Day 10 Recovery Day 9, 8

Woke up with stiff legs.  Stretching them out were quite painful.  Right leg is still a lot more tight than my left.  I'm quite happy with how my left leg is healing though.  If only my right could heal at the same pace then I wouldn't have to rely on my left leg so much.  After a few stretches, things did get better.  However I'm not stretching as hard as before (ie. standing closer to the wall when doing the belly stretch).  Took a shower and calves do feel better from the steam and heat.  I can also stretch further and further.  However, I do feel pain on my left feet when I stretch.  It's like a needle prickly sensation under the ankle near the sole of my feet.  I msged Park to see what he would say.  I managed to walk all the way to the bakery near Grand without resting.  My walking is a lot better and my right calf seem to have warmed up from stretching.  I got back to residence and saw Park's reply.  He said the needle pain is caused by stretch of nerve but will go away soon.  He also told me to continue stretching so I'm guessing things are getting better.  Could do a bit of shopping out today.  Was out for 4 hours but tried to rest as much as I could along the way.  I can definitely tell my right calf got even more swollen though.  Will rest for the rest of the evening.  Stretching is still bearable.

Day 9 Recovery Day 8, 7 (Aspiration #2)

One week post op for calves.  Woke up with extreme tightness.  Was a bit disappointed.  Spent a long time trying to stretch them out.  Could manage to get to 711 to buy breakfast.  Showered and the steam sort of relaxed the muscles a little.  Right leg is definitely more swollen and tight than left leg.  Limped to clinic and arrived at 130.  Waited until past 230 before they were free to aspirate my legs.  Aspiration seem even more painful than last time, not sure why.  Right leg took a long time and was very painful.  I asked Park how much was extracted and he said 15 in left and 60 in right.  I said wow that's a big difference and he said yes right is more swollen.  Didn't give any explanation or suggestions so I didn't bother asking either.  I asked if he thinks i'll need to do aspirations myself and he said yes probably 3-4 times.  Shit I really can't imagine doing it myself.  I hope I can get everything extracted before I leave.  Afterwards the nurse asked me to do stretches.  Because of the long wait, my legs were getting tighter again so I opened my legs wider to do the belly stretch.  The nurse said I need to put my legs together and do the stretch.  It was almost impossible.  She pushed my back towards the wall and it was extremely painful.  I held it in and wished she would stop soon.  I was really sweaty afterwards.  Then I did the squat and she pushed me down really low to the floor.  Again it was really painful and by the time I'm done, I'm sweaty and dizzy.  The nurse got me to sit for a while before leaving so I rested a bit.  I realized my walking is even worse after the aspiration.  My right leg hurts so much that I'm walking with a very severe limp.  I got back to the residence and scared Bok Soon a bit because I was walking fine when I left.  Got back to room and couldn't even make myself do a small stretch so I emailed Park.  I took a nap after that because my energy was drained back in the clinic when I was forced into a big stretch.  Didn't fall deeply asleep as every now and then I'd flex my toes back to make sure my legs aren't fully cramped.  Woke up after a while and saw Park's reply asking me to stretch slowly and can put a warm towel on my calf.  Stretched a few more times and it did seem to get a little better.  Decided to go out to Gangnam station for some shopping.  Had to take a few rests along the way but arrived there with about an hour to spare before the shops closes.  The way back was tougher because it was very crowded with no seats available.  Did manage to make it back to residence at around 11pm.  Did stretches until about 130.

Day 8 Recovery Day 7, 6

Almost didn't realize it's a full week since my buccal fat removal and accusculpt.  Face is still a bit swollen and have a bit of bruise marks.  For calves, they weren't as painful as yesterday when I got up.  I could stand and walk a bit but stretches are still very painful.  Went out for some food at around 10.  It felt more painful to walk compared to yesterday.  Not sure whether because I had someone to talk with yesterday so was distracted from pain.  Elevated my legs at the café so getting up wasn't too painful.  The walk back was quite horrible though especially when going back uphill.  Met with Bok Soon and another former at lobby and chatted a bit.  Did my stretches in the lobby while talking.  Legs do seem a bit better and will take shower in a bit.  Showering was a lot better than yesterday but maybe its because I was sitting down the whole time.  Went out at around 2 to shop a bit.  Couldn't walk too long but it's definitely improving.  Stretches are also not as difficult once I've warmed up for the day. After a rest at home, went out again to Starbucks to meet up another forumer.  Sat for 2 hours but propped my legs up so wasn't too sore.  Walked a long way to dinner and didn't have to sit down for rest.  Dinner also had legs propped up.  Got back to residence at around 10 and did some stretches.  Things are definitely improving!  Actually, when I was going to sleep, my right leg felt really sore.  It wasn't painful but more of a discomfort.  I had to get up and massage it which feels better for a few minutes, but the soreness comes back really quickly.  I think I must have gotten up to massage it 8 times before I could lie in bed comfortably.

