Well, folks, this is the last book of the trilogy. Tomorrow, I'm headed home to Alabama for what I hope is my last round of plastic surgery. It's at least the last major round.

In case you're new to the forum, my history is that I lost 200 + lbs in 18 months of being banded. I had a TT with BL in March 2007. After that time, much to my amazement, I lost 60 more lbs. I then had a lateral thigh lift (outer thighs) and brachioplasty just 6 weeks ago, in Novmber 2007.

Tomorrow, I'm headed home for surgery on Thursday. We're doing the inner thighs (medial thigh lift), small breast implants (when I lost the extra 60, I really lost a lot of volume -- went from a mid-D to a small :confused:, and a mons lift with a port replacement to give me a low profile port.

Anyway, I'll keep you posted as I get home from the hospital. Unclear whether that will be Thursday late or sometime Friday -- depends on how I tolerate the anesthesia this time. In any even, I'll post more from the other side!

wow congrats!

Julie,

I have enjoyed reading about your journey. You have inspired me since I am just in the beginning of my lap band journey. I hope to have surgery by the end of January. One question I have is about you getting a lower profile port. Since I have not had the surgery I was not for sure the benefits of getting a lower profile port. Thank you so much for sharing and being such an inspiration. You are amazing.

Thanks!

Yep, your fullness is perfect, good projection. Very natural looking.

Excellent.

Keep on healing.

hugs

One question I have is about you getting a lower profile port. Since I have not had the surgery I was not for sure the benefits of getting a lower profile port.

My port stuck out so much that you could see it through clothes. Now, it still sticks out because I elected to leave it on top of the muscle (my band doc said below the muscle would make it invisible but would make fills harder and much more painful), but not so much that you can see it through clothes (or even naked). It just looks like I have a well developed ab muscle there now. I'll show you a pic in the next round of pics.

If you have the option of a low profle port from the beginning, go for it. If not, I'd say 95% of people never need it. I think it's my shape -- I'm pretty hourglassy and my middle is very small compared to the rest of me, so it's mostly that I think.

pumpkin, yes, I had my arms done in round 2 (6 weeks ago). That's the best thing I ever did and I almost didn't do it. I thought the scar wouldn't be worth it but it totally is.

OH_Julie (and all who subsequently commented), thank you so much for your thoughful words. I'm at a loss for how to tell you how much they mean to me, so I'll just say thank you and continue to share my journey. Thank you for sharing yours as well.

UPDATE:

Well, I'm not doing as well as I'd like, quite honestly. I guess with the holidays being right here at the same time as surgery, I just may have overdone things with traveling from one family to another, shopping, shopping and shopping, cooking, etc. It's been very busy.

The only problem there is that my drains are still draining a LOT and it's probably because of all the movement. So, I've been ordered to semi bed rest for about 3 days to see if they'll slow down. To put it in context, with my first 2 surgeries, by day 4 or so, I was only draining about 20 cc's a day in each drain. So the drains were removed on day 6. This time, I'm on day 7 and they're still draining like 150 cc's a day. I never drained that much with the others, much less a week out! Anyway, I've been moving around a lot, so I'm going to really follow orders and stay put for a few days and see if that'll help. I don't want to go back to New York with drains. I still have a week and a day before I go home, so there's still time to turn the tide, which is what I plan to do, even if sitting still KILLS me.

Other than the drain issues, I feel fine. More tired than normal, but that's part of the process. I can't tell you about the results yet on the legs. Dressing change tomorrow, so I should get a peek then. I'm still very, very happy with the breasts.

That's about it!

Hi Julie - first of all you look fabulous! You must be so excited. I am sorry to hear that you are draining so much, or that you are having a slower recovery from the last surgery - remember how much your body has been through recently. You owe it to yourself to rest before you get back to rat race here in the city.

My port sticks out a lot and I have barely lost 1/2 the weight that I am planning to lose. How soon did your port start sticking out? Mine gets in the way and I even saw it through a wool sweater ( a clingy wool sweater) that I tried on the other day. I am also very hour-glassy and carry most of my weight in my boobs and in my butt and hips. I did discuss it with my surgeon who said we can change it/move it when I am closer to goal. He never mentioned putting it below the muscle but that sounds like it would be super painful to fill/unfill. I am very curious to see the difference with the low-profile port.

