11 Days Post-Op Update
Hello!
I am in my mid 30s, stage 3, and initially posted when I was 10-hours post op. Now I’m 11 days post op of full leg lipo and thought it’d be helpful to provide an update, address FAQs, and share some progress pics. If there’s something I didn’t touch on, please feel free to ask in the comments or send me a dm if you’d prefer.
TW - mental health & body dysmorphia are mentioned.
Travel - My surgeon was out of state, and the return flight was 2 hours, then another 75 min drive from airport to home. It wasn’t “comfortable” by any stretch of the imagination, though airline travel usually isn’t lol. But I paid for an upgraded seat with more leg room and was able to frequently stretch my legs, so it wasn’t that bad. If you can get in an exit row, that’d be even better!
Wound Care - Travel wise, the pain wasn’t severe, but the worst part was the drainage, simply because it is so uncomfortable to feel wet. I didn’t have drains, but had absorbent pads, wrapped in gauze, wrapped in ace bandages, with compression garment on top, and not one but two pairs of pants on; I leaked all the way through both pairs of pants. It was pretty unavoidable, but just wanted to note. This is normal and will continue once you get home.
Home Wound Care - we stocked up on all the aforementioned supplies (gauze, pads, etc). I’d stand in my kitchen, put one of the chucks pads down to contain the mess to do all the redressing. Don’t be alarmed, but it is going to look like a lot of blood , but it’s really just pinkish red fluid that NEEDS to seep out. My surgeon showed my partner how to “milk” my legs, like using manual pressure down the sides to force more drainage out. Thankfully he works in healthcare and isn’t grossed out easily lol. He’d have to change my bandages 2-3 times a day, but that only lasted for 4 or 5 days.
Work - I work full time from home, and was able to start working one week after surgery. I didn’t have specific limitations on a return date, just as long as I felt ok since I’d just be working from the couch. It’s now Friday, so it’s been a full 40 hour week. I’m very tired, more mentally than anything but I made it!
Swelling - I now understand what “swell hell” means. My face, my fingers, my belly, everything. It isn’t really painful, but it is uncomfortable. Like everything just feels tight on me, my actual skin and my clothing. It’s important to wear compression 24/7, make sure you are drinking enough fluid, watching how much sodium you’re consuming, moving as much as possible, and elevating your legs. I only take the compression off to shower.
Speaking of showering - I was able to shower after 1st post op appt and recommend not showering when home alone, as you can get dizzy. Only use warm (not super hot!) water and try to keep them under 10 min if you can. My process is to pat dry initially, and then stay in a towel until fully dry and use this time to apply lotion and arnica gel for the bruising.
Oh the bruising - you’re going to look battered. I’ll be honest, seeing yourself like that is not easy. You kind of know in the back of your mind that that’s what you’re going to look like, but when you actually see it, it’s upsetting. I currently feel like a giant purple marshmallow and like I am completely undesirable. My man has assured me that’s not the case. But if you have previous struggles with body dysmorphia, please take caution with your mental health. The medications you may be on definitely help pain, but they can also worsen depression.
Regarding medication - I was prescribed, Percocet for severe pain, gabapentin for nerve pain, nausea meds, Valium for spasms, and a prophylactic antibiotic. Im also using arnica sublingual tablets. I think I took Valium once, it didn’t really help aside from making me calm. The gabapentin was helping but the side effects were severe and I have since discontinued it. It made me unbelievably sad. Like I’d just start crying for no reason. My vision was blurry, and I just didn’t feel like myself. Two days since I’ve taken it, and I feel like I’m already feeling better. The arnica has helped the bruising significantly.
Pain - Night of surgery 10/10, but the next day, idk if it was just leftover anesthesia coursing through my system or maybe they gave me a nerve block, but I walked like roughly 10k steps that day, without excruciating pain, which was frankly mind-blowing.
For the first couple of days back home, the pain was pretty bad, but admittedly not as bad as I was expecting. I still took a walk everyday, wore compression 24/7, but needed pain meds every few hours. I am now cleared to use NSAIDs, which help enough with the pain. The narcotic ones are good if the pain is out of control, but the constipation, and depression they cause for me aren’t worth it. Current pain levels are prob a 5/10. It still hurts but I can function.
Driving - I have been able to drive short distances 2 times in the last 11 days. My main issue is that it’s painful where the car seat hits the back of my thighs. It’s still very bruised under my butt cheeks, so bumpy roads and stopping abruptly make it worse. It goes without saying but just make sure you aren’t trying to drive while still on pain meds.
Sex - no one really talks about this, but I feel like it’s worth mentioning. Prior to surgery, my partner and I had sex like 5x a week. We kind of attempted a few days ago but my inner thighs were still too tender and certain areas are still numb and pins and needley- so we stopped before I ever even took off my compression leggings. I am mentioning this because my ex husband was mad when I wouldn’t sleep with him while recovering from ABDOMINAL surgery, and made me feel awful about it. My partner now is very supportive and because we have such a healthy sex life, I talked to him in advance about it and let him know it might be a few weeks before I’m actually able. He’s totally fine with it and told me to take all the time I need and to only focus on recovery. ❤️
Today I’m starting manual lymphatic drainage massage treatments and hopefully next week I can get back into deep tissue to break up the tight spots.
I do plan to continue documenting my recovery so if you’re interested, stay tuned 😊
Hello!
