Finally! Plastics time! Tell me everything!

[Queen of Crop 1,103]

Thanks for all the great info ladies...for now I am going to unfollow this thread....my surgery is Monday and I have a full weekend....if I don't unfollow this I will have these plus a hundred other emails to get to....but I will check in as soon as I am able to let you know how it all went...

Thanks again and tot gauw from Amsterdam for now!!!

Queen of Crop!

[KeepCalm 223]

@@NewSetOfCurves - Peter Fisher is who I was looking into when I first started my whole journey. I'm glad to see that someone on here - liked him, gives me hope for when I finally have my surgery and go into maintence

[Elode 8,093]

@@KristenVSG2014 I've got a consult out to Dr. Sauceda. He seems very promising. Very good reviews from weightloss patients!!

[JamieLogical 8,684]

I am going to have my husband take pics tonight to send to Dra. Cardenas and see what my options are for my thigh lift and a possible revision to my breasts. I had planned to wait until the fall, so I could run more races over the summer, but this thread has got me all anxious to do it sooner!

[Chrystee 838]

Sorry I'm late to this party! I had a Tummy Tuck, breast lift with augmentation, all over Lipo, and fat grafting all done at the same time back in August 2011 after having lost 90 pounds "on my own". My recovery was a lot worse than most, unfortunately. I had swelling of the soft tissue in my lower back (lipoma) that lasted a good 6-9 months where it was impossible for me to sit up or lie on my back for any period of time without extreme discomfort. I spent the vast majority of my time lying on my side. It was particularly bad driving, because of the way car seats tend to lean back. When I came back to work, I could only work half days and had to use a kneeling chair.

Aside from the back issues, the recover from TT with muscle repair is pretty brutal. The muscle repair part will be the source of a lot of your pain. The incision, though gruesome to look at, really doesn't hurt all that much. As someone else mentioned, if you have the breast work and TT done at the same time, the breast pain and recovery will seem almost non-existent compared to the TT pain and recovery. You won't be able to stand up straight for a good 2 weeks at least. The first day or two, it hurt just to breath and coughing, sneezing, or laughing were EXCRUCIATING. Like you felt like you were being torn in half all over again. DO NOT laugh! Stay away from funny people. Do not watch funny TV shows.

Now, with all that negativity out of the way, I will say that I am happy and grateful EVERY SINGLE DAY for my plastics, even 5 years later. It's kind of like WLS itself. A lot of misery and suffering in the beginning, but SO WORTH IT in the long run. I regained 80 of the 90 pounds I had lost between the time I had my plastics and the time I was sleeved. But now that I am at goal and maintaining with the sleeve, the results of my tummy tuck still look amazing. My stomach is flat, I have defined abs, and my scar is low and minimal. I love love love it!

I posted some pics of my TT scar in this thread:

http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/349852-tt-scar-pics/

That looks AMAZING.

@@Chrystee What insurance do you have? Maybe I should check that out?

I have federal Blue Cross/Blue Shield. I'm having rashes under my stomach, and he is documenting that.. and under my breasts.. and pain in my breast from flopping while running!

@@Daisee68 and @@Elode - the best plastic guy I know in Oklahoma is Paul Silverstein http://www.paulsilversteinmd.com/

He has offices in OKC and Tulsa. [note: he is the co-inventor of the burn treatment Silvidean, which he has never taken a penny in royalties for because he has always considered it his gift to humanity, and he works at the burn center for free to help people recover from that trauma...just saying what type of person he is]. He told one friend of mine who thought she needed a boob job "those are perfect, see me in 10 years." He is very honest in his assessments. He doesn't need the money, he just wants what is best for you.

So if you want my recommendation, this is who I am going to see next year.

You getting boobs too? HA, just kidding.

I'm shooting for end of May, beginning of June at the latest.

Have you researched Dr. Sauceda? He's like an artist and gives people VIP treatment while recovering.

https://www.realself.com/find/Mexico/Plastic-Surgeon/Francisco-Sauceda#

Downside: it's in Monterrey, Mexico which isn't glamorous at all...

I'm also not opposed to Dr. Cardenas.< /p>

https://www.realself.com/find/Mexico/Plastic-Surgeon/Laura-Carmina-Cardenas

More reviews but not as good of a rating as Sauceda. But she is known as the "tummy tuck queen" so that's comforting.

My friend used Dr. Sauceda, and she showed me ALL her pics, and she looks AMAZING.

[Elode 8,093]

@@Chrystee I Have BCBS FED too! I don't have any rashes though.....now how can I rash myself up?!

[Elode 8,093]

@@Chrystee That's good news because I will be sending him the nearly naked photos he's requesting later once I get the house to myself. Embarrassing!! My face will be cut off! I feel like sending him a picture of a melted candle would be suffice.