Day 7 Recovery Day 6, 5 (Aspiration #1)

Couldn't really sleep as legs were very uncomfortable.  Woke up at 330 to stretch them out a bit.  After a bit of toss and turning, decided to wash my hair.  It felt really sore after removing the bandages, esp the right calf.  I couldn't stand straight so had to sit on the toilet while showering.  It's now 7 and I'm not sure whether I should try to get some sleep or get the day started.  So I decided to email Park about the pain and after a bit, I finally fell asleep.  Woke up after 2 hours at around 1030 and saw that Park had replied saying I should go see him now so that he might give me some injections to increase the recovery.  I went downstairs and couldn't see Bok Soon so I decided to tough it out and walked to his clinic.  It was quite exhausting but I found that after walking a bit, my calves do feel a bit better.  I got to the clinic at around 11 and the nurse sat me onto the operation bed and started removing my bandages.  As they were about to wrap it up again, I told them that I was supposed to see Park on Wednesday, but because my calves are unbearably painful, he suggested me to come in today (Monday).  Park came in and examined my calves a bit.  I asked whether it is normal to have a sudden halt in recovery and he paused a bit before giving the standard "It depends."  I guess I should've known but I was really hoping there'd be some sort of comment he'd enlighten me on.  Anyway, after a bit he told me to sit back up.  Midway rising, he asked whether my right calf feel more tight and painful.  I said yes and he told me to lie back down again.  He then told me he will aspirate my legs.  It was a bit surprising because I didn't know I could start aspiration so soon.  Sticking the needle into my legs were painful at first but the extraction of fluid was even more painful than I imagined.  The nurse also had to massage and press my calves to make sure more fluid could be extracted.  This was extremely painful and I had to grip onto the edge of the operation table everytime she pushes down on my tendered calf.  After what seem like a long time, they did the same thing to my left calf.  I can't imagine having to do this myself when even having Park and the nurses doing it for me were already causing so much pain.  I was then rebandaged up and I asked Park whether he would advise walking around outside yet.  He said I could but no more than 2 hours.  I also asked whether I should wear wedges or flats when going out and he said wedges would be more comfortable.  I'm not sure whether I should just wear flats so that I could heal faster.  I'd rather suffer the uncomfort while walking in flats and recover faster than to be comfortable in wedges but have a delayed recovery time.  I noticed after aspiration that my calves do feel a LITTLE bit better.  Not a lot but better than before.  The nurse also told me to do some stretches before I go and I was able to do one not too painfully.  However Park told me to move my feet even further away from the wall so I wasn't able to touch my belly to the wall after this.  He reemphasized that stretching is very important and I was free to go.  I walked back to the residence okay and waited a bit before going out in the afternoon.  Went out at 2pm and decided to wear wedges.  Didn't walk too much because got dragged to consultation at Grand for 3+ hours.  Tried to do some stretches and rested my legs but could feel them getting tight.  Finally left at 630 and tried to walk abit but getting very rainy.  Rested 2 more times and limped back in rain.  Felt extremely frustrated at this point.  Got back to residence and quickly elevated my legs.  Amazingly it wasn't too unbearable.  Tried sleeping with legs elevated on chair.  Switched positions a couple of times throughout the night. 

