Found out last month that both @rs and I had Arm Lifts scheduled for the same week, just two days apart. @rs got the deed done yesterday, and I'm heading in for it tomorrow morning. We thought it would be fun/interesting/just-something-to-do to start a thread where we both could post to document our progress for a one-stop view of two different experiences of the same procedure.

So here we go!

@rs @ms.sss

5 hours ago, ms.sss said:

Good point. I can raise my arms higher if I keep them straight. When they are bent at the elbows, the range of motion is much smaller.

@ms.sss that's interesting that your have a more difficult time when your arms are bent. I'm the opposite. I have a tougher time when they are straight. Something pulls from just above my elbow halfway down my forearm. ?

8 hours ago, 2Bsmaller18 said:

Another question for you. Based on the arm lift when would you be able to color your hair at home? I am guessing the 3rd maybe 4th week?

Were you able to physically tie your own shoes, get dressed etc after a few days? When would you have been able to help a child tie their shoes etc? I am trying to figure out a guess of recovery and scheduling.

@2Bsmaller18 Nothing really to add that ms.sss or mousecat88 hasn't already said. One thing I initially thought was that I wouldn't be able to bend at the elbow right away, and I was wondering how the eff I was going to feed myself! Turns out it was never an issue. I was also surprised that I've never needed assistance in the bathroom. I've just been wearing yoga pants this whole time. I did need help with shirts up through the first week or week and a half. I'm now about 2.5 weeks out and have stiffness when my arms are outstretched. Not too unbearable, mostly just uncomfortable and a bit scary to me because it's unfamiliar. Seems I need to do more stretching.

11 hours ago, rs said:

@ms.sss that's interesting that your have a more difficult time when your arms are bent. I'm the opposite. I have a tougher time when they are straight. Something pulls from just above my elbow halfway down my forearm. ?

...and my pulling/stretching sensation is from armpit to mid tricep... ?

...so I finally got around to weigh myself "properly" this morning (i.e, first thing in the morning, after my pee and standing on scale buck naked): 109 lbs.

I knew I would lose a bit of weight as I have not been eating close to my normal maintenance calories. MFP tells me I've been averaging about 1100-1200 cals for the past 2 weeks and a bit, so yeah, I guess weight loss was inevitable.

But 6 lbs? Geez. This bums me out because according to my scale, my body fat percentage also went up to 19.3% (normally I hover around 13-15%). So this means I lost muscle. Now, Mr. says to take this morning's fat reading with a grain of salt, as it is just a single day measurement and I really need to have several days data in a row for a more reliable reading. But still. I worked hard for that stinkin' muscle. So I'm gonna go back to daily weighing to see if this was just an anomoly. Also, I'm now also thinking I should cut back on the recently increased exercise I've been doing?? Arg.

3 hours ago, ms.sss said:

109 lbs

WTF?!?

4 hours ago, ms.sss said:

...so I finally got around to weigh myself "properly" this morning (i.e, first thing in the morning, after my pee and standing on scale buck naked): 109 lbs.

I knew I would lose a bit of weight as I have not been eating close to my normal maintenance calories. MFP tells me I've been averaging about 1100-1200 cals for the past 2 weeks and a bit, so yeah, I guess weight loss was inevitable.

But 6 lbs? Geez. This bums me out because according to my scale, my body fat percentage also went up to 19.3% (normally I hover around 13-15%). So this means I lost muscle. Now, Mr. says to take this morning's fat reading with a grain of salt, as it is just a single day measurement and I really need to have several days data in a row for a more reliable reading. But still. I worked hard for that stinkin' muscle. So I'm gonna go back to daily weighing to see if this was just an anomoly. Also, I'm now also thinking I should cut back on the recently increased exercise I've been doing?? Arg.

If you think your body fat percentage went up and your muscle mass went down, why would you want to decrease your exercise?

1 hour ago, mousecat88 said:

If you think your body fat percentage went up and your muscle mass went down, why would you want to decrease your exercise?

so I don't lose any more muscle? At least until I can get my calories back up again. Does that make sense, or am getting the concept of that wrong?

Edited to add: I am thinking that I am not eating enough to sustain my current activity level...

Edited to add #2: Also, maybe I should add that I'm not looking to lose any more weight...

Edited January 3, 20206 yr by ms.sss

This morning I woke up to some SERIOUS itching along my tummy incision line. OMG it was unbearable, I popped two Benedryl and by the time I finished my morning coffee it was gone.

So I got to thinking that the itching is maybe the nerves are reconnecting? Early on PO, my arms itched like crazy. Now I realize that they are not itchy anymore AND they don't feel numb anymore either. So I went poking around on my abdomen, and yeah, there are some parts where I can actually feel again. So maybe itching is a good thing then?

