general_antiope

Hey Skinny...well I just about lost my sh!t with the inability to sleep. I was becoming verbally abusive, cried a lot, didn't want to do a damn thing, began being depressed, etc. Finally I read a book on Feng Shui, rearranged a few things in my bedroom, meditated for the first time in a while, and made the decision to no longer be something that things are happening to -- and took charge of my life again. I went back to "overdoing it" and found I had healed enough so that I'm not actually overdoing it anymore. Nothing helped until I began cleaning my house and exhausting my body. I was so tired at 2pm that I laid down for a power nap and found my limbs were lead, and I slept with ZERO itching or twitching. I began walking the dog farther, made plans about my future, began applying for jobs, generally getting back into my life, and as I speak I am sleeping my usual 7 hours, uninterrupted I was up at 5:30 today, cleaned the kitchen, did laundry, am sitting down now to do my bills. So I'm not sure if the twitching coincidentally calmed down, or if it was psychological, physiological or what, all I know is, I feel like myself for the first time in a while. Physically I am doing well. My right arm stitches have flattened out. There are places where this skinny scar is already white I can live with these scars. My breasts have lost some of their perkiness :smile2: The swelling has gone down and they are still a lovely shape but not QUITE as impressive as they were a few weeks ago, lol. Natural looking and all. My left nipple has a healing hole on the scar at the areola. I'm a little bummed, I have a feeling it will not heal clean and mirror the other one. Also my nipples are definitely two different sizes. Trying not to be disappointed. On the positive side, at least they are even under a shirt. I am going to hunt down some soft bras...Don't know when I'm allowed to wear underwire, but my left arm stitches haven't flattened yet and I'm sure it'd be uncomfortable. My belly has also swollen a significant degree. Below my belly button, I look four months pregnant. It's like all the Fluid from my bewbs and arms is now sitting there. It's reminding me of my body pre-op and I'm trying to stay positive...but with my flat ass and round belly I feel like a little old lady. Clothes don't fit me right, and I am loathe to buy anything until the body settles down. So I'm still wearing crappy stuff, nothing cute yet. I'll be seeing my doctor next week for a checkup, I asked them about the fluid...they say it's normal and likely not a seroma. But you touch it and it ripples like a lake. Then again I heard somewhere that fat holds more fluid than regular tissue, so maybe that's what's going on. Regardless, I need to start eating better and trying to shed weight. I no longer care about what it will do to the results, I want my fat content down. I want my legs to be slimmer, my waist, everything...slowly but surely. I know my surgeons mean well, but I never intended to be 200 lbs the rest of my life. I will live with what I get....or have a revision surgery if I must. But I want my damn number down. I'm 5'7. There is no reason for me to be heavier than 170, in my book. So I have 30 lbs to chip away at. I can't feel my port, but I don't feel like hunger is really an issue right now anyway. I am eating two meals a day, just not picking the best food. I'm holding at 199 but I can do better. I need my band open right now so I can hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Slightly less thrilled than my other posts, but still, would do this ALL over again. I do love the flat belly, even tho mine has swollen up again. Just the arms, bewbs and rib area looks so freaking great. Ready to get on with it now.

Fanny, you're amazing. I can't survive without a solid 7 hours :smile2: How do you do it?? We have a winner. Benadryl helped me sleep a good 5 hours last night, then I was up again around 5 am. I have a hair appointment at 9 so I didn't take another dose. BUt I assure you, as soon as I'm back in my house by lunch I am taking another dose and sleeping again. I was starting to lose my mind there. LOL. And Fanny thanks for the hydrocortisone tip...I'm going to put some on my under-bewb stitches, which are itchy, and see if it helps.

