I should have asked sooner...

GeezerSue · February 13, 2005

My PS was the 10th. I was a problem for the intubation part and they almost cancelled surgery. But, finally, after an hour and a half and two anesthesiologists, they did it.

My mouth and throat are sore. I have an On-Q pain pump in the belly and nothing else for pain, so far. In other words, I've had two and half pounds of boob hacked off and I haven't even needed a Tylenol. Amazing.

Iluvharleys · February 13, 2005

Wow Sue, either you are really tough, or it isn't as bad as I thought. I am glad you came through everything alright. Keep us posted!

Vera · February 13, 2005

I'm so glad everything went through. I take it your home?

Sound like it wasn't as trastic as last years Panni. Did you have some abdominal work done also "On-Q pain pump in the belly ".

It is amazing

GeezerSue · February 13, 2005

Oh, Vera...you're so sweet to remember. In May, I had a panniculectomy, which was done to remove a huge apron of fat and skin. (Not just "empty" skin as in post-weight loss patients.) They told me going in that it would take two steps to get the desired result. So, I went to our daughter's PS and asked about his doing that work. the price was very reasonable and so we also talked about breast reduction. I figured that the breasts were cosmetic, given that our daughter had more removed and had to fight for coverage. He said we should submit to insurance. So we did. They said okay. Then he said we should submit the panniculectomy revision. We did and they approved again. First time on both.

He has very god luck with Blue Cross...I'm thinking because he's out of network with them...that is, they pay him less than they pay other doctors...and he turns in photos and a report and...anyway.

All went well except for intubating me. That was a disaster. I'll end up paying a bit more for that service...I think I pay 20% of about $500-600/hour. But I was a good ten hours with one anesthesiologist and probably a couple more hours with a second one...so instead of 20% of $1000 that I planned on, it will be more like 20% of $5000-6000. Fortunately, that isn't a problem.

I wanted to spend the second night in the hospital. Because I got out of recovery closer to 6 p.m. than 2 p.m....everything was a little behind schedule. by the time I could have safely left, it would have been around 8:00 p.m. on a stormy night on the LA freeway system. Not a good move. But I was SURE ready to come home this morning.

New Hope · February 13, 2005

Sue, so glad that's all behind you and you're doing so well! Hope that continues to be the case.

GeezerSue · February 13, 2005

As far as pain goes...neither our daughter nor I had any immediate post-op pain or incisional pain with the BR. My plastic surgeon--who is very good and very REAL (as opposed to what you usually find in the Beverly Hills area) says that that is more often the case than not with BR patients. The healing process is tedious...our daughter's worst week was the third week post-op...she wasn't really sick but whe wasn't back to normal and she was tired of being needy.

Just this morning, I felt a few seconds of a stab of pain along the panniculectomy revision incision. The On-Q pain pump is in there. The model I have--I just looked it up--is supposed to give about four days relief. So, from Thursday afternoon to Sunday morning before feeling ANYTHING, is pretty good. I'm hoping to get another day and a half out of it.

I will confess to taking a half a Vicodin, though, but not for what one might think. The crook of my right arm--where they had me tied down for hours--is killing me. And the getting up and getting down is harder at home than it was in the hospital...so arm and leg pain from the pulling is what I'm treating. Weird.

Advertising for doctor...not on payroll, no discounts provided...but if you are in the Los Angeles area... http://www.drandrewcohen.com

Advertising for the pain pump http://www.iflo.com/prod_onq_classic.php

There you go.

Wow Sue, either you are really tough, or it isn't as bad as I thought. I am glad you came through everything alright. Keep us posted!

vinesqueen · February 13, 2005

I'm very glad you are doing so well! I had no idea it would take so long. Do you know the time for each surgery, or is it not possible to break it out that way? Sorry about your arm. It is pretty funny some of the things that happen during surgery... (not funny ha-ha, but funny odd...)

thanks very much for sharing your experiences with this surgery. I am quite nervious about my DH having his super panni surgery, but that is a few years off, so I have time to work myself into quite a lather...