My Experience with Smart Lipo & More

Here are my before and after pictures from 3 weeks after the procedure.  Not a whole lot of change in the last two weeks.  Just like the first time.  All the major changes happen in the first two days.  If I would have thought about it, I could have pulled my belly button apart to ensure it looked more normal.  The skin would have adhered accordingly, but instead, I'm stuck with this one.  But I'm ok with it :) I slept without the garment on for the first time last night.  It was nice.  I'm still wearing it during the day while I'm at work as I do a lot of sitting.  I'm still really happy with my decision to buy maternity pants.  I think they've really helped with the smooth healing of the skin.

So, I'm almost three weeks out since my procedure.  I'm still having weird pains.  I guess it's just all part of the healing process.  It's funny how it's only been 6 months since my first procedure and I've already forgotten how I felt 3-4 weeks after getting the procedure done. My skin has retracted so much that my stretch marks have caused my skin to look crinkly.  You can see what I'm talking about in the picture below. This was taken right after I woke up too - if you're tummy has a time when it looks it's best, that would certainly be it! It upsets me a little bit.  I knew it was a possibility but it looked so good after the first week I was really hopeful that it wasn't going to happen.  But, the skin does continue to tighten for up to three months so I guess my optimism was a little premature. The massage therapist thinks that it could potentially get better once the hardening and softening of the skin has gone through it's cyc

Just a random comment that I wanted to share with those considering Smart/Laser Lipo.  You may think that having the fat sucked out of you would certainly cause you to weigh less.  That's what I expected anyway.  This is not, however, true.  You don't lose any weight on the scale due to the procedure.  You will certainly lose inches.  I tell you this so that you do not go into this with false hope or expectations.

I went again today for another lymphatic drainage massage.  The massage therapist told me that I had a lot of fluid congestion in my hips.  I also have a crease right above my pubic area that just seems to be where my skin naturally folds when I sit down.  It's so deep that when I lay flat all night long, it's still hasn't worked itself back to normal by the next morning.  She spent a lot of time cupping that area, drawing the fluid to the top to pull out the skin. Today's appointment was pretty painful, I'm not going to lie.  But it's also very obvious that I still have a lot of swelling and fluid in the tissue.  It's been two weeks since I had the appointment.  It usually takes about 3-4 weeks for the swelling and fluid to finally dissipate.  One interesting thing that she told me was that our skin will take on the shape of things.  This is why it's important for us to wear a variety of clothing, particularly panties.  If you always wear the same p

I cannot tell you how happy I am that I decided not to have a tummy tuck and choose the smart lipo option first.  This picture alone should persuade anyone who has lost weight and is debating on which route to choose that it's not worth the risk with the tummy tuck or having that scar when you can spend less money and less time recovering to have smart lipo done.

As promised, here are more before and after pictures! So far, I'm extremely happy with the results!  It was well worth the pain and the $2,000 to help resolve some of the lingering issues from the first procedure.  One thing that I didn't realize the first time is that because this is an out patient procedure, the doctor is only allowed by law to remove a certain amount.  Like I said before, I had 4 liters removed during the first procedure.  As there are only 4 one liter contains on the machine, my guess would be that is the legal limit.  During my second round, I had two and a half liters removed.  There was enough wiggle room for the doctor to fine tune the areas that needed it, whereas before, she was limited to what she could do.

Well, the doctor is very pleased with my progress.  I pointed out two areas that concern me.  They are a little more puffy than other areas and to the touch, they don't seem to be as attached as much as the rest of my skin feels.  The doctor wanted to make sure that I did not have a seroma, essentailly, a pocket of fluid under the skin.  So again, she stuck me with a very large needle to try and get out any fluid that may be lingering under the skin.  There was next to none, which she said was good.  I was holding gauze on the needle insertion point on my left side while she did the right and you could tell just from putting pressure on it for a short while, there was still a lot of swelling. There is some crinking of the skin under my stretch marks on both sides of my belly button.  I knew that this could happen.  I guess, considering how many stretch marks I have on my belly, I should be grateful that this is as bad as it is. I'll go back in another two weeks for another

I'm about to see the doctor for my second post procedure follow up. I'm interested to see how she thinks things are progressing! There are two spots that concern me. The skin just isn't as tight. We'll see what she says! More to come :]

I just had my first appointment post procedure with the Lymphatic Massage Therapist. For anyone in the Melbourne, Florida area, I go see Beth Petters. She couldn't get over how much better my stomach looked this time compared to the first time. I still have a lot of swelling but that's to be expected! She said that the second time around, some people heal much faster, while others will heal much slower. I told her about the maternity pants :) she thought it was a fantastic idea as well and is going to start recommending them to her clients! Ladies they're really comfortable and no one can tell! I told my boyfriend I may wear them for a while I like them so much! haha The massage only lasts 30 minutes and it's recommended to go for 4 weeks. It helps to keep the fluid moving and draining. She does "cupping." which is essentially where she uses a cup like device to suction a piece of your skin, and then pulls it across your body to pull the fluid to the