@rs @mousecat88 @sillykitty @catwoman7 @okayestmom Do you guys notice this as well?

P.S. My boobs on the other hand, have not itched nor felt numb at all.

P.P.S. I wore regular pants yesterday! I looked about 3 months pregnant, but whatevs.

Edited January 4, 20206 yr by ms.sss

15 minutes ago, ms.sss said:

This morning I woke up to some SERIOUS itching along my tummy incision line. OMG it was unbearable, I popped two Benedryl and by the time I finished my morning coffee it was gone.

So I got to thinking that the itching is maybe the nerves are reconnecting? Early on PO, my arms itched like crazy. Now I realize that they are not itchy anymore AND they don't feel numb anymore either. So I went poking around on my abdomen, and yeah, there are some parts where I can actually feel again. So maybe itching is a good thing then?

@rs @mousecat88 @sillykitty @catwoman7 @okayestmom Do you guys notice this as well?

P.S. My boobs on the other hand, have not itched nor felt numb at all.

P.P.S. I wore regular pants yesterday! I looked about 3 months pregnant, but whatevs.

sounds logical.

I don't think I had any numbness on most/all of my upper body procedures. My LBL was a different story though - completely dead for the first year. Now, some limited sensation....

2 hours ago, ms.sss said:

This morning I woke up to some SERIOUS itching along my tummy incision line. OMG it was unbearable, I popped two Benedryl and by the time I finished my morning coffee it was gone.

So I got to thinking that the itching is maybe the nerves are reconnecting? Early on PO, my arms itched like crazy. Now I realize that they are not itchy anymore AND they don't feel numb anymore either. So I went poking around on my abdomen, and yeah, there are some parts where I can actually feel again. So maybe itching is a good thing then?

@rs @mousecat88 @sillykitty @catwoman7 @okayestmom Do you guys notice this as well?

P.S. My boobs on the other hand, have not itched nor felt numb at all.

P.P.S. I wore regular pants yesterday! I looked about 3 months pregnant, but whatevs.

@ms.sss I haven't experienced itching or numbness in my arms at all. The only thing I have issues with is the tightness when I extend my arms straight out, either horizontally or vertically. I left a message last Thursday for the surgeon's nurse but never got a call back. I wanted to confirm that I should continue trying to stretch out whatever is making it tight (muscles, nerves, ligaments, scar tissue?). My next Dr appointment isn't until Thursday. Btw I tried the other compression garment style and it was too uncomfortable also. I just haven't been wearing anything, no garment or ace bandages. I cannot handle the pain and swelling that comes from wearing them.

On 1/2/2020 at 1:43 PM, mousecat88 said:

this is the extent of my scarring on my arms. looks lighter actually, but I'm in a dark office right now. lol. that line underneath is just from the seam of my compression garment.

@mousecat88 gosh I just can't hey over how nice your arms look. About how long after surgery did the incisions flatten out? Have you been putting any cream or oil on them, and if so when did you start that? I think I read that you had the traditional staples/stitches vs the dissolvable which is what I have. Not sure if that makes any difference in healing or final results. How did you shave under your arms with the incisions? I'm so afraid to do that. I think I may have asked some of these questions before but there have been a lot of posts to sift through. So glad to have others such as yourself who have recently gone through this surgery to ask questions of. Thx for responding.

All the pics look great! The belly button pic was cool, I was never really sure what mine should look like, but I am happy with what they did. I am able to do more intense cardio without the rubbing of the incisions being bothersome now. I do have some peeling dry skin areas in between my belly button and incision line. I am putting extra lotion, but I guess not scrubbing hard is contributing as well.

Pic of my tum on Day 19 below:

...also wrote up an update blurb in the caption/description area of the pic ? .

Ok, had some time to kill and created an infographic update of my arm too (Just my left arm though, lol..wanted to save some time )

You'll need to click on the link to see the entire picture, BP crops the pic to fit in the preview, I guess...

Edited January 6, 20206 yr by ms.sss

On 1/4/2020 at 12:55 PM, rs said:

@mousecat88 gosh I just can't hey over how nice your arms look. About how long after surgery did the incisions flatten out? Have you been putting any cream or oil on them, and if so when did you start that? I think I read that you had the traditional staples/stitches vs the dissolvable which is what I have. Not sure if that makes any difference in healing or final results. How did you shave under your arms with the incisions? I'm so afraid to do that. I think I may have asked some of these questions before but there have been a lot of posts to sift through. So glad to have others such as yourself who have recently gone through this surgery to ask questions of. Thx for responding.

Yes, I put Calendula ointment on them twice daily. They flattened out VERY quickly. I have been using Calendula as soon as the SteriStrips started peeling off.
My incisions only go halfway down my armpit. I shaved the part I could. Now that the incisions are healed (at about 3 weeks out), I felt comfortable running the razor over it. No issue.