Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Surgery and Home

Before I tell about my experience, I want to point out I am 36, a size 6, and had -- according to the doctor -- about 2 tablespoons of fat to remove.  Recovery may depend on different factors including the amount of fat being removed, and appearance following surgery will definitely be affected by how much additional skin needs to retract -- which, of course, would be affected by age of patient.

The most unpleasant part of the surgery was the numbing -- and that didn't even hurt as bad as the dentist often does.  It wasn't bad at all.  During surgery I felt nothing.  I could tell the doctor was digging vigorously around my check and sucking up the fat, but it didn't bother me.  The anti-anxiety pill  the doc had prescribed me to take an hour before really did work.  Also, the doctor allowed me to have my IPOD.  Even though the earphones were a little bit in the way and he accidentally knocked one partly out a couple times, he let me keep them and that diversion helped. 

Now, here is what I emailed to some family once I got home from surgery:

As the numbness wears off, I can feel the bruising in my neck and everything is still swollen. I have been busy since I got home, messing with the head gear, brushing my hair around it, trying pathetically to look normal and possibly cute.

I have to wear this black thing for 1-2 days, or as long as I can stand it. The brown thing beneath it must be worn a week at least. I thought I’d hide at home all week, but I think I’ll go to work anyway and get some more done in my classroom.

The pain is starting to set in and so I think I’ll have to take a Tylenol. I wasn’t going to take anything if I could stand it, but my sister-in-law told me that with too much pain the body tenses and has a harder time healing. I want to avoid the Vicodin.

FYI, if you've already had your pre-op appt, you might know there are two head compression garments, one for long term and one for short term.  The black one -- the tighter one -- is to be worn over the long-term one for a day or two.  It's pretty tight, but I was determined to wear it for two days.   

I did end up taking Vicodin on the first day, but now that it is over, I can honestly say that the pain wasn't so bad that I actually needed Vicodin.  I just started FEELING bad in a general way and thought that would help.  Please read Day 2 entry to see what followed.

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