I have just got back from Sydney to see my plastic surgeon. His name is Dr Tavakoli...He has featued on shows like BodyWorks and magazines like Marie Clare. I have been researching for months and months, emailing and speaking with several different surgeons. He first sat me down and talked with me about alot of things including that he will not touch me if I dont give up smoking. A little to give up for what I want though. He took me into a room and I had to get naked and he checked everything out. He said he will be able to really work with my boobs and that I dont need implants but I am a grade 3 with my sagginess...ewwww.

With my tummy tuck he is going to do an Extended Tummy tuck, one which is a little longer than the normal one so he can take the fat etc from the hips and lift the outside of my thighs a little. He said it will change my life and that when hes finished it will be flat and no saggy skin. He is going to lipo my flanks and back fat to countour my body nicely....oh I tell you I am in love. He is going to book me in for around end of March. I have to stay in hospital for 3 nights and in Sydney for another 4 nights incase anything goes wrong. The cost is huge ... it was nothing like I was expecting but I have no private health insurance so I am completely self pay. All up including hospital etc its going to be about $25 000...but what value can you put on how it will finally make me feel after having this tummy since I was 16 when I had my eldest, I really have known nothing other than a belly and boobs that sag badly. I am just so excited, I cant find the words.

Anyway, as for tummy tucks please think about who you go to...everyone to their own, but if you have to pay a little extra so its done properly I

would do that. Look around carefully, there are so many PS that you have a wide choice..... I have researched for so long and emailed

countless surgeons...Some just want your money and dont care about the

results...others are like artists, they look at our body and think how they

can sculpt it into something better. This Dr has big plans and it really

excited me hearing him talk about what he is going to do. I have another app in a month for a photo shoot as he put it lol...then its down to business. :cake:

Kelly,

Good luck to you.

Good for you for doing all the research. Good luck, and I would love for you to post about your next appointment. I know you must be excited!

Thats really really neat! I am happy for you.

But where in the world would one get 25,000$..

I mean obviously you have it, you dont have to tell me..

Thats is just like 5,000 to me.. SIMPLY impossible to ever obtain.

I really really hope my insurance will do something.. like a tummy tuck, someone here said they might cuz I have incontinence..

Or I could win the lottery

Kellie, that sounds so exciting! Good luck to you and I hope you'll share the results with all of us as time goes on.

Good luck to you, and don't worry about what other people think. You have to do what is right for you.

You obviously deserve it after working so hard to lose your weight and now giving up smoking. GOOD FOR YOU!!! I am VERY excited for you!

Thanks for your well wishes...I will definately share all my results, before and afters etc to you guys...

Nykee...$25 000 is sooooo much money to me too, I shared the price because alot of people have been asking for prices recently for TTs. I will be borrowing most of it...I know it is alot of money to pay back but I have had a VERY saggy belly that hangs over the top of my thighs etc since the birth of my eldest when I was 16/17. Its really all I know, and to actually think that it wont be long till I dont have it is exciting but scarey as well...now that I know when it will be the thoughts of all the pain etc are kicking it. I just keep thinking of the results and hopefully that will get me through :cake:

Thanks everyone

Hugs

Kel-

How exciting! Did the doctor say anything about losing more weight before you have the surgery? I'm going to start looking into PS when I hit 200- but is that too early? What have you found in your research?

Thanks for sharing your story!

Megan

You have to be just so excited! You better be prepared to share pictures with us!!!

Kelly- I was going to ask that too about how much weight loss or weight left before doing this. I see you have 28 pounds to goal. I assume a good amount of that will come off with the TT, but are their any standards?? Like you have to be within 30 lbs or something??? It would be a bummer to have to have it again for people so what are the rules???

$25 000 is sooooo much money to me too

Yes, it's a lot of money--but I bet most of us have at least one time or another bought (financed) a new car. Basically, it's the price of a new Honda Civic (an accord would be more). What would you rather have--a new car or a new body?

I'd happily step out of an 84 Oldsmobile if I could do it in a sexy body!! And as enjoyment goes, your bod is a much better investment!

IMHO anyway.

Best wishes Kelly on the gorgeous new you!!!! I can't wait to see the after pictures.

So true Kare!! Good luck with your procedures and please keep us updated with everything. You know we are going to want pics too! But a small price to pay to look and feel healthy!

That's so exciting, Kel!!! I still haven't booked mine, as the surgeon I saw will only do it in two parts (tt and reduction seperately) and I can't decide what I want done first. Like you, I've had the sagging tummy thing since I was a teenager. I have a scar across my pubic line from a kidney surgery when I was younger .. the fat has always hung over that, much like a man's tummy.

Seriously, if you need anyone to hold your hand during it, let me know. I'm up in Sydney alot these days and I'm more than happy to come up for it.

I've gotta put the smokes down too, before mine :/

Kelly, good for you quitting smoking! I lost my dad to lung cancer, my mom to emphysema and my only sibling to lung cancer 3 years ago. She and my mom died 10 months apart. Let me tell you...that was hard. So you will be doing the most wonderful thing for yourself and the plastic surgery is the icing on the cake. You will be beautiful and healthy! Congratulations and best wishes to you!

Yes, it's a lot of money--but I bet most of us have at least one time or another bought (financed) a new car. Basically, it's the price of a new Honda Civic (an accord would be more). What would you rather have--a new car or a new body?

>>>>>>>>I have never had a car over 2000$, i am so poor I feel like I should of never got this surgery... like I didnt have the right to.. I spent the only 13,000$ I ever had...(SSI settlement)

IF I sold and borrowed everything I couldnt get 5,000$.. thats all my fault, ( I DID GO TO COLLEGE, I got a degree.. etc.. I tried)

I cant ge the fills I need, when I need them.. and if anything happens to my band THATS it.. theres no credit cards, no house, no parents, no nothing.. I am just scared sometimes..

I didnt want to offend anyone..

I am just getting nervous about having to hang on to all this skin flab, I started out at 415 pounds and I am affriad of whats gonna happen.

But its still better than being 400 pounds.. so I need to just calm down