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

You look great and give me hope when I get to the point I will have to do my plastics all at once or wait a year In between so I can you my summer for recouping (I am a teacher)

Wow Jane, your results are amazing. Thank you for sharing the pictures with us. It hardly looks like you have any swelling.. Absolutely fantastic!

You look amazing! This summer you will definitely be rocking the short shorts and bikini!

Jane you look amazing! Congrats to you!

Can we see a picture of you in the garments from hades? I hear so much about them that I am curious ...

At first I thought, "oh I don't really see a difference before and after" Then I looked at the before pics!!!!! WOAH!! Your arms make me want to weep with hope, all I want is to be able to wear something sleeveless with dignity and to wear pants without the humiliating front butt.

Thank you for all the photos and details. I am not sure if "transformation" is a strong enough word to capture your breathtaking changes! Simply stunning! Hope your recovery continues to go well. You have me motivated to get my plastics scheduled!

Thanks so much for sharing these pics! Absolutely amazing! You look so good! So happy for you!

You look great! Thanks so much for posting, you are making me feel better about getting my TT next summer!

Thanks everyone. I slipped on a close fitting "going out" dress after my shower (ie no compression garment) that I normally would only wear with spanx level support... you have no idea how happy I was to not see that shadow of a belly that hung over my thighs not showing through. I was delighted with my body before plastics and now feel even better. It is a confidence boost but more then that, it feels like this is how it should be... this is the real me.

However, recovery is not a barrel of laughs. It isn't pain, it is the tired, and the inactivity... and the garments from Hades.

***GRAPHIC PHOTO WARNING - DON'T LOOK IF YOU ARE SQUEAMISH

So Globe, are you jealous of my sexy underwear? Do you like how I have accessorized with the lanyard holding the drain? It's pretty freakish really, but quite temporary.... 4 weeks to go...not like I am counting...

Okay, the "bra" is like a matador jacket. Tight. The "bottoms" are lovely just above the knee length and give the butt a most unappealing shape. There is a convenient opening that i have covered with undies for photographic purposes only. It is unreal tight, especially the waist and upper waist. It overlaps with the "Bra" right at the bottom of the ribcage to create a situation that at times is unbearable and I have to unhook the top 2 notches if I have swollen at all.

Lol! I like the lanyard idea much better than the fanny pack one Those garments are straight out of hell you are right! That looks so uncomfortable how long again do you have to weera those? I bet they are so hard to put on...

Edited October 31, 201312 yr by laura-ven

Amazing! Thank you for sharing!

Thanks everyone. I slipped on a close fitting "going out" dress after my shower (ie no compression garment) that I normally would only wear with spanx level support... you have no idea how happy I was to not see that shadow of a belly that hung over my thighs not showing through. I was delighted with my body before plastics and now feel even better. It is a confidence boost but more then that' date=' it feels like this is how it should be... this is the real me. However, recovery is not a barrel of laughs. It isn't pain, it is the tired, and the inactivity... and the garments from Hades. ***GRAPHIC PHOTO WARNING - DON'T LOOK IF YOU ARE SQUEAMISH So Globe, are you jealous of my sexy underwear? Do you like how I have accessorized with the lanyard holding the drain? It's pretty freakish really, but quite temporary.... 4 weeks to go...not like I am counting... Okay, the "bra" is like a matador jacket. Tight. The "bottoms" are lovely just above the knee length and give the butt a most unappealing shape. There is a convenient opening that i have covered with undies for photographic purposes only. It is unreal tight, especially the waist and upper waist. It overlaps with the "Bra" right at the bottom of the ribcage to create a situation that at times is unbearable and I have to unhook the top 2 notches if I have swollen at all. [/quote']

How the heck do you get all this on by yourself??

You look amazing!! Yahoo to plastic surgery!!!

Well, the garments have hooks, zippers etc, but it definately requires an assistant. i hear that at some point I will be able to do it myself, but I cannot visualize that yet. It was much harder when I had the arm drains in - took 2-3 people then so that was part of the excellent care at the clinic...it was really hard to do with all the drains and early days after the surgery.

It is the center of my day... the "regarmenting" after the shower.

My thin Irish skin can't take the fabric too well so I wear a thin shirt under it to avoid skin rashes. yeah, it's fun! But, my PCP reminded me yesterday that this is how you get the great results. Follow the instructions, wear the torture garments, don't over do it. Part of the task of the garment is keeping the swelling down, but the big thing it does is stabilize everything while the skin and fascia and everything reattach - the internal healing. I kinda like that hourglass figure I seem to have going on so I am fully compliant with wearing the dang thing except for about an hour a day in hopes that I end up with excellent results.

BTW, I was going to have my PCP remove my stitches but we judged it to be a 1-2 hour job and I felt I would be more comfortable doing it over multiple sessions. She sent me home with a loaner set of sterile instruments - and my support person is doing it - what a great PCP is THAT? We will go back if we have any problems but basically plan to start working on them this weekend.

One to two hours to remove stitches? How many do you have? Is your support person medically trained or is it a relatively easy job?