Rest up and take care of yourself!

K

My port stuck out so much that you could see it through clothes. Now, it still sticks out because I elected to leave it on top of the muscle (my band doc said below the muscle would make it invisible but would make fills harder and much more painful), but not so much that you can see it through clothes (or even naked). It just looks like I have a well developed ab muscle there now. I'll show you a pic in the next round of pics.

If you have the option of a low profle port from the beginning, go for it. If not, I'd say 95% of people never need it. I think it's my shape -- I'm pretty hourglassy and my middle is very small compared to the rest of me, so it's mostly that I think.

Julie, Thanks for sharing your journey and giving the rest of us so much encouragement.

Your photos are awesome (even away from your personal software).

Where are the drains? I didn't see them. I always thought that keeping moving was good for post op. Now I'm confused.

Is this the end of of the PS journey for you? I can't see where you might possibly need any more. Your arms, tummy, the girls (what are their names?) and your whole boddy looks really good. If you still have swelling, that must be minor.

Congrats on the successful surgeries.

Terry

Julie, your breasts are looking great -- just the right size. The scars from the lift aren't even visible. Your dad does excellent work. Did you have any loss of sensation from either the lift or the augmentation?

...Other than the drain issues, I feel fine. More tired than normal, but that's part of the process. I can't tell you about the results yet on the legs. Dressing change tomorrow, so I should get a peek then. I'm still very, very happy with the breasts.

Can't wait to see photos of the thighs. How has the pain been? Make sure you take it easy. The more you over do it, the longer it will take to get back to 100%. But of course you know that already.

Julie: I hope your draining gets better. How do you rest with a thigh lift? What position is comfortable? I'm sure you can lie on your breasts, so what do you do? I'm going to have my arms and back side done on my 2nd go round and I think and worry about these things. Have you seen all the 24 series? Maybe it's time to catch up on a favorite TV series! As always, wishing you the very best!

Karey,

With the outer thighs, resting was hard because I wasn't supposed to sit -- only lay or stand. This time is much easier. I had to move into a sitting position somewhat cautiously for the first few days, but once seated (or laying down) there's no discomfort except at the very, very top of the incision. It's really not bad.

I had arms and backside done at the same time and survived it. It's better than backside and breasts, in terms of combo. I'd go TT/BL, then backside/arms, in terms of combo (obviously, since that's what I did!)

I haven't forgotten your present -- as soon as I'm allowed to leave the bed, I'm going to send you the perfect thing!

Well today was interesting. First, I stayed in bed and the draining really slowed down. Second, Dad did something I hadn't read about -- he stripped the drains and injected an antibiotic into them. Apparently it gets the skin to stick back down and helps to stop Fluid accumulation. So, hopefully in a couple of days the draining situation will be under control.

In the meantime WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW at my thighs!!! Oh my gosh!! I can't wait to show you pics. I mean, I have like NO hanging skin! But for the scar (which I'm already fond of, given the trade off), my skin looks like a teenager's! It's really wild. I can't believe how smooth it is, given what it looked like pre-op. I only saw it seated -- might shif a little when standing -- we'll see. I think this might be my favorite surgery in the long run, results wise. I'll keep you posted.

Julie, you have said on a number of occasions that because of the scars from your plastic surgeries you could never be a bikini model. I must ask, "Why the hell not!" All those "perfect" little bitches in all of the magazines are not so perfect, you know. They airbrush the crap out of them! Once all of the swelling goes down and your awesome scars have healed, you should march right into a photography studio clad in a tiny bikini and have a series of portraits taken. Have them airbrush one set and do a side by side comparison with the originals. You will probably see that the only difference will be in the texture of your skin. The shape and form of your body will be all yours! You owe it to yourself for all of the hard work you have done, both physically and mentally, to realize that you absolutely CAN be a bikini model. You ARE one of those perfect little bitches now!

Haha, true enough, Trixie. Maybe I'll do that! Thanks for the pep talk.

Wow, smooth skin. Cool! Hope your Dad's trick works and the draining gets under control. Wishing you the best!