How to prepare for a tummy tuck and breast reduction
Your surgeon should hopefully give you all the advice you need in order to prepare for your post-operative recovery.
Talk to them about your concerns and look through the packet of information given to you.
In my practice, I typically provide my patients with a preoperative instruction packet that answers all these questions.
The most important thing is having some help around the house. It will be difficult for you to do things like cooking dinner, doing laundry, etc.
It is wise to have someone help you with those chores. Alternatively, some people plan ahead and freeze some dinners for the first few days after surgery. Recognize that you won’t have a great appetite for a few days when you are home so you might want to have some juice, jello, crackers, and soup stocked.
There are more risks involved with a combination procedure, but that is really based on a frank discussion with your surgeon. Your surgeon should have gone through your medical history and determined if you are a safe candidate for a combined procedure.
I really like the other ideas already mentioned: toilet seat extension, shower chair, and hand held shower. Those really do help a lot. (Sirish Maddali, MD, Portland Plastic Surgeon)
Post-op pain control after tummy tuck and breast reduction
It is always difficult to estimate how much pain an individual is going to have. There is a great deal of variability from patient to patient. I have found it beneficial to supplement pain medications with Celebrex plus a muscle relaxant. I begin this prior to surgery and continue for several days. In my experience, this decreases the frequency and dosage of post-op narcotics. You may want to discuss this with your surgeon. (John Whitt, MD, Dallas Plastic Surgeon)
Tummy Tuck recovery
Your doctor should be giving you a list of things to have for after surgery and things to avoid as well. Call his office and discuss his protocol because every doctor has a different regimen. (Steven Wallach, MD, Manhattan Plastic Surgeon)
Tips for tummy tuck and breast reduction recovery
Your surgeon will give you a list with all of their specific instructions. There are a few “convenience” items that might be forgotten, but I think they really help. They are simple to get beforehand, and are only needed for a few weeks:
Elevated toilet seat – this way you don’t have to bend down so far to sit on the toilet. If you don’t have a built in shower bench, find a supportive chair for use in the shower. Hand held shower adapter – unscrew your wall nozzle and screw in this hose.
Now you can sit in the shower and wash everywhere. You can buy these at Target or CVS – they run around $20 each (I just checked Target on line.) (Michael A. Bogdan, MD, FACS, Orange County Plastic Surgeon)
Recovery from Full Tummy Tuck and Breast Reduction
There are some important factors for you to consider and you should have a very thorough discussion with your surgeon about limitations before you undergo surgery so you are better prepared for the aftermath. One thing to consider, however, and this is factored into the recovery, is that of doing multiple major surgeries at one time and the increased risks involded.
Yes, there are risks of multiple anesthesias, but there are always more vigorous discussions of combining major surgeries. From your photos it appears that you will have an extensive abdominoplasty procedure, and likely the breast reduction as well. The longer you are under anesthesia with these major procedures, the greater the risks. You need to ask your surgeon who has hopefully gone over your medical history, what he/she feels about combining these procedures as opposed to staging them. One of the major risks is pulmonary emboli, that is a blood clot that forms in the legs and goes to the lungs and can be life threatening.
Ask your physician how to minimize this risk both during and after the surgeries. Wound healing factors need to be considered as well. It doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be done together, but you need to know the facts. Only you can make a final decision based on those risk factors. (Theodore Katz, MD, FACS, )