Day of Surgery & Laser Lipo Operation

I arrived at the surgery a bundle of nerves. I have never had any sort of operation before let alone a voluntary one. I told the nurse I was really nervous and scared. She said she would give me a 'cocktail' of medications to calm me down. I had been told in my pre-op checkup that I would be under light sedation during the operation but as it is done under local anaesthetic I would be awake during the procedure. I told them that is all ok as long as I don't feel any pain at all. They said I wouldn't, but I would feel them working on the area, like when you go to the dentist and they numb the area but you can tell they are pulling your tooth out.

The doctor came in and they gave me the 'cocktail' (3 tablets) and I signed a consent form. He drew with a marker on my lower abdomen and showed me where exactly he would take the fat from and where the scars would be. One in my belly button and one about where the top of your panties normally sit (if you wear low rise knickers). I was on the operating table before the tablets kicked in, still nervous. I lay down on the table and they placed a paper surgical sheet on me and cut out a hole in the paper over my stomach area to expose it. Then they rubbed this dark brown surgical liquid all over my belly and this is when it kicked in this was really happening.

They gave me an anaesthetic injection in about 5-6 areas on my stomach (I hate needles but this was done very superficially, only just under the skin so it just felt like light pinpricks). Then the surgeon made the 2 snips they would be doing the liposuction through, and I felt those cuts. (It feels a bit like getting a piercing done, if you have ever done that.) He then proceeded to insert the 'canula' (a long thin 3mm diameter metal tube) into my fatty area and I definitely felt that. I screamed out "I can feel that OW OW give me more anaesthetic!" And they said ok it would just take a few seconds for the anaesthetic to kick in, and that the tube was injecting a liquid into the area which would numb it. By now I was tense and could feel the tube pushing through the fat on my stomach, and it was painful.

I complained several times during the procedure that I could feel pain and they kept saying ok it was normal to feel some pain and they did give me some more anaesthetic but overall the procedure was still painful. Why they did not give me even more anaesthetic when at one point I started crying and was regularly crying out with pain during the surgery I don't know. Had I not started to get a bit woozy with the drugs I probably would have insisted harder or protested more but I think if your patient is writhing around and crying that should be enough to make you give them more painkillers in the area. You're probably wondering what my personal pain threshold is and I don't know how to describe that. I have never broken a bone or had a tattoo so I can't compare it to any of those experiences. The point I want to make is that you expect that this would be a painless procedure and it certainly f***ing wasn't!

The actual feeling is weird (aside from the pain bit). You can feel this tube going through your stomach fat and it reminded me of when you place stuffing under a chicken skin and you have to separate the layer of skin and fat from the meat. They move it quite briskly back and forth (your eyes are covered because of the laser) and though the central area started to numb when they got to the corners there were little stabs of pain as they touched un-anaesthetised areas. There are a few videos on YouTube of regular liposuction, watch these if you want an idea of what the actual movement looks like. Then after they have pushed through all the fatty areas with the laser they turn on this suction thing and put the tube back in to suck out all the fat they broke down. It's quite loud and you can hear the fat globules being sucked out.

The procedure was over in one very uncomfortable half hour. The tablets started to kick in at the end so after it was over I felt very relaxed. The nurse was lovely and wiped my tears, and helped me to stand up. I was too scared to look down at my belly- it felt like the area had been completely traumatised. It looked swollen and blueish yellow but no bruises had formed yet.

The nurse gave me a compression garment, which looked like old fashioned control underpants (like Spanx) that came up to my ribs. I was told I needed to wear this 24 hours a day for 2 weeks and then only daytimes after that for 6 weeks. She said I could shower tomorrow. I called a cab and went on my woozy way home wondering what I had done to myself.

I can safely say that the experience was so horrible that if I ever have any kind of plastic surgery again I will make sure I am under general anaesthetic so I sleep through it! Maybe not all women share the experience I had but as I was not told anything beforehand about how it feels I felt I needed to share this.