Monday 2nd April- 1 Week Post Op

Monday 2^nd April- 1 Week Post Op

SO! It’s been a whole week since i underwent my vaser lipo and my current state is best described in one word.

Swollen.

For this reason i decided not to take a set of photos as they would not be a true reflection of the procedure or me. 

My body has undergone a traumatic operation and it needs time to heal and settle, so in one week from now i will begin to photograph the changes.

I’m back to work tomorrow after my 6 days off but other than some moderate discomfort, I’m feeling pretty O.K.

Not much has changed since a day ago, the pain continues to subside and in a week i will be taking my first proper set of before and after photos which I’m extremely excited about!

For now, I’m continuing with my daily massage after my showers to aid healing, I’m seeing Julie once a week and I’m using my Beauty Works Ultrasound massage whenever i can.

 

Roll on next week!

(Please note: Due to the fact that I’m aware you are all chomping at the bit to see the first set of before and after photos i will be posting these for you tomorrow so make sure you come back for the first big reveal!)

Saturday 31st March- 5 Days In

Saturday 31st March- 5 Days In

I'm not going to lie, today has been hell.

 I'm exhausted from a dreadful night sleep, my pain tolerance is waning substantially and I feel more and more claustrophobic  in my garment as the days go by.

The mr is out at golf all morning and I'm just pottering around the house. 5 days on the pain has lessened, but it's also changed. It's not so sever, but it's sore and relentless.

I can't escape it, even for a minute. My favourite part of the day is the 15 minutes I spend free from my prison when in the shower, before I'm faced with having to squeeze my sore and bruised torso back into it.

I feel so fed up, I know it's only been 5 days, but the combination of the painkillers doing very little and being tired from sleep deprivation has created a monster.

I can't get comfortable, my garment hurts like hell, the itching just won't quit and I don't feel like I can cope with it much longer.

Because I chose to have this procedure done and therefore  indirectly inflict this pain on myself I don't feel like I am in position to complain and should just get on with it quietly. Being brave is all well and good but today I'm not being brave.

I'm a fed up, hurting person who wants a hug.

I’ve managed to give myself 2 ultrasound massages so far with my hand  held body massager- it doesn't feel like it does much to be fair but I hear it's meant to be fab for you so I will continue with it.

On the plus side, I've lost 1 inch from my bust and 2 from my waist. I appreciate that this is great but at the moment, today, I can't see past the discomfort.

I hope tomorrow is a better day.

Tuesday 27th March- 1 Day Post Op

Tuesday 27th March- 1 Day Post Op


I got all of about one hour’s sleep last night, what with tossing and turning and being unable to move. On top of that, what with the issues with going to the loo, my night was nothing short of farcical!

I woke up at 6am when my Mr’s alarm clock went off (he’s off to work today) and i decided that i needed to get up. I simply couldn’t just lay there any longer.

My god was i stiff! It hurt like hell, but I slowly hobbled my way out of bed and dragged myself downstairs, plonking myself on the sofa before immediately taking my painkillers.

I was so desperately uncomfortable in all my padding that i took the terrifying decision to change my dressings.

I let my painkillers kick in, then gingerly made my way to the bathroom.

What the hell was i going to be confronted with? Swollen, bloody, bruised flesh oozing liquid everywhere? Huge drains stitched into me that looked revolting?

I could feel my heart racing.

I took a moment to give myself a talking to and closed the door, plastic bin bag, towels and clean padding and wadding in hand.

I slowly and nervously undid the hook and eyes on my garment, sick to my stomach at the thought of what possible sight may await me underneath.

I breathed a sigh of relief as i finally released the garment and saw myself packed with dressings.

Layer by layer i slowly removed the heavy, fluid soaked pads until there was nothing left but me and my body.

I held my breath as i looked up at the mirror, bracing myself for the worst.

I needn’t have be so scared. Far from it being some horrific, bloody scene, i was merely confronted by me. Granted a somewhat dirty, stained and pen-covered me, but it was just me.

There were no horrendous bruises, no blood stained marks, nothing. Just me, albeit a far slimmer version me.

(As always, please see my designated Vaser Lipo Diary Tab if you wish to see more graphic photos)

My waist was slim and my flanks now formed a delicate smooth curve as opposed to the lumpy heap which only yesterday had sat on top of my hips.

My 1st Before/After Photo! Left: Pre surgery Right: 1 day post surgery.  See more HERE

 I'm not ashamed to admit I may have shed a little tear of relief and happiness.

I felt overwhelmed by the feeling of comfort and freedom from being released from the tight constraints of the garment.

This feeling didn't last long however, as I knew I had to put it back on.

