2 months post ops

Updates on my progress after two months.

I managed to get noogleberry and have been using for a month (delivery took about 2 weeks which is considered fast).

I have also purchase another compress sleeves, size S. I shouldn’t have bought size M as I did not measure properly. Size S is a size which I will never imagine myself to purchase and to wear too.

Let’s see the progress in the photos below. There still loose skins and not much progress from week 2 even though I have been massaging and wearing compression garment daily. Just hope that it will shrink more in next few months.

Front

Left

Back

Back

Right-2 months later

Let’s do some comparison of photos with pre-op.

Pre-Op

Right-2 months later

FRont

The bruises are gone and now left with the scars. My arms are able to stretch further now, except for some tightness in left underarm.

As for the breast, a little more volume on the top but the my right breast is still bigger than my left breast (it has been like this since young). Hope that the difference will be lessened.

 

 

Two Weeks after Op

After I have returned from Medan, I contacted the local distributor to purchase M size of Design Veronique Arm Compression garment. It costed me $305.. Super expensive!!!! But no wonder it is so ex… It is so much comfortable with velcro strips and it covers beyond elbow. I almost purchase L size as I was advised to purchase 1 size down before pre-op size. According to the measurement of the garment, my pre-op size is XL. One size down means L.. But I have decided to get M after measuring my post-op arms.

The following is a short update on my liposuction after two weeks.

Yusma has advised me to take pineapple juice as it aids to reduce swelling. From googling, I found out that it is because pineapple juice contains bromelain that can reduce both swelling and bruising. I have been taking pineapple since I’m back home.

My wounds have healed but some of the dead skin have yet to peel off. I’m waiting for all the dead skin to peel off before applying the bleaching cream. Bruises are gone too. There are tightness in arms and I can’t stretch backwards.

I have been massaging diligently daily on my own. However, there are hard lumps (tissue scars) and swelling in my under and inner arms, and loose skins at armpits area. Hope that it will be gone in 6 months later! It takes about 6 months to see the final results.

Back

Left

Right

Front

Let’s compare before (left) and 2 weeks after (right).

The angle is a bit different but still can see that there is some reduction in size and loose skin at the armpits area despite swelling yet to subside (Dr Arthur has warned me about it. But I think a little bit of loose skin is better than fats). Just hope that the loose skin at the armpits area can shrink back.

Before op

Two weeks after op

I will update again. Stay tune.

Liposuction with Dr Arthur in Medan

This is a backdated posting on my preparation on liposuction and the day of liposuction.

PREPARATION

After some correspondences with Jennifer (Dr Arthur’s service coordinator) and sending photos of my body, Dr Arthur accepted my case and I proceeded to do my blood test. The blood test results was emailed to me within a day and everything was fine. I proceeded to book my air ticket and confirmed the surgery with Jennifer.

Prior to the blood test, Jennifer sent a detailed checklist of liposuction and fat grafting. It contains useful information such as flights, where to get compression garments and types of compression garments for different parts, all the preparation required such as taking  Yunnan Baiyao prior to surgery, transportation arrangement etc.

When the day of surgery was approaching, Jennifer sent several long emails on things to take note and more instructions. You MUST read it. They are very useful and informative.

To prepare myself for liposuction, I went to Chinatown to get Yunnan Baiyao and hormone pills from doctor to delay my menstruation. I was looking for Design Veronique’s arm compression garment online but I couldn’t find it anywhere (not in amazon or ebay). So in the end, I got another brand of arm compression garment (But it was not long enough to cover beyond elbow. -.- Got ‘reprimanded’ by Dr when I was there. Haha).

I read from some blogs that we can actually bring our own medications to save some $. Jennifer was kind to provide me with the list of medications (for consumption and for application) and the costing. In the end, I decided to get from the clinic to save the hassle as this was my first time there.

