So as if the whole world did not already know, my surgery is set for July 3 at 7:30AM. I will have to be to the surgery center at 6:30. To the dismay of many around here, this will be an outpatient surgery and is scheduled to last 6 hours. Here is what the doc said yesterday.

1. I will have 2, (possibly 3) incisions. One that runs hip to hip (about 3/4 of the way back on the hip), 1 that runs vertically from groin to breast bone, and then possibly one that is horizontal just underneath the bra line. She won't know until she sees how much puckering there will be at the top. I really don't give a CRAP about scarring. I just want to see my belly button!:sneaky:

2. She has no idea how much muscle repair I will need. She said she wouldn't know until she gets in there.

3. She may or may not move my port. It depends on how much of a fat pad there is between my port and the muscle. If there is not a lot, she will leave it. If there is a fair amount, then she will unstitch the port, remove the fat, and resecure the port to my muscle. Lovely...port pain again! :thumbup: She will not be changing the location of the port and has the complete support of my lap-band surgeon.

4. She will lipo the mons area and lift as well. This is being thrown in as a bonus. She said she is not going to charge me for the lipoing of the mons area because she didn't originally think I would need it, but now she thinks it would be better. She said it is not enough to justify recalculating the fees.

5. I will be receiving a pain pump that will last for 48 hours. She gave me the option of showing me how to remove it myself (WTH!):rolleyes2: or to move up my post-op and come in on Monday and have her remove it. I opted for the second! I am not a biologist/doctor...that is what I pay them the big bucks for!

6. She is so excited that I am running the half-marathon before surgery because it will cause great circulation and put me in the best shape of my life. She was not concerned about the weightloss because of my muscle tone. She didn't want to see me losing a lot of weight just due to low calories and poor nutrition which can be a problem for healing. But after seeing the muscle tone in my arms and legs she is EXTREMELY confident in my ability to heal quickly.

They took a bunch of pictures and I got my prescriptions for surgery. They are all liquid as this was the only thing that my lap-band surgeon suggested. I did not want to get a pill stuck and be throwing up! So I will just gag from the flavor instead.:tongue2: Liquid pain meds and liquid antibiotics. Sounds like a party. I can sit in my recliner like chair with a straw and party umbrella in my medical cocktail and feel like I am sitting on the beach...with my new "bikini body"!:rolleyes2:

And now...what everyone has been waiting for... the pictures...as hideous as they may be! I know a lot of people like to see before and after pictures and I will be posting a lot. There are not a lot of people that have the vertical incision and it has been very difficult for me to find before and afters so I am going to do the best I can to provide this information for other's searching.

What a day. I am very tired and sorer today than I have been because we have been running around since 10:30 this morning. I went to the plastic surgeon and she checked out the scar to make sure that I didn't hurt anything during my graceful (NOT) fall yesterday. She was very concerned that I was still light headed and that my pulse was at 90. Normally it is at 60. She didn't think that it had to do with the surgery however. She said I lost VERY little blood. Her best guess was that it is a combination of the heat and low blood sugar, but she wanted me to get checked out by my primary care physician. The she removed the drain (will take pictures tomorrow) which didn't hurt too bad. I now know what it would feel like to have a moving snake under your skin though. It felt kind of weird. Then she gooped me up with neosporin and sent me on my way with the promise that I would see my other doc.

Alright...back in the car and headed back to our town. Called my doctor and described my situation. When the receptionist took the info back to the doc and the nurse they said there was NO way they could fit me in today and that I was to go to Urgent Care or the ER immediately. They were not happy with the fact that my pulse was so far away from normal. So we drove to urgent care where I had the DUMBEST doctor in the world. He said that your pulse being 30 beats per minute higher was not a big deal. He said it was just a big combo of everything culminating together that caused me to faint and that he feels that anyone that faints within 20 feet of bathroom has nothing to worry about. I still don't know how that can be true...just ask my very sore heiny, shoulder and back! So he did decide to run a few tests just to rule out anything substantial. (Great I should just start a tab at the local lab...just got a pre surgery bill for 138.00$ today) They did a urine analysis to check if I was preggo (he wouldn't take my word that I couldn't be even though they did the day of surgery...go figure...this guy was a real creep) and to see if there was blood in the urine. Both came back negative (yeah...coulda told you I wasn't pregnant) Then they did an EKG which turned out perfect. Finally they were going to do some blood work to check for anemia, electrolyte imbalance and protein levels. This is where things got FUN!

I have pretty tiny veins so they had to poke me 4 times. Now I am not afraid of needles at all. The problem was the way they had me seated. My muscles were burning. I could literally see my belly swelling as I was sitting there because my PS doesn't want me in my binder except at night or if I am really sore because of the heat fact...so it was in the car. After almost 2 hours in the urgent care office...we were starving. So we finally got something to eat. I can't be below 2500 calories so I am going to have to drink some calories for the next couple of days.

Well I am tired and going to go take a nap with DH! That guy is amazing!

Karri, my DD is in her first trimester of pregnancy and experiencing some problems. Which the heat is making worse. Her Gyno told her to have something in her hand to drink at all times, the colder the better. And she has one of those neck noodles she is wearing at her desk. You soak it in cold water, and it swells up, keeps the blood cooled going to her brain I tease her!

I know you need calories, and are not concerning yourself with diet so much, but don't forget to bump the protein for healing purposes, and watch the sugar rushes, because it causes your blood sugar to go all over the place, something it sounds like you do not need right now!!

Feel better Soon!!!

Kat

Salsa: Too bad your primary care doc couldn't see you. Hopefully all will be well! Take care!

