Hi everyone,

I thought that I would start this thread mainly because I have found reading other peoples so helpful, it is so much better to read actual experiances than listen to a surgeon give you their veiws!

I actually looked into having a FTT done before I decided to get the band, I have had 6 kids and have a fairly horrific scar from and apppendectomy that got badly infected when I was a child.

Just before I had my initial appointment I decided to get the band fitted too, as much as anything to break the yo-yo pattern of dieting that I had fallen into for years now. One of my biggest worries was that I would have the TT and lipo and then 2 years later I would have put all the weight back on!

I discussed at length with my surgeon whether or not to leave the plastics until I had reached goal, but I am going to the maldives for 3 weeks for my 40th in September with my DH and I wanted to be looking good for that

I am very lucky in so far as in my surgeons words I have 'strong skin' but my tummy is a bit of a mess with the scar and the baby pouch left from the kids.I have NEVER had a flat tummy, even when I got down to 105lbs in my 20's so this will be a whole new experiances for me.

I am a bit gutted that I havent lost more weight, but I am going to get back into the zone now that Christmas is over and I am hoping to lose more in the next 5/6 weeks.

I have got my final consult and pre op on the 16th of Jan, and then the op is booked for the 11th of feb.

I am having major lipo (he thinks about 7/8 litres) and a FTT this time round, and then 6 months after that I want to have the puppies lifted back to their rightful place and refilled ( breast feeding 6 munchkins has not made the puppies happy) I asked him about doing it all at once but he said that 7 hours in theatre would be needed just for the FTT and lipo and he couldn't do a BL/Aug at the same time.So its just the bottom half of me that is going to get revampped this time. Does anyone know what is the minimum time that I can leave between the 2 ops?

I searched all over the net to find my surgeon, and I am having to go to France to see him, but I was so taken with his methods and te fact that he pioneered some of them ( he uses High Tension Stitching in a kind of quilting pattern under the skin so that you dont need drains, and he never cuts through the lymph system) and the fact that he trains others in this method that I figured I would rather travel.

The other thing that swung me towards him is that he keeps you in his private hospital for a week afterwards,with full access to morphine if you need it!! ;:speechles)

So thats me I will try to get my before pictures out of him when I go over this time so that you can see what he is up against!

Here is his website if anyone is interested, I think he is pretty amazing!

Docteur PASCAL - LYON - FRANCE

Nina x

Jelbel - the surgery and drugs,nurse coming out and all that sort of thing is 12,000 euros

Wow. If that includes the 3/4 weeks of hotel and the week in the hospital, that's not bad at all. It converts to just over $17,500 US dollars. Hell, my insurance paid my banding hospital over $18,000 for just one night and I had to pay another $7,000+ out of pocket. Damn, makes me want to travel to France for surgery, too.

Ehem *looks embarassed* It does include the week in hospital, but unfortunately not the hotel bill, though I will be splitting it with my friend and we negotiated a 50% discount cos we are staying so long. I am toying with seeing if I can put it through expenses as my friend also happens to be one of my companies top customers, would it count as a business trip??LOL

Feel free to come and join me in May hon and I will show you the sights!

Ehem *looks embarassed* It does include the week in hospital, but unfortunately not the hotel bill, though I will be splitting it with my friend and we negotiated a 50% discount cos we are staying so long. I am toying with seeing if I can put it through expenses as my friend also happens to be one of my companies top customers, would it count as a business trip??LOL

Feel free to come and join me in May hon and I will show you the sights!

Heck, even without the hotel, that's a damn good deal! I'd really hate to see what a week in a hospital in the US would cost!

Hey, I may take you up on your offer, you never know! If I graduate when planned, I'm wanting to take a trip somewhere, if I've got enough cash saved up. Unfortunately, I'm still paying off my surgery, and I'm pretty broke!

How long do you reckon until you are solvent again? It would be a hoot!

I must admit it is the thought of the surgery that has spurred me on and is keeping me away from the chips at the moment!

God I hope I get my waist back, I used to be such an hourglass....

What do you think that you would want to do? LBL? FTT? The possibilities are endless!!!LOL

Nina x

How long do you reckon until you are solvent again? It would be a hoot!

I must admit it is the thought of the surgery that has spurred me on and is keeping me away from the chips at the moment!

God I hope I get my waist back, I used to be such an hourglass....

What do you think that you would want to do? LBL? FTT? The possibilities are endless!!!LOL

Nina x

I'm not really sure when I'll be solvent again. It depends on whether I can find another part-time job. I'm teaching a few biology labs this semester, but the pay's horrid. I'm looking for extra work though, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I'm thinking that I'll probably go for the FTT. Most of my excess weight is on my belly, so I don't have that much hanging skin on my backside. Whenever I do get it done, I'll definitely be needing a breast lift, as well, and maybe augmentation (I'm considering doing that at a later date and waiting to see how the girls look after the BL).

