So as if the whole world did not already know, my surgery is set for July 3 at 7:30AM. I will have to be to the surgery center at 6:30. To the dismay of many around here, this will be an outpatient surgery and is scheduled to last 6 hours. Here is what the doc said yesterday.

1. I will have 2, (possibly 3) incisions. One that runs hip to hip (about 3/4 of the way back on the hip), 1 that runs vertically from groin to breast bone, and then possibly one that is horizontal just underneath the bra line. She won't know until she sees how much puckering there will be at the top. I really don't give a CRAP about scarring. I just want to see my belly button!:sneaky:

2. She has no idea how much muscle repair I will need. She said she wouldn't know until she gets in there.

3. She may or may not move my port. It depends on how much of a fat pad there is between my port and the muscle. If there is not a lot, she will leave it. If there is a fair amount, then she will unstitch the port, remove the fat, and resecure the port to my muscle. Lovely...port pain again! :thumbup: She will not be changing the location of the port and has the complete support of my lap-band surgeon.

4. She will lipo the mons area and lift as well. This is being thrown in as a bonus. She said she is not going to charge me for the lipoing of the mons area because she didn't originally think I would need it, but now she thinks it would be better. She said it is not enough to justify recalculating the fees.

5. I will be receiving a pain pump that will last for 48 hours. She gave me the option of showing me how to remove it myself (WTH!):rolleyes2: or to move up my post-op and come in on Monday and have her remove it. I opted for the second! I am not a biologist/doctor...that is what I pay them the big bucks for!

6. She is so excited that I am running the half-marathon before surgery because it will cause great circulation and put me in the best shape of my life. She was not concerned about the weightloss because of my muscle tone. She didn't want to see me losing a lot of weight just due to low calories and poor nutrition which can be a problem for healing. But after seeing the muscle tone in my arms and legs she is EXTREMELY confident in my ability to heal quickly.

They took a bunch of pictures and I got my prescriptions for surgery. They are all liquid as this was the only thing that my lap-band surgeon suggested. I did not want to get a pill stuck and be throwing up! So I will just gag from the flavor instead.:tongue2: Liquid pain meds and liquid antibiotics. Sounds like a party. I can sit in my recliner like chair with a straw and party umbrella in my medical cocktail and feel like I am sitting on the beach...with my new "bikini body"!:rolleyes2:

And now...what everyone has been waiting for... the pictures...as hideous as they may be! I know a lot of people like to see before and after pictures and I will be posting a lot. There are not a lot of people that have the vertical incision and it has been very difficult for me to find before and afters so I am going to do the best I can to provide this information for other's searching.

Congrats on the marathon! I hope your ankle is feeling better.

HAPPY (belated) BIRTHDAY!! :Banane30:

I'll be thinking about you tomorrow. I hope things go smoothly.

Good Luck in surgery tomorrow!

thinkin of you, Salsa. you're gunna be SOOOO smokin!!

Alright...we are leaving in just a few minutes. IndioGirl will post when DH texts her. LJM will be posting on the blog.

I will post when I get home!

Buh-bye rolls! Hello Flatlands!

Thinking of you!

Salsa's DH just texted me

She is out of surgery and doing great :thumbup:

Will keep you all posted if I hear anymore...

Keep the prayers going though - she is going to need them for a speedy recovery...

great news!

Salsa, AKA the new Latina Heida Klume!! We are all praying for your speedy recovery. Can't wait to see the new you!!!

I hope you have a speedy recovery!! Best Wishes!!

Good job Girl :thumbup::thumbup:! I knew you would sail right through this!!!

Get some rest and take good care of yourself and we look forward to hearing from you soon!!!!

Congratulations and welcome to the Flat Lands!!!!

I am home! Still a little groggy but otherwise doing great. Thank you to Janet for posting.

Yahooo for you! So glad you are home and well. Remember to take your meds, BREATHE and just relax. Keep on top of that pain, OK?!

Bless you and congrats!!!

Salsa, so glad you are on the recovery side of things now! Rest and enjoy the good drugs for a few days. We'll be thinking of you and watching for your progress reports. Becky

Yay. Yay. Yay. Jabba the Hutt is no more.... Congratulations Salsa!

Jabba the Hut is NO MORE!

The surgery was 4.5 hours long and I was discharged 1 hour and 15 minutes after the surgery was finished. Yeah....they are very efficient there!

The doctor has already called me at home to make sure that everything is going well. She is the sweetest lady ever. Then the anethesiologist was a hoot. Seriously had the best bedside manner ever. Those guys are usually stuffy jerks but this one was cracking jokes and we were talking chemistry right up until I dozed off.

During surgery she only removed 4.1 pounds. She was not able to get the tummy TOTALLY flat but said that she would do that at a significant priced reduction when I have my breast lift. She just didn't want to compromise blood flow. So there will be a tiny little pooch right underneath my breasts but the rest of the tummy will be flat. She actually went out and discussed it with DH before making the final decision on what to do. She could have made the decision on her own, but instead opted to discuss it with family...how cool is that! She truly is an amazing woman and doctor. You can already see improvement. I am obviously still in the binder but it is so flat! Makes my boobies look REALLY big now though! DH says he is going to have to get two sticks to beat off the high schoolers! I already had a few flirting with me at the end of last year. Kind of creepy...no one ever hit on me when I was fat. At first I didn't even notice that they were doing it...then I got freaked out.