Day 6 Recovery Day 5, 4

Legs felt really uncomfortable whole night.  It wasn't exactly painful, more of a cramped feeling where I feel like I need someone to pull my legs out to stretch them out?  Woke up at around 930 and legs were quite stiff.  Even after a few stretches, they still haven't really soften up.  After shower, it got a bit better.  I decided to see if I could get someone to clean my room from downstairs reception.  Since it was a Sunday, they said the only cleaner is fully booked and can only clean it tmr.  I decided to test my water and went out for a short walk.  It wasn't too bad and I walked back and fourth outside for a while.  Then I had the crazy idea of meeting another former living in Young Dong which was actually quite close to where I am.  The only problem is going up and down the hill.  I tried going down midway and went back up for a rest.  It wasn't too bad so I took the plunge.  I think I took around 7 rests along the way.  I was quite scared at one point because I wasn't sure whether the hotel was big enough for me to spot it.  Finally, I got there and met up with forumer.  We chat a bit, stretched a bit and rested a while before going out for lunch.  We had Korean bbq and it was quite tasty.  The only problem was I couldn't elevate my legs so after sitting down for 20 mins, I almost couldn't stand up properly.  Good thing the restaurant was quite empty so I went to the side to do some stretches.  I went to do stretches a few times during the meal and it was quite relieving.  Afterwards, we went back to the hotel again to elevate legs and do stretch.  It was a lot nicer to talk with someone during recovery!  After a while, we decided to go to a café for drinks.  I took 2 rests this time and we went to a café nearby my residence.  I could also elevate my legs here so we talked a bit more.  Even though I did so much walking today, I feel that my stretches are easier to do when I got back to the residence.

Day 5 Recovery Day 4, 3

Woke up and wasn't too hard getting out of bed.  Think continuous stretching from last night really helped a lot.  Did some stretches went to washroom.  Uncomfortable because period came.  Face is still swollen, calves feel better.  Last day taking sineech pills.  Going to OZ at 2 today to renew bandages.  Arrived at OZ and waited a bit.  Nurse Amy wasn't very friendly and after a while went to operation room to remove bandages.  She noted my legs were very swollen and also saw the water bubble near the incision area.  It was slightly painful when removing the water resistant tape.  Afterwards Park came in to wrap one of my calves.  I can see a noticeable difference in left calf but right is still very swollen.  Park did not mention anything just asked how I was feeling.  When I asked how much muscle was removed, he looked at Amy and she seemed a bit irritated when going into a room to check the figures.  She came back with 480mg I think which I'm not sure if it's very much.  Park said I should see noticeably difference though because he removed "a lot".  I'm still feeling quite skeptical because of the short operation time.  How can he take out more than expected when the surgery was less than 2 hrs?  I do hope he's right though.  When I pressed him further what he thinks my final measurements will be, he also gave a noncommitting answer saying it depends on my post op care.  I asked if 34cm would be achievable and he again answered "hopefully".  It's a bit frustrating but I guess he has his reasons not to give any promises.  At least my left leg already have visual difference.  After that, I went back to my room and was extremely hungry.  I've been living off biscuits and processed food the past few days and really wanted some solid real food.  Finally decided to go downstairs and see if they could help me order take out.  Bok Soon was sitting there chatting with a PS patient.  Turns out he just had a V line surgery and we chatted while waiting for my food.  The food took a while and was finally able to go upstairs to eat.  The sitting time made my legs very stiff again so had to stretch right away after eating.  Legs seem more stiff than yesterday and stretching were actually a bit more difficult.  Seems like I'm going back instead of moving forward in recovery.  Had headache and laid in bed a while.  Took a panadol and resumed stretches a bit.  Went to sleep around 1am.  Am hopeful to see if I could walk out to nearby café tmr.

Day 4 Recovery Day 3, 2

Woke up at around 7 and it was extremely painful just getting out of bed.  I tried a bit of stretching but couldn't do it.  Went back to sleep and woke up at around 10.  Tried getting up again and washed my face.  I've been forcing myself to do a stretch every 30 mins but it does take a bit of determination.  Going to DA later this afternoon at 4 to take out my stitches.  Good thing Bok Soon drove me.  It was so tiring standing and walking around.  I finally had my hair washed at DA and my face bandages taken off.  The stitches will be taken off on the day before I leave.  They disinfected my wounds and I was free to go.  However, I still owe them 1M so we decided to go to an ATM in the buidling.  Big mistake.  The banks were all closed and I was limping up and down the elevator.  At the end, Bok Soon drove me and the consultant girl back to citibank near the hotel so that I could take out the $.  Afterwards, Bok Soon drove me to a supermarket where i stocked up on fruits yogurt and some juice.  I stayed in my room and had some porridge and biscuits.  I also managed a quick shower today but it was quite painful.  I also took a painkiller and it's been a lot less painful doing the stretches.  I plan to do a few more stretches before the medicine wears off.  Tomrrow i will be going to OZ to take out the stitches.