So yesterday was a short day at the office for me because I had a checkup with my surgeon.
It was almost 6 months ago that I had surgery. Some of the doctors involved are in the picture above.
When I first met with my surgeons - Dr. Evans who is the head of Plastic Surgery at UCI and Dr. Parks - his chief resident, they were deeply concerned and no one was certain that they would agree to even do the surgery. The risks were pretty extreme. Between my weight, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure issues, the possibility of undergoing major surgery - which some might consider to be elective - was of great concern.
Even as the surgeons decided they would go forward (if they could get approval from my insurance carrier), they were telling me that there was 100% chance of my having at least one complication to the surgery.
Just so you can all get a bit of a laugh out of this ... one complication was that I might not still have a belly button when it was finished. Didn't happen, but well, hay, I don't really go around flashing my belly at people anyway, so I wasn't concerned about that one.
I was told that the very least complication was that I might have problems with the incision not closing up.
So, surgery happened, they removed 42 pounds from my body. The incision went across my hips area all the way across the front and onto each side. It is easily over 20 inches long. And yes, that was my one and only complication, about 1 inch of the incision opened up a small amount. Which just meant it took a bit longer to heal over then the rest of it.
I was blessed to have very little pain, didn't even have to take any painkillers (except non-asperin over the counter type) after the first day of surgery, and that was actually more about getting some sleep than about pain.
So, what am I really saying here ... Yesterday (almost 6 months after surgery), I was given the "you don't need to return for any further check ups" response. Next time I see these guys will be about the possiblity of another surgery of a similar nature, but much less risky.
I offer my thanks to all the staff at UCI Hospital in Orange, the doctors, residents, nurses, physical therapists and even the kitchen staff.
I'm feeling less irritable, more energetic and my lymph system is almost back to where it was before the surgery.
YEA!
Sounds like you had a great surgical team! Kept you informed, gave you the pros and cons and went on to success. Might have even been looking towards a new future for you. It's that belly button thing. They kept it because you may not have been flashing it for a few years, but they see flash time on the horizon.
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