Healing is tough.
When you are healing, you can’t help but look at everything in incredible detail. Usually you do it in more detail than you ever looked at your body before surgery.
Is this breast higher than that one? Is this scar a little elevated? What about that wrinkle? Is my nipple shape off? Is this eyebrow higher? What about this dimple? I can’t feel this? My nipple is too sensitive? What size am I going to be? Why is this area hard? Look at this scar? Will this go away?
BREATHE.
Surgery takes time to heal. And that time is not days, it is WEEKS to MONTHS. I look for big things when I see you- is there an infection? Any issues with blood supply? Any fluid collections? Is everything in a good position? When I am chatting with you, I am scanning everything.
I call this time the rollercoaster. Healing is not even. One side is frequently higher, bigger, or more sensitive. People are not even, and we try to make you as symmetrical as we can. Tissue is not even- one side of your face may have a higher cheekbone, one leg may be larger, one breast droopier.
So what is real?
When I do surgery I evaluate you critically before surgery to try to see all the asymmetries and potential issues, and we try to correct them at surgery. When you are 6 weeks out I usually take my first set of post op photos. Anything before that is likely still distorted from the swelling and healing from surgery. But even at 6 weeks you still have some distortion. I liken it to when you do a home renovation. The big stuff is done, but all the detail work still needs to be done. And that is what makes it pop and look polished.
At 3 months things have settled more. At that point if there are any issues we can start to talk about them, but I still won’t do anything. Why? You are still settling. You hear about plastic surgeons waiting until one year to do revisions for a reason. And that is because it takes a long time for the dust to fully settle. We need to see what is real and we need to let your tissue be fully healed and soft again before doing any kind of tinkering (scar revision, touch up of liposuction), otherwise it wouldn’t heal well.
So as much as you can, try not to obsess after surgery. IT IS SO HARD. You can’t help but look at yourself in the mirror, seeing every tiny little difference and wondering – is this how it’s going to be from now on? And heaven forbid you go on the internet, or end up in a chat room or the dark web where people have terrible stories about things which went wrong.
For my patients, please talk to me. I have been doing this for over 20 years and have done thousands of surgeries. I am super blunt and honest about things, and when I am concerned about something, I will let you know. But when healing, particularly in those first weeks, I won’t ride the rollercoaster with you. It’s not that I don’t care. My only goal with surgery is your happiness. It’s just that I can’t tell what is real or not until the dust settles. And after years of doing this, I know that takes months.
And my advice to you? Go Zen. Don’t look at yourself closely. Focus on resting, eating a good high protein diet, keeping the area elevated, minimizing bruising and swelling. Keep the area clean. If something hurts, is really painful, or is red, please call me. I don’t want you to ignore something big. But don’t sweat the small stuff. You will drive yourself crazy. Take advantage of this time to really relax. Read a book for pleasure. Binge a new show on Netflix. I promise you if there is something real, we can address it. But we can’t do anything until we know it is truly something. For that the dust needs to settle for months.