Edited to say: 1 month photos on page 5 of replies

Well, i went to Mexico to Dr Sauceda and had fairly extensive work done. I started with 7 drains and am now down to 1. I still have stitches in. So far, my results look great and I am very pleased, but it takes 2 months to see your final due to swelling etc. I still have a bit of a poochy tummy but I think it will be flat once the swelling goes down.

I was very pleased with the surgeon and his care team. I loved the 3 nights and 4 days of clinic supervised recovery - excellent pain management and nursing care. Then, I was released to a hotel were I was bandaged and checked daily by a nurse and the doctor visited each day as well. For me, this was the only way to do it as the level of care I needed post op was fairly high in the early days.

His way of doing anesthesia and working with a partner means he could do alot in one surgery safely... however, no joke - this was alot of surgery at once. I had the lower body lift, breast lift and augmentation, arms and "small" thigh lift. That means no incision down the inner thigh, just along the groin. My recovery has so far been textbook. I saw my PCP and she was overwhelmed with happiness at how good things look, the incisions look good, all signs so far are of excellent healing.
I am far from out of the woods though; complications can still happen so I am diligent about taking it easy (this is killing me as I am normally so active), getting in even extra Protein and wearing the compression garments from hades.

The surgery was NOT painful and the incisions have never really been worse then kind of sore. The very worst part is dealing with the tight garments, the forced inactivity and of course the drains. There are certainly discomforts.... of the 6 drains pulled so far, two of them hurt.

Taken today, two weeks out, I am sorta hiding the two drains still in the mons area:


These photos were recent, pre surgery. As you can see, I had worked out and had some "toning" under all that skin.


I will get better pics when that last drain comes out... it is quite literally a drag on my style!

To round this out, i decided to add a pre VSG photo so you get the gist of how much I have transformed!

Edited November 21, 201312 yr by CowgirlJane

Jane it is amazing how good you are healing!

Look at you, you look sexy awesome! I don't even see much swelling.

You need to schedule a vacation soon to a tropical place that's going into summer season so you can rock a swimsuit.

Girl, you are looking good, just wait till the last of the swelling goes down and when you can start working out you will be killer. I admire you so much, don't know if I could have gone through all that surgery, happy recovery!

Thank you so much for the pics! You look amazing. Very sexy and very well proportioned. I agree with Laura. Need to schedule you some beach time to show off that body.

You're looking great, Jane! I can't believe how nicely you're healing! Maybe plastics aren't so bad after all and maybe someday I'll be posting before and after photos. We'll see.

That's a heck of a lot of surgery at once, though. I can't wait to see pictures at a month out. I bet you've still got a ton of swelling and things will look even better then.

~Cheri

Wow! I kinda ruled out plastics but you look really great. If my money boat comes in it could show up on the screen for wife and I.

Wow!!!!

Amazing!!! You are doing so good!! Cant wait to see 2 month pic!!

Thanks for being willing to share with us. It helps to know what is possible and makes the whole skin issue less scary for me.

Thanks so much for posting pix. It's inspiring to see your progress.

You look awesome...congrats! It is nice to hear how someone is doing with the plastics side of the journey..Thank you for sharing with us!

You look fantastic Jane! I am so glad you are doing well. Thank you for sharing progress pics. You look great!

That's great Jane. You seem to be doing well. Those compression garments seem like cruel and unusual punishment. They kinda make it tough to enjoy your new body. But they do keep the swelling at bay...plus hold things together so they can heal. How much longer on that last drain? Probably not much longer I bet.

Well done.

I had a tummy tuck with two drains for that one. My surgery date was 9-10.... Then I just had a breast lift with implants done last week 10-22. I didn't have to have drains with that one, the surgeon just placed loop stitches on the underside of my breasts so that fluid could drain there, but I didn't have any come out. I am feeling really well overall, however I keep having a re accruing muscle spasm in my left arm going up to my breast. When it first happened I had a panic attack over it! It felt like a hot poker was being shoved into my arm up into my breast! It was one of the worst pains I have ever had in my life! I've had this pain again about 7 times, but thankfully not quit as bad, and only lasting for a few seconds instead of the five minutes that it happened the first time.

I totally love my results! My tummy had a lot more extra skin then yours from the looks of your photos....the tummy tuck has been such a life changing thing for me! It has boosted my self confidence through the roof! I am finally able to wear normal clothes now too! I had to wear pants that were 2 sizes to big just because of my apron which I lovingly refereed to as my front butt. I also had to always wear bigger shirts that had to come down to my crotch at least because I didn't want anyone seeing my apron.

I remember pre op worrying about having a huge scar, and about the pain. Now after I could care less about the scar (even though it looks great) I will take it over having that skin any day! As far as the pain, it wasn't as bad as I imagined. I was up and out of bed after 2 days, and I even went out to the club 3 days post op! Best decision I have ever made besides the sleeve!

You look great! Congrats! I have pictures posted in my gallery if you are interested in looking. The results keep getting better and better!

Amazing transformation! I hope we are all as successful as you have been!!

I don't know how much longer on the last drain... it is the big one draining the area of the front part of the lift. The output is still about 70 and they don't get removed until they drop to 40 a day. I am guessing it might be as long as another week... but good heavens i hope not!

I have 4 more weeks of the torture garments and 4 more weeks of very limited activity. After that I can start activity/exercise slowly... I am cleared for everything once I hit 8 weeks out (6 weeks from now) but I have talked to alot of people with plastics and know that I am in a risky time for "overdoing it". Risks of issues like seronomas etc are obviously higher when you have multiple procedures done at once and the key is to just take it easy and wear those tight garments.

Sassy, i think your results are amazing. For some reason I can't access the photos right now, but i saw them before. One of the reasons I went for the "so much at once" was that I just can't take extended periods off from work over and over again. Plastics are about tradeoffs...