joo_joo2704 Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Hi ffxlulu! Everyone is calling you!haha! Just get well soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joo_joo2704 Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Hi OneTrackMind! Thank you so much for the info. It is what I was concerning about these days: removing the whole gastrocnemius or just partial resection! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffxlulu Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Hi guys! Thanks for your support! I finally have time to update you guys! I will try to be as descriptive as possible. I am 165cm tall and have around 35cm for calf circumference but my right calf is 1.5cm bigger which is not as normal as other girls,because is usually around 0.5cm difference. Day 1: July 29 I arrived to oz clinic at 10am and I had my blood test and consultation with two friends who accompanied me. I saw two other girls who went to consultation for their calf reduction surgery. They said they don't want to scare me aboutt their experience since I'm about to do the surgery. My surgery took place at 2pm. Dr.Park told me it is possible to have a lump on my calves. But it's 1% chance. I kind of doubt it's that less but I still didn't hesitate to do this. I was still feeling alright until I lie down in the surgery room. The nurse injected this needle tube to insert a bag of painkiller which hurts a lot. Then I begin to feel really scared and thley told me to couch like a baby in order to inject the needle for spinal anesthesia. It didn't hurt that much compare to the first needle. During the process of injecting the anesthesia to my lower part of my back, It was an unpleasant tingling feeling especially when the nurse was wiping my feet. I started to shake because of the anesthesia and they told me they will flip my body over so that my back is facing the celing and the next thing I know is my surgery is over and I am lying in the bed of the recovery room. My lower body still feels numb. I felt really cold and they have a heated blanket for me to feel warmer. When the anesthesia wore off, the pain is not quite bearable and I started sweating a lot because of the heated blanket underneath me.. I started crying and Amy,the nurse started giving me a stronger dose of pain killer and the pain Is becoming more bearable. The first time I have to go to washroom is staying in the bed. Amy gave me this tray and I have to pee directly to the tray. I can walk to the washroom the second time with Amy's assistance. At my fourth time I can go by myself with no assistance. My first stretch was not that bad because I still have the bag of painkillers going through my veins. I slept pretty well but I woke up around 4am to go to washroom. I felt quite bad because I have to wake Amy up. For the whole night,Amy was taking care of me and I can ask for her help in the push of the button. My calves still look big and i dont see much difference,there were no bruises yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
18busy Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 get well soon! stay strong! thanks for updating us please continue to update us !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffxlulu Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Day 2: I woke up around 9:30. Finally, the IV tube is removed from my arm therefore i dont have painkillers to rely from. Amy had to change my bandages. After she took off the bandages, I have a better look at my calves. I still think they look big and maybe slightly smaller than before. The shape of the calves still look ugly like usual. It hurted a bit when she wrapped new bandages around my calves. Then it's time to do stretching. Amy pushed me and I started screaming and crying. She told me to stand against the wall and push my knees towards the wall. It was way too painful and we have to stop. She gave me pain killer pills to eat. Then i tried to stretch again and it's alright. I have to start doing walking exercise and it was not that bad since I can walk slowly. The heels of my feet are starting to hurt. I see bruises started to appear from the back of my knees. I have fat cankles now and my feet are starting to get swollen. My friends arrived around noon time to pick me up and were shocked that I look fine and have good appetite to eat. I managed to walk back to hotel room from the hotel entrance. The most annoying part is stretching every thirty min. Those thirty minutes pass so fast and I have to stretch again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffxlulu Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Another thing about stretching is I feel DIZZY during the times I stretch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffxlulu Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Thank you for sharing your experience! I have a couple questions for you: Do you see the results right away in day one? Are you satisfied with the results? Were your feet really swollen to the point they look deformed? Do you see lumps on your calves? sorry, I'm starting to worried about the size of my calves because they still look big. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronte77 Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Hi, to answer your questions... Do you see the results right away in day one? No, on the first day my calves looked the same as in pre-op. I did not see any difference at all until some of the swelling went down by the 3rd week.Are you satisfied with the results? I am satisfied with the results but my very serious concern is the nerve pain that started after the first week and still persists. Dr. Park said that some people have numbness but he has never seen significant damage to nerves so I am just waiting and hoping that it goes away soon because I still cannot bandage my calves properly due to the pain and so it probably will effect the final result.Were your feet really swollen to the point they look deformed? Yes, by the end of the first week they were completely black and blue and very swollen. The bruising and swelling moves down the body and pools at the feet, so to speak, and so that is completely normal.Do you see lumps on your calves? I did see some irregularities and this is due to swelling and fluid accumulation. After aspiration and with time the swelling will go down and that should make the irregularities disappear. Remember, this is not like liposuction where bumps can be irregularities of tissue and fat since the doctor blindly pushes the canulla through. An entire portion of muscle was removed so there should not be any bumps on the remaining muscle to cause a lumpy calf. I hope that this helps and wish you an easy recovery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffxlulu Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Thank you for your answers. I hope your nerve pain will recover soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joo_joo2704 Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Hi bronte77! Hope you are doing well. Thanks for updating us. I have two questions: 1.In Dr.Jong's website, he has mentioned that he has a monitor in the surgery room which shows the relevant nerve so the surgeon can have a better look to take care of it. So do you have any idea if Dr.Park has the same device or not?! I saw one in the pics of the renovated surgery room in the clinic web, but not sure if it is the exact one or not! 2. Where did you get the info about the lump? I am really worried about it! I hope that you get rid of the nerve pain very soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronte77 Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Hi Joojoo, I do not know if Dr. Park has such a machine... I wish I had known this before so I would have asked. The nerve that is affected by this surgery is the sural nerve that runs down the calf to the outside of the foot and the fourth and fifth toe. The sural nerve is one of the nerves that does not really serve a significant purpose in the body and is often used when doctors need a viable nerve to replace a damaged or dead essential nerve elsewhere in the body and so the sural nerve is just removed and added in another part of the body. Unfortunately, many nerves are extremely unpredictable in how they react to being touched or even being 'seen' as some doctors say. If the nerve is removed then the patient will be left with a numb heel, outside of the foot, and the two toes. However, if the nerve is disturbed or bruised in any way then it can cause extreme pain while the nerve calms down. What this really means is that a doctor would possibly need to just push this nerve out of the way when removing the muscle in the calf and that is routine and causes no damage but the nerve just flares up. No doctor can really predict this... it is just individual to each patient's body. I got very unlucky but many patients will experience the numbness in the foot without the pain. The numbness can last from several weeks to 6 months or more. Also, and this plays a huge part, the swelling in the calf pushes and puts more pressure on the nerve as there is so much fluid and blood inside the calf. It squeezes the nerve and causes it to flare up. This is why aspiration helps. I really am speculating regarding the information of the lumpiness in the calf but I have watched many cosmetic surgeries performed. It also seems logical to me that unless there is some trauma like a seroma, hematoma, or severe scarring <which would never show up a only few days after surgery> that there is no tissue in the calf that would be lumpy just after surgery. Thank you all very much for your good wishes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffxlulu Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 Bronte, I was wondering when exactly you started to have nerve pains. Did you go out for the first week or you stayed in hotel and elevate your legs ? thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasticbuns Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 Planning on getting my calves done in a couple years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joo_joo2704 Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 bronte77! I really appreciate your patience! With such a spirit of fear that I have, will definitely get so uncomfortable with the recovery section! Actually I also know that the sural nerve is used for the purpose of nerve implant...but I am wondering if numbness happens, it will last for ever or just temporarily? I asked the same thing from Dr.Park and he answered in details but I couldn't understand if the numbness is permanent or not. I am so sorry to ask you such a kind of question while you are already concerned with your painful nerve! I hope you get well very soon and also get satisfied with your new legs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joo_joo2704 Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 OneTrackMind! Do you mind if you ask Dr.Park about the monitor that facilitates observing the sural nerve so the surgeon does not hit it?! Just ask if you are also curious to know cause I can realize that you might be nervous in these days near to your surgery and I don't want bother you I also hope that everything goes well with you in Korea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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