Hi everybody. I wanted to start this thread to document the plastic surgery journey that we are about to start on. Frangipani & I both were banded last August and have each lost over 100 pounds. Since we have been traveling the lapband road together and now are about to have PS at the same time (me on June 12 & Frangi on June 13) we thought it would be appropriate to share a thread.

We have both learned so much from those who have gone before us and our hope is that our stories can be of some value to others.

I am having a lower body lift and medial thigh lift. All of my pre-op testing is done and now I'm just nervously waiting for my big day, which is less than two weeks away! I will post clothed before and after pictures for sure and I'll have to think about more revealing pictures later.

I've also been a bit of a "drive by" reader of this thread and wanted to wish you both the best and thank you for the insight you give to us other bandsters who go after you with PS.

Hope you both heap quickly. All the best :drool:

Ok today Frangi you will have to be the cheerful one. I want to whine. Not that I want anyone to feel sorry for me. Life is good, I just want to whine.

I didn’t sleep well last night. Weaning off the meds is a factor and also I think the meds are causing weird dreams. I was up and down about every two hours all night. At one point I was dreaming that my husband had invited hundreds of people to the house. There were people everywhere; little screaming kids, people I’d never laid eyes on, and all of them were tracking mud into my clean house! I was coming unglued in my dream, so I was glad to wake up from that.

I’m sure that was all a reflection of the fact that I’m irritated at DH. No particular reason, but he is just bugging me. My dear, wonderful, attentive sister left yesterday. She was so kind and caring and anticipated my needs before I knew they were my needs. She just spoiled me and I miss her. So husband steps in to take her place. Ha! He took her to the airport and then decided to work from home so he could be available to “help” me. Yeah, right. He couldn’t anticipate a need if it bite him in the face. So today he went to the office and I’m glad of it! Am I pathetic enough for you yet? Wah, Wah, Wah.

I’ve also narrowed down the greatest source of my discomfort. It is the damn thigh incisions. It shouldn’t be a surprise. Others warned me. The stomach is really pretty numb, so not much trouble coming from there. The backside is more of a problem because there are those stitches the doctor had to add Friday and more again on Monday. It also just seems that every movement pulls more against the incision along the backside - the nature of our anatomy I guess. But the thighs, oh the thighs. The incisions run right along where your panty leg fits from the front center of the thigh around past the pubic area and to about the center back of my thighs. They really are pulled with almost every movement, practically every breath it seems. I won’t even get into the details about trying to sit on the toilet. Yikes!

Ok, like I said, I just want to whine today. I really don’t feel that bad. I’m moving around, threw a few towels in the washer, emptied my drains, made some coffee, flipped through a magazine, ate some breakfast, etc. I’m doing fine, but maybe getting bored, missing sis, and wishing I could drive. I know I’m pathetic. I don’t expect any sympathy, but thanks for listening. Becky

Awwwww Becky--------sorry you are feeling miserable right now! I think everyone hits the wall at some point. Nighttime is hard, you get so tired, and cannot find a comfy way to sleep, and when you do, something inevitably wakes you--mine was DH snoring! The man needs a CPAP------but is not ready to face that! I only had the one incision, and I remember wanting to flop around the bed like a fish out of water and whine! I just wanna sleep! I am now able to roll over without issue, and am back to being able to sleep mostly on my stomach.

I remember I think it was Julie that had such issues with the thigh incision. Mine look worse now that the TT was done, they show!! BUT....thinking I will just wear boy shorts when swimming!

Whine away! Everyone is entitled to whine some when they don't feel great. When my kids were sick, and they got to the whiny stage, I knew they were getting better!!! So that must mean you are too!!!

(((hugs)))

Kat

Hi,

I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be much help today Becky -- except to send you big hugs and hope that it gets better for you.

I wanted to respond to everyone's lovely messages individually and I will, but just not right now. In fact, I am only going to be able to stay online for just a few minutes.

I had a slight fever last night (101.9), but manged to bring it down to 99 when I took some Percocet. Today I'm feeling very tired and dragged out. I'm not in pain, I'm just tired, BUT when I lie down I cannot sleep-- which is very frustrating. I will be seeing the Dr. at 4:30 today and will try to update later. If not, I will update tomorrow.

Thank you for the compliments and lovely messages everyone.

Talk to you soon :drool:!

Oh no Frangi. I really hate that you are suffering. You've been through so much and being away from home always makes things worse. Please rest and feel better soon. I'm glad you're seeing the doctor today. Check in when you can. Becky

OK My Lady Heroes,

Could it be that you two are not resting enough? Are you pushing yourselves to hard? I have not had PS but I can only imagine the pain and discomfort. Neither one of you are whining. You are being honest. This thread will help so many that are going to have PS!!

Please keep us updated as to how you are feeling. You know I have only the best thoughts and biggest hugs coming your way!!

I feel better already. Reading your sweet comments Kat, Frangi, and Jody helps a lot and now knowing that Frangi legitimately feels rotten makes me want to snap out of my pity party.

KEEP THE HONESTY COMING!!!!! and whine all you want.. that is what we are here for!

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE-------if you are running any fever, be sure to do your deep breathing regularly! When my DH had his heart surgery, his temp would go up, he would use his spirometer thingie, and down the fever would go again.

Remember BBK's bout that put her back in the hospital-------make sure especially when the fever is present to BREATH DEEP--slowly and steadily inhale through your nose, hold it a few seconds, and let it out slowly through your mouth---do it several--like 5-6 times in a row---at least every couple of hours!!

Stay well!!!

