I got liposuction!

R

renodebbie3

Cathlete
OK, I know some of you don't approve but I've wanted it for years! I work out 4 to 5 days a week to Cathe tapes and throw in some running and cycling but nothing really worked for me. So my rational was if I've been exercising and dieting for the last 20 years and I have not got what I wanted from my body, now that I've turned 40 (41 actually) how is it ever going to happen in the next 20 years? You know the definition of insanity right - doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

Anyway! I'm 2 weeks post op today. I got 4,000 ccs removed from my inner/outer thighs, butt and abdomen. I'm still sore and bruised but I can see results! I'm down 3 inches in the abdomen, 3 1/2 inches in the hips and 1 1/2 inches in each thigh. I'm wanting more from the thighs but they are still swollen so I'm hopeful they will be smaller once I've healed completely.

I got in a light workout last night and I plan to start easing back into real workouts over the next week or so.

Has anyone else had lipo? I'd love to hear your story!
 
Hi Debbie,
Hope you heal fast! If you don't mind me asking....was it painful? How long for until you're recovered?

I've had three surgeries in my life...(non-cosmetic)...don't know if I'd want any more pain, lol.

Kathy G
 
Ahh the pain factor! Well, day one I was really sore, its sort of like a really tough workout sore plus my skin is very sensitive to the touch. I don't like pain meds so I only took 1/2 of one on the first night and 1/2 of one on the second night. Other than that I have used OTC only.

I was up and walking around the next day and have to say that the pain is not that bad after the first day or two. I went back to work on day 4 but found that I swelled a lot sitting at my desk. I worked day 5 then took the next 3 days off.

I told everyone at work that I hurt my back - it explained why I was walking so stiff and slowly.

I might post some pics in a few weeks if I feel brave enough to show the before ones!
 
Can I ask what your workout schedule was like? Did you do any lifting? Also, what kinds of things did you eat? I'm just curious what your "routine" was :)


Debbie


Brain cells come & brain cells go, but fat cells live forever.
 
I'd be afraid I'd gain the fat back and all the pain would be for nothing. Do they tell you how to keep it off after the surgery?
 
Lipo sounds like such an invasive shock to the body. Aside from inducing a coma-like state and cutting through the body, don't they literally take a vaccum and suck out fat? Did they have to cut through any muscle? Does anything else besides fat get sucked out? Do they give percentages on gaining the fat back? And if so, does the fat morph in size/shape etc because the body has been manipulated through the surgery?

I'm sure you don't want to relive all the gory details, but I've got a friend who always talks about cosmetic surgery, and I would like to help her understand the reality of it that might not get shown on the make-over tv shows.

Also, like Debbie, I'd also be interested in knowing what your pre-op diet, exercise, and lifestyle routine was. Also, did you have this extra fat all your life, or was it fat that had accumulated once you got older?

Thanks again for sharing.
 
I had general anesthesia.

Workouts about 1 hour in length - tried for 5 days per week:
Cathe cardio or running
weights both free weights Cathe and Bow flex

Diet - Not perfect but not bad. I go for moderation and small portions. I'd been at the same weight/size for years. In order to get any smaller I had to go to around 1,200 calories or less and up my workouts. Needless to say I couldn't sustain this for long.


My plastic surgen said (and I had read elsewhere) that once the fat is gone its gone for good. You can gain weight but you will gain it somewhere else. I was advised to go into lipo at a weight that you can easily maintain rather than dieting down to a very low weight before you do it.
 
Its definately an invasive shock to the body. Lots of bruising. Its not like they go in and gently remove fat cells. The PS vacuums vigirously to get it out!

No muscle is touched during the procedure and my PS said he could not remove as much from my buttocks as I would have liked because I had a lot of muscle and he does not like to remove fat too close to muscle.

They inject a fluid into the body and just that fluid, some blood and the fat is removed.

I talked about pre-op diet and exercise already but wanted to add on the lifestyle issue. I have 3 kids and we are heavily involved in sports. Neither my DH or I are sideliners. We coach and practice with the kids all the time. I rarely watch tv or even sit down when I'm at home. However, I do have an office job where I sit all day.

I think that was my biggest frustration. I felt like I was so active and worked out but that it never showed.

I always had saddlebags and bigger thighs even in high school.
 
"My plastic surgen said (and I had read elsewhere) that once the fat is gone its gone for good. You can gain weight but you will gain it somewhere else."

WOW! That is so crazy! THe marvels of modern science! To think that what the body was once natuarally capable of and inclined to doing, it can no longer do! Amazing!

Does that mean that if someone who got hip/thigh/butt/abs lipo got pregnant,(or just gained weight in general) that all the pregnancy fat (and post preg fat .. or just all the fat in general) would be carried in the arms/calves/face? Would it look strange to have that type of fat distribution?

And in terms of if someone got pregnant post-lipo, does that have consequences for the baby wherein the body is no longer able to generate fat and padding in certain places that could be beneficial to the baby? My friend who is considering lipo is also planning on getting pregnant a couple of years down the road, so I want to make sure she has all the facts so that she does not end up with an oddly morphed body during and post preg, or that she does not put the baby in harm during preg.
 
Wow, that is so wonderful. I just had a mini-face lift & a neck lift. Lipo is on somewhere down the line for me too. I find as I am aging the skin on my arms is beginning to sag. Nothing wrong in fighting off age as long as it looks natural. Congrats again to you,

Karen
 
From what I understand about fat cells<and someone please correct me> is at puberty, we put on all the fat cells we are ever going to have in life. Now those cells get bigger and bigger if we let them, but we never grow more. So the fat cells that lipo removes will not come back. I don't know if cells from other parts can gravitate to the removed parts or not.
 
"Does that mean that if someone who got hip/thigh/butt/abs lipo got pregnant,(or just gained weight in general) that all the pregnancy fat (and post preg fat .. or just all the fat in general) would be carried in the arms/calves/face? Would it look strange to have that type of fat distribution?"


I believe that even though fat cells in the hip/thigh/butt/abs area were removed through lipo, the existing fat cells in that area can still expand. Fat cells at some point in life become finite in number, and the changes in shape come from the change in size of the fat cells.

Mo
 
Debbie,
Would it be too invasive to ask about the cost?
Just a ballpark would be OK, if you're comfortable sharing that.

I have been seriously considering it for my arms for years - as, like yourself, I can't get the results that I'm looking for from diet and working out alone.

I'd like to wait till I'm done having kids before I do it, but I'm not sure what the $$ is typically.
 
I have actually wanted to get this done myself but haven't because I haven't wanted to deal with the recovery time. I have an active lifestyle but no matter how thin I am I still carry some pockets of fat that just bug me so much. I told my daughters one time that as intensely as I workout and as committed as I am to an active, healty lifestyle, it really frustrates me that I still carry those areas of fat.

Thanks for sharing your story about this! I'm still considering it....
 
I paid $7,200 for 4 areas of lipo removal. The cost varies on how much you have removed and the area you have it removed from. Also, I did not shop around I went to one PS that several of my friends had used and loved.
 
Just wanted to say good for you.Got the money, and guts and want it do it..
Life is too short.
More people have had and would if they could than you can imagine.
Breast and lipo are the 2 main surgical procedures in the world.

I have been afraid of the pain of that one ..
Only lipo on the under chin,(ouch) but i have had other things and i hate the recovery part, but i am happy i did it..

Best of luck again..




www.picturetrail.com/acatalina

Anne
AKA
Storm
 
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