I just discussed boobs with my PS and he said that if you are after the fullness at the top of the breast that you had when you were young, a lift alone wont do that.It will lift them higher but it cant create tissue where there is none. Thats why most people end up doing both.

I was more bothered by my tummy that is why I am getting that done first!

I just discussed boobs with my PS and he said that if you are after the fullness at the top of the breast that you had when you were young, a lift alone wont do that.It will lift them higher but it cant create tissue where there is none. Thats why most people end up doing both.

I was more bothered by my tummy that is why I am getting that done first!

That makes sense. I'll probably wind up doing the BA, then, since I don't even remember having fullness at the top of my breast. My girls have been sagging since puberty.

LOL I dont know what is worse! I have the memories of mammorys!!

I must admit I am quite freaked out by the initial scarring immediately post op. I have always hated my tum so I don't give a rats ass about that, but I am very fond of the puppies and just want to bring them back to their former glory. I looked at some pics on makemeaheal.com and it freaked me out a bit! Hmmmm I think I am going to have to talk more to my PS about it.......

LOL I dont know what is worse! I have the memories of mammorys!!

I must admit I am quite freaked out by the initial scarring immediately post op. I have always hated my tum so I don't give a rats ass about that, but I am very fond of the puppies and just want to bring them back to their former glory. I looked at some pics on makemeaheal.com and it freaked me out a bit! Hmmmm I think I am going to have to talk more to my PS about it.......

I do love that website. It definitely shows the good, the bad, and the ugly. I've started searching for surgeons in my state, and some of the pics on their websites kind of freak me out and scare me. I don't want headlights that point two different directions, you know? And I don't know yet if I'll need an LBL or a FTT, which might limit my choices. I don't know whether to show the most interest in the surgeons that do a lot of work with bariatric patients or ones that don't. Sometimes, I get the feeling that some of the surgeons that specifically cater to bariatric patients are not as concerned with aesthetics as the other surgeons. More "lose that extra skin" than "let's make you look beautiful." Does that make sense?

I know exactly what you mean, some of the reconstructive jobs that I have seen have been quite frankly horrific.Its as if they are just there to remove skin and bugger the final look of the job, how arrogant to assume that the patient should be grateful for any improvement when they have worked so hard to get where they are already!!!

I would say ask to see a lot of their work, if you look on my PS's site he takes equal care with both, though I appreciate that for some patients the job is going to be much much tougher. One of the ladies that he has on his site he is showing there when she was still a work in progress, she had to have a series of operations, he showed me the end results and it was an OMG moment. You arent going to be in that category though hon so I wouldnt worry too much.

I would say start having consults now, it may take time to find one that you are happy with, and for me once I had it in my sights it was a definate motivator!!

Nina x

I do love that website. It definitely shows the good, the bad, and the ugly. I've started searching for surgeons in my state, and some of the pics on their websites kind of freak me out and scare me. I don't want headlights that point two different directions, you know? And I don't know yet if I'll need an LBL or a FTT, which might limit my choices. I don't know whether to show the most interest in the surgeons that do a lot of work with bariatric patients or ones that don't. Sometimes, I get the feeling that some of the surgeons that specifically cater to bariatric patients are not as concerned with aesthetics as the other surgeons. More "lose that extra skin" than "let's make you look beautiful." Does that make sense?

that's exactly why i chose to not go to one PS. he even knows and "has lunch with" my band doctor. so what? he was not at all into how good it would look, just that it would look "OK" clothed ...

i want damn fine clothed and really good nekkid.:wink2:

Too right!!! And damn fine is how you will look hon!!

well, you are already 99% there ... just cut off that skin and voila...

h o t!

Ahhh *blush* you are too kind!

When I was in with Pascal he was asking me what final look I was after and eventually he got what I was saying and said (in a very strong French accent) 'Ahhh I see, we are to drive your 'usband wild with desire' and I was like 'yup thats the mission' LOL

I can hardly imagine though and in some ways I am frightened to in case I end up disappointed, you know the secret picture that you have in your head, the one that you know will never be you but none the less you aspire to!

At the moment I am just thinking 'flat tum and waist, flat tum and waist...'

What do you think of when you think about it?

Hell, both of you are going to look damn good, I think!

I've only been able to find a couple of surgeons that are relatively close to me that have pictures of their work online. This guy particularly impressed me, but he doesn't have a lot of pictures up. This is the other group that I found that seems pretty good, but I'm not sure. I like the idea of having a female surgeon, but I REALLY like the work that Dr. Reath does. Any thoughts on either of those?