I am in my mid 30s, stage 3, and initially posted when I was 10-hours post op. Now I’m 11 days post op of full leg lipo and thought it’d be helpful to provide an update, address FAQs, and share some progress pics. If there’s something I didn’t touch on, please feel free to ask in the comments or send me a dm if you’d prefer.
TW - mental health & body dysmorphia are mentioned.
Travel - My surgeon was out of state, and the return flight was 2 hours, then another 75 min drive from airport to home. It wasn’t “comfortable” by any stretch of the imagination, though airline travel usually isn’t lol. But I paid for an upgraded seat with more leg room and was able to frequently stretch my legs, so it wasn’t that bad. If you can get in an exit row, that’d be even better!
Wound Care - Travel wise, the pain wasn’t severe, but the worst part was the drainage, simply because it is so uncomfortable to feel wet. I didn’t have drains, but had absorbent pads, wrapped in gauze, wrapped in ace bandages, with compression garment on top, and not one but two pairs of pants on; I leaked all the way through both pairs of pants. It was pretty unavoidable, but just wanted to note. This is normal and will continue once you get home.
Home Wound Care - we stocked up on all the aforementioned supplies (gauze, pads, etc). I’d stand in my kitchen, put one of the chucks pads down to contain the mess to do all the redressing. Don’t be alarmed, but it is going to look like a lot of blood , but it’s really just pinkish red fluid that NEEDS to seep out. My surgeon showed my partner how to “milk” my legs, like using manual pressure down the sides to force more drainage out. Thankfully he works in healthcare and isn’t grossed out easily lol. He’d have to change my bandages 2-3 times a day, but that only lasted for 4 or 5 days.
Work - I work full time from home, and was able to start working one week after surgery. I didn’t have specific limitations on a return date, just as long as I felt ok since I’d just be working from the couch. It’s now Friday, so it’s been a full 40 hour week. I’m very tired, more mentally than anything but I made it!
Swelling - I now understand what “swell hell” means. My face, my fingers, my belly, everything. It isn’t really painful, but it is uncomfortable. Like everything just feels tight on me, my actual skin and my clothing. It’s important to wear compression 24/7, make sure you are drinking enough fluid, watching how much sodium you’re consuming, moving as much as possible, and elevating your legs. I only take the compression off to shower.
Speaking of showering - I was able to shower after 1st post op appt and recommend not showering when home alone, as you can get dizzy. Only use warm (not super hot!) water and try to keep them under 10 min if you can. My process is to pat dry initially, and then stay in a towel until fully dry and use this time to apply lotion and arnica gel for the bruising.
Oh the bruising - you’re going to look battered. I’ll be honest, seeing yourself like that is not easy. You kind of know in the back of your mind that that’s what you’re going to look like, but when you actually see it, it’s upsetting. I currently feel like a giant purple marshmallow and like I am completely undesirable. My man has assured me that’s not the case. But if you have previous struggles with body dysmorphia, please take caution with your mental health. The medications you may be on definitely help pain, but they can also worsen depression.
Regarding medication - I was prescribed, Percocet for severe pain, gabapentin for nerve pain, nausea meds, Valium for spasms, and a prophylactic antibiotic. Im also using arnica sublingual tablets. I think I took Valium once, it didn’t really help aside from making me calm. The gabapentin was helping but the side effects were severe and I have since discontinued it. It made me unbelievably sad. Like I’d just start crying for no reason. My vision was blurry, and I just didn’t feel like myself. Two days since I’ve taken it, and I feel like I’m already feeling better. The arnica has helped the bruising significantly.
Pain - Night of surgery 10/10, but the next day, idk if it was just leftover anesthesia coursing through my system or maybe they gave me a nerve block, but I walked like roughly 10k steps that day, without excruciating pain, which was frankly mind-blowing.
For the first couple of days back home, the pain was pretty bad, but admittedly not as bad as I was expecting. I still took a walk everyday, wore compression 24/7, but needed pain meds every few hours. I am now cleared to use NSAIDs, which help enough with the pain. The narcotic ones are good if the pain is out of control, but the constipation, and depression they cause for me aren’t worth it. Current pain levels are prob a 5/10. It still hurts but I can function.
Driving - I have been able to drive short distances 2 times in the last 11 days. My main issue is that it’s painful where the car seat hits the back of my thighs. It’s still very bruised under my butt cheeks, so bumpy roads and stopping abruptly make it worse. It goes without saying but just make sure you aren’t trying to drive while still on pain meds.
Sex - no one really talks about this, but I feel like it’s worth mentioning. Prior to surgery, my partner and I had sex like 5x a week. We kind of attempted a few days ago but my inner thighs were still too tender and certain areas are still numb and pins and needley- so we stopped before I ever even took off my compression leggings. I am mentioning this because my ex husband was mad when I wouldn’t sleep with him while recovering from ABDOMINAL surgery, and made me feel awful about it. My partner now is very supportive and because we have such a healthy sex life, I talked to him in advance about it and let him know it might be a few weeks before I’m actually able. He’s totally fine with it and told me to take all the time I need and to only focus on recovery. ❤️
Today I’m starting manual lymphatic drainage massage treatments and hopefully next week I can get back into deep tissue to break up the tight spots.
I do plan to continue documenting my recovery so if you’re interested, stay tuned 😊