juliegeraci

My thigh lift was $8600 roughly. I think if I had gotten super skinny beforhand and had a lot more loose skin he would have done the incision to the knee. I had just enough fat and tissue where he was able to lippo cut and suture. He also slight;y lippoed the outer thigh. I weigh 220 lbs preop so naturally I do have more fat then other do. My goal is 200 thogh. I'm fine in a size 14/16. I never set out to be a 10. Tomorrow is my doctor's appointment. My chin is really bruised. Hurts to get up but I am hanging in there. JUlie

I only have 2 drains. At least one is coming out tomorrow. He takes them out when they are under 30ccs of liquid/blood. I am not in any discomfort laying down. The only discomfort I have is trying to sit on the toilet with the thigh lift incisions. My husband has been such a trooper. Today I am going to the bathroom more than yesterday. I figure my body needed the liquids yesterday or something along those lines. My tummy tuck isn't bad at all. I did notice that my belly button is quite high. Not sure exactly why but I trust my doctor did the right thing. He is in San Jose, CA. His name is Howard Sutkins. He is Board certified and teaches at Stanford University. I am thrilled with the thigh lift and the way he was able to pull the skin up without the incision down the thigh to the knee. That is why I went with him. Thank you all for the posts. Not exactly sure when I"ll post pics with the binder still on but hopefully within a week or so. He took 6.2 lbs off of my stomach! That is almost a sack of potatoes! Can't wait to get a fill in the next 10 days or so. I do have more restriction today and less hunger but overall my hunger has been pretty bad since my unfill 2 weeks ago. I gained 9 lb s. I weighed in a 220 at the surgical center yesterday. My goal is 200 so hopefully when the swelling goes down I'll be down to 210-215 or so. That will bring me just a couple months from goal as I typically lose 1 lb a week when I'm filled. Keep posting. I love to chat. JUlie

I am also bleeding from the belly button. Is that normal? How did you wash your under garmet?

Hi Karey,I had my surgery yesterday and I had a couple questions for ou. How long did you have your drains in. I am going to probably get one of them out tomorrow since I am not draining on the right side. Also, was it strange seeing our belly button for the first time? It seems kind of high to me and I was just wondering if it is just because I am use to being fat. lol

Yeah, I had no idea what to expect as far as the belly button goes but it is defiinitely higher. It will take some getting use to. It may show when I wear jeans for sure. Thanks everyone for the posts. I am in bed with my son's wireless computer so its really nice to have some friends out in the cyber world!

My thgh incision is the worse. It goes about 4 inches around my thigh near my crotch. That is what is giving me most of the pain when I get out of bed plus trying to sit to use the bathroom. I am still draining out about 75ccs of blood on my left side and the right side can come out tomorrow I believe. I go in to see him tomorrow. I'm also bleeding from the belly button. My belly button is really high now so I don't know if that is what I should expect with a skinny tummy. lol I've never had one that high.

Suz,how much can you consume at once? With a good fill I typically can only eat 2 oz at a time and I lose 2 lb per week. I am never hungry. The first thing I would revisit is your consumption and then the exercise portion. If you can move a little more, lose your hunger and only eat small portions you should lose. I would start with consumption first.

When my band is tight and I am losing 1 lb a week I am never hungry and typically only eat 2 oz at a time. If you can lose on 4 oz it may be better nutritionally however. I have to eat like a bird to lose. Good luck.

I haven't had my implants yet but there is still a lot of controversy between saline and silicone. My doctor is board certified and teaches at Stanford. He still doesn't do silicone, only saline. Probably because of all the hoopla in the 80s and 90s. I hear that Silicone is a lot more natural feeling however. Good luck with your decision.

Thank you. The only thing strange so far is my belly button is really high now. Hopefully it will go down with the swelling.

Yesterday was my big day. I am a little sore but nothing that bad. I am on the tylenol with codeine only now. vicodin was good yesterday. I slept really well. My stomach is definitely flat. He removed 6.2 lbs from my abdomen. My thighs look better too but I will not see the true outcome until I can get into the girdle next week. Thanks everyone for the posts. I am healing nicely. My husband is a Godsend. I am ready for a glass of wine already! That is how good I feel. I hear it makes the worldy difference having a good anastesiologist. He said he uses a ton of pains meds during the procedures so lets see what tomorrow brings. I think day 3 might be the most difficult. Right now I am very comfortable. I get one of my drains out tomorrow so wish me luck. Julie

Hi everyone, today is day 2. Yesterday was the worse day. I am off the vocodin now and only on the tylenol with codeine. I am only sore when I have to move around and use the toilet. The thigh lift incision is the worst. He removed 6.2 from my abdomen. My stomach looks really good so far. Tomorrow I go in and he removes one of the drains, the other next week. As soon as I feel fit I'll post my before and after pics. I am resting comfortably and feel really good. The chin strap is a little odd since he did the lippo on my chin. I am bruised on the chin now. I feel really good, just a little sore. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. I know I can't wait to see my flat tummy. Thighs look good but they are just wrapped in ace bandages now. I probably will not see the great results until I can get into my girdle next week. I'll be checking lapbandtalk frequently so wish me luck. Thanks again. Julie

I am in my bathrobe ready to hit the surgical center in about 20 minutes. I feel really good this a.m. I took 2 Valium to help my nerves. Haven't peed much this a.m. which is the typical sign of nerves! I'll post again when I'm feeling up to it. My only fear at this point is just that my pain will be under control so wish me luck. Julie

Thank you all for your kind thoughts. I am very nervous today about everything. Thankfully he gave me some valium I can take in the a.m. along with my anti nauseau medication. I can't believe my jelly roll will be gone tomorrow, and my double chin! I will post when I am feeling up to it. Love all of you! Julie

June 6th is right around the corner. Personally I would wait. Not so much to eat, but the sea sickness would worry me. You probably will not have any restriction early on so food consumption should not be a problem. You can also go to the doctor and give you a patch for the sea sickness. Have fun and good luck.

Hi Jason, glad everything is going so smoothly. Hope you do well with surgery. Good luck.

I also had no problem with them. I didn't have to go through a 6 month supervised diet #1. Not sure if it was my doctor or them that needed an appointment with a nutritionist, psych eval, EKG and blood work. They approved me pretty quickly. I was out of network so that did take a little bit longer. Also, because he wasn't in network I had to pay for my fills the last 18 months because I didn't know there was an exclusion I could have fought out of network for fills. I think my copay was around $2k. Good luck.

Fran, you are in my thoughts. Let me know what happens. Julie

Suzie, the vomitting could have triggered the reflux. The best thing you can do is take an antacid and stop eating 2 hours before bed. That may do the trick. If not, you will need a slight unfill. I'm sure you band did not slip. Good luck.

I do pretty good with 3.0 or 3.2 in a 4cc band. You should do really well. good luck.

.3 should work. .5 you will gain a few lbs. Take it from me, I am having plastic surgery soon and .5 was too agressive. Have fun. You will probably only gain 3-5 lbs. Good luck.

You will be okay. Have a protein shake for dinner and forgive yourself. Good luck tomorrow.

That is great news. I remember how it was for me 22 months ago. You will love being banded. Food will be so different for you. Good luck.

Great news. I had to have a nutritional consult, EKG, blood work and psych eval. I did not have to have a sleep study however. I really hope everything goes as planned for you. Good luck.

The doctor usually looks at 3 things. Volumne, weight loss and hunger. If you have problems in one of these areas it is time for a fill. Given the fact you are doing so good however, he may opt to not fill you until the weight loss slows down. Tell him you are constantly hungry and maybe he'll give you a slight fill. Good luck.