October 31, 2026 | Patient Safety, Plastic Surgery Recovery, Recovery
The operation is mine. The two weeks after it are yours. Here is how I set them up.
The First Week
“Most procedures will require about a week of recovery time at home. We still want the patient standing and walking around, and they can usually start doing some normal activities at home in three to four days. In larger procedures, especially the ones involving a tummy tuck or buttock implants, the recovery can be lengthened to two weeks.”
“Depending on the procedure, my nurse will usually visit you at the hotel or at your residence in El Paso to help you with your first shower, teach you about drain care, give you IV fluids if necessary, and check your vitals. For smaller procedures, a nurse visit is not necessary. We will usually do a FaceTime follow-up the day after your surgery, or have you come in for an in-person visit.”
“Depending on whether you’ve had liposuction or not, I would recommend lymphatic drainage massages, and you would be coming into the clinic for those treatments at least two or three times the first week.”
The massage schedule is its own post: lymphatic drainage massage after surgery.
“The first week after surgery is not a time for dieting. We want you to have a good intake of protein, because your body is working overtime and burning excessive calories in order to repair the incisions and your tissues.”
How much protein, and from what, is in my protein after surgery post.
Who Should Be With You
“For smaller procedures, we want the patient to be accompanied by an adult for at least the first 24 hours. This allows the anesthesia to wear off, so that the patient is awake and alert. For larger procedures like tummy tucks or body lifts, the patient will usually require assistance for the first three to four days, to get in and out of bed, go to the restroom, shower, and get in and out of the surgical garments.”
“A family member is enough most of the time. For large procedures, we offer an overnight stay in our surgical center, and my nurse does a post-operative in-person visit at the hotel or at their home 24 hours later. These nurse visits can be extended. As an option, we also offer 24-hour in-person nursing services for patients who are traveling alone.”
“The week after surgery is rather busy, and patients usually come in and out of our clinic for different treatment modalities and follow-ups, so an aftercare house or a full-time in-person nurse is not really necessary.”
| Procedure size | Adult with you | Nurse visit | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smaller (lipo, breast augmentation, facial) | First 24 hours | FaceTime or office visit next day | |
| Larger (tummy tuck, body lift, buttock implants) | First three to four days | In person at the hotel or home at 24 hours | Overnight stay in the surgical center; extended nurse visits |
| Traveling alone | Required | Same | 24-hour in-person nursing; ask our patient coordinator |
The travel plan, hotel to clinic, is in flying to El Paso for a tummy tuck.
When to Call, the Same Day
“I want to be called if there are any changes in the vital signs: if there is tachycardia, if there are fevers, if the patient is having difficulty breathing, if the patient feels faint or dizzy, if the patient is not voiding, or if it has been more than 72 hours without a bowel movement. Also if there is increased drainage or the color of the drainage from the JP drains has changed, any breakage or opening in the wounds, or any changes in the color of the skin, whether it becomes dark, red, or bruised.”
Tachycardia is a racing heart. Voiding is urinating. Screenshot this list:
| Call the hotline today if |
|---|
| Racing heart, fever, faint or dizzy |
| Not urinating, or no bowel movement for more than 72 hours |
| Drain output goes up, or changes color |
| Any wound opens or breaks |
| Skin turns dark, red or bruised |
Difficulty breathing or chest pain: that is 911 first, then the hotline. Standard guidance, not a nicety.
“All our patients get a wristband with a 24-hour hotline with access to one of my nurses, 24 hours a day. We really want to know of any changes or questions the patient has, so we can catch things sooner rather than later.”
The Three Things
“I really would insist on the patient following all our recommendations. But if I had to pick the three most important things, it would be staying active, meaning being up and walking around, not lying in bed; drinking enough fluids and eating enough protein to help with wound healing; and taking all their medications and supplements as instructed. If the patient had liposuction, then lymphatic drainage massages are a must, together with their surgical garments.”
Walk. Eat and drink. Take what I gave you. And if there was liposuction, the garment and the massages.
Before surgery: how to prepare and the supplements to stop. If your surgery was somewhere else and you want this program anyway: aftercare for patients who had surgery elsewhere. The hotel-week version is on the Southwest Plastic Surgery post; the commentary is on drworldwide.com.
Why Choose Dr. Agullo
Dr. Agullo is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Board of Surgery, completed his plastic surgery fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, and serves as Clinical Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. He has been a Castle Connolly Top Doctor for thirteen consecutive years, 2014 through 2026. His nurse visits patients at their hotel or home the day after surgery, and every patient leaves with a 24-hour hotline on their wrist.
Ready to Talk?
The operation takes a morning. Let me show you the plan for the two weeks after it.
Call (915) 590-7900, text 1-866-814-0038, or book online at agulloplasticsurgery.com. #StayBeautiful
Find me at @RealDrWorldWide on Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat, @Agullo on X, or @AgulloPlasticSurgery on Facebook.
