Hi February losers! I know we've got a great group in the pre-op sub forum, but now that we are on to week two, thought we should start the thread over here too! I see a few other Feb stragglers around so hopefully they can join here too.

I had my surgery on Monday 2/3. I'm down 10.5 as of one week. Not sure if this is a normal amount or not. I'm not getting in much calories, but do get in Protein of at least 50g per day (need to up this) and all my Water. I have a drain which still causes me pain. Other than that thing, I'm doing good on my incision and recovery. Today I start back up work, but thankfully it's from home and I just have to work on a laptop or computer.

So looking forward to the losing phase of this journey with you all and learning and growing from each other.

Edited February 10, 201412 yr by kimr

Hi everyone

Yes, Claire I'm a little disappointed to say that I've had "bounce back" - in total I'm back up about 11 lbs. I'm exercising less (just walking the dog about 1 mile every day) so I plan to get back to the gym - swimming and the weight circuit are good for me even if I don't lose weight :-)

I have decided to live with my apron - it's not so bad and recovery from the surgery sounds difficult. Good luck to everyone with more surgery in their future.

Janette

ryn2bthin, so exciting about your upcoming surgery! The weeks after my surgery are like a blur now. I do know that sleeping in a recliner really helped. I also need a body pillow for a good 6 weeks. You'll need help the first week as you'll be on pain meds and can't move too well. Are you staying one night in a hospital? The results are so worth it, just keep that in mind!!! I'm so happy I went through it and I had a full body lift (cut all the way around), breast lift and lipo. Sorry I never posted before and after, I'm a little weird about that. If you want I can send you them via e-mail. Just don't want them on the www.

Janette, sorry about the bounce back. Glad you are going to get back to the gym. The surgery is difficult, but for me, very worth it. If you have any questions, let me know.

Kim

I plan on sleeping in the recliner..after the first week did it get easier to sleep in bed? I will be going home the same day if all goes well. I will have a full tummy tuck with lipo and muscle tightening as needed. He said i would have two drain tubes and that he would remove one in five days. He is looking into a newer pain medication exparel?.. so i wont need barcotics as long. Hes not sure he can use it because of the medication that is used during the lipo.

I understand the picture issue..if you dont mind sharing your tummy tuck pics my email is...momrosss@sbcglobal.net

So glad you have recovered and enjoying the new you!.. I can't wait

Deanna

Hiya to you all,

Well in a week's time I will have had the surgery and starting the long recovery. It would be good to see some pictures KIm, my email address is clairechambersx@gmail.com. I think sleeping in a recliner might help me too. The problem is that with my spinal issues being at that angle's is so uncomfortable, and that's without the surgery! So good that you are fine now and that you are so pleased with your result. I can't imagine myself without a tummy and it will be so good to get the hernia dealt with too.

I will let you know Deanna how it goes before your surgery but do contact me either here on my email if you want to ask anything particular of if I forget to do it quickly enough.

Sorry about your bounce back Janette but I think that it happens to most people. My dietitian said that it was totally normal and that she wasn't worried at all by my gain.

So the next week will go fast I am sure, but think of me next week.

Take care all of you.

Claire

Hi Claire

I hope your surgery went well and that your recovery is moving along smoothly.

Is there any tips for the first few days?

Kim....

How much weight and inches did you lose after the surgery?

Anxiously awaiting my surgery...25 days the counting down starts!

Best wishes everyone

Deanna

Hi Deanna and everyone else,

Sorry I haven't been on here since my surgery. The laptop is rather heavy and writing long things on the iPad can be difficult too. I am also trying to steer away from the work on my computer. It is all being covered but I still see it.

I know someone else who is having hers done on Thurs 19th and it is very exciting. I had my surgery 11 days ago on the afternoon of Thurs 28th and the surgery went really well and I was really pleased with how I was doing and I was discharged home on the Sunday. I did have a very big version of the abdominoplasty (with the umbilical repair carried out at the same time. They removed 22pounds of skin and fat and there was a lot of liposuction over a large area. I am only saying this because I think it is the reason for what has happened since. I am not typical of people who have this done and recovery is therefore more straightforward.

I developed a high temperature last Thursday night which they took very seriously because they were concerned about sepsis. I was readmitted to hospital and given IV antibiotics and I am still on oral ones. However that is really only to cover all eventualities because the problem is viral not bacterial. Which is just unlucky. My temp is still high now so my body clearly has no reserve to fight back at the moment but it will do. Also I was draining a lot of blood afterwards, so much so that my haemoglobin dropped a lot and while I was in hospital they gave me 2 units of blood. I must admit that I do feel knackered so that's the reason for that. The third thing is that I seem to have responded to the large invasive nature of the surgery by swelling up everywhere. So much so that I had to remove the corsets because they were doing more harm then good. I am wearing Spanx type things which are working really well though.

None of these things should happen to you Deanna so please don't worry about it. My Consultant said that for my particularly operation something would go wrong and hopefully this is it, and i can cope with that. My body just needs to start fighting back. If I didn't have these things I think that I would be really much much better by now. You do need help around for the first week or so in my experience because just washing and taking the corsets on and off is really difficult on your own. Apparently some people manage and maybe you might have different bindings from those used for me, but that is what I would suggest.

