Surgery booked with Karidis 8th Nov

[Swarley]

Back home now. Surgery today was a a breeze.

I was taken in about 11am, down to the anesthetist room, where theycgave me some gas and air while they hooked ke up to a drip.
Next thing in knew, I was waking up in the recovery room. My first thought wa that I'd fallen asleep by accident - but then I realized I was wearing a compression vest!

There was a little pain at first - it felt a bit like a reallly bad shaving rash on my chest, butbthat faded within about 30mins and since then have had no pain to speak of.

They've put a kind of compression. Belt around my waist because I had the flanks done, and this is really tight. But the compression vest isn't causing me any problems at all.

Will post more tomorrow.

[thetodd]

Glad it went well, how much extra was it for the flanks?

I always wondered what would happen if you had your flanks lipo'd because i was under the impression that fat will stop getting stored there as much ... so where will it go?

Get some pics up anyway when you can im really interested in seeing the results on this

[Swarley]

The pricing options they gave me were:
Chest reduction: £2825 + hospital fee of £1483 = £4308
Chest + Flanks: £3625 + hospital fee of £1658 = £5283

So it was an extra £975 to get the flanks done.

I always wondered what would happen if you had your flanks lipo'd because i was under the impression that fat will stop getting stored there as much ... so where will it go?

Well, I don't intend to put the weight back on, so hopefully I won't find out where my body chooses to store fat instead.
My flanks grew out about the same time as my chest & I've had really big stretch marks on both sides since I was 11.

Here's a pic in the mirror this morning. The compression belt is really, really tight!

[Mickydubs]

Well swarley we've done it mate, reached the other side. A bit like yourself really, just seemed to close my eyes with oxygen and then walk up my room, a breeze!
Journey added to it a little though only got home at midnight so a long day.
Are the flanks sore? Are you a bit sorer today?
I'm allergic to tablets so am just on the paracetes but fealing a lot better than I thought, hope that doesn't mean they've gone easy on us !!!!

[ITrecruit]

Wish I got my love handles done for extra £975 thats a good price. Damn!

[Swarley]

Well swarley we've done it mate, reached the other side. A bit like yourself really, just seemed to close my eyes with oxygen and then walk up my room, a breeze!
Journey added to it a little though only got home at midnight so a long day.
Are the flanks sore? Are you a bit sorer today?
I'm allergic to tablets so am just on the paracetes but fealing a lot better than I thought, hope that doesn't mean they've gone easy on us !!!!

Congrats Micky - I imagine you're feeling pretty knackered right now, but you'll be back to your best in no time.

I'm pretty sure I tried to chat up the nurse in the recovery room - I vaugely remember seeing her sitting next to my bed, and saying "Hey, how you doing?" 

My journey home was ok - my sister picked me up and drove me home - took about an hour an half. Aside from my sister driving over a railway crossing at 35mph (which hurt a bit), it wasn't too bad.

Just took off the compression garments & the padding and had a shower.
Wish I'd shaved my armpits, because they taped the padding right onto my armpit hairs, and getting it off was not fun!
Decided to leave the plasters on for now. The nurse said to replace them if they come off. There's quite a bit of blood in them, but they seem to be stuck on pretty well. It shouldn't do any harm to leave them on for now will it?





I noticed the compression belt had been digging in a bit (see the big dent in my side in the second picture), so was happy to change that. I put the spare one on, making sure it didn't fold or dig in anywhere, and it's much more comfortable.

Something else that's a bit weird - I keep farting. Little ones that just seem to whistle right out without warning.
I reckon it's the compression belt pushing any air out of my guts.
 
Also got a really sore throat, so I've been gargling TCP & water, and munching loads of strepsils.

[Mickydubs]

Hi Swarley,

same as you mate with the throat but its almost back to normal now.

My chest doesn't seem to be so bad but wouldn't want to try lieing on my side though.

Which is the most sore, your chest ? or the flanks ?

[thetodd]

Im going to mention it again. I dont mean to go on about your flanks, its just something that i havent seen photo's of before

Did you have the sort of angel wing look before, or is it down to lighting? Carry on taking pics it looks like your going to have a great final result to me.

as for the pads, i just left them off and let the air get into them its just to stop infection if the incisions are scabbed over then your fine. Yeah that compression belt doenst look to comfy

[Swarley]

No worries thetodd.
Yeah I lost a lot of weight in the last month which is when my hip bones started to become more visible - but it's probably partly the lighting in that photo.

 Cheers for the advice.
I'm going to try and change the plasters later today.

[chopper]

Like TheTodd said, i think you are going to have a storming result with the extra weight loss. Once it all comes together over the next 6 - 12 months you will be kicking yourself and walking with an extra spring in your step 

[Swarley]

Day 2

Thanks for the support guys - it's a really big help to hear your opinions!

Managed to get the plasters off today.
A little blood came out of each nipple incision - but we're talking just a drop from each side.
I'm amazed at how small the incisions are! I'd say they're no bigger than 2mm.

Here's a pic with the plasters off. One side is quite a bit more swollen than the other, but based on what I've seen on this forum, I think that's to be expected.



I've had no pain at all today, so haven't taken any painkillers. My flanks have felt a bit sore, but I worked out this was because the bottom of the compression vest was digging in, so when I put on the other vest (after the shower), I rolled it up at the bottom, then put the compression belt on top. Feels a bit better now.

[Mickydubs]

Hi Swarley,
Looking well mate,
I was a bit weady I'm afraid, had to have the tramodol for pain last night, worked though straight off to sleep.
How mobile are you ? any soreness around the armpit area ?

[Swarley]

Hi Micky,

Good stuff. Not had any pain myself today, and have been sleeping loads.
I can walk around okay, but I've found I get really tired and have to sit down after a few minutes.

I had a bit of soreness in the armpits yesterday, and worked out it was because the vest was digging in. I remembered someone on here said they cut up a pair of socks and folded them over the top of the vest under the arms to stop that - did that yesterday and have had no real discomfort in the armpits since!

[Swarley]

Day 4

I got about 14 hours sleep yesterday, in several stints, and feeling much better for it today.
I've found it difficult to sleep sitting semi upright for more than a few hours at a time - I find I wake up with either a neck ache or a head ache after 3 - 4 hours.
The past couple of days I've felt weak as a kitten, but today I feel like my strength is very slowly coming back.

Chest:
Quite a bit of itching today, but not sure if that's because it's healing, or because my chest hairs are growing back.
Some of my range of movement is starting to come back - I'm able to reach things on shelves at chest height now.
Still generally feeling tight and aching like I've had a really big chest workout at the gym.
Both nipples still numb, but the right one did contract a bit while I was in the shower, and ached a bit when it did.
Also, the swelling doesn't seem to be getting any worse. If anything, I think it's starting to go down a bit.

Flanks:
Nowhere near as sore as they have been, and aside from the occasional pube getting caught in the compression belt (ouch!), I've had no pain in that area at all today.
Still numb in places - but when showering there is more of a feeling that the skin is attached to me if that makes sense.

Photos:

[Mickydubs]

Hows it going mate ?
Tried the socks and thought it was a load of crap, think it made it worse !!!

To be fair it may have been how i modified the socks to fit !!!