FINALLY, THE DAY OF SURGERY

I took a morning flight via Silkair to Medan. As it was my first time to Medan, I followed all the instructions in Jennifer’s email and the advice given by fellow bloggers. True enough, the custom officer asked a few questions and thankfully I printed my return ticket e-receipt/itinerary as he requested for it. The guy in front of me had a hard time with the custom officer as he was not able to produce his return ticket e-receipt/itinerary.

After clearing the custom, the driver was waiting for me outside and he drove me to Dr Arthur’s clinic.

Upon arrival of the clinic, the nurse, Yusma, gave me a number of forms to fill in and brought me to my room. I was shown around the kitchen area so that I knew where to get water. I bumped into Dr Arthur in the kitchen. He was friendly and he addressed me by my name. I was asked to take a shower and changed into their garment before consultation.

Finally, I was called down to see Dr Arthur for consultation. I think Dr Arthur was shock with my gigantic arms. He said that I’m too big for liposuction and liposuction is meant for people within normal weight range. He even asked if I had edited my photos which I have sent in. He took very long to explain to me in details on the risks of liposuction. He was very frank that I will not achieve the results which I have seen online and will have loose skins. He advised me to reconsider my decision on liposuction since I will not achieve good results. I was very determined to continue with liposuction. Beside liposuction, I have requested to do fat grafting to breasts since my breasts was very uneven and shrunk due to dieting/exercising. Dr Arthur agreed to proceed with my surgery after lunch since I was able to accept the low expectations.

After lunch, I was called down to the surgery room. Dr Arthur asked again if I want to reconsider my decision on proceeding with liposuction. I was really determined and he reminded me again on the risk of loose skins and it will not be a masterpiece. Finally, we were ready for the surgery.. But there were hiccups. Dr was unable to find my vein for to insert the cannula. He tried both left and right hands but still couldn’t find. He said that he would have to cancel the surgery if he still can’t find my vein. After a long time, finally, he managed to insert somewhere near to my left waist (normally, it should be on the hand). I was so scared that the surgery had to be cancelled. For my own good, he advised me to train more with weights to have bigger veins in case I need emergency surgeries in future.

Next, we proceeded to take videos of pre-op. As my faced was covered and maybe due to the injection, I was feeling giddy after standing for a few moments. Yusma and Dr brought me back to lie down. Dr was concerned and told me not to hold a strong front if I’m not feeling well. Thankfully, I was feeling fine after lying down for a couple of mins and we proceeded with the videos and surgery.

The pain was bearable thru-out the surgery. The most painful areas were the armpits and upper breasts, nearer to collar bone. But it was still bearable. Thru-out the surgery, Yusma was a great help to me as she held my hands at times. This was comforting. Btw, I was on LA thru-surgery (lower risk as compared to GA).

As my arms compression garment was not long enough, Yusma had to bandage the areas which was not covered. I did not experience vomiting or nausea which the other bloggers did. However, my hands were very swollen and my arms was unable to bend. This caused inconvenience and immobility to carry out daily routines such as brushing teeth, eating etc. Dr dropped by my room a couple of times in the evening to check on me, ensuring that I was fine. He was very caring and kept reminding me to drink up more due to lose of fluids.

The next morning, Yusma called me down for massage. It was painful to remove the compression garment. The massage helped to relieve some soreness and Yusma was gentle in her strokes. As my arm compression garments was not tight enough, my inner arms area was pretty swollen. Hence, Yusma applied a bandage cover the compression garment on this area too.

On the 2nd day, my arms were able to move much more. After the morning massage, we proceeded to take some videos of post-op and I managed to take a walk at Sun Plaza too. The first thing which I did at Sun Plaza is to wash my hair at a salon. I was not allowed to bath after surgery. Hence, it was important to shower before surgery and also to bring a lot of Dettol wet wipes to clean my body after surgery (Note: This tip was given by fellow bloggers. I have benefited a lot from their sharing and this made me wanna share my own experiences too). Yusma also gave me some guidance on how and where to get a cheap hair wash.

