Today is Day 5 post op after butt liposuction. I don’t know what it is about day 5, but I think this is when my body finally wakes up and figures out something traumatic has happened to it. It’s like, “OMG, you did what? Well crap, I’ve got to do something about this!” Then it swells way up and gets really painful. By now 4 operations in, it’s expected but getting kind of old.
Tramadol is Not My Friend – Water Retention to Hell and Back
I’m not sure if I really mentioned the effect that Tramadol has on me. This is the painkiller that my surgeon prescribes as Tramadol isn’t a blood thinner. The pill I take is actually mixed with Paracetamol since it enhances the pain killing effect of Tramadol. Since I HATE the taste of Paracetamol, I can appreciate only having to take 1 pill vs 3 (1 Tramadol, 2 Paracetamol). The Paracetamol ALWAYS gets stuck on the back of my tongue.
This combo does a great job of dulling the pain, however, apparently one of the “rare” side effects is fluid retention in the legs, feet, arms or hand. Lets hear it for being a special fucking snowflake and getting some of the “rare” side effects.
In the past, it’s only been about 3kg (roughly 6lbs) water retention. However, this time for the butt liposuction, I tipped the scale with a whopping 6.5kg (almost 13lbs) weight increase. There was no doubt this was water retention, you just had to look at me to see that. It started with my face getting puffy day 1 post op then by yesterday (day 4) you could actually see it on my calves.
This morning when I woke up, you could see my arms were puffy, my ankles and feet were still swollen, my thighs were back to pretty much post op size, my butt was back to normal size. Hell, even my poor deflated boobs were puffy from water retention! My stockings and girdle weren’t doing anything to help either.
So the 3AM Tramadol was the last one I’ll be taking this operation. I can’t take anymore water weight because it physically hurts.
Still Got to the Gym for a Workout Despite the Swelling from Butt Liposuction
Since I was down and out for 3 weeks due to my hand being injured, I decided I wasn’t going to let the swelling keep me away from my workout. Besides, perhaps moving around would work out some of the water retention?
Unfortunately, because of having to haul myself around, my hand was hurting worse than normal so the bench press was down right out. Luckily, the cable fly and reverse cable fly didn’t bother it and then my trainer got creative and we did one arm rows with a kettle bell and a big soft box I could put my leg on but still stand. We did hammer curls, side raises, and even shoulder presses with a sand bag. Sometimes I really hate it when that guy gets creative and I can’t weasel my way out of workout pain (ok, I pay 460 a month for this but still, it’s the principal of the thing!).
Alas, this didn’t work out any of the water retention. I’d have to wait for the Tramadol to work out of my system.
Butt Liposuction Pain and Bruising
Even though I’m now strictly on Paracetamol and the pain is slightly more cutting than with the Tramadol, it still really isn’t too bad. Sure, getting into and out of my seat is a bit more painful and uncomfortable. Sitting still even hurts a bit (it’s kind of background pain, you can feel it but it doesn’t directly bother you).
I think most of the pain I’m feeling is caused by the swelling itself vs. the actual surgery areas.
And of course the bruising is starting to look pretty. It never was that bad, not like my right thigh. But there’s a few areas that have a big bruise.
Day 5 Post Op Observations
- Day 4 was pretty unremarkable. Spent a good majority in my computer chair playing Elder Scrolls Online (I’m a 37 year old geek, ok?).
- Sitting and standing still hurts. Once I’m up or down, like the previous days, its OK but I can actually feel the surgery area w/o the Tramadol.
- At this stage Paracetamol is OK. I rather not feel this much of the pain since I’m kind of done with pain, but it is what it is. I’ll suck it up.
PetraAnn
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