Marge S

I had tumescent liposuction with local anesthesia yesterday. I was given Lorazapam to help me relax, but was wide awake. The surgeon did have an IV inserted in case I needed more to relax (not sleep), but I didn’t need it. I’ll give you the facts, keeping in mind what I wanted to know when I was researching.
Surgeon: Norma Kassardjian in Southern CA (dermatologic surgeon who is an associate of Jeffery Klein, the inventor of the current tumescent technique).
I flew in from No CA on Wednesday night. Had the lipo Thursday morning from 8am to 2pm. Flew home today (Friday).
Had 900 ccs (2 lbs) taken from the outer thighs & inferior lateral buttocks. This is after subtracting the fluid.
I was most worried about the fluid infusion part because I had heard it can be painful. It turned out to be pain free in general. Every once in a while I would get a quick jab of pain. The fluid infusion took a long time because it had to be done slowly in order to keep it pain free.
There was no pain during the liposuction part except I told Dr. Norma twice that I felt burning and then she added more local.
Afterwards, I went back to the hotel and took a nap. Then I went for a walk. There was no pain yesterday (maybe a little stiff). Today I feel sore like I’ve over-exercised.
I should also mention that my husband and 3 kids (2 years to 13 years) came with me. I felt fine so they were free to have a good time and do things. I wouldn’t let them go to Disneyland which was 45 minutes away, but next time I will.
Dr. Norma won’t do inner & outer thighs together because she doesn’t think it is good to compress the legs from both sides. This did bother me before, but it turned out to be such a non traumatic experience that I don’t mind now.
My instructions are to wear the garments until 24 hours after all drainage stops. Dr. Norma believes that wearing the garments beyond that point makes the swelling worse because the constriction keeps the lymphatic system from doing its job and draining. The use of the garment is to help squeeze the excess fluid out the holes that are left open.
This morning when I took the garments off to shower, I saw an improvement in my shape, but I won’t have an opinion on the sculpting for at least 4 weeks.