Do ask anything that you want to and I will answer as honestly as I can. The devil is the detail and things like the large amount of pubic swelling seem to be very typical and buying the most helpful sort of foundation garment seems to be important.

I am feeling fine about having it done and before the swelling started i got a glimpse of how impressive the surgery is. In fact the suture line itself is the one part of me that isn't swollen because it is total muscle. Who knew I even had any muscle there?! It really is awesome.

I hope that helps and that your surgery goes really well Deanna. I will be thinking of you.

Love

Claire

Claire

Thank you for your response, i sincerely appreciate the honesty and details. I am happy to see you are getting better. I know there are many things that can happen during these type of surgeries and i have been trying to stay off the internet reading them. Reading open honest response like yours helps me be better prepared for the possibilities. I don't think i have the amount of skin that you did to be removed, 22 pounds must be a big relief to get off your body. I am a little worried about my iron levels being low, but the surgeon didn't say anything at my pre-op appointment last week. It's definitely something i am trying to get control of before the 25th. I think things should be fine, my husband fortunately is able to take a week off to be with me. Hopefully i won't need much help after that but i do have additional help arranged.

I'm anxiously awaiting to finish this last step of the new me . I can handle the extra skin everywhere else and not having boobs,any longer. ( actually a relief not to have them).

I hope your recovery continues to get better day by day and this is all that you will have to face.

Everyone on this site has been so incredibly helpful the last two years. Maybe a newbie will read our post and have a full understanding of all possibilities.

Wishing you well!

Deanna

Claire, you have had quite the journey over the last couple of weeks. You seem in great spirits though, so that is great. I'm glad you are doing ok and getting through it all. Hope the swelling goes down soon so you can continue to see the results. I'm also glad to read you are happy with going through with the procedure.

Deanna, they removed 10 pounds of skin from my surgery. I continued to lose more weight after the surgery as I was not hungry at all for awhile. I did not do measurements! Silly me.

Sending before/after pictures now!

Hi Kim and Deanna,

The photos are really impressive Kim and the after ones look like I do if I didn't have the swelling at the moment. It really is miraculous, thanks so much for sharing them. You are clearly so pleased to have fulfilled everything you wanted to in getting the surgery done and I think that that is the important thing. Keep the long goal in sight as you are going through the recovery process. It isn't an easy operation to have but it so worth it.

Not long to go now Deanna, and I know someone elsse who is having hers on the 18th, which is even closer. I will be thinking of you both and do let us all know how you are doing.

Take care

Claire

Kim

Wow!... very impressive photos..thank you for sharing.. i can't wait to see some results like that.

Claire

I hope your friend has a quick recovery. I know in the long run this will be worth it.

Best wishes

Deanna

I am struggling. No loss for several months. Had a gain of 8 pounds and can't seem to get rid of it.

I am so happy that you girls have had your plastic surgery. I am hoping that I can take 20+ pounds off and then have surgery. I've learned a lot from your posts. It sounds like a very painful surgery. Can I ask you how much did it cost? Does insurance help? I would love to see pictures if you would share. I am hoping that the idea of surgery will help motivate me to get me back on track.

The pictures were crappy quality as they were a picture of the pictures provided to me by the doctor's hard copy. The results are even better in person. Would love to see yours too! I wore a pencil skirt yesterday and my tummy was so FLAT, it was crazy!

Lynn, if you provide me your e-mail I can send you the pictures. I am not comfortable putting them on the internet with my name associated. I met with 4 different surgeons. I got a full body lift (a cut all the way around my abdomen, so basically a butt life and tummy tuck) and a boob lift. I got estimates from $20K - $40K.

Did you get any help from insurance? I am going to have to have my arms done too. They are a mess.

I want to have my arms done as well. No help from insurance.

Hi,

I paid for mine and it was about $11,500 dollars for a pretty extensive abdominoplasty with liposuction. I could have had this one done under the NHS because it had caused such a problem, which could be justified on medical grounds. I wanted to plan it round my work etc so I didn't want to have any changes in date, or cancellations so I paid for it myself. However, I think that the important thing is to get a package which covers everything, including aftercare. At the private hospital where I had my surgery this happened but in the private ward of the NHS hospital it would just have been an estimate. That worried me in case anything happened and as I have had lots of additional appointments with lots of dressings and an emergency admission with IV antibiotics and blood transfusions I am so glad that I did. I would not have been covered for any of that.

I know someone else who has had this done on the NHS, and he has also had his moobs and legs done in three separate operations. However, he has lost such a lot of weight and has been quite unable to be as mobile as he could be because of all the large amount of skin. It has to be a medical issue and then a case can be made, at least in some areas of the country. That doesn't help any of you over there though!

Do keep in touch about how your surgeries go. This is the second stage of our support network and we are all celebrating our 2 year oppiversary this month too.Something that I hadn't remembered until someone pointed it out to me.

Take care

Claire x