Oh Karri, i'm sorry. Unfortunately, there are plenty of dumba$$ doctors out there (Lord knows I work with some of them!!!). Did you get the results on your lab work? Do listen to your PS as she sounds like she's got a great head on her shoulders.... it's too bad common sense can't be bottled and sold to those in need.

Please, please get plenty of rest and keep cool and get lots of fluids. I agree to be careful about sugar intake.... those highs and lows can be awful.

Bless you my dear!!!

Edited July 11, 200818 yr by cori in wa

My plastic surgeon called me back and left a message as we were out "trying" to buy air conditioner (more on that later). She seemed as dismayed as I was and told me to call her night or day if anything happened. She agian reiterated that I need to eat, eat, eat and drink drink drink. She did give me some antibacteria cream as there was one small part of the incision that looked a little iffy. But I don't have a temp and she thinks it is more just a little irritation from the fall but didn't want to take any chances. Have I mentioned how much I love her! I do think that it could be a food issue because I don't have any issues of light headedness for 1-2 hours after eating!

Okay as for "buying" the air conditioner. This will tell you how DUMB Wal-Mart employees can be and how out of it I am. We went to Wal-mart today as my plastic surgeon REALLY wanted me to get an air conditioner as she was concerned about the heat. So my brother (who owes me 4500$) said that he could give me 200$ of that money so that we could go buy one. So...I gave in and we picked one up when I bought my meds. We bought some other groceries but we obviously didn't put the air conditioner on the belt and just left it in the cart. She rang up our groceries and then hit total...she never rang up the a/c. So we got a 157$ a/c for...NOTHING! The total came to 32$ and I didn't even think anything of it. DH was loading the cart and I ran my debit card through and we left. As we were walking out the door he asked how much the a/c rang up for cause there was some confusion in the signs by the units. That was when I realized that she never scanned it. I said..."well according to my reciept it was 0.00$" I figured if she was lazy enough to not see the large a$$ box in my cart then I wasn't going to turn around and pay for the thing. So I am thoroughly enjoying my new air conditioning unit and my bank account! Probably should feel guilty but the cashier was in a bad mood and complaining about her job and how miserable she was...sooooooo I don't feel bad...just nice and cool!

Been up since 4AM and only slept about 1 hour before that. I couldn't fall asleep last night because I was miserably full. Then I would sleep for 20 minutes at a time. I was so exhausted after all of my activites yesterday but not sleepy. I am off all narcotic pain meds as the PS didn't want to add to any complications I am having with the whole lightheadedness issues. I am actually in more pain today than I have been since I had surgery. I have to take a shower this morning and then I am pretty much going to TRY and sleep most of the day. Usually my binder is pretty loose in the moring from the swelling going down but not today. It is still tight and figure it is because I didn't get the rest that I needed last night.

Well I am going to try and catch a nap before DH gets up. Don't know if it will work, but I am going to try!

salsa,

sorry about the sleep issues. did you get a chair for the shower? if not, please please be careful.

swelling is a b(ahem)...

at least you are in a cooler house now.

C

Salsa-I'm glad you have air conditioning now no matter how you got it! I've been following the thread and I am wishing you a whole lot of better days and nights soon! You are one tough cookie!!!! Keep cool and keep a drink in your hand whenever your awake. I can't stand the urgent care doctors in my area...they are complete rejects!!! Emergency Room is always a better bet!!!!

Take Care!!

Tess

My ps said she didnt want to do lbl in the summer for me because of the heat. I didn't quite understand why but - Salsa you suffering sheds some light on that! Glad you have ac now! -- keep cool

I'm glad you got one of your drains removed. Is it not the strangest sensation ever???

I am feeling much better today. I had a lot more to eat today. We had pizza for dinner. It tasted okay. one of the few junk foods that I can still tolerate. I tried bacon yesterday morning and almost hurled. I can't stand peanut butter or bacon any more. I just never had them when I was losing weight so now they just taste ucky! Wierd.

No lightheadedness at all today. No shower either. I was a bit nervous about getting back in that death trap...just kidding. I did get a nap in today considering that I didn't sleep all that well last night. I am pretty freaking sick of sitting on my a$$ though!

I am feeling much better today. I had a lot more to eat today. We had pizza for dinner. It tasted okay. one of the few junk foods that I can still tolerate. I tried bacon yesterday morning and almost hurled. I can't stand peanut butter or bacon any more. I just never had them when I was losing weight so now they just taste ucky! Wierd.

No lightheadedness at all today. No shower either. I was a bit nervous about getting back in that death trap...just kidding. I did get a nap in today considering that I didn't sleep all that well last night. I am pretty freaking sick of sitting on my a$$ though!

YOU have to do it though!! TRUST ME!!!:cool:

Just got caught up on the post for the last 2 days or so. Sorry about your fall, glad it was minor and nothing broken. That doctor's bathroom theory is a piece of @$)$! I have never heard of such BS. I am sure your pulse rate was up due to dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. Great deal on the AC unit, I would have done the same thing too. That would have been too heavy to put on the belt. I am glad that you are able to eat more and it is true about the increased calories needed for healing. Good Luck!!

Today was a pretty good day despite the fact that my drain is leaking around the incision. I had to resort to using a feminine pad around the drain to catch it all. Leaked on to my underwear this morning.

I did take a shower this morning and managed to stay on two feet the entire time. My arse is thanking me. It really hurts from the fall. I bumped my tailbone on the back of the toilet today and almost shot straight up. Unfortunately my sore tummy muscles stopped me.

So we did take some pictures this morning so here they are. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my new tummy. I put a t-shirt on this morning and there was no bulge! IT WAS PERFECTLY FLAT!

Edited July 13, 200818 yr by salsa1877

Karri! You look great hun! I am glad to here you aren't falling over in the shower still! Still be a good girl and get your rest! :smile:Keep healing so nicely too!