[Elode 8,093]

@@Queen of Crop Good luck!!

[deedadumble 1,033]

Thought I would chime in for those considering Mexico and Dr. Sauceda and plastic surgery in general. I had the following procedures done in July 2014:

-Breast Lift and Augmentation (before 38D; after 36DD)

-Arm lift

-Lower Body Lift (360) with autologous butt flap implant

-Neck lift (aka lower face lift)

My reasons for choosing Dr S were many including cost, ability to have multiple procedures at the same time, recovery support, his experience with former morbidly obese patients (please consider putting this high on your list for any doc!), former patient support group, and twilight sedation. All these reasons ended up being why I was so happy with my experience plus a few additional good surprises.

The costs were significantly less than what I would pay in the states. Costs can vary significantly, so get a quote from the doc.

Ability to have multiple procedures. I didn't want to have to spread this out over a year. I own a business and can't afford to be out of commission for that long. Docs in the US use general anesthesia and can only do a certain number of surgeries at a time. Twilight lets you stay under for longer. I had two surgeries while in Mexico. Body on one day and face a few days later.

Recovery support was really important to me. In the US they send you home after outpatient surgery. I was in the surgical clinic with full nurse support and doc visiting every day for 5 days and then in a hotel nearby for the next 8 days with a nurse and the doc visiting every day. I also had two surgery sisters that I had met on Facebook that were having surgery at the same time. They helped tremendously to pass the time and for general commiseration. I went alone so it was nice having new friends there.

Experience with former morbidly obese patients. Our skin is thinner and our lymph systems are different. Don't go to a doc that just does mommy makeovers!

Former patient support group. There is an extremely thorough board on ObesityHelp for Dr S patients with photos, help documents, and patient stories. There's also a private Facebook group with past patients and those with booked surgeries for support before, during and after surgery.

Twilight sedation with epidural pain block. After my 10+ hour surgery I felt like I'd had the best night sleep of my life and woke up in little to no pain. I have had so many issues with general anesthesia (vomiting, grogginess, difficulty waking up, long term fogginess).

Wonderful surprises. I'd heard what a wonderful Doctor Dr S is but nothing prepared me for how humble and kind he was as well as what an artist he is in sculpting the human body. He never promises perfection (and run away from any doc that does) but he does promise to do his best. I was 100% comfortable with him as my surgeon.

Words can't begin to describe Dr S's nurse Paty. Of all the reasons, she was one of the highlights. She has pure magic in her hands. She truly cares about you. I hated leaving and being without her to help change my bandages and compression garments.

Pain and recovery. I had a lot of work done! My pain was mainly from the uncomfortableness of the compression garment and an existing issue I have with the nerves in my elbows. If not for this, I could have done it without anything but tramadol and OTC pain meds. I had itchiness that drove me nuts. Exhaustion for at least 6 weeks and would get tired easily up to 6 months later.

Seromas are very common with patients that have lost a lot of weight. I had one in my abdomen mainly from losing my drain earlier than I should have (busted the stitch that holds it in while I was asleep). Added extra compression and it resolved in a few weeks.

Under or over? I have Gummy bear implants over the muscle. I think they look extremely natural for my age (50). My boyfriend agrees! I'm not a fan of the way gummies look under the muscle. It also adds to the pain and discomfort afterward. Look at a lot of pictures with similar body types to decide. Definitely take the advice of your doctor and what they think is best for you, the amount of skin that you have, how big you're going, and the look that you want. I am tall (5'10"+), muscular, and curvy, so all of that impacted my decision.

Autologous butt flap implants! Whew, that was a decision that went down to the wire. The doc takes the layer of fat that is removed from above the butt area in the lower body lift and implants it into the butt to round out that area. It took the longest to adjust to of all my surgery. It felt weird when I would run (I ran half marathons before). It zinged when I would hit it on something. It was uncomfortable when laying on my back. Even with all of this I am happy that I did it. My butt is not flat and looks good in jeans and a bikini. It is not as big, nor does it have the issues that a Brazilian butt lift would have.

Running. I ran half marathons before surgery. I was back running about 10 weeks after surgery. I started back with couch to 5K but progressed quickly through it, skipping days. Ran a 5K after a month (14 weeks after surgery). Ran a half about 5.5 months after surgery. The butt was the biggest holdup on the running. It just felt weird. Some people will tell you to take it slower. Listen to your body!

Lower face lift or neck lift. So very happy with this. It looks completely natural. Took the longest to heal. The nerves in the face take a long time to come back and some may never return. I had lumps in my cheek that were not noticeable to others but I could feel them. It also "jiggled" when I ran so it took some getting use to.