I dressed my open wounds and covered my drains with more dressing and found it infinitely easier to put my garment back on now without so much padding.

While the garment is still very tight, the absence of the extra pressure from all the layers of padding and dressings was definitely a welcome relief.

I had been told that it is really important to ensure that after this procedure you drink lots of fluids to help flush out the toxins in your system and aid recovery.

Consequently, I'm spending the majority of my day undoing and doing up my garment to visit the loo.

In-between one of my toilet trips I received a call from Dr Comins , which took me rather by suprise.

He was calling to see how i was, not one of his nurses, him, personally, which i found really nice and extremely reassuring.

I told him that I was in a lot of pain, to which he replied that he wasn't surprised.

I asked why that was, at which point he told me that during the procedure, while I was under sedation, I kept waking up and saying ‘’ouch’’.  

He told me that they had had to pump me with enough morphine for a man twice my size to keep me under.

He told me that there was the possibility that the painkillers he had prescribed me (cocodamol) may be ineffective in controlling my pain levels due to my liver metabolising the drugs quickly and my ‘’obvious strong constitution!" 

I did giggle and text my husband to tell him he was basically married to an ox!

I was somewhat disheartened by this news as i really did need some pain relief. My body felt heavy, sore and bruised, but i hoped to sleep most of the day to avoid the pain i felt while conscious.

I’m not up to writing much, but I'm back at the clinic tomorrow to have my first lymphatic drainage massage, something which seems impossible for me to comprehend as i can barely tolerate my body being touched let alone massaged!

Once again, i find myself scared...

Still, i only have to look back at the photos of me on the day of my surgery and the ones i took this morning to be reassured that it’s going to be all worth it.

Monday 26th March- Procedure Day Part 2

 Monday 26th March- Procedure Day Part 2

The next thing I remember is laying on the table and looking at the clock on the wall.

Two hours has passed in what felt like minutes.

I had two nurses wrapping padding and what seemed like endless amounts of wadding around me then strapping me down into my compression garment. It took two of them to do the tiny claps up over all the bulging padding.

At this moment, I'm in no pain and feel fine, just a little woozy. I’m surprised, i thought id be in agony right about now.

I’m sent back out to the bathroom to put my dark, loose fitting clothes on that i bought with me.

 

 I opted for these comfy pyjama bottoms and floaty top from Elle Macpherson Initmates from Simply Beach. 

 May i also recommend that you wear flip flops too, as it’s unlikely you’ll be able to bend down to get your shoes on!

I come and sit on the sofa and call my husband who is at that point, doubtlessly browsing the golf section of Harrods.

My mouth feels dry and i ask for some water. My husband appears and the nurses come and ask me how im feeling.

Im more interested in hearing how much fat they got from me! They tell me in litres, but that means nothing to me so I ask them politely if they could weigh it.

 I'm told they removed 7lbs of fat and other liquid from me which I'm pretty chuffed about! I poke my head around to see the result of the 2 hour procedure, and it’s pretty gross. I can’t believe all that stuff has come from me!

Suddenly I feel over come with sickness and ask for a bowl as I think I'm going to be sick.

As if out of nowhere the anaesthetist is suddenly at my side and tells me to lie down while he proceeds to inject an anti sickness drug directly into the muscle in my arm. Yes, this did hurt.

Sure enough, within 10 minutes I feel ok.

It was at that point that Dr Comins told me they had had to use an awful lot of morphine to keep me in my sedated state- Enough for a man twice my size. More than once i had apparently woken up, screeching ‘ouch’!

I of course don’t remember any of this, and Dr Comins was surprised to learn that im not a hardened drinker, and perhaps, my liver is just rather quick at metabolising the drugs they used!

As i began to feel more lucid, i started to feel sore, bruised and a little battered, but ultimately O.K.

I'm given an appointment to come back 2 days later for a lymphatic drainage massage at their clinic in Knightsbridge then another one to have my drains taken out and for another massage on Friday. 

Woah! I think. ‘Drains?’

Then i remembered Dr Comins telling me about having drains stitched in to the holes left by the Vaser incisions  to help with draining the excess fluid out of my tummy and hips.

Granted its not a great photo, but this is what the drains looked like- small, plastic like flaps

I wasn’t going to think about these drains too much for now, I’d deal with that later!

I left the clinic around 30-40 minutes after coming round and hobbled to the car.

The car journey home was bearable but my garment felt outrageously tight. I knew this was to be expected, but the sensation was not one i had prepared for.

I had brought with me a black towel to sit on, as i had read on the net that some people leak quite profusely in the first 24/24 hours (hence the dark clothes to go home in), so I thought a towel would be quite necessary to prevent unfortunate stains on our car seat.

