Here is the personal view of one of the clinic's patients and her thoughts on the procedure.

Thoughts on liposculpture before, during and after

I had been thinking about liposuction for some time because I had an area of 'plumpness" around my middle and I believe that this was an inherited trait. I had been exercising regularly for 7 months and was toned and fit everywhere but there. As all of my mother's brothers and sisters had this trait and they were all dead due to heart disease, I wondered if it would be of benefit to me to lose this spare tyre, not to mention the aesthetic value of the procedure to myself. As I have worked in the medical field for 17 years, the thought of having any invasive procedure done to my body was something that I had to consider from all angles.

One weekend I was reading an advertisement in the North Shore Times regarding liposculpture and the way it was described seemed to be less traumatic than liposuction as well as the fact that you did not have to go through a general anaesthetic. As the ad. also gave an Internet address, I looked it up and found the site to be very informative regarding the procedure. I called the Doctor's office to make an appointment for a consultation and received one the next day. Before I went to the appointment I researched what I could on the net and found lots of information regarding what liposuction could do for me with many before and after pictures. These sites also gave me ideas about the kinds of questions that I needed to ask during the consultation.

During the visit to the Doctor, he listened to all of my questions and answered every one of them honestly and intelligently. We decided that for me to look and feel better, I would benefit from an upper and lower abdominal as well as a waist liposculpture. From this visit, I booked another day to have the procedure done. He said that it would take two hours and that I would walk in and walk out of the theatre. His nurse, as well as his secretary also gave me the same information. (I asked them when he was out of the room.) As an aside, his nurse told me to bring a towel. Before I left that appointment, I was given a list of instructions for the day of the liposculpture. Now that I had actually booked the procedure, I had many more questions but the answers were not readily available on the net although I researched as much as I could. There was a good forum site, but even then, I had to search through a bunch of junk before I got the information I wanted and there was still some lacking. What I really wanted was a detailed report of how the procedure was going to be done, how painful it was going to be and how long it was going to take to recover from this procedure.

So. . . here is my story which addresses all of my questions.

I arrived at the Doctor's office at 8:30 a.m. and had to make out the requisite forms etc. After this, I was taken to the theatre and asked to remove all of my clothing and put on a smock that tied in the front. I went into the surgical room and was asked to take off my smock and stand on a box where before pictures were taken of my naked body. The mirrors were nothing like the ones in department stores where every shadow accentuates the lumps and bumps, but were acceptable and I did not look too bad. (At least to me). A side view, front view and back view were taken. As well, little bulls eyes were drawn on my body and dots where the doctor would inject a local anaesthetic. I found it quite humorous when a small triangle of white paper with my name on it was pinned over my pubic hair. (This was for pictures). A playboy girl I was not.

After all was said and done with the pictures, I was asked to lay down on the table and the various implements were explained to me. The Doctor then injected something to make me relax that also had an anti-nausea component in it. This was injected into the muscle of the upper part of my right leg. As this injection went right into the muscle of my leg, it felt like a punch. The injection did not make me feel woozy and I was quite coherent and relaxed throughout the whole procedure. An IV site was established on the top of my right hand. There was no IV. running but the site had to be there in case the Doctor had to inject something into my veins during the procedure. The Doctor then proceeded to inject all the sites that he had previously marked with little dots (about 12 ) with a local anaesthetic on my front, sides and back. These injections just felt like pinpricks. When I was nicely frozen, he punched holes into these little dots with a small instrument and then used a long knitting needle type implement to inject the solution of lidocaine (the local anaesthetic) and adrenalin (the drug that constricts blood vessels so they don't bleed) into and underneath the skin on my upper and lower abdomen, my sides and my back. This felt like a knitting needle being inserted underneath my skin and I must say it was a little uncomfortable but certainly not painful. After I realised that it was not going to be painful, I relaxed. About 5 bags of this solution were injected for me to be anaesthetized in all the proper places.

When the solution was all in' the Doctor then took another long, blunt cannula (small bore, about the size in diameter of a small nail) which had a 50-ml. syringe attached to it. There was no mechanical suction on the end of the cannula other than the suction from the syringe thus making it a gentle suction technique. The Doctor then started to aspirate the fat from my body. He did this with a back and forth movement of his arm and it felt like a roller pin being rolled up and down my lower and upper abdomen with no discomfort. Also, it was kind of like driving down the middle of the road over all of those don't cross the middle barrier bumps. Anyway, whatever it was that I was given to relax me was working really well and I remember thinking that I wish these people would leave the room so I could snooze. Well they did not and once in a while I felt a stinging sensation in an area where the "freezing" had not reached.

