 45 cc before he run, and an additional 70 cc today. The whole area is getting very hard. When I sit down, it feels like there's a lumbar support under the lower back. There's nothing there, but the doc says that the feeling is normal. I'm still not happy with the overall shape, doc says that another 6 weeks will show the true shape. I'm pretty impatient at this point. Doc has cleared me for lifting weights, but we all remember the biking fiasco. Going to talk to the trainer this week and see what he thinks.

Thanks for all the votes of confidence. I want to look like this guy, but I think I'm 20 years late. Still, doing ok. See the guy in white in the second pic, there in the center? That's me in Oct 2006. Those are 48" pants in the waist...

It's so easy to forget where we were I was browsing my photos and found the ones taken the night before the surgery. I've been obsessing over a small bulge and some swelling. Looking at these photos, and it's very apparent to me that the $5600 was probably the best money I've ever spent.

Patricia -- you can read my tuck journey here: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f12/manatees-turn-plastics-75422/ It's still ongoing. I do have to wear the compression garments.

Another followup More Fluid drawn off, 110 cc this time. For those counting, that's now just over 10 fl oz total, so that's almost a tall expresso at FiveBucks coffee. Doc is still pleased with himself. Stitches are still in the main incision, I suppose they come out on their own. They're starting to look frayed. Doc said I can lose the additional binder across the belly but wants me to stay in the suit. With a 10 hour drive coming up Thursday I think I'll keep it on for that, helps keep the swelling down. We've entered the boring part of the recovery. The process from here should be drain fluid, wait for swelling to go away. One more week for the suit 24/7, then it's night only for the next 3 weeks. Next checkup is Thursday right before I leave, for a last minute look-see.

Thursday afternoon after the bike ride I had a pre-scheduled appointment with the doc. He pulled out another 85 cc of Fluid and said he was happy with the progress. To me, I still look fat and bloated, but I'm treating this like a tattoo -- one has to trust the artist, and not focus on what it looks like halfway through. Got another appointment for Tues, already seem to be filled up with fluid again.

As mentioned above, I would be very concerned about Fluid build-up in the area and management of that fluid. I've already had some 200 cc of fluid pulled off in under 10 days, and I had a very minor tuck and lipo. It's been only 3 days since the last pull, and I can feel that I'm swollen up again. Drains mitigate this, but what happens if you have problems with the drains? In my case, I looked for a surgeon that was very close to me because I fear the complications.

Ouch I've been going crazy with the "no exercise" restrictions. I finally asked the plastics doc if I could at least ride the bike to have something to do. The response was very careful: "You can ride it as long as you are feeling comfortable to do it. Obviously if you are in pain or anything along those lines we would ask you to stop. Do what is comfortable for you. If you have any other questions, please let us know. " Fair enough. So I geared up and went for a light ride this morning. Easy easy light pace, 5 mile in 30 minutes on a mostly flat circuit. I had the compression suit on under the bike gear. I am in SO much pain right now. The torso is throbbing and swollen, and the whole area is quite definitely upset at me. So -- if you should happen to get a tummy tuck in the future -- avoid bike riding for a while. Now I really DO have a $1000 clothes hanger.

I happened to catch part of Martian Child today. Joan Cusack was in the flick. What the heck happened to her? She used to be really pretty, and now she's haggard and looks ill. It's sorta on topic, does anyone know if she had WLS? Google shows nothing. I think maybe sometimes thin is =too= thin.

Follow up with the plastics doc Today was my week+1 day follow up with the plastics doc. He said that he was very pleased with his work (naturally!) and that he thought it would heal very nicely. He took out many stitches from the various liposuction holes, but didn't touch the large incision hip to hip. Those will apparently come out later, either naturally or he'll remove them later. I have been talking about how swollen I've been getting. This doc doesn't use drains, so the fluids have just been building under the skin. He took a big-ass needle and sucked out 120 cc of Fluid from the area -- 60 cc from each side. That's 4 fluid oz of liquid. Delightful. Still have to wear the compression garments for another 2 weeks at least. I have another followup on Friday of this week for more drainage, and then another checkup on Tuesday of next week. To those who were asking about my 'dog ear' comments, look below -- ugly pic warning Here's what I mean -- see the pic of me with the scar? Look at the sides where the scarring ends. That edge might turn into a little flap, that looks like a clipped 'dog ear' on either side of the abdomen. I have included a close up of the area so you can see what I'm talking about. Doc thinks it probably won't happen, but if it does it just means a slight trim on each side.

Are you -still- ticked off about not making it into a real medical school? Time to up your meds.

Yeah, I was driving around a few days later. Not far, but I was tired of being stuck home.

Officially one week out today. I'm tapering off the pain meds on normal days. The swelling is still there, but even at this point I'm smaller than I was pre-tuck. I had Cowboy tickets yesterday thanks to another bandster, so we went to the game. Although I was still in full compression mode, I made it the mile or so to the stadium from the parking lot. I was immensely sore at that point, and moving slow. The return trip was worse, but survivable. I will admit to sucking down a LOT of the hydrocdone (sp?) when I got home, and got to bed early. Feeling stiff and sore today but not as bad as I expected. I'm scheduled for a follow-up and stitch removal tomorrow morning. Fun, I'm sure. It does look like I'm going to end up with some slight dog ear flaps, but I'll wait until after the swelling goes to see what happens. As mentioned earlier, this is covered by the original costs.

As a guy, I have to agree with Steph. In addition, he might really have something to worry about. Nothing bad insinuated against Tracy, but I'm sure we've ALL seen the "my marriage is now falling apart" posts after WLS and cosmetic surgeries. Good luck Tracy. Beware that this takes a LOT more energy than you would expect, don't be surprised to be very tired for a while. A desk job should be ok in two weeks. Twisting HURTS, you'll get very conscious of your every move.

Unless you're in one of about a half-dozen battleground states, it doesn't matter what you think of the debate. Your state and the associated electoral votes are already locked into one candidate's column or the other.

It was lipo plus a small tuck. I had some loose skin, not a whole lot but enough that the doc wanted to trim some of it out to get the look he wanted.

To the OP: Just a thought, but maybe a night job or weekend job with the proceeds dedicated to the surgery is a viable idea? Most people have to jump through hoops for a year or more anyway, why not take that time to get some cash. Alternatively, can you sell a car, boat, etc.?

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I'm still alive, and doing well See http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f12/manatees-turn-plastics-75422/ for (hopefully!) the final stages of this process. And just as a reminder of where I started, see the pic from April 2007. That's a 48" pant (+overhang!), now I'm in a 33-34" I didn't have as far to go as some of y'all, but I'm still proud of the progress