freespirit - thank you! I can't wait to take week 4 pics. A lot of my scars are flattening out on my arms and such. Fanny - I took 400 mg of Magnesium last night, soaked in an epsom salt bath, still had a HORRIBLE night of sleep. I'm having more phantom itching now than ever. I will take 400 at lunch and another 400 at dinner and see if that helps. I also have a magnesium oil spray coming ...I hear it's good for your underarms, which will be great for me since I barely have any glands left and have too much scarring to put deodorant on effectively, lol. I guess I'm now in Harcore Healing Phase. My left breast, which is healing slower than the right, has been itching SO effing much I thought I was gonna scream. I moisturize every night and the underside skin is still dehydrated. The nipple apparently has a little hole in the areola which is healing from the inside out. Hope it doesn't leave a big scar, but whatever :blushing: That sucker has been torturing me. The other healing drama is the LBL scar. These phantom itches are no joke. Right now, sitting here, I feel both hips itching like MAD, and when I put my hand on the scar, I feel nothing. The itch isn't satisfied, still itches, and I can't feel anything yet. Although some of the nerve endings are coming back, it is truly frustrating. Last night I was up every 15 minutes walking around, so exhausted yet my body would NOT relax and sleep. Eventually I took off all my clothes at 5 am and slept til 8:30. I don't know what to do. I'm so tired all day, getting grumpy, weepy...I have not slept more than 3 hours at a time since surgery a month ago. Hopefully the magnesium needs time to kick in. In other news, sneezing and coughing are almost pain free, just a little sore now but totally tolerable. My armpits are 95% healed and I have 95% stretching. It's great to flip over in bed and have no pain or stretching feeling. The arm scars have been itching, too, but not terribly. If Magnesium doesn't work tonight I will try Benadryl tomorrow. I take 2 - 3 hot baths a day which does help the feeling. So close to the end...gotta hang in there...it will end... OH some good news, cause I can't complain without giving some good news. I can see some Fluid draining from my rib area. Today in the mirror I saw the first tiniest evidence of a waist on the left side. Right side still tubey, but I sleep on that side. Also my belly doesn't feel as rigid, and I could suck in my belly a little bit and see the skin hanging onto the muscles, you know? Trying to suck in my abs the first three weeks post op had zero effect...I guess they're growing together now! Finally, a midline has appeared. by that I mean, if you were to have a solid 6 pack of abs, you'd have a line from your breastbone to your belly button...the natural cleft in your abs. I have one now :thumbup: Everything's slowly starting to tighten up, it's looking more natural. And I still have 2 months to go! That's it for now...gonna go look at my bed and wonder when we will be happy again. LOL. kate

Thank you Mimi! You too :biggrin: Fanny, I have to thank you for the recommendation of Magnesium. I haven't gotten any yet but as a proud Nerd I started reading up on Magnesium. I found some sites that discuss other symptoms of Magnesium deficiency and I definitely show multiple symptoms! For example: - Restlessness - Muscle cramp (had a foot cramp last night!) - Jolts and stings (been having those a lot since surgery, thought it was my nerves waking back up or reconnecting but they are startlingly painful) - Itchy skin - Light sensitivity (oncoming headlights at night really bother me) - Loud noises!!! I have had this weird problem all my life...Figured it was just a sensitivity...a quiet room and a sudden sharp noise causes physical pain and gets me irrationally angry. But if I'm at a concert or something it's not a problem And to a lesser degree: - Heart palpitations (had these all my life, not tied to caffeine per se, usually shows up with morphine) - Heart arrhythmia (been measured, they said it wasn't a big deal but keep an eye on it) I am soooo excited to get some supplements today. I'm going to take an epsom salt bath tonight and see if it improves my sleeping. Also I can see my diet has not been supporting my Magnesium intake. I have suspicions that this might be the cause my my inability to sleep and tortously itchy recovery. In other news, I did sleep marginally better last night...still woke up with a foot cramp and 2 incidents of itchy restlessness. There is also a Magnesium spray on oil which people swear by. It also acts as a light anti-perspirant/deodorant which might be perfect for me, as I don't really sweat anymore but there IS a light odor. Not sure if it's the wounds still closing or if I'm just not used to my natural armpits LOL. I don't think it's bad, it just has a....body scent. Weird eh? Now I'm totally excited to check this out. Will keep you all posted. Happy 2010 everyone!

How is it going, Allie? You're six weeks out now, right? Did your bewb heal yet?

How are you feeling, Fanny?

Freespirit, thanks for sharing!! My belly is more swollen than ever and I'm clinging to the "it will drain eventually" mantra. I could believe this would take 6 months. I posted a few pics of my scars, to show how they're flattening. I remember thinking how I wanted to see real scars before my surgery, what I could expect...hopefully this helps someone.

