Hello everyone!! I am currently about 18 months post op gastric sleeve. I've gone from 262 to 170, and am finally ready for plastics. I am scheduled for my first consult on April 8, and hope to have a 360 body lift and breast lift in stage 1. I'm trying to prepare myself, physically, the best that I can for this surgery and recovery. I've started working out twice per day (mostly cardio), and have tried to bump my protein intake and eat clean. I know this will help, but I'm wondering if anyone else did anything that they feel really helped with the success for their surgery and minimized complications during recovery? Please share, thanks!!

I'd prioritize resistance training for several reasons.

Muscle will help you when you're weak and have to move around. I used my legs and arms a lot to transfer myself.

Ask the PS at your consult. I'm curious on the doc's thoughts.

Also the more abdominal muscle mass you have the more the surgeon has to work with, to anchor to. KWIM?

I had hernia repair with great results. My friend has same repair with poor results and lots of pain. Her surgeon explained she had very little muscle and it comprises the surgery. The estrogen from fat also has compromised our tissues. Although that does repair over time.

This is a really great topic and looking forward to reading all the posts!

Thanks CBT, that all makes total sense!! I'll start incorporating more strength training to up my muscle mass a bit (hopefully, lol).

I have had wonderful surgeons and feel very fortunate about that...three surgeries....the Vertical Sleeve in Frankfurt by Professor Weiner in 2011, a breast lift in Amsterdam in 2013, and just this past Monday I had an abdominiplasty in Amsterdam, the last two by Dr. van Selms. Very pleased with all my results. However, even though the surgeons are sort of rock stars in their fields, the pre-information and post-information was very minimal. In fact, just last night, 5 days after my surgery, I decided to Google post abdominplasty information to find out if there were things I needed to know. And indeed there were! So you might want to do the same thing...and just read what's out there if you can't get the info from your doctor. And of course we all help each other here too.

resistance training - .Muscle will help when you're weak and have to move around.

@@nursejenny07

hmmmmm - i never thought or did the above before my plastics

then again i had a face lift

double/triple chin - GONE GONE and GONE

now i REALLY look cute as a button!!!

92 lbs weight loss!!!

that's great

good luck with PS

kathy

congrats

It's important to be in great shape prior to plastics. Definitely incorporate strength training and work on strengthening your core. Everything you do now to be in the best shape of your life will help with your healing and recovery. Also, since you will be restricted from physical activity post-op, the better shape you are in now, the less you will back slide while you're out of commission. High protein and eating as clean as possible will also help. Hopefully you aren't a smoker, but if you are, it is absolutely critical that you stop. Also, your surgeon should be aware of all medications and supplements you are taking and should let you know which you might have to temporarily stop around the time of your surgery and how far in advance. Certain medications and supplements can increase the risks of bleeding g or clotting or cause you to heal more slowly.

Hello:

My bariatric surgeon recommended that I increase Vitamin C a couple of weeks before tummy tuck. My recovery went well, and my scars are very faded, but that was a long time ago.

Good luck!

Sue

resistance training - .Muscle will help when you're weak and have to move around.

@@nursejenny07

hmmmmm - i never thought or did the above before my plastics

then again i had a face lift

double/triple chin - GONE GONE and GONE

now i REALLY look cute as a button!!!

92 lbs weight loss!!!

that's great

good luck with PS

kathy

congrats

????you're funny. Do you love your face? What's that recovery like? ????

I second the resistance training. It's been the center of my workouts since last August and I swear by it. My plastics recovery was great.

Eating clean and getting enough Protein I think is important also. But getting as "in shape" as possible to help you through the down time is the best thing you can do IMO.

The only thing my doc had me do was take arnica montana a few days in advance and afterwards. I didn't have any bruising and minimal swelling.

Good luck !!

@@proudgrammy --- Yeah, you DO look cute as a button!

Do you love your face? What's recovery like?

@@CBT

i really do love my face!!!!

my mom was "nice enough" to hand down her double/triple chin to me and my siblings

through the years i always wanted to take care of my turkey neck - get rid of it

never thought i was "deserving" because of the rest of my appearance

after reaching GOAL (-105 lbs) i decided i WAS/AM worth it

we all are

last year at the ripe ol' (young) age of 61 - i decided to go for it!!

used to have lots of excess skin on my face

wrinkles about 85% gone

extra "chins are gone too!!

dr warned me that i would have to "brave" the first 3 painful days

then i would START to get better

he was right, NO joke - hard to explain

but my face realllly hurt

10 days my hubby changed the wrapped bandages around my face

i looked like a mummy

all was worth it

i am "cute as a button" (really )

PS please no one yell at me - i know i promised to hang pics

they will EVENTUALLY come to a theater near you!!!

kathy

I love that you were brave enough to do this and I also love your tag line....I feel the same way....SEXY AT 62! And yes, we want photos!!!

BTW, for those of you who are on FB, I just started a FB page soley for finding friends and support who have had the surgery or thinking of having the surgery. So if you are a FB person find me at Zoe Belle or www.facebook.com/queenofcrop For me, it's a much easier place to post photos than here.

Yeah, you DO look cute as a button!

@@BeagleLover

i know silly head, told you so

kathy

huggggggs