DIEP 2013

Wow, Tammy, those are perfect. Can we call you "chart lady"?

I have a question for you guys who have had lipo. I am allowed to take my compression off to bathe, etc. Of course, I take this opportunity to scrutinize the inner thigh area, which I can see the best. He was only supposed to take a small amount out of the very top of each inner thigh (about 30cc per thigh/about a full shot glass) and transfer it to the top of each breast. You wouldn't think this would have been very painful, but it has been. My question is how much swelling do you have and is it disfiguring at first. My thighs better not stay looking like this!!! I think it actually looks worse than before. Now, the flank area looks better than before, and I quickly pulled on my skinny jeans just to see if I could get a preview of the future. So far, so good. And, they could lipo my flank and tummy to their hearts content. There is very little pain in that area.

I emailed my PS last night and asked him if he felt the spanx was tight enough, and he said I could stop compression if I felt the swelling was down some, and if I could go for a walk all the better. The walk felt good. I then went on Google and read some more, and there are all different rules of thought. There doesn't seem to be much restriction on activity after lipo, but not one doc seems to 100 percent agree with another about compression rules. I do know that most do not want you to put any compression on grafted areas, which I haven't done, phew. All PS wanted me to wear was a comfy sports bra.

Zenful, I know many docs don't do the shaping until after the flaps are alive for a while, but my did. Skin and nipples sparing (in my case) also affects the initial looks. Eventually, all of them will shape them into great looking foobs. So, consider yourself "chart lady on order"

If we ever have a "flapper convention", I will be happy to participate in the "show and tell" with everyone else.

Bdavis

Of the 3 rounds of lipo that you had, did any of them include your thighs, and if so, did that area hurt more?

Sharon, you are sweet. He did say something about hitting muscle pretty quickly. Thighs are still sore, but better. Can't wait for my appt on Thursday. He told me I can take compression off if I want to, he doesn't think I needed it anymore. He didn't do anything major, just took what he needed for grafting. I am going to leave it on for a while longer because it feels better to have it on. I don't have the oozing some speak of because he glued over the holes.

I did go for a short, but very needed walk today, and that helped me feel like I was getting better.

Cherrie - worried about that shoulder. Did you have the neck checked as it can cause shoulder pain? I agree with Nihahi - all of your surgery is behind you now - time to explore something that will help!

Goldie - I had inner thigh lipo in August and had pain for quite some time. The compression did help a lot. It took about 3 weeks just for the bruising to settle down. Be patient with this. No matter how much he took, it can still be slow healing.

My PS nurse told me laser hair removal was cosmetic and would be at my cost even if i have a hairy patch on my foob and pubic hair growing way higher than before. Wondering if I'll get this answer about wanting my FUPA fixed. Has anyone had this done and was it covered under insurance for you?

SBE- You make me laugh.

I was in PT for 3 weeks then went to VA and then Seattle and didn't keep up with shoulder exercises. It affects both shoulders, but especially my left. I have lots of pain. Doing my exercises and icing, but don't know how much Advil to take and for how long. I took two today at 5:00 Michigan time. I can't put my left arm straight out and pronate/ turn in. No diagnosis. Inflamed ligaments in the shoulder caused from lack of use after surgeries, new girls, etc. who knows. I can't even put my own coat on. My hubby helps so much.

sbe, I'm doing the happy dance with you. Getting those drains out is the best!

Seems like I am reading about many of us with shoulder problems. I had some shoulder stiffness before I had my surgery, but after 10 hours of surgery, it has been extra messed up. One morning I woke up unable to lift my arm, just like Cherrie. At my acupuncture appointment, the chiropractor who does the acupuncture had me cross my arm in front of me and she popped it back into place. I can now lift it in front of me, but I still have the same pre-surgery stiffness. It is also in the same arm as my SNB. Just curious, how many of you have shoulder problems?

