Frodo's post-op diary

[frodo]

Finally had my surgery (liposuction + excision) on September 28. I'm recording my post-op experience here. Please feel free to comment and share your thoughts  

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DAY 1

About an hour before the operation, I was put on an IV. The surgery was at about 11:30 am. The last thing I remember was feeling light headed and telling the doc "Well, I guess I'll see you later", before the general anaesthesia kicked in. At about 3:00 pm I was back in my hospital room, so when I looked at the clock I knew the surgery was over.

Even though I hadnt eaten or drunk anything for about 10 hours before surgery, I did throw up as soon as consciousness dawned again. Felt extremely cold and was shivering. Remembered what I had read on this site about this, so I wasnt too worried. Asked for more blankets (4 in all!) which I started taking off as the shivering subsided.

Was extremely sore. Couldnt really move for a few hours, and after that, only with great difficulty and supervision, like when I had to go take a piss. Couldnt sit up, or turn onto my side or do anything that required even the slightest use of my chest muscles, as they were really sore. Felt a little frustrated, not so much because of the helpless feeling as the boredom of lying in the same position. And my back hurt too, but I could make a fist and push it under to massage it.

(sorry for the details which may seem unnecessary, but it seemed very important at the time   )

Couldnt sleep very well either,  and time moved really slowly, so I watched lots of tv and read a little. By night, I could get off the bed if someone held my hand and pulled me up, ditto for lying down again, but still hurt like a bitch!

They removed the IV at about 8:00 pm. Had some tomato soup. Was awake for most of the night, maybe dozing off every half hour or so, and waking up to see the clock had only moved 5 minutes.   Finally dozed off at about 4:00 am, and slept till 6:30 am, which felt good.

[frodo]

DAY 2

Had breakfast. The sleeves from the compression garment I was wearing were a little too tight, and they kept biting into my underarms, which hurt, even with the painkillers. When I lifted them, there'd be a deep depression on my skin where the edges of the garment sleeves were. This actually hurt more than my chest. Tried using cotton to pad this area, which didnt work cos it would keep tearing off. Finally found a method which worked, which was to take a LOT of cotton, wrap it up tightly in a gauze, and stick it between the edge of the sleeves and my skin. Two of these paddings on each side gave me a lot of relief, though it did cause my arms to stick out more. (I already was walking around like a Hulk or Frankestein or something because of my stiffness and the garment). I'll have to talk to the guy who made the garment if he can modify it or make another thats a tad more comfortable, without compromising on pressure. This one can be seen from under my t-shirt cos its pretty high up, right to my collar bone, which the guy who made the garment said was required for the pressure.

Could get on and off from my bed by myself today, though it involved a pre-determined set of motions which were the only ones that worked, and still hurt for a few seconds just as I sat up or lay down. The doctor said I could sleep on my sides if I wanted to, but it was really too painful to even try. Lying on my back was the best, and in this position I could hardly even feel any pain.

My throat was a little sore, which the doctor later told me was due to the anaesthesia pipe. It should go in a couple of days.

Got back home. Took a painkiller at about 10:00, along with my other medications (antibiotics and stuff) and slept. Woke up a couple of times with a dry cough-y feeling in my throat, so I just cleared by throat with a "harrumph" (dont know how else to describe the sound where you shake the phelgm off from inside) because it really would be too painful to cough at this point. Had a couple of spoons of honey to smoothen my throat. Woke up at 4 with the same problem, so I put the AC off, which really helped. Some more honey and a painkiller (the doc said no more than one every 6 hours, so it was just the right time) and slept.  

[frodo]

DAYS 3 to 6

General improvement. Moving around fine, slightly restricited action, eg, cant raise my hands to put on a t-shirt without great difficultly, and need some help. Can lie down and get up easily now. All soreness in and near my throat is gone.

Can't stop checking my chest in the mirror! It definitely looks flatter, but thats partly due to the compression garment I'm sure. Been wearing it continuously like the doctor said, so I havent had a shower in a while   just sponging with a towel.

One thing I noticed though is that my chest still doesnt look totally flat, even through the compression garment. And the one side where the gynecomastia was bigger still looks bigger than the other side, and when I stand with my chest out, it still looks like a big chest.

I wonder if this is the "swelling" I read about so much on this forum, and hope its normal. Will it get smaller as time passes and as I wear my compression garment tighter? (it has 3 levels)

Any thoughts from anyone on this?

[readytoswim]

It's been 3 weeks since your last post, any improvement on size/swelling?