Kat

Gosh ladies...sorry to hear about all your troubles, but please do continue to whine and share. It helps those of us that are coming up behind you to know what to expect. I went to my pre-op yesterday and will be starting my thread shortly. I have been lazy and not wanting to do anything except run. If it involves my brain...it isn't getting done!

Stay down and know that we are all thinking of you. Stay on the pain meds if needed. And Frangi...watch that temp!

Hi Salsa, thanks for checking in. I'm less whiney this evening. Maybe it is out of my system, at least for today, lol.

You are going just two weeks from tomorrow, right? I think your strong physical condition will really make it easier. Just don't wear yourself out too much! You are going to need your strength.

Hi Everyone!

Thanks again for all of your kindness! WOW!!!! You ladies are wonderful!!!

I will post more tomorrow because this time, I am truly "done in" for the day -- and it has turned out to be quite the hectic day.

Well let's see.... since I've posted, I have driven back and forth to my Dr.'s office, and back and forth to the Miami Airport. I also had lightning strike not more than 20 feet behind me as I was caught in a Miami traffic jam. That was quite the experience -- bright intense flash of light, sparks the works.

Whew! It feels good to be back at the hotel finally.

Here are my updates,

Fatigue:

Lack of caffeine probably. I had a few cups of strong caffeinated tea and I perked right up. Thank goodness it was something as simple as that! I guess the moral of the story is that if you are a coffee drinker, it helps to put some caffeine back in your diet :cursing:!

Fever:

The Dr. says to watch it, but that it was probably as you said Kat, being caused by "stuff" backing up in my lungs. He encouraged me to keep moving and keep doing those breathing exercises, and to feel free to call him anytime. Thanks for the reminder Kat. I still have my breathing machine and I plan to use it faithfully until this passes.

Airport:

After sitting at the Miami airport for several hours, my husband's flight was completely canceled. How frustrating is that? Furthermore he was supposed to be at a big meeting at 9:00 AM tomorrow morning -- but what can he do? There is just absolutely no way to get back to home tonight. They put him on a 7:30 AM flight tomorrow and hopefully that will go smoothly.

Lightning:

Totally weird experience -- I've never had that happen before. Thank goodness no one was hurt. All it did was create a bright light and lot of sparks for a few moments. (Oh yeah, and it got the fire truck rolling too)

Driving:

No, I'm not really supposed to be driving, but I have to, so I am. Today was my first day and it went well, but I did make sure that I was completely "drug free" before I hit the road. Tomorrow, I hope to stay in all or most of the day.

Well as I said, I'm really tired and I'm walking very hunched over at this point. Will post more tomorrow, and thank you so much ladies. I simply cannot believe how wonderful everyone has been!!!

I want you both to know that it is totally normal to experience a lot of mood swings right after surgery. There are a lot of hormonal changes that occur with this surgery. Estrogen is stored in our fat cells and with this surgery you have had a lot of fat removed and therefore you have had a major disruption in your hormones. Plus, the anesthia causes alot of side effects, also. I know that I experienced a huge range of emotions. I also had to go off my hormone replacement for the surgery. When I got back on the HRE, I had even more issues for a while. I even had to get progesterin shots for a while. I guess what I'm saying is that anger, euphoria, tearfulness, etc. are all very normal. No one explained this to me until I went to see my OB/GYN so I just wanted you to know. One minute I loved my husband to pieces and the next, I felt he didn't love me enough etc. Really with the lack of sleep and pain, I wouldn't totally trust your emotions for a while. Just notice them, but don't judge them. Be kind to yourselves and don't have much expectations for anything. Enjoy being able to rest and not do anything. Sounds like your both doing awesome. Becky: I am thinking of doing my back side and thighs so I'm listening carefully to what you're experiencing. I can't wait to see pictures. I wish you both the best!

Congratulations texasbecky!! I hope you are feeling better soon.

Good Morning Everyone!

I'm back and feeling 1000% better. I'm having a nice big cup of coffee as I write this -- Ahhhhh the joys of caffeine!!!

I just returned from (yet another) trip to the Miami airport to get DH off for his flight. He just called and it looks as if this flight will be taking off at 7:30 AM as expected.

Anyhow, it might take me a day or two, but I will get caught up on all of the threads and postings that I want to respond to. It is a bit hard for me to sit for long periods of time -- how about you Becky? I'm much better standing or lounging luxuriously in my very comfy bed with my amazing wedge pillow (thank you Karey for the suggestion, I love my wedge pillow, it's the perfect thing.)

Becky, of course you are going to have days that you want to whine. You had an amazing amount of surgery just seven short days ago. So please, whine away.

I am however, wondering if you are being a bit premature in weaning yourself off of the pain meds. If you still have pain, it seems to me that you should still be taking your pain meds. After all the Dr. did prescribe them for a reason -- to keep you comfortable while you are recuperating.

I also think Karey gave us some great insight into what might be happening to us right now (Thank you again Karey :rolleyes2:). I never thought of it, but this surgery might very well be wreaking havoc with our hormones. I don't know about you, but general anesthesia always puts me into a major funk -- less so this time, but I do find myself getting very annoyed and short-tempered at times. So no worries, this will pass quickly. I wish I recuperating closer to you because I think a little trip to Stein Mart would do us both a world of good. Can DH at least take you someplace for a little while today?

Well, I think I need to sign off for now, my back is a bit stiff from sitting at the computer (and in not-a-very-comfortable chair either) so I need to give it a little rest, but I will return in a few hours.

Talk to you soon :thumbup::smile::smile2:!