Recovering From An Abdominoplasty... Taking It One Day At A Time!

I have to admit, I was expecting it to be more painful after having an abdominoplasty. I mean, after all, the incision goes from hip to hip and skin is removed from above the navel to the groin. But honestly, the biggest discomfort so far has been lower back pain from having to walk hunched over.

After an abdominoplasty, patients are required to walk like old men, all hunched over for like a week. This has been tough for me as I constantly like to walk with a straight back. This annoyance will be worth t in the long run though.

I opted for something called Exparel during the procedure. For those of you who don't know, Exparel is a local anesthetic that lasts for three days. This means I didn't need any pain killers... which made it well worth it!

My one big fear about the procedure for all these years was anesthesia. The only time I ever had anesthesia prior to this was when I was 5 and had my tonsils out. That first time with anesthesia was actually a traumatic experience that I still remember to this day!

By this time around, I had a really awesome anesthesiologist. She did everything right and I never even felt the IV going in my arm. She had already warned me ahead of time that I would need a breathing tube and something that completely paralyzes the muscles. As scary as all of that sounds, miraculously, when I awoke, it was like nothing had happened. I found out I didn't even require oxygen, that many patients require after such a procedure.

I also wasn't groggy. Why? All of the stories I heard about feeling groggy and I was wide awake! I can't say enough good things about my anesthesiologist. My doctor, Richard Reish also did a great job... just drives me crazy I can't see the results of his work yet. I have to wait until my post op appointment to see the actual results. But I am so confident in his abilities.

The nurse who was assisting me that night believes it was my extremely healthy eating that I metabolized the anesthesia so quickly. I think she's right. I am also continuing my clean eating afterwards (no surprise there, right?) by eating quinoa, chick peas, miso, kale, berries, oatmeal, etc.

I have been taking Extra strength Tylenol... but not for the abs but for my lower back. Supposedly, I should be healed enough  to go back to work in two weeks. I can't workout for a month though. I will really miss working out but I will not do anyting until I get my doctor's permission. I want to recover as soon as possible without any set backs!