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

I would look around, look at examples of their work on the net, see how many before and afters feature people who actually NEED the surgery, I was shocked by how many of them were just operating on people who only needed a little tweak - if that!

I would say have a high lateral tension tummy tuck, it is the rolls royce of TT, read up on it on the net so you understand how it works, I was sold on it immediately!

HTH

Nina x

i agree. go on as many consults as you need to do in order for YOU to feel comfortable with not only the surgeon, but their procedures and their office staff. i lucked out with 3 consults.

Today I was in a meeting for a church group and they started talking about an article that came out saying how Utah has the most plastic surgeries of any state, per capita. These ladies were saying, how could people put there lives at risk for an optional procedure. Then they started telling PS horrow stories. It really irrated me. I knew that one of the ladies had had breast augmentation and a tummy tuck! Of course, I didn't tell them about my plans, so it wasn't anything personal, but still. People have more opinions that the drug store has pills! Not what I wanted to hear today!

grrrr, karey. the state of mind im in right now, i probably would have outted the one w/ the BA & TT.

Oh that would get my goat too Karey, I hear lots of people making negative comments about it, and some of them I know for a fact would - if someone else were to foot the bill - jump at the chance to do it themselves.

I suppose the one who had the surgery was too frightened to speak up?

My surgeon said to me ' I can achieve almost anything that you want but in order for me to do that, you must have 3 things.... time, money and courage' just because people are lacking in one of the three doesnt give them the right to critisise!

There are some people who even if they had all 3 wouldnt do it, but then I have no desire to take up quad biking/skydiving/free basing , but I wouldnt critisise someone who does!

Ahhhhh Bloody people!

Dont worry about it hon, you dont strike me as the most conventional of people, I am sure that you wont give a stuff what they think, and quite right too you worked your ass off to get there!!

Nina

Very best of luck with your surgery. I look forward to reading your posts when you have it over you.

I'm just starting to investigate the tummytuck options available now. Am now at 12.5 stone and will need to get down to 11 or 11.5 before I take the plunge. I'm based in Ireland and i don't see anything about high lateral tension tummytucks here on google so i may have to travel.

Can i ask you a few questions please, is there noone in the uk using this technique - is this why you need to travel to France?

second question i have read somewhere that most surgeons think its safe only to take 4 kg or so in lipo. Is Dr Pascal using a different technique or something which allows him to safely extract more?

Third question, why do you need to remain in France for so long afterwards? Is it your personal preference or stipulated by the surgeon? As I have 3 small kids I could stay for maybe a week but probably not three. I will need a hernia repair (which i could get done here separately), mini tummy tuck and about half a ton of lipo.

Ellen

LJM and NIna: Thanks for the support. I don't care that much about their opinions, but I really don't like the scare stories! I've decided to at least investigate breast augmentation and get more information. Then I will decide what to do. I really enjoy this thread.

Hi Ellen :frown:

The reason that I chose France was exactly that! I couldnt find anyone near me who used that technique, so the logical thought pattern that I followed was that if I have got to travel anyway, then I may as well travel to one of the best!

I was on Dr Pascals site yesterday Docteur PASCAL - LYON - FRANCE and I was looking at one of his publications (from what I can gather when they develop a new technique they write a paper on it and publish it so that all the other PS can see the technique) called abdominoplasty 2007. His breakthrough was that he doesnt in any way damage the lymphatic system. If you dont do that then you dont cause all the seromas and Fluid build up therefore you dont need to use drains!

He is ALL about patient saftey, to the point where I was arguing with him about waist size *blush* as in I wanted him to pull it in more and he wasnt prepared to risk too much puckering/tension!

I think that reason that he can remove that much lipo safely is that he keeps you in hospital for a week, he warned us at our pre-op that with that much being removed it is about 50/50 that you may need a blood transfusion.

The absolute minimum time that he will allow you to stay in france is the week in hospital.The reason that I am staying longer is that he sends his nurse out every day to check that the wound is healing, I dont want to leave until the scar has closed up, I am worried that if I come back and there IS a problem ( though his complication rate is sooo low) then I would have to fly out again to get it sorted!