I stayed 3 nights in total (Good that I brought along my laptop to self entertain in my room). At the end of my stay, I have decided to tip Yusma handsomely as she has taken good care of me thru-out my stay. What are my thoughts on Dr Arthur? As what are bloggers have mentioned too, Dr Arthur is an extremely passionate doctor who takes pride in all his works, cares for patient and very frank. He is not like those consultants in slimming centres who just want to earn your money (He even asked me to reconsider my decision twice and took pains to explain to me on the risks and expected results.)

PHOTOS (Apologies for the bad quality as I took screenshots from the videos taken)

Pre-Op (videos Pre-Op Arms (Part 1), Pre-Op Arms (Part 2), Pre-Op Fat Grafting to Breast)

Pre-Op

 

During Surgery (Video: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3– Dr Arthur asked me to sing… haha)

Immediately after Surgery (Video)

Two-day after Op (Video)

If anyone of you is interested to find out more about liposuction with Dr Arthur in Medan, please take some time to read thru the blogs which the patients shared http://www.elixirdevie.sg/blog.html. Personally, I find them very useful as it has helped me to be prepared mentally and lots of tips on the preparation (e.g. bring dettol wipes and wash etc). There are also pictures of the clinic in those blogs so that you know what to expect of. Dr Arthur has a youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/arthurtjandra?feature=watch. Do spend time to watch those videos to know more about the surgery. It is important to read up and research on liposuction. After all, liposuction is a surgery and all surgeries have risks (including death, eg CEO case in Singapore). Thankfully, Dr Arthur has reduced the risks a lot by using traditional syringe and using LA instead of GA. Fyi, many videos have been removed by Youtube recently, hence you may want to read up Dr Arthur’s blog which was setup recently https://elixirdevie.com/.

 

Wah.. It really takes time and effort to upload photos and videos… Really thank those bloggers and Dr Arthur for uploading photos and videos for sharing. I have decided to spend time to upload and share too as I have been thru a long way and wasted a lot of $ on slimming quest. Hope that others will not make the same mistakes as me…

Note: You will have to bring along a thumb drive or laptop if you wish to have a copy of your op videos or photos.

Introduction

 

I used to be small size when I was a kid. In Sec school, I was only 55 kg and 164cm tall. However, within 5 years, I put on nearly 20kg. What happened?? During my poly and uni days, I had to snack to keep myself awake while in lectures and self-studying. Also, then, I was dating a guy who always made me wait around 24/7 at his deposit and I had to end up with late dinner at home (having a heavy meal before sleep is a super bad idea). Of cos I realised that I was gaining weight… Hence, I tried numerous ways to lose weight.. this is my ‘roller coaster’ weight history and types of attempts.

Start: 55kg

Weight shot up to 65kg in 2 years..

Signed up gym package and managed to down my weigh to 62kg. However, due to exams and final year projects, I did not manage to go to the gym regularly and in the end, I terminated my gym membership (there was a penalty charge)…-.- With stagnant lifestyle and late dinner, my weight shot put to 70kg within a year.

At this point, my relationship also came to an end. I was feeling rather depressed and tried to slim down. I went to a slimming centre to sign up a slimming package with them, focusing only on thigh (it was too ex for whole body). The slimming sessions consist of Cavitation on outer thighs, some electro pads on for a while and then sauna. With these, I think I managed to drop only 2kgs n not even 1 inch after spending thousands $ on a number of sessions. I did watch my diet during the treatment but I was not allowed to exercise. The consultant said that there will be muscle gain due to exercising and it will make it difficult for cavitation to burn up those fats…. But I tried to do some running though. After all those sessions, the consultant tried to hard sell me some more sessions but I didn’t take it up due to the results.

