Liposuction of arms

By Tatjana van der Krabben

On October 30^th, 2012 I’ve had liposuction on my arms. The purpose for this was the same as for my legs: pain relief from the lipedema and a better lymph flow. I can now look back on a total of 4 procedures and was quite convinced this would be a breeze, it being such a small area by comparison. So far my experience had been the larger the area, the more discomfort. I was wrong. This surgery came with a vengeance. That’s strictly personal: if you ask other lipedema ladies after multiple surgeries which one was the worst, they was all name a different one. So I took my time to see where this was going and wrote this blog a few weeks later than anticipated.

The surgery was no shorter than the other ones I had: a small area also meant continuously working from different angles and switching between different cannulas. This was sculpting all the way. It was quite relaxed: I knew the procedure and the doctor and his assistants were familiar faces by now. There was plenty of time for small talk. Which, in my case, is a lot of talking shop: this man knows stuff about research I love to hear! But I could already tell something was ahead I never experienced the other times. I had to keep my arms in certain raised positions for extended periods of time, which is tough in case of lipedema. I also had trouble lying on my side, on an already by tumescent inflated arm. So afterwards, the first 48 hours or so, I also had sore muscles on top of the surgical pain. I came close to taking the stronger pain medication that was also provided, but I also had an upset stomach. The only stronger pain killer that doesn’t make me ill is ibuprofen and due to its blood thinning properties that’s the one thing I couldn’t take. Tough luck. On day 2 post op I took a shower and gently applied some SLD on the lymph nodes in my arm pits. That was too much: I got sick after all. That set me back in my recovery. Shame.
Yet, at the same time I could tell some things were going really well. I was warned my hands would most likely swell as well and that didn’t happen. The cuts were also looking very decent; no hint of infection. So my body didn’t have all that much trouble coping and only my stomach was out of sync. By day 4 the healing itch came up. Something to dread and welcome. Can’t scratch a tender area like that! At the same time it’s a signal the healing has begun.

After a week the area got tender all over again. I could barely tolerate my compression sleeves, was constantly adjusting them. I checked and the major lymph paths were on overload. I could trace them from my elbows to my armpits, feeling to the touch like electrical wire full of little nodes. If it wasn’t so painful and a sure sign the lymph paths being very unhappy I would call it fascinating. Of course I also had this sort of thing in my legs; hard patches of trapped lymph fluid in need of clearing. You get pumped full of tumescent fluid, wounds always swell and all this has to be transported out.  Not a strong point in case of lipedema. In the legs there was still so much fat left, I couldn’t feel it in such detail. Also, in my legs it didn’t cause these stings and burning sensations that send chills down my spine.

The pain was extremely local: lymph only and pain like it involved nerves. All else was fine. I resorted to SLD 4 times a day. It took a week to see true improvement. By then I could still track the lymph paths, but the additional lumps and bumps were gone. Since it was so local and responding to SLD I wasn’t alarmed. All the signs were good: cuts were healing better than ever, no swelling in hands, annoying itch.  So I continued my SLD routine, ate quite clean (low sugar, low wheat, low additives) and tried my patience. It’s been over 5 weeks now. I can only track parts of my lymph at this point. This will take time, but I’m convinced it will improve matters like with my legs. The band of my wrist watch is feeling more loose. That bit never got ‘sucked’; the surgeon only did my upper arms and a small portion just below the elbow. The general lymph flow is benefitting from the procedure already. This is identical to what I experienced with my lower legs. From my lower legs relatively little was extracted, but they cleaned up best of all areas! Taking bulk away further up the lymph path paid off. Laser has been applied during the procedure to help the skin retract. However,  for a final result I will have to be patient. Even though improvement can very often be detected early, a final result usually takes 6-9 months. It was a bumpy ride, so I took a week before getting back to work. At first no more than 2 hours a day.

I’ve included some pictures to get an idea what it all looked like. These show where I'm coming from:

Next, 4 days post op:

Current state, 5 weeks post op:

Seeing them all together I must say: not bad! My tape measure is a big fat lier!