Fanny thank you so much for the suggestion! I will get some magnesium and try it out. I read a lot about RLS and don't like to take medicine if I need to but minerals would work for me. Skinny, I've always been intolerant of cold since my lap band surgery. Honestly if I am anything less than comfortable or toasty warm I turn into an angry shrew. I absolutely hate being cold, would rather be in pain. LOL. The temp here has dropped horribly (for PA) and I crank my heat up. I glare at the dog when she wants to go out and we make it as brief as possible. She's learning to pee quickly even though she wants to stay outside and freeze her little toes off. I noticed at night I was going from hot to cold, sweaty to shivering the first two weeks after surgery, but then I was fully clothed and under blankets and hadn't found the right ratio of clothes to fan to heat. Off to take a hot shower and blow dry my hair Will try to get pics.

Thanks skinny Last night was interesting. First of all, I think I am figuring out the problem...I must have a small food allergy or something cause the restless body feeling stops around 3 - 4 am. I might be eating too close to bedtime. I'm only eating 2 meals a day, just not terribly interested in food, and taking advantage of it. So I'm going to try to eat at 5pm and only drink Water. Also, there is noticeable improvement in my scar movement. I can stretch about 85% to 90% of how much I want to stretch, and it makes me feel great. I was able to sleep on my side last night, and turning from one position to another doesn't cause me any discomfort like it did. My armpit holes are about 90% healed now. When I stretch to reach for things I don't feel that unpleasant tugging at the hole. And the creepy arm stitches feeling is almost gone cause they're flattening out more every day. Much of the redness has disappeared on my stitches all over in the past 48 hours, so despite my battle with insomnia, my body IS getting the job done. Last night's battle was with my left breast, the one that's healing slowly. It is a ITCH FEST on the nipple. Sweet mother of god, this could be a torture technique at Gitmo. So not even kidding. I have what appears to be a teensy hole on the areola that is healing the same way my armpit did, with the yellowish healing matrix and all. But the itching and sensitivity on this breast is through the roof. I couldn't tolerate any fabric on it last night. I was in the bath at 9pm running warm water over it, putting lotion on the dry parts of the skin, tossing and turning, wailing at the ceiling, in the bath again at 12:30... But they say the itching is healing. And I'm putting up with it. Lord almighty heh. I did get some sleep last night. Once it settled down, again around 4am, I slept a solid 3 hours on my side with no restlessness. Now I'm overly tired cause I think I spent too long in bed. So that's the haps. I think today or tomorrow I will take week 3 pics and show you guys closeups of the awesome scarring and flattening "hems" that are happening. It's nice to see progress!!!

My nips are hypersensitive, too...but I'm starting to get feeling back everywhere else, in my hips and stuff, slowly but surely. I'm sure your nipsies will come back!! :biggrin:

And damn, did I just crash. All the sleep deprivation just turned me 180 degrees. Gonna try to power nap right now. Ugh. Amazing how fast that happens.

Hey skinny! By popping stitches I mean the tensile strength of the outside stitches is fading...it's like a drawstring going slack. It gives me much more comfort! I wake up and see white or clear stitches poking out of my skin...doesn't hurt...I just snip them off. Last night I was still restless til 4am, but I WAS able to sleep on my favorite right side for an hour or so with no discomfort! That improved the quality of the sleep immeasurably. Looks like it really is my back griping about doing all the work in the recovery. So I'm going to talk to my chiro tomorrow and see if he can do a gentle realignment, or at least use that fabulous massager on my back. I want to stretch really big, soooo bad...but I can't do it all the way yet. I wonder if part of this restless feeling is just frustrated muscles. I was very active before, lots of sun salutes and such. All this inactivity makes me a little crazy. Today I feel pretty good. Walking the dog caused no pain whatsoever, even when she was being a turd and yanking on me. I felt like my old self, back in control. So we walked a little longer today. I made a huge list of things I HOPE to accomplish today, and I'm now off and running before I turn into a couch lump again. Going to work for a few hours, try to sort through the last three weeks. OH! I got some before pics from my doctor. I posted some to the makemeheal site. OMG. What a freaking difference. I am SO, SO, SO glad I got this done!!!! I remember living with all that skin around my belly and hating it, because I knew I was slimmer under there. Clothes didn't sit right. My arms were pretty loose. Nothing horrible, but bad enough for me to feel major insecurity when thinking about dating a man. Ironically they sent me the before pictures from my first consult, when I was 195. I got the surgery done weighing 215 :biggrin: right now I weigh 200, with all this Fluid and crap, so I'm pretty sure I'm down in the 190s right now. I look the same size except more streamlined. Docs say I should lose no more than another 10 lbs while I'm healing towards the 3 month mark. That would put me in the 180s...we'll see how I look!

