8 Weeks Post Body Lift Surgery

Whoops, with Christmas and everything I missed my week 7 body lift surgery update, but I am back for a week 8 update... just a day late.

I feel almost 100% normal around my tummy, but my back continues to be swollen and uncomfortable. My surgeon had to do a lot of work on my lower back because all of my excess skin and fat sat above my bum, rather than attaching to my bum and hips like most women. I am hoping that this is why the swelling is so bad and it will eventually go down. I know it can take 3-6 months for the swelling to disappear so I have my fingers crossed it will clear up. I have my next follow-up appointment with my surgeon at the 3 month mark so if I haven't seen some major improvement by then I will get him to check out what is going on.

When I saw my surgeon for my second follow-up appointment at the start of December he told me that I didn't have to wear my compression garments anymore. I have kept wearing them about 95% of the time because I feel like I still need the support and I figure that it may help with my swelling too. I thought I might be able to get away with wearing some spanx instead of the full garment, but they were too painful to get on. I guess I forgot that the special medical garments have clips and zips down each side to make it easy to get on over swollen body parts and you need to pull those tiny spanx up over your thighs, hips and bum. Ouch.

My surgeon also removed my surgical tapes at my last appointment and replaced them with some silicone tape to help with scarring. He gave me siltape to use and recommends I continue to use it for the next few months. It is expensive to buy here in Australia ($30 a roll, which only does a couple of applications) but the good thing is that it does stay on for a while and I don't have to change it too often.

Aside from my back swelling I am feeling really good and my only other problem is the amount of food I keep shoving into my mouth. You would think that having my new body would inspire me to do better, but I have been eating terribly over the holidays. My head tends to get in a bad place over the holidays because they can be a tense time and I tend to let the stress get to me. As soon as January 1st comes around I feel a sweep of relief and calm and my eating goes back to normal.

I know I have gained a fair bit of weight since my surgery 8 weeks ago, but the weird thing is that the weight has gone on my body in different places than normal. Once you undergo liposuction the fat cells are removed and the fat won't go back to those areas. So all the weight I have gained has gone to my arms, upper back and boobs and I am looking a little top heavy like the Hulk. I must say that I don't mind the bigger boobies I have grown, especially in contrast to my smaller waist, but unfortunately I am gaining the weight in other less desirable places too... I am not too worried about the weight gain because I am confident I will work it off.

Here are some truly terrible photos taken of me on New Year's Eve that give a better idea of how my shape is coming along at the week 8 point. I hope that improving my eating and getting back into exercise over the next few months will help me tone up and give me some better proportions in my shape.

Looking normal from the front

Demonstrating those massive boobies from the side

The worst photo of all, my Hulk like back and shoulders