Let me tell you, time sure is flying. It seems like it was only yesterday that I was even remotely thinking about having a tummy tuck and upper arm lift. Now, I am already five days post-op from my second cosmetic procedure in nine months and while that is honestly crazy to me, I also couldn't be any happier with my results.
Surgery was scheduled for September 24th (I went back to Snodgrass & Robinson Plastic Surgery Specialists) and I had to be at the office at 8:15 am. Anyone that knows me knows that I'm not exactly a morning person but having the procedure done early in the morning worked out well because at that point, I didn't have any more time to think about it and second guess my decision.
The nerves started kicking in about 1 to 2 weeks prior to surgery but since I had my tummy tuck done back in December, I pretty much knew the drill already so I wasn't nearly as anxious this time around (read about my tummy tuck here). Therefore, I already had everything I needed waiting for me at home including prescriptions, compression garments, gatorade, crackers, soup, protein/nutrition shakes, ginger ale and things like that.
When my mom and I arrived at Dr. Robinson's office, we were a few minutes early but they were pretty much ready for me so I didn't have much time to sit around, which was perfectly fine with me. Once I changed and got into the OR (which was located right at the office), I had a pretty good idea of what to expect so I honestly wasn't worried too much about anything. However, once I laid down, I was told by the nurses that because I was having my arms operated on, they were going to have to try and start the IV in my foot and that was the moment my anxiety kicked in. I've never really been a huge fan of needles in the first place but I can now say that I will never complain about having another IV in my arm ever again because having it in my foot is something I never want to go through ever again.
I woke up in recovery at about noon and both of my arms were completely wrapped in ace bandages. I was obviously pretty groggy after waking up and I remember feeling hungry but when I was told that I hadn't said anything stupid nor did I have any drains to help with excess fluid, I was a happy camper.
Heading home from surgery was pretty much a blur and once my mom and I got back to my apartment, I pretty much slept the remainder of the day away. In fact, the only time I really woke up was to eat and take my pain meds but overall, the pain throughout the recovery has been very manageable; I'd say a 2 or maybe a 3 out of 10. I was given Percocet to help with the pain but I only had to take half a dose every four hours until 1:00 am the night of surgery and since then, it's strictly been ibuprofen.
The next morning, I had to be back at Dr. Robinson's office so that he could take a look at everything and see if there were any complications. Other than my arms being wrapped too tight, Dr. Robinson said that everything looked pretty good and that he took a pretty "sizable specimen" off of each arm, which was oddly kind of cool to hear.
Overall, the upper arm lift has been much easier to deal with than the tummy tuck. It of course has its own challenges but I don't have nearly as many limitations this time around. I don't have any drains, I can sleep in my own bed instead of a recliner, shower and get dressed on my own for the most part and move around my apartment relatively easy.
Last spring when I initially started having thoughts of skin removal surgery, I thought about having skin removed from my stomach, arms and legs but at my initial consultation, I was only cleared for my stomach and arms. Now that I have had my tummy tuck and upper arm lift and had time to think about everything, I think that I probably done, even if I were to ever get cleared to have surgery on my legs.There's still a possibility I could have more skin removed later on but at this point, I don't think I really want to.