1 month post debulking surgery – by Simone

by Recover the gift

So I thought I would write an update on my surgery as I have just passed the 1 month mark.

 

All in all the results are really great! My excess volume has gone from 4070 to 726. The day before the op the leg was 36% larger and now it is only 6% larger. Here is a pic to show you the improvement.

 

As I wrote about in my previous post I had really awful pain for the first week or so, much more than I expected. There were times that I wondered if this would all be worth it and what on earth I had done to myself! I had terrible nerve pain down the one side into the ankle (it felt like someone was constantly burning me with a blowtorch), but with a few physio sessions and time this has been completely resolved.

 

One of the requirements of the operation to ensure that you get the best results is to be in compression 24 hours a day. While I have been in compression during waking hours for the last 8 years, I have never slept in compression or exercised in it. So its taken a lot of trial and error to figure out what compression works best when. Basically the more compression I can tolerate on the leg, the better my results should be. I am currently in a class 4 full leg panty compression with a class 2 single leg compression over that. So class 6 in total. Its TIGHT people, no way around that. And there is nothing comfortable about it at all!

My foot and ankle are still very swollen and puffy so I am trying additional compression pads etc here to see if we can get an improved result. I was also really battling to sleep in the beginning with the compression, but I have now figured out what to wear so that I can get some sleep. I also got some really terrible blisters on the side of my foot so we have had to cut some of the stocking near the baby toe to release the pressure here a bit and to stop blisters happening.

 

Now that the pain is less and we have dealt with most of the teething issues I can start to feel a nice difference in the leg. I have also started to exercise again and this is where I can really notice the difference! There were certain exercises I just couldn’t do with my leg – proper skipping, jump lunges, burpees, etc – and I am now starting to be able to do these which is just amazing!

 

So all in all a very happy 1 month check in! I am super stoked with the results and am already feeling a huge difference in every day activities! I can’t wait for lockdown to be over so I can go and buy myself a pair of jeans – I haven’t been able to wear jeans in 7 years!!

 

For those that might be interested here are some operation pics (none too gruesome) and some post op pics.