0400h I was up and out of bed this morning. I’m finding that I can’t sleep any longer than about four hours at any one time due to my back. The discomfort and pain wakes me up and the only way to relive it is to get up and move around followed by panadeine forte. Other than that I’m doing okay. I’m taking my medication as prescribed and being religious about my bcaa’s and l-glutamine, I’m taking 1/2 teaspoon of each three times a day. I’ll be spending my entire weekend at home and indoors out of the sun and ensuring I get adequate rest as well as getting up and walking around the house.
My face on the other hand resembles something like a cabbage patch kid for those of you that remember them. It’s swollen but little to no redness which is good. It feels like sunburn so there’s no real discomfort or pain there for that matter. My freckles and the sun damage is starting to go darker now which is exactly what is meant to happen before it all disappears. For the time being all I have to do is cleanse twice a day and continually applying moisturiser when it feels dry or tight.
Miss Katie’s coming over for a look see this afternoon, that should be interesting. But then again she was living with us when I had my breast augmentation so she’s definitely seen me at my worst. It’ll be good to see her again and hear all about her trip up to visit Ferny. By the sounds of it they had a blast together.
Oxygen Magazine arrived in the mail on Thursday. Natural Bodz is also on sale as well so I have plenty of reading material for the weekend to keep me entertained. I even hired out “Sex in the City” the movie to watch for a second time. I loved this movie.
Well I’ve been sitting at this computer long enough now so it’s time for me to get up and walk around for a while. I have you all have a fabulous weekend and don’t forget to slip, slop, slap if you’re out in the sun. More importantly, drink water.
Surgery Day: 0630h I arrived to the theatre (the same theatre I had my breast augmentation), I was first up that morning and I was excited. The nurse checked me in then I met with my anesthetist followed by my surgeon. This is where he marks me with his colour markers then takes before photos. Now we’re ready to rock and roll so to speak. I followed the nurse into theatre and placed myself onto the table ready to get prepped. Bring on all the happy drugs. LOL!! They removed 4.5 litres body fat, now that’s a lot of junk of this trunk wouldn’t you agree. Next thing I knew I was in recovery and positively freezing unlike everyone else who lived in Melbourne. It was a sweltering 46°that day. Me on the other hand had a Lycra garment, compression garment, tracksuit pants, tracksuit jacket, a blanket and two heaters on me so finally I was nice and toasty. By 1330h I was being wheeled out to the undercover car park and bought home to rest for the duration of the day. As the anesthetic and suppositories wore off the discomfort and pain become apparent, all tolerable. I have multiple incisions all over my body and all very small, smaller than keyhole surgery. They don’t require stitches so it allows the excess fluid to leak out into the padding I have over them. We were supplied with additional padding as it became required. I spent most of the afternoon just resting in bed and when I woke I would get up and walk around to help with circulation. I ate a normal dinner then straight back to bed.
Day 1: Woke up this morning trying to remember the number plate of the truck had hit me. Due to the heat I’m just getting around in the Lycra garment and the compression garment, not attractive as you can see by my photos by any means and all my drapes are closed. My skins have nothing on these, they are so fitting which is what they’re designed to do. Getting in and out of bed requires assistance, it’s not something I can do myself yet. Everything hurts and movement is limited due to the garments I have to wear but I’ll get used to it. Today I go back to The Ashley Centre for my first dressing change by my nurse. You won’t believe what they use for padding, nappies and sanitary pads. I kid you not, I had winnie the poo and tiger on each elbow. Most of my leaking has already slowed down so my padding is less than when I walked in and a little more comfortable too. I also got the thumbs up to start taking my BCAAs, l-glutamine and vitamin c. This will also help along with the medications I’ve been provided with.
