Getting Rid of This 'Twin' Belly - Birmingham, AL

Hi all! I am 50 yrs old, 5'3" and approx. 170 lbs. Plastic surgery isn't new to me as I actually had an implant exchange on August 7th of this year, I didn't find this site until right before my surgery and didn't to a profile or review of it. However, I went from 425cc saline under the muscle to 800cc silicone under the muscle, so the top half is looking pretty good! I didn't get enough upper pole fullness with the 425s and they were 12 years old so it was time to replace them. My new hubby likes BIG so I went as big as I could go without special ordering the implants. Hopefully they won't end up just making me look fatter when it's all said and done! haha I didn't have time then for the recovery involved with a TT, so opted to get the implant exchange 1st and do the TT a little later. That should also ease the healing and pain since I'm not doing them simultaneously. I booked the end of Sept. because my PS had a TT special, provided you have it done prior to the end of Sept and the 25th is the last possible date. Due to other obligations, grandbaby due, etc. earlier dates in Sept. were not an option. I have wanted the exchange and TT for years but couldn't afford it when my weight was lower. Menopause hit 3-4 years ago and I gained about 30 lbs that nothing seems to budge. I've always said it is ridiculous to get a TT if you aren't at a good weight, but at this point I don't have much confidence that I will ever get back to the 135 to 140 range I would really like to be in. Earlier this year, it took me 6 months of extreme dieting (doctor monitored) with diet pills and a calorie intake of approx. 1100 to 1200 a day along with exercising at least 5 days a week to lose 10 lbs. Then June happened! It was a crazy busy month, we had 3 big family weddings (1 at a resort out of town which kind of turned into a vacation, and 1 of which was my son's so lots of stress), we sold our house and moved to another state and low and behold by the time June was over with I'd gained back 7 lbs of what I'd lost!! So anyway, when my PS announced some specials, I decided it was time to bite the bullet and just go for it even though I hadn't lost the weight I wanted to lose. Got the implant exchange and now looking forward to TT/lipo. But, I now have a niece getting married on 10/18 which will result in me taking 3 flights only 23 days after my surgery and unfortunately I will be traveling alone. I'm getting really nervous about whether or not my PS will recommend me doing the surgery then if I'm going to need to fly so soon afterwards. I'm also afraid that my family would frown upon me not attending the wedding just because I chose to have elective surgery, and yet I can't move the surgery date back any further or I lose the discount. My husband is not working right now so its the perfect time to have the surgery as he'll have time to take care of me. Once he goes back to work, that won't be an option until he builds up vacation time again. Decisions, decisions! I'm going back for my 3 week follow up this Friday so will discuss with my PS at that time. A little more info and history on me. At 5'3" I'm obviously at least 25 lbs heavier than I should be although I do have a more muscular build. I've had 3 pregnancies, the last of which was full term twins. 2 weeks before they were born, my belly measured 53" around, so you can imagine the amount of stretching and straining my body endured. My stretch marks looked like seersucker fabric and although I only gained 42 lbs, my body never bounced back. My weight has yoyo'd over the years as well, so that hasn't helped my fat distribution and has resulted in some possible skin elasticity issues. Right now my stomach just looks fat and I have some weird looking little fat rolls below my hip bones that look atrocious in any kind of a swim suit. My inner and outer thighs are fatter than I would like and the dreaded bra bulge is pretty ugly at this point too. If I had my way, I would lipo all of it when I have the TT but from reading here I understand that most likely won't be an option. The PS definitely recommended lipo of my flanks when I get the TT done so will be getting that at a minimum. I may see about getting the bra bulge area done then too and wait and see how everything else looks 6 months or so afterwards and then decide where else lipo might be needed. I'm starting to get the baggy knee look which I hate, but I'm not sure if lipo will help or hurt with that since I'm concerned that my skin may not shrink if I had lip there which means I would still have flabby knees they just wouldn't be as fat!! So anyway, I guess I'll know more about whether or not I can actually still have my surgery on the 25th after this Friday and I'll also decide more about any add'l lipo based on what he can/will do. I'm not really nervous abut having the TT/lipo, just worried about the results since I know I won't be able to lose much between now and then. I haven't been able to exercise any since having the exchange as they don't want your blood pressure going up due to the bleeding it may cause. So after my f/u when I expect he'll release me to start exercising I will have less than a month to lose whatever I can before having surgery (I hope). Even if I hit it really hard I don't expect that I'll be able to lose more than 3 or 4 lbs, my body pretty much refuses to let any of this fat go without a huge struggle and I rarely eat more than 1500 to 1700 calories a day even when not actively 'dieting'. That's my story and I'll update here with some photos and more info as I get it. Thanks for reading about me!!

Like many of you I can't seem to stop reading the reviews on here, I think it's helping me get mentally prepared. On the one hand I'm not really scared of the pain, nut I am scared of the unknown, I'm not sure if that is better or worse! lol My PS did put my mind at ease about traveling so soon after my surgery and even said he has a colleague working in the area and he'll provide me with that name and number in case I have any issues while I'm gone. I was originally going to do just the TT and flank lipo, but thinking about adding lipo of my bra bulge area and maybe my hips to make sure everything is nice and in porportion. I would have him do lipo of inner and outer thighs but in AL they can only do 4000 (cc's I think) and I don't want him to do any area only half way just because he has several areas to cover. I'm not sure how much 4000 is, but I want the best that can be done in the areas he's going to be working on!! Would love to find some other lovely ladies who are having surgery around the same time and keep in touch. My hubby is getting a little tired of hearing all my chit chat about everything surgery related!!

Yes, it's one week from tomorrow and I can't wait!! A little nervous and not feeling prepared at all, but most of the actual preparation will have to be done the first of next week when we are home again. I've decided to go ahead with lipo of the bra bulge area and outer thighs/hips in addition to my flanks. I don't want to look all lopsided or unbalanced when this is all said and done!! Will be adding some pics as soon as I can get some taken. They won't be pretty...if they were then I don't guess I would be here would I??? LOL Happy Humpday to All!!!