While googling about cavitation, I chanced upon liposuction procedures and I went to read up more around it. After all the reading on liposuction, I was very attracted to Dr Arthur’s liposuction procedure, the traditional way. He uses only a syringe to do liposuction!!! It was much more safer. The additional plus point was that he does 3D lipo-scuplting. He charges arms as a pair unlike many who charges per side. I wrote in to Jennifer, Dr Arthur’s service coordinator, to enquire on the charges. It was about $750-$900 per part (left & right arms are considered as 1 part). However, as I was still young then and had never sat in a plane before, I didn’t have the courage to fly to Medan on my own.

Next, I entered into new phase of study life, University. It was super hectic and competitive. My lifestyle was mainly studying, eating and sleeping. Very stagnant. My weight shot up again.. at the end of uni, I was about 72kg. After graduation, I tried to exercise and diet. But the progress was slow. Fat-freezing was introduced and I went to try out for a few sessions on my arms. It was totally useless and only caused bruises. A TOTAL WASTE OF MY MONEY. I stopped believing in any slimming products or technology from slimming centres and started swimming regularly (I hate running).

I started working in a desk-bounded job and my tummy grew bigger and bigger despite dieting and my weight climbed to 77kg (but I wasn’t exercise due to numerous OTs). I was googling again on ways of slimming down. This time, I tried acupuncture. In every session, the sinseh poked some needles on my tummy and legs (on the acupoints) and ran mild electrocurrent into the body. There was a meal plan and meal replacement powder to follow strictly too. Similarly, I was advised not to exercise  (but I continued to swim) and need to follow very strictly on the meal plan (3 small meals and 2 healthy snacks in between). My weight and PBF dropped! I managed to drop to 71kg and it remained stagnant. I did not continue my package and the meal replacement ran out (I spent another thousands of dollars on this). Swam less often due to work but I watched my diet. Usually, I ate lesser than my colleagues. But my weight continued to climb back to 75kg…. Once in a while, I would add on some static exercises at home but that never last more than 2 weeks. Basically, I lack of perseverance and discipline.

I told myself that I need to change my lifestyle. I need to exercise more, need to run and do weight lifting. Hence, I went back to the gym. Due to my busy work schedule, I did not go to the gym on weekdays but I persevered on weekends. Months back, my job portfolio was changed and lesser OTs. I get to hit the gym more often, about 4 times a week. I will attend circuit training and spinning classes (try to maximise calories burnt within an hour). Besides going to the gym, I will run around my neighbourhood at night sometimes. For meals, I will keep to mainly vegetables, changes to more whole grain, eat lesser and healthy snacks such as carrots, cherry tomatoes and cucumber. I will pre-pack/prepare my meals in advance so that I will not over eat. I feel much healthier! My stamina also builds up. I used to hate running but now, at least can run 3.6 km without stopping. This is already a great improvement from 0.5km for me. After months of persistence, my weight dropped to 71kg. But it remains stagnant…

From young, I always want to wear sleeveless shirt/dress but I don’t  dare due to my giantic arms (FYI, I had huge arms even when I was only 55kg). All the pretty dresses are sleeveless and I will usually wear it with a cardign or jacket over it to hide my fat arms. I’m getting older and I do not want to continue like this. Hence, I started exploring and reading up more on Dr Arthur in Medan again. I am very convinced by his method (3D traditional liposuction by syringe) thru his videos and comments by bloggers. Also, thru reading blogs and reviews, I concluded that Dr Arthur is a passionate docotor too. I wrote to Jennifer again. Woah. The price has increased tremedously over the years. It is about $1260 per part. This time, I plucked up my courage and made up my mind to fly to Medan for liposuction. I’m getting old and I do not want to have regrets. Plus, the price keeps increasing.. I won’t be able to afford in future. I’m convinced that liposuction is the only way to remove fats from body. Those fats removed can be seen! Unlike fat-freezing, I can’t see where the fats gone to… I don’t want to waste any more $ on unsuccessful methods (I have already wasted more than $10k over the years and I’m not rich. These are my hard-earned money from part time jobs and savings from my current job).

For the subsquent blogs, I will be updating on my experience on liposuction with Dr Arthur in Medan. Stay tune.