Day 2: Things are improving today. I removed winnie and tigger, there was no leakage from my arm incisions so they came off. I’m also getting around a little bit bitter which is great because we went back to the Ashley Centre. I had Fraxel Laser for my full face which required numbing cream and a pethidine injection. The staff there think I’m a glutton for punishment and I’m starting to think they’re right. LOL!! The first pass of the laser was okay but the second pass certainly got my attention. Nothing ice and moisturiser won’t fix. This afternoon I have greater movement and am getting up and down from chairs by myself and in and out of bed by myself. The discomfort and pain is decreasing but there’s a whole lot of sensations happening due to the damaged nerve endings. All normal apparently so I just need to get used to it, that’s all. All things considered I’m feeling pretty good at the moment.
Well that definitely gets you up to speed with everything. Thank you for all your well wishes, I really appreciated them and it’s nice to know I have friends who don’t judge me. I’ll be back tomorrow to post Day 3.
As promised here are my pre-surgery photos taken Tuesday 27th January 2009. I also did my caliper measurements, there was a significant drop from nine weeks ago which I was happy about.
I would love to catch you up on everything but I must get up and move around again, part of the recovery. I have lots to tell you and photos to share as promised. I’m off to the clinic today for my first daily dressing change so I hopefully will be feeling much better this afternoon except for the 40° heatwave we’re experiencing here.
I’ve scheduled this post to publish at 0630h, exactly the same time I’ll be arriving at theatre for my next cosmetic surgery. During my annual holidays I met with both my doctors at the Ashley Centre and scheduled to have the following procedures done:
Dr Ashley Granot will be performing the below liposuction:
Aucillae
Upper Arms
Upper Hips
Outer Thighs
Inner Thighs
Dr Jennifer Wilson will be peforming the below treatments:
Botox: Underarms
3 x Fraxel: Full Face
3 x IPL: Cheeks
1 x YAG: Facial Veins
Botox: Frown
Rsesylane: Lip Border & Smile Lines
For the first time since I started writing my blog I hesitated whether or not to post this knowing it would put me in a position to be judged. But the deciding factor for me was that I didn’t want to mislead anyone so I’m doing what I’ve always done and that’s being open and honest about my life. I didn’t want anyone comparing photos and thinking I’d achieved remarkable results through diet and exercise alone as it wouldn’t have been completely honest. But true to my post I’m not going to worry about what anyone thinks of me or what I’m doing. After all, this is my life and I’m going to live it my way. I have the full support of my husband, my psychologist and a select group of friends and that’s all that’s import to me. Now you all know.
Tomorrow another scheduled post will publish with my photos I took yesterday. I’m also documenting and photographing the entire process pre and post surgery for myself and for some others who are also interested. If you’re interested in asking me a question of which I’m only to happy to answer you can either leave me a comment below or contact me privately via email. I should be back and posting live again at the end of the week if not the weekend.
Frankie posted up her house rules that she’s decided to live by and it prompted me to revisit mine and update them where necessary. I’ve already printed off my office hours sign and will be laminating it and putting it on the wall behind my desk as a constant reminder, I will become more disciplined and practice better time management.
I’ve also changed my motivational quote from “If I want different, I have to be prepared to do different” to “If I want different, I have to do different”. Language is a very powerful thing and it shouldn’t be taken for granted by any means. The first quote uses “I have to be prepared to do different”was to wishy washy for me and not definite enough where as “I have to do different” is a very definite statement. I’m always trying to find ways of seeing and doing things differently so that I can achieve different. So far so good. I’m happy moving along and doing what I’m doing at the moment, who knows where it’ll end up.
Lia’s House Rules 2009
★ After work I must unpack my work bag, pack my work bag, prepare breakfast, shower, change, assist with dinner preparation and clean up after dinner
★ I must slow down and eat all of my meals and snacks at the dinner table
★ Obey office hours sign (see below)
★ Be in bed with lights out by 2200h
★ Get up and out of bed when my alarm goes off in the morning at 0530h
★ Be Positive!
Lia xxx
”Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.” –Lou Holtz
As promised here are my pre-surgery photos taken Tuesday 27th January 2009. I also did my caliper measurements, there was a significant drop from nine weeks ago which I was happy about.
