How to take care of your wife after plastic surgery.

In this episode of the best plastic surgery podcast "Big Butts No Lies", our host and plastic surgery consultant Mavi Rodriguez dives into the world of post-surgery recovery.

Specifically focusing on the crucial role of caretakers. How should you take care of your loved ones after they had plastic surgery? Offering invaluable insight into the recovery process, Mavi provides essential tips for those who will be helping someone after undergoing plastic surgery. From managing medication to ensuring hydration, staying ahead of the pain, navigating the first shower, emotional support, and following dietary guidelines, Mavi's comprehensive guidance is a must-listen for anyone involved in post-surgery care. 

With her years of experience and expertise in the plastic surgery industry, Mavi offers practical advice to ensure a smooth and successful recovery. So, whether you're about to undergo surgery or are taking on the role of a caretaker, this episode is packed with invaluable information to help you through this crucial stage.

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Transcript

Mavi Rodriguez [00:00:00]:
Hey, guys. My name is Mavi, and I've spent the last 14 years in the plastic surgery and beauty industry, working alongside some of the best plastic surgeons in the country. Now I don't work for anybody, so I have unbiased opinions about hundreds of surgeons from across the world, and I can help you achieve the body of your dreams. Hey, guys. Do I have the show for you today? In my DMs, I'm always getting messages from people who are helping take care of somebody who's having surgery. So this episode is actually for the caretakers. So if you are listening to this episode and it's you who's gonna be having surgery, this episode will help you kind of know what to expect, but it'll also help whoever's gonna be taking care of you, whether that be your husband, your mother-in-law, your mom, your sister, whoever it is. This is just a little bit of information to help them help you.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:00:58]:
Okay? So this is another solo episode. Hi. It's just me. I am going to start with a mommy makeover recovery. Okay? So a mommy makeover recovery is kind of breast work, either a reduction, lift, augmentation, abdomen, so either a tummy tuck, a full body lift, liposuction, something in the torso. So you are kind of incapacitated. Okay? You're not gonna be using your arms, and you're definitely not gonna be using your abs. While you're in recovery, you're gonna need quite a bit of help.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:01:39]:
So I have some tips here on what to expect days 1 through 5. Okay? So days 1 through 5, as a caretaker, what can you do, or what are you supposed to do? The most important thing for you to do is keep your person comfortable. Are they hydrated? Are they taking their medications like they're supposed to? Make sure that you have this conversation about the medications and how often you're supposed to be giving them to your person with the surgeon. So when you're picking your patient up from the surgery center or the hospital, they're gonna be a nurse is gonna talk to you, and they're gonna be giving you instructions on what to expect, what to do, maybe give you some things. So what you're gonna do is keep track on a piece of paper how often you're supposed to give the medication. And when you do give them the medication, write it down. Don't make it their responsibility of keeping track of if they had their medicine because they're gonna be totally out of it. So if you're listening to this and you're the one having the tummy tuck, send this to your person so that they can know what to expect.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:02:54]:
Okay. So you can't leave that responsibility on them. So if you're helping take care of them, please facilitate for them to be taking their medication on time. Okay, stay ahead of the pain, especially if it's an abdominoplasty or a tummy tuck, liposuction. Those procedures are quite painful, so stay on top of your medication. She's gonna need a cup with a straw, a very long straw. Okay, make sure her cup is full of water all day, every day until she's like, okay. I I'm done.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:03:31]:
I can't have any more water, because dehydration can happen in those 1st few days. You're coming off of anesthesia. You're not feeling your best. And drinking a gallon of water is not at the top of your priority list. So whoever's taking care of you, please, caretaker, encourage your person to drink water. I'm talking about a liter a day at least. We want them to be very hydrated. Some of the symptoms that come in those 1st few days after surgery, headaches, dizziness, different things that they can start experiencing in that 1st week can be linked back to dehydration.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:04:13]:
So please water or something with electrolytes, not sweet drinks, not full of sugar drinks like Gatorade or anything like that, but water with an electrolyte powder or a Pedialyte, something like that. When you are taking your person home, right, they're gonna be in the car, you're gonna want to have something in the car to help them stay comfortable. So you can make bring pillows. You can bring blankets to make them their ride home a little bit more tolerable. Trust me when I tell you that you can feel every single bump on the road on the way home. If you're on anesthesia, you might not. If you're coming off of anesthesia, you might not. But on your 1st car ride to the surgeon's office for your 1st checkup, you might feel every bump on the road.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:05:02]:
So grab a pillow and a blanket, and you hold on to that pillow and blanket. Like, your life depends on it. You you hold it down to your tummy. Okay? So you can also do this if you have to cough or sneeze. You wanna hold hug your pillow. Hug it as tight as you can when you're about to sneeze. And so it helps your it helps apply pressure, not too much pressure. Don't go crazy, but apply pressure when you're going to sneeze or cough.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:05:34]:
And it helps kind of reduce the uncomfortableness that you might feel when you sneeze or cough after a tummy tuck. Or don't even get me started on pooping after taking all of those medications. Sometimes you can get constipated. So your person can get constipated. And so as the caretaker, it's your job to make sure that they are getting up and using the bathroom. This is very important. Helping your person get out of bed is going to be one of your most important jobs. Okay? And it's not so imagine this person had a tummy tuck.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:06:14]:
Right? They're laying in their bed. How are you gonna come get them out of bed? Are you gonna hand them your hand and pull them out, or are you gonna walk up close to them and put your full hand behind their back and help them out of the bed. Probably, the 2nd option. Right? Because they're not gonna be if you just give them your hand and tell them, come on, that's that's gonna require for them to use their abdomen muscles to pull themselves up out of bed, which you haven't had a tummy tuck, so you don't know, but that hurts. So you want to help them get out of bed. So use your full arm. You slide it behind their back, And you're going to with your other hand, give them your other hand, and they're gonna hold on to that hand, and you're going to slowly help them slide up. Okay? They're you're gonna bring their legs over the side of the bed, and you're gonna help them come up And give them a second.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:07:13]:
Okay? So now they're sitting up in the bed, sitting. Give them a minute. Take some deep breaths. Do not run or rush yourself to think you have to hurry up and get up. No. Take your time very slowly, deep breaths. Okay? Now you're you're comfortable sitting. Now it's time to stand.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:07:35]:
Okay? So now you're you're helping your person get out of bed. You give them your hands and your support. Put your hand behind their back. Again, help them. Do not allow them to use their abdomen muscles or tell them, you know, it's gonna hurt. There might be a little bit out of it. They they're gonna need some help, so help them out of bed. It's gonna be a slow process.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:08:03]:
Nobody said it's supposed to be fast. It's gonna be slow. And as the days go by, you'll get faster, and you'll get better, and you'll get more comfortable. But those 1st few days, like days 1 through 5, you're you're just trying to get through it. And let me tell y'all about sleeping. So sleeping in that 1st week is a journey, I'm gonna say, because you might be a little uncomfortable, a lot of uncomfortable, and you might struggle to find a comfortable spot to allow you to sleep. But let me tell you that getting sleep is the number one most important thing you can do. Getting rest, staying hydrated, and eating are the most important things you can do during your recovery.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:08:56]:
Nothing else is at top of priority like those things. I want you to prepare yourself by prestocking your refrigerator or prestocking the refrigerator of wherever you're gonna be. If you're recovering at home, you better have that fridge stocked with what you will eat and tolerate for the next 2 weeks because you, after having a tummy tuck, are not gonna be getting in the car and driving to the grocery store anytime soon. So before you go have your surgery, plan ahead. This is this is the theme of kind of everything I always tell you. Plan ahead. Plan for success. If you fail to plan, then you're planning to fail.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:09:47]:
I heard that on a motivational video once. And I've always wanted to use it, and now I got to use it. So if you fail to plan, you're planning to fail. Because what I don't want is for you to be super anxious, post op. Don't have any food in the fridge. Don't even know what you're supposed to be eating. Not really drinking water, and just hoping for the best. Girl, please don't do that.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:10:11]:
I love you. I do not want you to have that type of recovery. I want you to have a recovery where you feel good. You're excited. Your fridge is full. You already pre you could even premake your meals of feel of food that you like. For example, my 1 on 1 girls, I have menus that I like to give them for meals that they can have in that 1st few weeks, 1st week after surgery that are tailored to what procedures they're having. So for example, if it's a face lift, it's a different diet than my person who's having a tummy tuck and a BBL, different diets.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:10:45]:
So plan for the meals that you will actually eat and that are helping you heal. So what do I mean? Fried food? No. You're not having fried food after surgery, post op surgery. That leads me to if you're wanting to have fried food after your surgery, there's some internal conversations that you should be having with yourself about, is this really the best food I'm giving I'm I could be giving my body to heal and to have the body of my dreams? Did I just go through this big massive surgery to continue eating the same way I was eating before that got me there? Okay. These are conversations we need to be having with ourselves. Trust me. I've had them with myself plenty of times. I still do every day when I tell myself, put that cookie down and grab a strawberry or something like that because I do like my sweets.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:11:45]:
Next thing on the caretaker coaching. You're gonna have to make sure that she stays clean and dry. So if she had liposuction, there could be a lot of drainage that's coming out. It could get on the bed. It can get on it's gonna be on her FAHA. It can get on her clothes. So you don't want her sitting there wet for 24 hours. I'm not saying you have to change her as soon as she starts to feel like there's moisture in her in her gauze or pads.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:12:16]:
But you definitely don't wanna leave her with wet dressings on for 3 days that nobody's changed or nobody's looked at. Making sure that she stays clean and dry is very important. This also this next point goes back to how important it is for you to help her get in and out of bed. So you're going to help her get in and out of bed, But, also, you're gonna make sure that she's walking. So if she had a tummy tuck, she needs to be walking. Every surgeon is different with what their requirements are as far as how how often, but most of them can agree that they want you walking at least once every 2 to 3 hours. Some say once every hour. Some say once every 5 hours.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:13:01]:
Some say once every 3 hours. So let's just say, get her up and walk her to the bathroom, walk her around the dining table. It's gonna be slow. Nobody says this is a marathon, and it's gonna be fast. It's gonna be slow, and it doesn't matter how fast she's going. What matters is that her circulation is going because what we're avoiding is any blood clots from forming, from being and laying down for 5 days and not getting up and moving. That is not what we're gonna do. Do not do that.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:13:31]:
I love you. I do not want you to get a blood clot. Don't have a tummy tuck and go lay down in your bed and not get up for 5 days. Please don't do that because you're asking for trouble. Get up and walk at least once every 2 to 3 hours. If you're sleeping, get your rest. It's okay. But if you're sleeping and it's been 10 hours.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:13:50]:
And you haven't gotten up, it's time to get up. Okay? This is the next step for caretaker. So most important, keep her hydrated, keep her on her medication, make sure she's eating, make sure she's getting up and walking, keep her clean and dry. And these are the things that I want you to keep an eye out for. So the first one is dehydration. If you're noticing that she she is not really drinking enough water. If she's just taking a couple of sips and has only had a few sips in 3 days, that's not enough water, so she needs to be hydrated. Dehydration can catch up with you quick.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:14:29]:
Another so this is things that it's time to call your surgeon. Okay? In that 1st week, if you notice these things, you need to call your surgeon. Pain that does not go away with pain medication. So if you are having pain that doesn't go away with your pain medication, you need to call your surgeon and let them know. If you are not peeing and it's been 3 days, 2 days that you have not had any urine, you need to call your surgeon. If you are at a week and you haven't had any bowel movements, you need to let your surgeon know. If you are noticing a fever of 101 and over, call your surgeon. If you're noticing anything that looks infected, if you're seeing, incisions open, if you're seeing fluid that looks kind of green and yellow and pus, you need to call your surgeon.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:15:24]:
If you're seeing areas on the body that look black or, like, very, very, very dark, you need to call your surgeon. Okay. So that was what to look out for. The next thing, as a caretaker, you're probably gonna have to help her with her 1st shower. And that's a big responsibility because let me tell you, after mommy makeover, she's gonna need help with her 1st shower. Always follow your surgeon's orders as to when to have your first shower. Some surgeons require you to take a shower the next day. Other surgeons do not want you to be under running water 4, 5 days.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:16:09]:
Every surgeon is different, so you have to check with your surgeon and see, when can I take my 1st shower? Okay. So now we're starting to plan, when's my 1st shower? Once your surgeon tells you, okay. You can have your 1st shower on day 3. Now. Let's start planning for that 1st shower. What do you need? 1st, a chair. A chair. It can be a plastic chair.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:16:32]:
It can be a medical shower chair. It can be it just has to be a clean chair. What you're gonna put on it is a towel. Okay, towel, a clean, dry towel, and that's gonna be where you and you're gonna bring that chair with you to the shower, either putting it right there, right at the entrance of the shower, or if you wanna put it in the shower with you, you totally can and take your shower sitting down. What we don't want is for you to be to be in the shower and not have anything to hold on to by yourself. Do not take a shower by yourself. Your 1st shower must be with somebody in the room, your nurse, your partner, your caretaker, your sister, whoever. Somebody has to be in there with you for that 1st shower after a mommy makeover.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:17:24]:
Not negotiable. Okay. So then you have your chair. What we don't want is for you to fall. We don't want you to fall in the shower. That 1st shower after a tummy tuck, I don't want you to fall, girl. Please don't fall. So bring a chair.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:17:37]:
Have your caretaker bring a chair, clean, dry towel right at arm's reach, where if you feel light headed, you just turn around and you sit down. You don't have to walk. You don't have to worry. You start to feel light headed, you turn around, and you sit down, and you breathe. It's totally normal for you to feel light headed in that 1st shower, especially if you've been wearing the compression and you take that compression garment off, it's totally normal. And it's kind of expected. So please please please always have a chair somewhere where you can sit. Please be safe.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:18:14]:
Okay. So now we're gonna talk about the emotional roller coaster that your person is gonna be on. And I want you to know that you're gonna have to be on your very, very, very best behavior and be very, very nice and kind to them because I can tell you from my personal experience and from the experience my professional experience, I've seen thousands of women go through the journey. It's a very emotional roller coaster. Sometimes you're happy. Sometimes you're regretting your decision. Sometimes you're sad. It's an emotional roller coaster, honestly.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:18:49]:
You are at the on the top of the world, and then you're lower lower than the gutter. You feel bad. So some of the some of the feelings you might feel are happiness, excitement, regret, that buyer's remorse when you get at home and you realize, oh my god. What did I do to myself? I can't move. I can't get up and go. Could be a little bit of buyer's remorse. You can experience guilt. Right? So if you're a mom, and you have your kids and you can't pick them up or you can't be as active with your kids or you're not doing everything you're used to doing with them or they miss you or they wanna be with you and you can't really hug them, that can really give you some mom guilt.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:19:32]:
So just be prepared. It's totally normal. It happens. Other emotions you could be experiencing is sadness. What I've learned through the podcast is that sometimes that skin does hold on to emotions and history of your life. And when you cut it off, it can bring different emotions out. This is something I'm learning about through the podcast of learn talking to women and talking to different people who go through post op blues, post op depression. And I'm learning these things.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:20:09]:
And I I don't know if any of y'all have read this book called The Body Keeps Score, but if you haven't read it, it's amazing. Okay. So for the caretaker, while your girl is in recovery, I need you to be on your best behavior and be super nice to her because she's gonna be saying maybe some things that she doesn't mean, and she might be very, very sensitive. So be super nice to her, be very kind, and treat her with kindness because the recovery roller coaster is intense. And even though we feel super prepared and we're super excited and we really want this done. Those 1st weeks of recovery are tough. They're tough. After a tummy tuck or a mommy makeover, multiple procedures done at once.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:21:03]:
Like, that's a tough recovery, and we just need our people around us to be kind and supportive. And don't tell us, this is why I told you not to do that or don't make us feel bad for having the surgery. Don't do that. Just be kind and be supportive, and we'll get through it. Okay. Love her hard. Love on her because she's gonna be feeling super vulnerable and very sensitive. You feel in Spanish, there's a word, and I don't know what the word is in English.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:21:38]:
But you just feel you like, you can't do anything. You feel kinda useless because you can't lift anything heavy. You can't get up and leave out the door. You can't drive. You can't go anywhere. For my moms who have kids, I don't know if this is something that happens all around the world or just, like, in my culture, but the 1st few weeks after you have a baby, and you're, like, not supposed to be out. I'm Mexican. Y'all know my heritage is Mexican.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:22:04]:
200% here. So they tell you, like, for 40 days, you can't leave your house. You can't be out in the cold air. Your baby can't be out in the cold air. All of these things about right after childbirth. Well, it's it kind of feels like that during recovery because you can't drive. You can't go anywhere. You can't be outside.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:22:25]:
You're in your FHA. You're, like, not at work. The only thing is you don't have the baby to take care of. You're the baby now. Okay? So it's very similar to those feelings of once you get closer to the end of week 2 after a mommy makeover, and that's where we want you. We want you ready to go. But, also, remember to take it slow. Just because you feel like you're ready to go 100% doesn't mean that you are.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:22:57]:
Always follow your surgeon's, recommendations as to when you can go back to the gym full time, when you can go back to work. If you have a strenuous work where you're lifting or you're doing things that are heavy, please get your surgeon's approval before you go back to work or you start lifting anything heavy. Okay. And my last tip before I let you go, if you're on your recovery journey, I know you're not gonna be super hungry. You're not gonna be starving, and you are not gonna wanna eat, but I need you to eat. I need you to eat at least 2,000 calories. I know there's an episode with Kylie a few, last season, season 3, where we went over nutrition after plastic surgery. And her recommendation is don't go under 2,000 calories for the first 6 weeks after surgery so that your body has everything it needs to heal those incisions, to make, to heal your body, to make everything go back, and Snapback.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:24:01]:
So, 200 calories a day. And I'm not saying it has to be greasy or fast food or anything like that. You can get to 2,000 calories a day with healthy foods, leafy greens, proteins. And please don't forget your water. Okay. Alright. That was all that I had for you guys today. I hope you loved the episode, and I will see you next