Also try: abs, arm fat, body contouring, body firming, lasert treatment, liposuction alternative, love handles, Smart Lipo
Hi everyone, Im taking the SmartLipo plunge next week. Im planning to take some before and after pics and post here with a detailed account of my experience. Would love to here any pre and post op suggestions anyone may have. My doc is doing my top and bottom abs and love handles as my priority surgery and then my upper arms if I have enough Lidocaine. I really want to get everything done all at once but am concerened tha we will run out of Lidocain and he will have to do the arms on another day. Either way, Im excited and welcome oyur encouragement and suggestions!
Submitted by dmn7656 on February 26, 2008 - 8:52pm. Viewed 1459 times
3/5/08
roughly 24 hours after my surgery and I've already cooked breakfast, changed my sheets becuase they were stained with tumescent fluid, and washed a load of laundry. Im taking a vicodin but not really sure that I need it. I am sore and walking slight bent over but I feel good. I even too pics today and I can already see a difference even with the swelling. Almost no bruising. I will post my before and after pics soon. I felt very little discomfort during the procesudre and and when I did they gave me more lidocain. They also gave me a sedative3 callede Adovan so I was falling asleep in and out of surgury. At one point they even sat me up on the table to do the back of my flanks. I'll let you know hoe things progess!
5/23/08
Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm having mine done on July 7th (u/l abs, flanks) - have you posted any pictures yet? I'd like to see your results. Thanks
5/29/08
3 months later.......well, I have mixed feelings. I had my upper and lower abs, flanks, and arms done. I should clarify, that I mean the meat that shakes underneath my arms when I raise them and shake. I did not have circumferential arms done, which some doctors do. As you can see form the pics, I had alot of fat in my ab area. My measurements before the surgery were, waist 37.75", right under the breast was 34" and my arms were 13" around. I weighed 160lbs. Im 40 years old and have never had children. So, the day of the surgery, I was relaxed and excited. They gave me a Sedative called Adavan (love it) and a small shot of Adavan about 3 hours into the surgery when i started to become more alert. I didnt feel anything. I listened to my ipod and cracked jokes with the doctor. We started at about 11 and we were done by 4. I did not have the arms done that day, only the abs and love handles because there is a very finite amount of lidocain that the body can take and the doctor will not exceed that amount. SO, he told me I would have to come back for the arms because he was using all of the Lidocaine that was appropriate for my body, during that surgery. At one point, I got up and we all ate a light lunch. This was during the middle of my surgery. I felt no pain and was comfortable enough to have lunch right there in the doctor's office! Towards the end of the surgery, the doctor sat me up on the table and acessed what additional areas needed to be addressed so he could have a better view. When I was done, I felt great. They put on the compression garment and the waist cincher and I was on my way. I was still very swollen with fluid and still quite fat. Now, here is the tricky part. Many doctors opt to leave your incisions open to allow for ample drainage. My doctors noticed that my incisions were fanning open during my surgery so they decided to give me one stitch at each of the 6 incision points on my stomach, but leave the two incision points in my lower back (flor the love handles) open to allow for draininage. They told me later that it was the first time they did that, but they didn not want me to scar so I appreciated that they considered the scarring factor. However, what they didnt know was that I sleep on my stomach. SO, the fluid could not drain from the incisions in my back. The next morning, I got up to go to the bathroom and discovered that my Vaginas was about 4 times the normal size. Apparently, the tumescent fluid had settled below the incisions and pooled in my vaginal area. I looked like I had a cows udder between my legs. Fortuantely, I didnt panic and suspected that is was just fluid. I called the doctor and went in and he had to smile and say that he never though he would see this happen. However, he solved the problem quickly and easily by prescribing me a strong dieuretic. I was good as new in about 48 hours. I went back 12 days later and had the arms done. There was not as much fat there so the area was a little more tender and I felt a few small pinches during the surgery. Since then, I have worn my arm garment, compression garment and waist cincher 23 hours a day for 3 months with the excpetion of two days in Vegas that I just had to free myself of those garments for. I had a sieable amount of itching for the first two months. My doc said that was a part of the healing. I too had the hard lumps but most of those have evened out and I have very little lumping. SOme hard spots, but not many. I also put Mederma on my incisions everyday for two months to help with any possible scarring. The incisons that had the stitches are barely noticable but the two on my back with the stitches are still dark and fairly prominent. So, now Im at the three month point and while I feel they removed a susbtantial amount of fat - I think 2200 cc, I still have a sizeable amount of fat in my ab area as you can see. My measurements 1 week after the surgery showed that I was 6 pounds lighter even with a little fluid left. Today, I am still 154 and my ab measures 35". Roughly 3 inch loss in the abs. I do not have anymore love handles. However, when I look at how extended my stomach still is, I cant help but feel a bit disappointed. While I looke substantially different with a marked improvement, the truth is, I still look fat. Just not AS fat. SO, Im going to see the doctor for the 3 month visit next week and see what he thinks............stay tuned. Im posting pics in another review because I cant figure out how to post them here....
6/6/08
i am scheduled to have the same areas done in Seattle three weeks from today. I would love to see more pictures. My arms are my biggest concern. Anything more you would be willing to share would be greatly appreciated.
6/8/08
hi ymiller, congratulations on your decision to do smartLipo. My arms did very well. Much better than my abs. However, my abs look substaantialy better. With that, my doctor offered to do my abs again. We are both stumped as to why I didint have better result with my stomach but Im confident that it will be awesome after round two. If you send me your email address, Ill send you more pics including the arms.
6/8/08
Thanks for the response. My email address is ym59@comcast.net. I can't wait to see your arm pics.
Again, thanks for responding,
Yvonne
6/8/08
I had my abs, chest and flanks done 3 weeks ago tomorrow. I plan to do a full post with pics soon. I know that this procedure is very easy for a lot of people but I think it depends on how extensive the area is. I had 4600cc of fat removed. That is a LOT! If you are having a large area done I suggest that you take more time off than you planed to. I scheduled two days post surgery but ended up taking an entire week to recover. Also I suggest Arnica both oral and gel. It really helped with the bruising and has helped my skin to feel better.
6/15/08
SmartLipo has been proven to be excellent technology in the right hands. The best thing you can do to help achieve the best resutls is to choose the right provider!
Get in shape so you can walk about 4 miles daily. This will help any swelling to go down quickly.
Arnica also helps quite a bit. Apply the gel to the treatment area four times daily for about a week before surgery. You can also use oral Arnica per the manufacturers directions.
Line up someone to perform lymphatic drainage massage starting a few days after the procedure. You want to make sure the holes have closed so you don't make a mess. . .they may not appreciate it :-)
Plan on taking a couple of days to recover but keep in mind that some people take longer than this depending on the area being treated and how much is coming off. Also, guys are usually bigger sissies than girls. (Ok, we all know that)