Hi everyone, just wanted to detail my experience bc the posts here have been so helpful to me and wanted to pay it forward. Day of surgery I was so nervous, cried all morning. As I laid on the table before anesthesia, I felt calm and ready! Woke up to 2/10 pain, not bad at all. I decided not to take opioids at all bc I’ve had bad reactions in the past and have tested as a slow metabolizer for most of the meds they offered. So, I only used Celebrex and Tylenol. My pain got up to a 4-5/10 on day 4. It felt like a sunburn and barbell pressure under my boobs and on rib cage. I had some lipo on my sides which was the worst part- like the hardest workout I’d ever done x10 soreness. However, I was still able to sleep, although it was intermittent.
My tissue weighed more than was thought, I went from 38F to C or D and it was about 3 lbs total when they expected closer to 2 lbs.
For the first 4-5 days, I had big waves of adrenaline, high heart rate, and then I would crash and shake/shiver and my body would freeze and nearly force me to shut my eyes and put my head down. Sometimes this would wake me up out of sleep, which made me panic a bit. I think you could say they were anxiety attacks. Because I identified it as adrenaline (and therefore a natural body reaction to the trauma of surgery) I got through it by either just waiting them out or by square breathing when I felt them coming on and stopped having them by day 6.
Now I’m 12 days post op and feel a bit uncomfortable but nothing too crazy. Everything going well. Mental health was the hardest part for me- I want to be up and doing things, not resting. However, I’m feeling like it was all worth it. My cat seemed to know that I needed him and stayed by my side throughout recovery, highly recommend a pet nearby while you rest!