Turns out i didn’t need it (thankfully!)

Once home I was in a lot of pain as the sedative had clearly worn off. I took some of the painkillers I had been prescribed and tried to get comfy, which needless to say, I couldn't.

I managed a few mouthfuls of dinner and went to bed, laying on a dark coloured spare sheet and absorbent sheet provided to me by the clinic in case of ‘seepage’ again.

At about 10pm I realised I needed a wee, and let me tell you,  what a Palarva this was!

I waddled down the stairs and into the toilet, my hubby waiting outside. 

I undid the gusset part of the garment to be confronted by what can only be described as a giant, adult nappy. I couldn’t help but giggle.

I pulled my ’nappy’ down to go for a wee, but in doing so my garment began to ride  half way up my body and over the plentiful rolls of padding.

My GORGEOUS, skin tight compression garment- note, this photo was taken after removing all of the initial padding
the following day- I was too out of it to think to take photos on the day of the procedure!

 It had to be pulled back down over the padding and secured again. I’m not going to lie, this was simply agony and I ended up needing my Mr to help me tug it down as I couldn't get through it on my own.

Later on in the night I needed another wee (Yes i have the bladder of a small child) but decided not to wake my Mr and so i tried to go to the loo by myself.

The  though I of having to go through all that again made me shudder, so this time i simply undid the garment and while standing,  (I’m so sorry mum!) peed in a pot.

 I know i know, but it was much easier and much more painless!

The rest of the night was spent sleeping sporadically when I could and waking each time i tried to move positions in my sleep.

Monday 26th March- Procedure Day Part 1

Monday 26th March- Procedure Day

 Part 1

D-day has arrived and I'm excited and scared, but honestly, I’m  mostly scared.

My appointment isn't until 12pm, which leaves me with plenty of time to fret all morning!

I'm hungry and thirsty (as you can't eat or drink for 6 hours before the procedure), so I’m left chewing ferociously on gum to stop my mouth feeling so dry.

I may have also had a cheeky ½ cup of tea, to steady my nerves, naturally...

We leave at 9am to give us (what we thought would be) plenty of time, but London being London ensured we hit tonnes of traffic  but thankfully we made it to the NCP Carpark and had time for a relatively leisurely stroll to the clinic in Knightsbridge.

With my heart pounding hard in my chest, we arrive and are greeted by the friendly faces of the nurses who tell me they will be looking after me- I feel reassured and in safe hands!

Dr Comins is there, not in his usual attire but in surgical scrubs and greets me before introducing me to my anesthetist.

He asks me when i last ate or drank and I'm forced to confess to my small cup of tea, at which point I’m informed that i shouldn’t have had that and consequently I’m only just on the cusp of being able to be sedated because of that.

Whoops!

Thankfully I’m good to continue and I'm taken into a room where I read through the consent form and sign it.

 My nurse asks me general  health related questions, such as if I'm on any other medication while taking my blood pressure.

I'm weighed (to enable the anesthetist to determine how much sedative he can use) and I’m sent into the bathroom to change into a really fetching gown, socks, paper pants and hair net.

Sexy it is not!

I can see the door to the procedure room open as i walk out and in the words of Olly Murs, my heart skips a beat.  I walk over to my hubby reclining on the comfy sofa in the waiting area, leave him my bag and kiss him goodbye.

I turn around to walk into the theatre and try my hardest not to cry.

 Im petrified.

Inside, Dr Comins does a fab job of helping to lighten the mood.

I remove my gown, leaving me in just my fetching, big, white paper pants and prepare for him to take photos of me to use as reference for my before and after photos.

(I've put these photos in this post within my dedicated Vaser Lipo Diary tab at the top of my blog which you can reach by clicking HERE. I've done this in case you don't wish to see a 1/2 naked, podgy person whilst your eating your brekkie, lunch or dinner and will do the same with all my photos for the same reason. Plus, some of them are quite graphic. You've been warned!)

‘’Do you have breast implants?’’ he asks. ‘’No’’, I giggle, ‘’They’re all me!’’.

I feel far more relaxed now as he gets out a sharpie pen and begins to mark my tummy and flanks.

I’m then asked to lay down on the theatre table, where he gets me to do a stomach crunch so he can mark out the location of my muscles to help with the sculpting and definition side of the Vaser.

I’m then aware of the anesthetist sat next to me who puts me at ease and distracts me by talking to me about anything and everything as he inserts the cannula into my hand.

He tells me that I may remember some of the procedure afterwards or alternatively, I may remember nothing.

It turns out that for me, it was the latter and from that moment on I remember nothing until i wake, 2 hours later.