Yup....the public (especially the Canuck public) want to know!!!

*shoves mike in Argon's mug (face!)*

So, Mandi....tell us....we want to know, how is NB life compared to SK life? Details please!

- job info

- living arrangement info

- people info

- shopping info

- town info (where the heck are ya livin' in NB anyways?)

- boyfriend info (most important!)

Any regrets? Happy? Content? Satisfied? DETAILS DETAILS!!!!

Sadly yes, we are a nosy bunch. (to be completely honest though, Cloe and CanadaSunshine put me up to this!). I'm merely the one who chose the short stick!!!

:scared: :)

Green when you are feeling better and not in so much pain, you will be very very happy with yourself, i bet you will look at least 10 years younger. The things we do to ourselves to look good, but it is all worth it in the end.:hug:

Maria

Thanks ladies, and green, I hope you feel better soon... the pain will be a thing of a past and you'll be thinkin' about your next surgery

So guess what... 130 lbs lost so far!!!! About 10 to go!! :faint:

Awesome Mandi . I am jealous. Hope you feel better green.

Green! how exciting! Iam so curious about your face lift, when you are feeling better PLEASE tell us all about it! I am just starting to look into what is out there. I am in Edmonton and have no idea where to start really. Where are you? How long did it take to get everything arranged? lol how much did it cost?? sorry if those are too many questions or to personal.

Mandi! You are amazing! I am so happy for you, WOW just 10 more to go! You can do that in your sleep LOL... you have worked so hard to get here and now you are just about there. So many things are happening in your life right now. A new you... a new job and province soon and a wonderful fellow to share it all with! Plus two adorable kitties!! Thanks you for always sharing yourself with all of us, it means soooo much!! 130 pounds gone forever!!

You are a star! Shining and bright!!

Mandi, You are amazing-- 130 lbs.-- WOW. Are you spending lots on new clothes? And don't you love it?

Green- Hi!!! You poor sore girl. But you will be gorgeous and it will all have been well worth it! Call me, and I'll try to cheer you up!

Green! how exciting! Iam so curious about your face lift, when you are feeling better PLEASE tell us all about it! I am just starting to look into what is out there. I am in Edmonton and have no idea where to start really. Where are you? How long did it take to get everything arranged? lol how much did it cost?? sorry if those are too many questions or to personal.

Well, none of these questions are too personal given that I was the one who introduced the topic, girl. And I am happy to pass along my hard won knowledge to my sisters.

Lemme tell ya that this face lift was the most painful stunt Green has ever pulled during her entire life! I normally bounce back very quickly from operations provided that the nice doctors do the right thing on the pain management front. TLBC was really decent on that front. The demerol served me well and I had some to spare which I used for visits to the dental hygienist. And, boy, were we ever disappointed when my supply finally ran out! (I have very sensitive teeth, eh!)

I had had a mini-face lift done by the same surgeon who has done my latest work almost 9 years ago and he had done a superb job from which I had quickly recovered. This mini-face lift has served me well over the years and this is why I returned to him when I wanted more work done. The mini-face lift, by the way, consisted of excavating my jawline, giving me a pair of lips, and smoothing out the lines which run between the nose and mouth. All of this was done through micro-surgery techniques and it was terrifically successful and it remained looking good!

When I went to see him this time he told me that I would need the full monty: eye work, a brow lift, my chubby cheeks (which ironically have always made me look kind of juvenile) shifted (a big job, he said), and then there were additional tweakages. My neck had become a little stringy since my weight loss and the skin on my face was no longer sitting quite as tight to the underlying meat. And I wanted my lips tweaked and my smoker's upper lip creases gone.

He could certainly do all of this for me he said but this would entail 7 hours of operation time and the cost would be just short of $25,000. Now, this surgeon has a high media profile in Toronto and he is considered to be one of the best in the city. I could have saved perhaps 10 grand but my feeling is that when it comes to your face, you must be prepared to pay. You cannot hide mistakes which are made on your face. (On the other hand I have always worn cheap underwear.....)

So my first piece of advice is to choose your surgeon and his team wisely. My second piece of advice is to understand that this is gonna hurt real bad and that you will feel lousy for a long time. Understand, too, that this is an expensive undertaking. You cannot cut corners unless you are willing to risk living the rest of your life in a niqab. You will need a supportive mate, one who thinks that it is kinda amusing when he sees you looking like an alien. When my husband came to pick me up the following morning my head was swollen to twice the size, my eyes were swollen shut, and I had an array of drainage shunts dangling from my head. Each of these terminated in plastic catch basins which were half-full of unsavory personal fluid which were slowly leaking out of my head. It was a good thing that my dh has a good sense of humour. I know that my dad would never have been able to deal with this kind of presentation. He was, like me, a real squeamish cat. I didn't bother looking at myself for over a week, you know.