I am so thrilled that I thought to buy maternity pants!! They are definitely much more comfortable than wearing regular jeans every day!! And you can't even tell! They probably make me look thinner :)

OK so the last time that I had the procedure, the first day back to work was pretty painful.  I had to unbutton my jeans the whole time but the material was still really uncomfortable.  As I explained in my previous post , I decided to wear maternity pants this time around.  This was definitely a very wise choice.  Although the excessive bending still hurt, it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been.  As you recall from my earlier post Appointment February 1st , there was a bulge that had been created by the jeans that I referred to as my never ending muffin top.  Thank GAWD that didn't happen this time!  As you can see in the picture above and below, the garment left quite a mark on my thighs.  I kept trying to keep it pulled down all the way to avoid any "bulge" issues from occurring again.  I swear the last time, my right vaginal lip was bigger than the left because the garment would natraully pull more towards the left when I walked causing part of the rig

As this is my second time I have had Smart Lipo, I'm not as concerned about the small burn marks that I've noticed in several areas as a result of the laser. The most common location for small burn marks are near the incision points.   Here is a picture of my first incision, the second incision and the small burn mark. The incisions healed very well. The doctor commented that she had to look for them as they were not obvious.   This time, like last, I have been putting antibiotic ointment on the incision before putting a bandage on it.   I usually use Neosporin.   Although a generic version would work just as well.   I also have two burn marks on my stomach.  The scary thing is that I can recall when these were made because of how the laser burnt the skin.  The doctor had such a hard time getting through certain areas of scar tissue that when she would finally break through, the strength put behind the laser would cause it to go closer to the skin then she would uaually. 

The pain has its ups and downs.  There are certainly times when I'm in a significant amount of pain and other times when I forget I had the procedure all together.  I decided to take the pain meds regularly as a preventative so as to not allow my body to hurt so bad that when I do take the pain meds, I felt little to no relief. I did notice that the pain was the worst when I had spent any amount of time sitting.  I had to run a few errands on Saturday and I definitely paid for it Saturday night.  I wore jeans and even though they were loose to a certain degree, they still cut into my mid-section something fierce.  When I got home and took a shower, I noticed that same bulge in my mid-section where it seems like the jeans push up any excess and just leave it there.  This scared me because I noticed it happening last time too and I question if it was the cause of my problems.  In my infinite wisdom, I decided to buy a pair of maternity jeans to wear to work.  This way I won't h

Here are some from just before the procedure and just after .. it's amazing to me to see how the body changes in just one day .. I'm very hopeful that the outcome will be exactly what I want!

I'm so incredibly happy to say that day 2 is significantly better! The pain is minimal.  I did have frozen peas on my stomach and sides from the time I got home (around 4:30pm) until midnight.  I think that may have helped a lot. I didn't take any pain medications until around 2am to help me sleep.  I decided to try and sleep on my stomach.  I never tried the last time but I have such a hard time falling asleep on my back.  I was pleasantly surprised how comfortable I was laying on my stomach.  I made sure to keep my legs straight so that my whole stomach was laying flat. The bruising has gone down a lot.  There are some spots that have turned purple and pink but for the most part it's not bad at all.  I think there's already a noticeable difference .. and this is with a sports bra on I decided to go with the black garment this time .. this is the one that is just for the body .. the last pictures included the arm garment on top of the body garment. As you

Today was by far one of the most painful experiences of my life.  There was some scar tissue built up from the first procedure that was a bitch to deal with.  Every time the doctor had to do anything in my midsection, there were a lot of F-bombs going off.  I tried my very best to suffer through it, knowing that it was better to get it over with than take a break and have to revisit the same spot.  There were times that I cried like a little girl.  It was embarrassing, but I couldn't help it. I know that once the pain is gone, and the area has had an opportunity to heal, I will be grateful that I went through with it.  But for now, thank GOD for pain killers! I was better this time around.  I drank fluids and got up to go to the bathroom twice in an 8 hour period allowing everything to drain for 10-15 minutes.  The incision is much lower on my vagina this time, causing gravity to really take effect when standing up or sitting down.  What came out the first time was pretty nasty

I am almost finished .. the doctor is giving me a few minutes to recover and gain my strength before I have to stand up and let her see what areas need a little more attention .. this is how much she's sucked out so far .. it was 4 liters the first time .. so far, 2 liters .. I doubt that there will be a whole lot more but we'll see :]

Sitting at the doctors office about to get drawn all over with permanent marker so she knows the spots to suck the most fat out of ... I'm extremely nervous even though I've done this before. The pain of getting numb is not fun! The two Valium should help though. I can't wait for it to be over and to see the results. Pictures pictures and more pictures to come!