Surgery went fairly well. Surprisingly. My doctor and I decided to go after the thighs again, which made me even more nervous while I was waiting to go into the OR. But the decision made sense, because my thighs have been growing again, hurting more, and just generally not behaving. This time he attacked the insides of both thighs, a little on the front, and around my knee. He also took a little bit off my hips due to some strange distribution of new fat growth. It was really odd – the area around the joint between my thigh and hip was still flat from the last surgery, but right at the very tip of my hip bone, there was a small amount of fat. It looked really bizarre and out of place and hurt quite a lot, so he took that out for me too. And last but not least, he decided to take the last little bit out of the bottom half of my tummy. So hopefully, once the swelling has gone down, that part of my tummy will be as flat as a pancake. Which would definitely be an improvement.

    I don’t have an exact figure yet as to how much the doc removed, but it was definitely a lot. Apparently he told my Mom this has been the biggest removal yet, and while he was talking to her, a nurse came out of the OR carrying a very, very large box full of canisters containing flesh that used to be a part of me. Isn’t that a weird thought? Granted, it’s also a bit disgusting, but there you go. Just thinking about the fact that a lot of flesh that was a part of my body only a few days ago, is now in canisters in the pathology department. It’s strange and surreal and therefore I’m going to stop thinking about that.

    I should have just started out with telling you the good news, huh? Sorry, I’m REALLY doped up, so I’m sure this blog is going to seem really rambly. But after that rather depressing post I wrote right before surgery, I figured I should let you all know that things are actually going alright for a change. There have been a few hiccups here and there, a few temporary whoopsies on the part of the pain management people, but it’s all been straightened out now. So that’s good.

    But best of all, what really has me surprised in a good way, is that I’m hardly swollen at all. Normally after any liposuction procedure, you’re going to be swollen for a while. As you might remember, after the last operation I had, I gained 50 pounds in water weight in only two days – that could have very well killed me, and I was dreadfully worried about those circumstances repeating. But this time, there’s so little swelling at all, that my thighs actually look smaller than they were before I went into surgery. I can already see a dramatic loss of mass, and it’s less than 72 hours after surgery. That’s crazy! That’s fantastic! That’s completely unbelievable! But I’m really, really, really insanely grateful for it. I’ve been giving it a lot of thought, and I think the credit has to go to my wonderful plastic surgeon, and all of the prayers and well wishes of all of you, my friends and even a few strangers who have been kind enough to include me in their thoughts. I really appreciate it, and I’m incredibly grateful. This procedure was the biggest yet, and so far, it’s been the easiest. I’m still in considerable pain, I’m still going to be in the hospital for a while, but believe me, things are going so much smoother than they ever have in the past. And I can’t even begin to tell you how relieved I am, how blessed I feel, and how much I’m hoping all of this won’t jinx it. 🙂

    Anyway. Tomorrow I’m being transferred to a hospital closer to my house, because that’s where my brilliant pain management doctor works. He’s being an absolute angel. He’s been calling the pain management people here at this hospital, helping to make sure everything goes smoothly. And today he and his staff have been working like crazy to get everything set up for tomorrow so that the transfer will be as simple and painless as possible. I’ve decided I really love that guy (platonically, of course) – he’s an absolute genius, but not only is he a genius, he’s one of the nicest, most considerate, most caring, humble, and helpful men I’ve ever met. And I’m really thankful he’s my doctor. He always does a wonderful job taking care of both my day to day pain as well as this awful post-operative pain. So the goal once I get to that hospital tomorrow will be to take care of my pain without any complications, and slowly wean me off the PCA pain pump that I have right now so that I can find an oral narcotic routine that will allow me to go home as comfortable as possible. I’m guessing that will take at least four to five days. That’s not exactly fantastic, but it’s better than the alternative. It just means more time stuck in bed, alone, without much to do. Thankfully my Mom’s here, but after only a few days in here, it’s really hard not to go stir-crazy.

    I bet by now you’re wondering what the heck this blog entry has to do with the silly title I wrote up there. Well. I’ve always been an extremely modest person. From the moment I was born, I liked to be clothed. There was a short period when I was a toddler when I did have a thing for running through sprinklers in my diaper, but I soon outgrew that. Ever since I’ve always been incredibly conscientious about keeping myself covered.

    As honorable as modesty is, it has proven to be completely at odds with Dercum’s Disease. During the average day, sometimes my flesh is so hypersensitive that wearing any form of clothing can be incredibly painful. For instance, trying to sleep while wearing boxer shorts and a tank top can be positively unbearable, simple because of the seams in the fabric. The tiniest fold can feel like I’m laying on a rock. So what was I to do? How could I maintain my habit of modesty without adding extra pain?

    Well, apparently hypersensitivity and modesty don’t make the best of bedfellows. So to make things easier after surgery, with the increase in pain and sensitivity, I’ve just decided to become a nudist. At least for the time being anyway.

    Now don’t worry, it’s not like I’m strolling around the hallways with nothing on but my good intentions, not at all. It’s just that I’ve given up on wearing anything when I’m laying in bed and under the sheets. I haven’t flashed anybody, I haven’t been exposed, but at the same time, I don’t have the added frustrations of always trying to straighten my tank top or undoing an annoying crease in my boxer shorts. It’s helping with the pain, I think it’s also helping to prevent a bit of swelling now that there isn’t any restrictive underwear pulling on my recently traumatized hips. Makes sense, right?

    So there you have it, for the very first time in my life, I have become a nudist. I haven’t had a stitch of clothing on since 4:00pm Thursday afternoon. And you know what? I’m not going to put anything on while I’m at the other hospital either. Unfortunately I will have to put on something to be transferred from one hospital to the next, which sadly will keep me from achieving the straight record of nudity that I was hoping to achieve. But ah well, it’s still quite an achievement for a prude like me. 🙂 I’m sure a few of my friends would be quite proud of me… but there are a few others, I’m sure, who are questioning my sanity, hehe. And of course, to my drug-addled brain, that just makes it that much funnier.

    Alright, this blog has dragged on long enough. I have to get some sleep now. But at least now you all don’t have to be quite so worried. I’m doing okay, I’m not as upset as I was before, the surgery went fine, there’s hardly any swelling, all is as well as could be expected, and hey! It’s Naked Week! Honestly, what could be better than that? 🙂 Haha. Wheeee, pain meds…