I've posted about this before but most of my post-op posts got torched during the Big Crash.
So here ya go again...
In November 2002, I came to the conclusion (after talking with Meg - see the huge Loose Skin thread which has been moved to this forum) that:
So that's when I decided to research it further. I went on a couple of consults - the first one was with a major university hospital - I was trying to save money initially and had read about teaching hospitals doing the surgery at a discount (a medical student in training, supervised by a 'real' surgeon). It only took the consult to find out that was NOT the way I wanted to do it. Meg's said in the past that a plastic surgeon is an artist - just like if you were having your portrait painted, or your home redecorated/remodeled, you would want to have a good rapport with the surgeon who works on you - KWIM? (besides, the money I would have saved wouldn't have amounted to much anyway...and they did admit they had a waiting list).
My second (and last) consult was with the PS who did my mother's breast reconstruction after her double masectomy. She's highly regarded here in the Bay Area (and that's really saying something since we have a plethora of PS's here!) and we just hit it off right away. Like I said...rapport.
So I had two problem areas that were bugging me:
1) Even at a size 4/6, I had 'thunder thighs' including saddlebags that never went away...remember that Meg said once fat cells develop, they're there to stay unless you have them removed surgically (liposuction).
2) My hangy tummy.
I didn't have the 'fundage' to do both procedures at once so I basically picked the area that was bugging me the most - at the time it was my thighs. In February, I had 5000 cc's of fat cells removed from my thighs via liposuction. While I was delighted with the results, I could see immediately that my stomach now looked MUCH worse - more prominent since the saddlebags and all were history.
On December 8th, I went into the surgery center and had a full tummy tuck with muscle repair (where the abs are sewn back together like a corset). The surgery took 3 1/2 hours and I went home the same day (for both procedures actually).
For the liposuction, I took a week off work; for the TT, I took two weeks off.
Pain? Actually I would call it for the most part, more of 'discomfort'. Of course you have to remember that I was on DRUGS.
At least for the first 3-4 days post op. After that, an occasional Valium or Tylenol PM was fine. I am a major pain weenie (my dentist has to give me a Valium to calm me down before she injects the novocaine!) but aside from a couple of times where I was reading/watching TV and something funny would come on (warning: do NOT watch "South Park" during TT recovery!) I was okay. Except for the fact that I couldn't run, jog, lift weights or horseback ride for six weeks following the surgery - but it was well worth it. (for the lipo I was on the DL for four weeks).
Am I happy I did it? was it worth the $$ and time off, etc? ABSOLUTELY!