The Doctor then stopped the suction and once more injected more "freezing" into that area. He always listened to me when I asked him for more "freezing". As he started on my front, he then switched to my sides and back. When he thought he might be close to finished I had to stand up from the table which was no problem and he marked a few more areas which required more suctioning. The standing up allowed for gravity to show what was going to hang nicely and what was not. He then proceeded to suction some more until he was satisfied with his sculpturing. The procedure started at 9:00 a.m. and ended at 11:00 a.m.

The Doctor and his nurse then proceeded to dress me in a lycra suit, which came from my knees to just up underneath my breasts. Elastics over my shoulders held the suit up. I had on a medium lycra suit as the first layer, then they put a small lycra suit over the medium one. After this, they put dressings in between the suits to catch the drainage of the 5 bags of fluid that were used to "freeze" me for the procedure. Might I mention also that the suit was crotchless. After this, I dressed myself with my long, comfortable, dark blue, cotton dress. I did not wear a bra or pants at this time because I thought, "What's the point?" I was told that the local anaesthetic would last for about eleven hours and this was correct. I was quite comfortable walking around.

I was then asked to go to the Doctor's office where he instructed me to take it easy for a few days, no walking for a couple of days no heavy exercise etc. and what to do in the event of an emergency. All of this post-op information was also written out and given to me before I left. I was also given a prescription for steroids and I was glad about this because I had read in my research that the steroids really helped. Previous to this surgery, I was given a prescription for an antibiotic to take 1 day to 5 days after the surgery. The steroid was to be taken for about the same amount of time. His nurse also brought me some grapes, crackers and a nice cup of tea. (A nice touch as I was starving).

I had arranged for a girlfriend too come and pick me up but as she was late (lost) I went onto the road to find her and she was quite surprised' to find me cheerful and standing up waving her down We then headed off to the chemist to collect my steroid medications. This was not too bad, except I had to wait for them to fill the prescription and I was dripping fluid down my legs. Lucky for me, the dress was loose, baggy and very absorbent. I was hoping that nobody noticed the mess I made on the floor.

(All people requiring this medication are now given the first dose in the clinic to avoid this problem.) Dr. Goyen

I was dropped off at home and luckily my daughter was home that day as well. I did not take any medication for pain for about 5 hours after the procedure and I was only mildly uncomfortable. At 4 o'clock that afternoon, I took two panadeine and these took care of the pain, which was not really pain but a heavy, stinging sensation. It was kind of like the pain you might experience with the intensity of a bad period but could be controlled with panadeine. Many people called me to find out how l was and were surprised to find me cheerful and in no pain. The little holes that were left in me were draining quite well and l had to place a plastic sheet as well as another sheet over top of it on my bed. Over my abdomen, l placed a towel and just had a restful afternoon. Several towels later, remember 5 bags).

I got up and had a light supper with my family. After supper, l changed the dressings which were inside the two lycra suits and found only pinkish fluid with some blood staining the dressings. I took 2 more panadeine and went to bed where l felt no pain or discomfort during the night while sleeping. However, when l rolled over, or went to the washroom, I was a bit stiff. The other thing that I noticed was that I had to urinate a lot. I guess that fluid was finding its way out of my body.

Before I had a shower the next morning, I took off the lycra pant suits, washed them out and put them in the dryer so they would be ready for me after. Apparently, I was to do this for 12 more days. What was most comfortable to wear was a pair of black bikini underwear over the suit (as there was no crotch) and a large baggy shirt. This looked like my regular attire so nobody noticed any difference This was the first day post-op and there was minimal discomfort which could be controlled by a regular panadol.

I chose this procedure because I wanted gentle suction, and minimal pain. Also, I was too busy to be sick for many days. My attitude was that as I had the procedure on Tuesday I was going to a movie on Thursday, out for a small walk on Friday and out for dinner on Saturday and I did not want to miss any of the fun. Therefore, I was going to get better as fast as I could. On the second day, I just felt a little stiff with some discomfort but I was very pleased with the situation. I was still taking panadol. The third day really did feel like l had had a tough workout at the gym but there was no bruising that l could see and only one small hole at the bottom of my abdomen was still draining pinkish fluid.

I certainly saw results in my upper abdomen, waist and back immediately and a few days after the procedure. The abdomen remained swollen even after three days, but I knew that it would take a few weeks for it to come down. I look forward to the end result because l know it is going to be really good and I am pleased (4 days post-op).