Anyhow, I was operated on Monday, Sept 24, a year after my successful lapband operation. The experience has been a brute even though I have received excellent care from both my husband and the surgical team. And now, to top things off, I have caught a bluddy cold and this has pitched me right back in bed again.

On the positive side: between the splendid results of the lapband surgery and the face work my husband thinks that I look splendid. He has been spending some months now telling me how skinny I am; now his latest refrain is that I look like a movie star. Of course the dude is very fond of me and is prone to exaggeration but still......when your face is still some what swollen, and you still have an array of fading bruises as well as a collection of scabs which are hidden under your hairline and which are yours for the picking, flattering words mean a helluva lot!!!

And yes, I can go out in public and know that I look good. I cannot, however, eat in front of anyone without blowing it. You see, my mouth still doesn't work properly. Watching Green drink or ingest her nosh is a truly repellent experience unless you have raised infants or have cared for the very old.

Anyhow, truth be told, I think that I likely will be awfully pleased with this decision once I recover from all of this. I am starting to look much better. It is simply that this vanity work is the most physically taxing and the most painful which Green has ever endured. Think hard about how committed you are to having a face lift and then, should you elect to have one, do the research and get yourself the best.

Any of you who are interested in more info on my surgeon, etc are welcome to PM me.

Mandi, You are amazing-- 130 lbs.-- WOW. Are you spending lots on new clothes? And don't you love it?

Green- Hi!!! You poor sore girl. But you will be gorgeous and it will all have been well worth it! Call me, and I'll try to cheer you up!

Thanks, kid. This last few weeks have been a bitch. Hurray for narcotics!!!!

It will be worth it green. I don't think i have the guts to go through all that pain. Thank you for sharing your journey.

Mandi are you still going to the gym? Give us your eating tips.

Thanks, kid. This last few weeks have been a bitch. Hurray for narcotics!!!!

Hey, green, I mean it-- please call- I can't find your number!!!:rolleyes:cry

Hey, green, I mean it-- please call- I can't find your number!!!:rolleyes:cry

I will phone ya. I have your number.

Thanks ladies

And green... wowsers! I definitely want to see some before and after pictures!

Guess what I did! I got my FIRST massage on Friday! I was going to have it done fully shirted, but the girl 'recommended' that because it was for a full half hour, it would be most beneficial on bare skin. I figured "what the hell". Now, there's no way in hell I'd let someone see my back a year ago, and I barely did it this time, but I tucked all my skin in as best as I could when I lied on the table, and then when she pulled it all loose again with all that pushing and pulling, I didn't care! It was fabulous.

Next stop: leg waxing! Then maybe if I can pull that off... bikini, then brazillian!

Good for you Mandi - I can't wait til I can plan my massage days - leg waxing you can keep - and I don't even want to think about the bikini/brazilian - too old for that stuff. The extra skin will just have to be coped with.

Green I envy you your face lift - I'm sure it must have hurt, but to know what you want and go after it is a marvelous thing to do. Maybe someday I can talk my other half into seeing the benefit, but parting with more money will always be an issue.

Cindy

Green I envy you your face lift - I'm sure it must have hurt, but to know what you want and go after it is a marvelous thing to do. Maybe someday I can talk my other half into seeing the benefit, but parting with more money will always be an issue.

Cindy

To tell you the truth, I was only able to spend all this cash on body renovation because my mum died and left me money. I would not have been able to do this otherwise, nor would I have been able to take early retirement.

I certainly do miss my mum a lot but this experience of suddenly having cash is certainly an odd and ultimately a pleasant one. There has been a learning curve, however..... And as for the face lift, I am starting to look okay but I still feel lousy.

It has been a real rollercoaster ride since my mum died two and a half years ago.

grrr... I don't like it when this edit thing happens... it is worse than the typo I made!! lol

lol Way to go Mandy!! I love massage and it is soooo good for you, and yep naked is the only way to go!! I am in the business and I have to say I really don't care about a persons body size when doing treatments like massage. I honestly don't think I have ever given massage with the person wearing anything more than panties/briefs... for the shy. As for waxing same thing! I just do it. That is what I am paid to do! I have long been a die hard for waxing. There is nothing more worthwhile than having unwanted hair removed and knowing it isn't coming back for weeks!! I am 52 and I get it all removed!! I love it, I feel clean and that makes me really feel more confident and happy and on and on. It's a good thing! Spoil yourself! You deserve it big time!

I went for a pedicure, manicure, and facial yesterday and to discuss options for my lovely turkey wobble neck... I am not ready for a face lift but really need to do something to make me feel better about how I am looking. So I have started Mesotherapy. OUCH! it wasn't bad having the injections, not even as bad as the dentist, but after it was a bit painful mostly due to swelling. Tylenol and icepacks last night and today I am pretty good! cept for a small bruise. I go back in two weeks for another treatment, he figures three should help a lot. Please think positive thoughts for me! I don't want a turkey wobbler anymore!