zenful.....sign me up on the problem shoulder list. Mine started with my capsular contracture and just kept getting worse and worse. I had gotten it "un-frozen" (actually both of them froze on me at one stretch of time) and close to normal ROM before my flap surgery. Surgery set me right back to "yuck" again, but time, physio, and WORK, have it back. I don't think I'll ever have 100% pain free movement, but really, it's only the extremes of ROM or rotation that cause pain now. Strength is a whole other story, but again...it's improving.

sbe....trim a gummy bear and stick it on the "spot".....or, just borrow one of Aubrey's bottle nips! Lots of possibilities out there!!!! Personally, I CANNOT WAIT TO HAVE 2 AGAIN!!!! I REPEAT....I CANNOT WAIT! Have I mentioned lately how "human and doable" you have helped make this whole fandago for me.....thank you so much for being YOU!!!! (keep forgetting to ask...how are the sniffles??? It begs the question...if you sneeze in a hyperbaric chamber.....who gets to clean off the glass???)

cherrie....the crappy thing about rehab, is that if you don't hang with it long enough to get things "resolved"....you often have to start back at the beginning. You need to be re-assessed, re-medicated (possibly) and "re-programmed". Advil will help more with inflammation, Tylenol will help more with the pain. But, you might need something like naproxen, and a very specific and graded physio program to get sorted out. Massage maybe too???? If you sleep more on your left side, try keeping on your back more, sleep with a towel or flat pillow under your arms. If it was better while you were away, and has worsened quickly since you got home.....maybe your mattress/pillow are contributing to the problems. There are solutions out there, I bet, but will likely take some time and "sleuthing" and work to sort things out.

jeannie....still thinking "CRAP" re: hubby. Hoping he finds an unexpected opportunity to come out of this in a happier, more satisfying, and stable position.

put me on the shoulder problem list. Frozen shoulder on left when diagnosed and it kept getting assulted with every surgery, rads, etc. after a year of PT it is much better. Now my right shoulder has been in pain for the last year and is starting to freeze up. I had an MRI and no surgery is needed. I'm supposed to go back in January for maybe a cortisone shot. I don't want anymore PT so I'm going to try to just get it moving on my own with the help of my hubby.

Goldie... I have had inner thigh, outer thigh and inner knee. You may want to try arnica gel or tablets. I used it the first two times (not this time). The first time I felt like I was hit by a bus, but only some of that was the lipo. I had had DIEP and GAP, so my first revision including lipo and a butt lift (ouch). But by day 7 I felt almost 100%. Lipo is short term pain, but improves quickly, so if you have lasting pain, you may want to look into it. This third time, it was just a little inner thigh, no bruising. He mostly took from my back side of love handles and most of my bruising was my left lat fat. He was looking here and there for usable fat. I am just fine with that.

cherrie......advil certainly will help with pain, but has an added anti-inflammatory property. Tylenol doesn't have that property, so is considered to be more specific to pain. That's why you get Tylenol in hospital for pain, not advil. You can alternate, and keep a better "handle" on things. You can take the naproxen with tylenol. If you are in significant pain, you should be icing more often than 3x per day. Are you icing for 20 minutes at a time? You should be. If you are back to your physio exercises, warm up your muscles first with a hot shower, or heating pad and always always always ice after exercising. Try really hard not to keep your arms extended up while you're sleeping....not a natural position for the muscles or joints.

Yeah, Mamma. So glad the implant side is coming around. I can just picture you in front of the class with your arms crossed, stern look on your face, and you are thinking, "damn, nice boobs!!!!" Lmaoooooooo

Did he use 150 cc for grafting, or was he giving you a little present for all your trouble?

Bdavis, thanks for the info on the lipo. How long did it take for your GAP to heal? We had a woman on here whose GAP drains stayed in I believe 2 months. She had quite a time of it,, Once they came out she disappeared. I hope she is doing well.

You guys with the shoulder issues, I feel your pain. Been there, done that. Wish I had some words of wisdom. Only thing I can say is try to keep moving.

Boy, auto correct did a number on that. It is not Wilbur unless he comes with Advil.