3 weeks Post Op

Some interesting notes from the past week.

Firstly, the lumpiness has not gone away despite the swelling having now disappeared. The area although now contoured as the fat has been removed, has unsightly lumps all over. I have noticed minor improvement in the last week, perhaps sue to the daily massages, but if the lumps do not disappear I would not be happy to be showing off my abdomen as it now is. The lumps feel like scar tissue under the skin and look like the area is bumpy and bruised. The lumps are still also tender to touch. Will look out for further improvement and post photos.

Secondly, decided to go one day without the compression garment to see how it went (I was told that after the first 2 weeks of 24 hour wear I only needed to wear the garment in the daytimes). I wore jeans, and after sitting down to coffee with friends for 2 hours I had a complete indentation of the inside of the jeans imprinted on my stomach! Took a couple of hours for this to go away! Later that night went out dancing, also without compression garment on, and also slept without it. In the morning the area felt very sore and distended, like the skin had started to separate out from the stomach wall again. Won't be trying that again for a while.

2 Weeks Post Op

I have been able to resume all normal activities now and the only restriction is the compression garment which I still have to wear in the daytimes only for 4 more weeks, though they recommended the more I keep it on, the better my end result.

However a new issue has arisen which is now that all the swelling has gone, there are irregular lumps and bumps all over my abdomen which look quite unnatural and a bit freakish. I have been massaging the area daily for 15-20 minutes with an aromatherapy massage oil, which I am told is supposed to help this. I have however been reading on liposuction forums many people's experiences of these lumps never going away. Most doctors say these will disappear over time, usually completely gone in 3-6 months so I am praying that is the case with me. Several patients on the forums also said that they were initially lumpy but the lumps completely disappeared. I guess it depends on your individual tendency to scarring. Trying not to panic as it has only been 2 weeks but I don't want to have to be resigned to never wearing anything again which shows my stomach, otherwise what was the point of having the procedure done in the first place? The lumps do feel very hard though, like scar tissue has formed under the skin. I have read on the forums that bumpiness is usually a result of traditional liposuction and that this is not the case with laser lipo, but patient experiences with the procedure disagree with this theory.

Only time will tell, so I will keep posting updates.

1 week Post Op Laser Lipo

Went for my 1 week checkup and had the paper stitches removed which didn't hurt at all surprisingly. He said it was healing nicely. When I mentioned that I almost fainted on the first night with all the oozing after the operation, he said quite a few people do. Not funny considering I was on my own, what if that had happened? Unimpressed!

Regarding the results, considering it has only been a week I think so far it is healing up well. I'm starting to see the definition on my stomach. The scars are tiny, the one in the bellybutton is completely invisible and the one lower down is so small and I must say he did a good job in cutting the right place, it looks like it could just be a small scratch, I'm sure no-one would ever notice it. Only complaint is that there are some hardened areas on my abdomen which are lumpy, I'm told this is scar tissue and with regular massage this will disappear over the next 2 months. I asked the doctor about the weird numbness on my stomach and he said this takes a few months to get back to normal as nerves are traumatised during the procedure.

As for getting back to normal, I have been able to work out again and even do exercises lying on my stomach without feeling it much. The area is very tender to touch and still looks a little bruised. And finding clothes to wear which are loose and don't show the compression garment has compromised my wardrobe a lot. Just giving the facts, not meaning to complain.

Will post more photos and commentary 2 weeks post op.