Scars. All of my scars are fading. The least noticeable are the breast lift (lollipop, so no under boob scar) and the Tummy Tuck portion of the LBL. Most noticeable is the back portion of the LBL. I had some hypertrophic scarring in that area. This is genetic and nothing could have been done to prevent. I may go and have a scar revision done at some point but my bikini covers it and my boyfriend doesn't mind it (and neither do I)! I used coconut oil pretty religiously. I tried silicone scar tape but I have a sensitivity to adhesives so it didn't work very well. I used scar lotion on occasion but didn't notice that it helped. I used vit e oil and I think it helped. I had SilkPeel Dermalinfusion on my back scar and although it helped, probably not enough for the cost of it.

Work. I have a job where I work on a computer sitting down 99% of the time. I also work from home. I was able to continue working immediately after surgery (I even did some work within hours of coming out of surgery). I wouldn't recommend it though! I had deadlines that had to be met so had no choice. Plan for at least 6 weeks off if you can.

Weight loss from plastics. Don't expect it unless you're getting a lot of Lipo. I didn't lose any but I was at my goal weight (175 and didn't get any lipo). I do think that plastics helps me psychologically to keep the weight off. It's like it finished the transition for me. I haven't had any regain and I haven't struggled with my diet (very lucky).

Fibromyalgia. I haven't seen anything posted about this from other plastics patients. I have fibro that was controlled with cymbalta. I think the plastics and stress of it caused a flare up so I had to add gabapentin to deal with nerve pain. I'm finally feeling like its dying down but be aware that if you have other medical issues you may need to manage them more closely for a while.

I am 1.5 years out from surgery and if I had to do it all over again I would in the exact same way. I absolutely love my new body and feel like I've been given a second chance to live fully.

Feel free to PM me with any messages. I'm not on here as much as I used to be but will respond as quickly as I can. 

[Elode 8,093]

@@deedadumble Thank you! This was really informative. I sent him the pictures he requested yesterday so now I'm waiting for his response with cost. Does he make you stay the whole 13 days? My husband will have vacation but it will only be for 9 days. I REALLY don't want to go alone since I've never even been to Mexico. I wish I had someone to go with if he couldn't. I guess I could go alone but that scares the crap out of me. I'm off right now and only working a few days a month so I have plenty of recovery time. Did you wake up during surgery? I've heard of people waking up, not feeling anything but woke up. Also freaks me out! How do I get to where all his pictures are? I can't find it. You look wonderful!

[deedadumble 1,033]

@@deedadumble Thank you! This was really informative. I sent him the pictures he requested yesterday so now I'm waiting for his response with cost. Does he make you stay the whole 13 days? My husband will have vacation but it will only be for 9 days. I REALLY don't want to go alone since I've never even been to Mexico. I wish I had someone to go with if he couldn't. I guess I could go alone but that scares the crap out of me. I'm off right now and only working a few days a month so I have plenty of recovery time. Did you wake up during surgery? I've heard of people waking up, not feeling anything but woke up. Also freaks me out! How do I get to where all his pictures are? I can't find it. You look wonderful!

You're welcome!

The board is at http://www.obesityhelp.com/group/Dr_Sauceda_Patients/discussion/

The time you stay is going to depend on your procedures. I had two surgeries (body and face) so I needed to stay the whole time. Ask Dr S if 9 days will be enough for what you're having done. The biggest issue is making sure you're ready for the trip home. It's exhausting.

I went alone, but I had my sleeve done in Mexico so I was ok with it. I also met two people on the Facebook group having surgery at the same time.

Yes, I woke up a few times but the epidural was in and didn't feel anything. I remember asking are you done yet and instantly was back asleep. It was not stressful at all. Dr. S's wife is the anesthesiologist and she monitors you the whole time. They do most surgery in Mexico with twilight because it has fewer side effects. Wish they would in the US.

Thanks so much, I feel great!

Here's my before wls pic:

[Elode 8,093]

@@deedadumble Wow that's great! I will be asking him all this when he gets back to me. I'm just wanting TT breast lift & implants.

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

@@deedadumble ... what a great couple of posts. Thank you. You look fabulous!

[bdcsail 72]

Another option to think about is going to Toronto Canada. I had a Tummy Tuck, breast lift, and Gummy bear implants for under 15000 cdn, $11000 us with the low Canadian dollar right now might be a good option. That included a year of follow up, but doesn't include hotel. As for recovery to avoid complications don't plan on moving on around very much for 2 weeks minimum. I am so happy with my results.

[freelee 128]

Thanks for the question and all who have responded. I am just in the beginning stages of thinking about a tt and this evening's reading has helped a lot. I love the support and information people post here.