He will try and talk you into getting to goal and holding it there before you schedule surgery, he normally waits til you have had the band in for a year, I wouldnt take no for an answer, but that is manily because of my dream holiday in September - well that and the fact that I hate people saying no :hurray:

Go on his website and have a look at his work, then get his number and ring Geraldine his secratary. She is lovely and speaks fluent english.

Remember when you are costing out that you will have to travel there twice before the operation, once for the consult and once for the pre-op and it does add up!

Hope that this helps!

Nina xx

LJM and NIna: Thanks for the support. I don't care that much about their opinions, but I really don't like the scare stories! I've decided to at least investigate breast augmentation and get more information. Then I will decide what to do. I really enjoy this thread.

Hi Karey,

If you are having the lift anyway I would say have a look at it, especially if you have breast fed at any stage!

Go ont www.makemeheal.com and look in their breastlift forum there will be loads of people there who have pictures on their signatures, I would say that well over 50% have augmentation at the same time.

I know that when I spoke to Pascal he actually folded my boob to show me what they do in the lift, and showed me that the top still wouldnt be full - yup that was enough for me!!!

I am not under any illusions , I know that after 6 kids and lots of cake (and I mean LOTS!!) I am never going to get my body perfect, but I am going to do everything that I can to get it as close as possible!!!

And just as a WOOOO HOOOO to me , from me, I have lost another 3lb since I got back from France I am now a smidgen away from the 11's!!!!!!

I havent been under 12 for about 4 years and I havent been in the 10's since I had my 4th munchkin!! I can do this , I can do this!!!!!

Nina xx

Nina: Congratulations on your weight loss. You can and are doing it. I have lost a total of 10 pounds in the last month. I am working very hard. Exercising 6 days a weeks and counting every blasted calorie. I think it is paying off! Unfortunately, the weight loss seems to be making my breasts even empytier. I ordered a kit from a female plastic surgeon on the internet that has a special bra and different size implants, so you can try them on in your own home, have your husband look and decide for yourself. I guess that sizing is an issue because the sizes don't come in bra or cup sizes but in cc's. According to this website, deciding on the size can be difficult and is the main and most common reason for revision surgery. Anyway, I haven't made up my mind, but I did talk to the PS and I don't have to decide until the 2 week pre-op visit, so I have time to think about every thing. I guess I'm inclined to go for it, even though it's an additional $1,800. My DH thinks I should leave well enough alone!

Karen & Nina

Great job on the weight losses!!

Karey - totally understand about the girls disappearing! i started a nice C and now, well .. barely a B... and THAT's all skin...

That kit sounds cool Karey!!! Well done on the weight loss as well, flippin heck you are going to melt away! I would go for it with the implants - I know I am going to!!

Losing - it just isnt fair is it hon? It hacks me off that as soon as you get one part of the body to start playing ball, another bit starts collapsing!!!

Nina x

Nina

Wishing you very best with your surgery (which must be soon now).

Ellen

Thankyou hon,

Have you gone any further in your decision making process?

nina,

i cant believe how close you are!!! :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

Losing, who is your PS? I'm pretty sure you mentioned him somewhere, but I don't remember where.

I know I know!!!! This time next week I will be flying to Lyon!!!

Laurend, I would bite the bullet and go and see a few PS's if I were you!

Nina xx

I had visited four ps, the one I finally chose was actually in the same practice as the first one I talked to, but I felt most comfortable with him and he wasn't all about doing the implants. He felt I had enough to work with and advised to go without them for now and if not happy he would do the implants later, but didn't advise it. I even told him when before he started the surgery, that if he felt I needed them, I'd leave it to his discretion. He also had me hold the smallest he had to offer and they were heavy, which he reminded me was one of my reasons for wanting the reduction.

I have to admit, if I were younger, I know I would have opted to do the implants, say if I was the age I was when I had it done the first time, but not now. I'm just glad it's done, that I went through with it and didn't chicken out and blessed that I bounced back so quickly.