Friday Q and A

I went for my second consult on Friday.  The first consult was done as part of a mini monthly seminar.  It's not that the first one felt rushed but I didn't feel I had time to "take it all in" before asking questions.  I also didn't have the advice/questions of all my different nurse friends.  They suggested questions that I NEVER would have thought about.  I was also lucky that one of my best friends, Chris, tagged along for the consult.  As an extra added bonus, he's one of the nurses and will helping me out on the day I have the surgery.

Dr. Eaves from Charlotte Plastic Surgery (CPS) will be performing my extended abdominoplasty, thighplasty, and brachioplasty.  That's a tummy tuck, thigh lift and arm lift for those of you keeping score at home!  He specializes in body contouring and has been working with massive weight loss patients for 10 years.  I had all the questions written down and Chris was in the office as backup.  The surgeon was very receptive to my questions and answered with a patience and depth I've never gotten from a doctor.  I know it's an elective procedure but general practitioners could learn a few lessons from this guy.

Here are the questions I asked.  If you're reading this post looking for information please know the answers are tailored for my situation and may not be the same for you.

1. How many and what type of drains will be used?  2 drains with bulb collectors will be used for the tummy tuck incision.  They are easy to tuck in clothes, drain and put back on.  For me, he doesn't think the other two procedures will need drains at all.
2. Who is oncall that weekend?  All the doctors are partners in the firm and take turns being oncall.  Whoever is oncall will know my case and have access to my file.  The good news is Dr. Eaves might actually be the one oncall that weekend.
3. How likely is a second nights stay in the hospital?  He gave me a 10% chance that I'd need another night.  He's confident that since I'm in such good shape, I'll be "go to go" after one night.  Most people choose to stay a second night for their own comfort and not on his orders anyway.
4. What is my expected mobility and self-care after the surgery?  He's going to have me up walking that same day.  I'll be able to walk around the house, go to the bathroom, and basically fend for myself - albeit VERY slowly. 
5. What about pain medication?  I don't do well with Vicadin and don't really have any experience with other meds so they will have to see what works at the hospital and go with that.  I'll have my meds before I leave on Saturday.  No rushing around looking for a pharmacy while I'm in pain.
6. Will I pre-admitted to the hospital?  All the paper work will be done when I arrive that morning.  He said there might be a chance the hospital would want me to come down the day before.  I'll definitely be getting an "info gathering" phone call from them as the date approaches.
7. Will the nurses on my hospital floor have experience with plastic surgery?  I'll be on the post surgery floor.  The nurses are very experienced with plastic surgery since all of the CPS "big" procedures end up on that floor.
8. Can I do any exercises to aid in recovery or help the outcome?  The doctor advised me to keep up what I'm doing now.  With my weight (195 lbs) and body fat percentage (~13%), I'm really at my "prime" for the procedures.  He said it wouldn't help the outcome to lose any more weight or even put on more muscle.
9. Can I supplement with anything that will aid the recovery?  He was candid in saying that nothing has really been proven to help quicken the healing process.  General advice was a multi-vitamin and vitamin C daily. 

You can tell which questions are from the nurse brigade and which "two" are mine.  The booklet that was sent to me was very informative and I didn't have a lot more questions that it couldn't answer.  CPS has been quite responsive over email and I can send them anymore as I think of them.

In the next post, I'll recap what was done in my first consult including why you need to "check" your modesty at the door when having this type of plastic surgery.

Thanks for reading!