Scars, hips, & other post-surgery questions!

[hamlette]

Hi everyone! I'm coming up to a month post-op now - it's gone so fast! I have Some questions!

1) I had my dressing taken off today and they said I could start applying creams to reduce the scar. I hadn't known about this previously, so what should I use and for how long for?! I have heard of bio-oil and palmer's cocoa butter - are these any good?!

2) ALSO I think I read somewhere about staying out of the sun in the summer... Is this true and if so, why??!

3) I'm a bit annoyed that I haven't lost any weight! Loads of people have said they lost up to 30lbs and I have lost about 4!!!! I was hoping to have a nice little side effect from this operation! Anyone else not lose weight??!

4) I have noticed that one of my hips still juts out more, even though my back is nice and straight now. It's actually my other hip (I think). Is this because it was compensating for the other one sticking out by getting bigger to balance it? Will it go down eventually?

5) What sort of excercises can I do? I feel like such a couch potato but obviously physical stuff is off limits. What about balancing excercises like yoga? I have a Wii Fit, can I use that? are there any excercises I can do to strengthen the stomach muscles, as I have heard this is important to keep the back strong?!

Thank you for your advice! God bless this forum! xxxx

[fierceliketiger]

1.) I tried a lot of products on my front incision (I didn't even attempt the back one), and nothing really seemed to work. I think maybe it depends on the person, but my scars are still fairly noticeable.

2.)You should keep your scar covered especially in the first summer because you can burn easier there, and also because it has a tendency to darken scars permanently if you allow too much sun to get to them.

3.) I lost weight after my first surgery, but not after my second. I would imagine it has to do with your stomach and whether or not you can handle food and pills well. I had way less stomach problems when I had my revision, and didn't lose much weight.

4.) I would ask your doctor about this one. I would imagine that maybe it feels like it juts out way more because it used to be sunken? I worried about that with mine at first, but then decided they were the same, still, i would check with your surgeon.

5.)I would be careful with yoga, stretching, or tummy tightening exercises. Its another good thing to ask your surgeon about. Usually they want you to walk though. You can just tighten your stomach muscles when you are laying down, and relax, sometimes even that will help. But, maybe at 6 weeks your surgeon will send you to PT?

[Doodles]

Hi--I have a bit of insight on a couple of these.

1. I used Mederma on the part of the scar between shoulder blades to the top of T2. That part was much wider and redder than the rest. Whether that did it or not it is finally much lighter after 9 months.

3. At your stage I still hadn't lost the 20 pounds of swelling weight I had gained. Eventually I lost about 15 since eating was not a priority for me--first time in my life. Unfortunately, all but a couple pounds have returned.

5. My only exercise were my little walks--mostly around the house--and the ones my pt people showed me to do in bed. I think they mostly prepared you for more "real"-type exercise later. I do think they were helpful.

Janet