Hi jujuvee, yes I am...Kate Campbell in Exton, PA. To everyone: Just a general plea not to post any of my Make Me Heal pics on facebook. Too public!!! I'm comfortable sharing here, but there are lots of um, boys especially, who I don't wanna seeing my goodies...not without them paying me proper respect anyway. LOL. And dinner. Bunny wants to wrangle some Bang Bang Shrimp out of a fool before he gets to see the bewbs. crzytchr: Wow thanks, I feel like all I do is whine. The pain is not horrible. It's well controlled with meds. Thing is, it's just so WEIRD and uncomfortable. I have been having phantom itches on skin that no longer exists, lol. Right now, I'm struggling with sleep issues, which is making me apathetic, lethargic, and a little grumpy. I have some restless leg going on in my legs, arms and back from only sleeping on my back. Still can't sleep on my side, tho I tried a little last night. I know I keep saying it but every day it IS a little better. Even today when i get up from sitting for a while, it doesn't take as long to stretch out the hunched over feeling. Tiny but noticeable increments. I would do it again. I can see how great this will be when I'm done healing...I just wish I was better prepared for the length of healing. For arms, bewbs, and a body lift, expect 3-4 weeks of being jacked up. No way around it. But more stitches are popping on me every day and the redness is gone from one of my arm stitches and the scar is just AWEsome. Tiny!!!! Can't wait to see it all healed. It'll be worth it, of that I have no doubt. the healing now is a nuisance more than anything. Heh. I'm lucky tho, no complications. Kate

How exciting!!! Eight days!!! You should have no problem typing or writing, the tough parts are just reaching. Arm and bewb stitches should start popping and losing strength in the next 1.5 weeks. I already am having some stitches pop, and I cut them off with some suture scissors. The belly stitches will probably take another month, they're a bigger gauge. So you're getting bewbs and arms? or just arms?

My arms are healing slowest in my opinion. The armpits are closing noticeably, so that creepy sticky feeling of the healing matrix is lessening. It does sometimes feel like there's a bunch of clothespins on my arm, a general tight feeling, but it's not that bad...easily ignorable. Just "weird." Yesterday and today I've been having pain in the lower right abdomen...a pulsing, throbbing pain that was aggravated whenever I lifted or walked. Doc says "You're overdoing it again aren't you???" and says it's most likely scar tissue as long as I am not short of breath. So I'm sitting here like a lump watching more TV than I ever have in my life. On the upshot, I found a couple of infomercial items I now want to buy...a device to help me paint walls easier (point n paint!) and some closet organizational items. Someone call an intervention if I start raving about those shake weights. I can do most everything with my arms except stretch/reach. Gotta be careful washing my hair and blow drying it, I can feel the stitches straining. Truly, it improves a tiny bit each day...or I'm getting used to it. How long til your surgery, Mimi??

I cannot believe it took you 27 hours!! Did you miss Christmas??

So Allie. Here you are more than a month from surgery. What would you tell people who are curious about getting PS for extra skin but who are afraid of surgery?

Hey Allie thank you so much YES I am feeling hotter as time goes on. Can't wait for the swelling to go down, my hips are so swollen I can't keep underwear or pants on. They really took any ass that I might have had, and my pants, now that the drains are out, are all falling off my butt!!! WTF!!! So I'm playing with some exercise routines to start in a few weeks when I'm cleared for working out to add mass on my hiney. LOL. Lunges and squats will soon become my best friends. Doc says the swelling will go down and give me more curve in the back. In the meantime I call myself "Tubey McTuberson." Small price to pay for all the good I got done :thumbup: Still not sleeping through the night, the thick incision around my waist goes numb and wakes me up. I'm sure it'll ease up when the stitches eventually dissolve and flatten out. It's exhausting for the moment. I'm going to take pics of the stitches on the side of my boob that HAVE flattened out. Oh, my, lawd the scar is VERY thin and is already fading - it's not dark pink or red. Guess these dudes knew what they were doing. Will let you know when I have them up. Skinny, lol yeah I dunno about the post op thing. I know I Didn't Feel Right and I guess I was trying to shake it off. Ha.

WOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DRAINS ARE OUUTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111111111 lol. Oh man thank god. It was minimally aggravating but I got through it. Each drain had its own pain. First, they numbed the openings...which I did not feel. Hooray for numb skin, LMAO. Who wants to feel a needle in their vajayjay? Not me. That was a pleasant surprise. The right drain had a startling moment of EEEK when I felt tugging/tearing on internal tissue in my back...like skin had overgrown the drain. Good news was, the pain was instantaneous....stopped immediately. More good news: nothing ripped, Doc said it was a good thing (liar, people say that when birds shit on you, too...still a LIE. What is good about bird shit?!?! Nothing!) and it meant the tunnel was closing up, that it's not totally a good sign if your drain comes out easily. The second drain hurt at the opening, burned. But that side just seems like it was uber sensitive anyway, cause the first drain that came out of that side stung, too. But nothing unbearable. I tried to make a joke out of it in the moment and said "FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUDGE." Like Ralphie in A Christmas Story. Guess Doc was concentrating, not even a chuckle. I do feel tons better...I hope I sleep better tonight. Docs told me a story of Me After Surgery. Apparently I was quite "belligerent" on the table and kept trying to get up and fight them after I was brought out of anesthesia. LOL. The Phys Asst told me it was kind of funny...and now that he says it, I feel like I have very faint memories of people yelling at me and me just being stupendously pissed off. I remember people saying "Stop moving, Kate" lol. They say I'm healing fabulously well. In addition, I've been given a green light for having my nightly baths...the doc says nothing's really going to get IN or go very far, but since I am bleeding a little from my drain holes I'll give it a few days to calm down. I'm a bath ho. It's my nightly bath ritual...might be why I am not sleeping right! I need my lavendar aromatherapy, dammit. Have a great holiday, everyone!

Thanks skinny I like how low the scar is. I'll take more pics of the belly incision once the drains are out tomorrow. I do have before pics, but my doctor has them. I asked for them but they are super busy...I'll mention it again tomorrow. It is a drastic, drastic difference. But when I get them, you'll see how majorly they changed my mons. It's so small now. Hopefully I can have them email the before pics tomorrow...and I'm sure I'll be prancing when these DAMN drains are out. lol. Our bellies do look very similar

I can't thank you guys enough for all the support. I really felt better listening to all the words of encouragement. I took some pics today, I'm beginning to like them. My belly is ridiculously swollen. I have this fantasy that it's all one giant seroma. lol. oh well. I love the side/profile pics, I can't believe those are my bewbs. I know if I lose another 30 lbs that I will have more sag. My thighs may need a lift then, too. But I'm feeling better about things in general. The Works, Arm Lift, Brachioplasty, Reduction, Breast Lift, Mastopexy, Pictures, Photos pass: th3workz

Hi Skinny! Checked out your week 5 pics. I have a few stretchmarks as well below my belly button, I never heard of Strivectin...does it work?? I also have stretch marks on my bewbs, figured I'd have to live with it. How is your swelling now? I guess you have another 8 weeks before it's all gone...does the doc know approximately how many lbs or inches of swelling you still have?

Fanny you look GREAT!!! I am so impressed you're out there partying it up 12 days after surgery! You must have one amazing doc :tongue: How do you like your D cups? Getting used to them yet?

Allie I especially liked the part about feeling you match on the outside who you are on the inside. I can feel some of that right now! I'm sure it will improve with more drainage, too, whether I lose more weight or not. You are having such a great time and it's so fun to watch you come out of your shell. You've arrived. You're there. Congratulations on making it out of morbid obesity, honey, you have BEATEN THE ODDS!!! You took back your life. I am so happy for you!

Hi mimi - lol I have NO IDEA how I'm supposed to deal with the armpit hair right now. They actually made my armpit smaller. They took out a bunch of sweat glands and told me I prolly won't need anti-perspirant anymore. Or need to shave. But I have a very, very thin line of hair growing next to my scar. I'm not touching it right now, just gonna let it go all Tina Turner if it has to. Maybe I can look into a medspa to remove that hair permanently. I can't imagine shaving the scar area and feeling remotely good about it! Docs said if anything, I might want to use deodorant, but I won't be sweating from mah pits anymore. Total bonus. So right now I'm totally granola. No makeup, no deodorant, no shaving, no bra, no underwear. I am as trampy as ever. lol. I did my hair once and I was pooped for two hours afterwards...so I let it air dry curly and hideous. Oh well :tongue: I'm healing. who cares.