Surgery Day:
I got to the hospital at 6 am. It was smooth check in, got in room and waited for my surgery time of 8:40. It was a planned 6 hour surgery to have a tummy tuck, liposuction, breast lift and reduction. I wasn’t nervous, but I think my mom was.
The anesthesiologist came in and gave me some drugs and bam talk about black out. I remember heading down the hall talking about my kids, getting to the operating room. I thought to myself wow it’s messy in here and then I’ve got nothing. I can’t even be sure it was messy, it is a hospital after all.
I woke up and looked at the clock it said 0:00, why did I assume that meant 12:00, I have no idea. But I closed my eyes and went back to sleep, when I woke up the clock said 0:00 again and that’s when I realized the clock was broken and asked the nurse what time it was… 4 PM. I was supposed to be home by 4pm, what the hell.
I ended up staying in recovery for 3 hours, my nurse was absolutely fantastic, so kind and fabulous bedside manner, brought me snacks and talked me through what was going on, Because they are short on nurses they couldn’t move me to the outpatient portion. Finally at 6:30p I was wheeled to the outpatient room, where again, my nurse was fantastic.
The only requirement for me to go home was to learn how to empty my drains (gross) and use the bathroom. The only problem was I couldn’t get up without getting dizzy, could make it one step before my blood pressure would drop and I’d have to lay back down. With that minor complication I ended up having to stay two hours to get that under control. I finally made it in bed and home by 9pm, talk about long day.
I found out later that why the surgery took so long. I went into this surgery with the mindset my doctor is the professional, she will know what size breast will look good on my body. She did the breast reduction, then the lipo and tummy tuck. After seeing my body, she decided I needed a bit more taken off the breast and did a second reduction.
The good news is I had to fix my bra in the hospital and I saw my breast. The only way to describe them is holy shit they look amazing. I have never had such perky boobs in my life. They are absolutely perfect and the perfect size. Going into the surgery without a size determination helps with not being disappointed and knowing your doctors is the professional is a positive mind shift.
Day 1:
It is day one of recovery from tummy tuck, breast reduction and lipo. I’m feeling pretty good. I can get out of bed, use the bathroom, walk around. I don’t have any nausea or dizziness. Feeling good, but tight, which is to be expected. The hardest part of this recovery is not picking up my two year old, but we will get through it. Oh! I do have one liposuction mark that can start burning randomly. Feels like it’s on fire, but otherwise the pain is 2/10. The Exparel was worth the money. Now we keep laying in bed and continue to heal. Wish me luck!
Day 2:
I was able to shower and that was a win. It was hard and absolutely exhausting that I took a two hour nap after a five minute shower. Boy did that shower chair come in handy. I did start to get light headed and immediately drank a protein shake upon exiting the shower. A shower means I got a sneak peak and my stomach and I can’t say I’m overly impressed at the moment. Naturally, there is loads of swelling but hard to wrap my mind around. My sides are so flat and my boobs still look amazing. So 2/3, I’ll take it.
What I wasn’t expecting to feel on day two was insanely itchy. I’m guessing the anesthesia is wearing off. I’ve had to take Benadryl every 4-6 hours. When I itch, I can’t feel it because my skin is still numb from the Exparel shot, so that’s a weird feeling.
I made it up and down the stairs a few times and even ate dinner with the kids, which was nice. We typically eat dinner every night together so it has been a bit out of routine. Hopefully I can stay on the upswing of healing and not be in too much pain days 3-4.