The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - My Skin Removal Journey

*GROSS ALERT*

*INTIMATE SUBJECT ALERT*

I will start by saying, if you're not looking for honest, nitty gritty, somewhat gory details then you probably don't want to read this entry!

Now, let's get started shall we?

As you all may have read, I was supposed to have my skin removal surgery (panniculectomy/abdominoplasty, and thighplasty) on March 23rd but due to unforeseen circumstances regarding hospital scheduling, we had to move it to the next week. I DID in fact have my surgeries to remove the excess skin from my stomach and inner thighs on Monday 29MARCH2021!

The surgery went as well as was expected, and took about 5 1/2 hours. She ended up doing a panniculectomy and a partial abdominoplasty (put a few stitches in my ab muscles to bring them a bit tighter). She said they weren't stretched out enough to need many but that my abdominal wall is very thin and that I need to strengthen it with exercise when I'm well enough. When I woke up, I wasn't in any pain and my surgeon was on the phone with my husband telling him I was out and that he could come and see me. We can see the hospital from our backyard so he was just home with the kids until I was finished. My legs were wrapped with Ace bandages and I had an abdominal binder around my lower abdomen with SteriStrips covering the incisions. I had 3 total incisions; one on my lower abdomen (like a c-section incision) and one on each thigh going from almost at my knee all the way up into and including my groin crease (towards the front only). I had 1 drain tube coming out of each incision to expel the excess fluids. By the time he got there, they were trying to get me discharged to go home (I know, I thought they were cray cray too). The experience inside the hospital was great until this random nurse trying to hurry up and get me out of the hospital bed ticked me off being super rough with me and hurting my legs. All the nurses and especially my surgeon (with the exception of that guy) were amazing and super helpful and friendly. My husband and I made the 6 minute drive home around 2pm and I started my rough road to recovery.

One of the biggest issues I had before surgery was just not knowing what to expect and even worse, not knowing what questions to ask to prepare myself for what was to come. My surgeon sent me home on Gabapentin (a nerve pain blocker and pain reliever) and Tylenol for pain relief around the clock for 7 days as well as Oxycodone (which was optional and only for uncontrollable pain). I took the Gabapentin and Tylenol as instructed but never felt any pain that wasn't easily controlled by those two. I was supposed to walk as much as I could which for the first few days, was only to the bathroom and back because I was extremely weak and couldn't use my abdominal muscles much. My legs got very tired very quickly and there were a few times my husband had to help carry me back into the living room. For the first 3 days, I didn't do much but drink protein shakes and sleep. I tried to get up as much as possible but in reality, I probably only got up 4-5 times a day.

If I had to pick the worst thing about the first week of recovery, it would have to be going to the bathroom. That's for 2 reasons;

1. I couldn't close my legs because the incisions were on the inside of my thighs and they were wrapped tightly in bandages therefore making it almost mandatory (also most comfortable) to keep them as far apart as possible, causing me to pee in the floor or on the toilet seat occasionally...okay, every time. lol. This, however, wasn't a great experience for my husband because he's the one who had to help hold me up off of the toilet so I didn't bust open my groin incisions so his socks were my target a few times before we figured out a better way and I was able to sit down better.

2. Going #2 was quite painful as I not only had to sit very carefully on an uncomfortable seat for longer but also, my abdominal muscles were stitched together to pull them tighter and this caused a lot of discomfort during potty time.

Weeks 1 and 2 were the worst! Not because of pain, but because I was wrapped up in bandages and a binder that kept rolling down. The tape pulling on my skin, and the ace bandages and binder rubbing on my skin caused a total of 4 huge and 1 medium blister. Those weren't even painful until they busted. At my 1 week checkup, I learned that they during the surgeries, they injected nerve blockers into my abdomen to keep the pain away for several days following surgery. I am positive they worked because I had zero pain other than general soreness. Honestly, the only pain I experienced the whole time was stripping the drain tubes and it was only the one on my right leg. Stripping the tubes was just squeezing the fluid from where the drain came out all the way down to the bulb that held the fluids. It only hurt while it was being stripped so I'm guessing it had something to do with the suction of the tube.

Around 10 days after surgery, I went and had the drains removed. That was a weird feeling but not painful at all. Let me tell you though, leaving the hospital after the drains were removed was like taking your bra off after wearing it for 24 hours straight (you ladies know what I'm talking about)..you really don't know you needed it til you do it! LOL. When I was at that checkup, the surgeon said everything was healing great and right on schedule. A couple days after having the drains removed, I was able to fit into the one piece binder (think shapewear) that the hospital recommended for long term use. It was 100% more comfortable than the bandages and abdominal binder.

Recovery was especially rough mentally because I had a lot of swelling and so to me, my body looked the same as it did before surgery and I was not happy with the results. I talked to my surgeon and she assured me that it can take up to 6 months for your body to fully recover from this type of surgery especially having both procedures done at the same time. So I took pictures at about 2 weeks out and I will take some every 2 weeks to compare so that my mind can be at ease.

14 days after surgery, I had 8 staples (4 in each leg) removed. Again, not painful and felt so much better afterwards. The staples tricked me into thinking if I moved the wrong way, something would bust open or I would pop a seam as my husband says LOL. Having them removed helped my mind to relax even more. While at that visit, the surgeon said the incisions were looking great! They all had scabbed up and most had fallen off on their own (with a little help from me...shhhh).

By April 20th (almost 1 month post surgery) I could hardly feel the incisions on the inside or out unless they were pressed on firmly. I am standing up quite straight (was hunched forward for a couple of weeks) now and feeling great! My daughter broke her arm on 22April and after spending over 7 hours in the ER with her that night, I woke up with excruciating pain in my lower back. Possibly due to the poor posture caused by the hospital seating for so long and then not sleeping well but I rested and didn't do much for about 2 days and used the ice therapy machine on it and it went away.

Now here it is, Tuesday 27April and I'm feeling great! All scabs are gone and new skin is growing and healing nicely. A lot of swelling has gone down and I am able to bend all the way to the floor without pain or pressure or pulling. There are still a few restrictions I have such as not picking up anything over 15 pounds until at least 1 month check up and I'm cleared. I'm just waiting on that 1 month checkup on 12May to be cleared for exercise!

I know this is a lot for one post but it was easier to just pile it all in one than create multiple.

As always, you can follow me on Instagram and Facebook to see updates more often and to see pictures.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/couchtofab/

Instagram: @couchtofab

I am always willing to privately message anyone who has questions or concerns or just wants to know more about my experience. Please don't hesitate to reach out. There will be absolutely no judgement and I will definitely get back to you quickly as I am still home with not much to do.

Much love y'all,!

Until next time.

Kay