Tummy Tuck: Stories

Hi all!

I've been considering a tummy tuck for years, since I've had my daughter. Now that she is 20 y.o. I figured its time. You see, I was a teen mom, had her at 17. Now that my children are older, I figured its time to be selfish. I've always been the provider, and will always keep my family first. This time, I'm learning to start doing me for a change. I'm single, been divorced for a few years now, and honestly, need to get my groove back. I'm not comfortable with my nakedness. And I believe this insecurity is hindering me. By no means do I think I'm unattractive, just want my body to match my face. Lol! I'm sure a lot of you ladies can relate to what I'm talking about! I'm 37 yrs old and oftentimes ppl mistaken me for early twenties. And when I'm with my kids, they think I'm their oldest sibling. These are all ego boosts, but underneath the clothes, I feel like I have the body of an older woman. That is what I want to change. Weight has always been a constant struggle, especially with a thyroid condition, which makes it worse. I've dropped 30lbs within a year thru Jenny Craig, but now, that has left me with sagging skin, and no elasticity.

My areas that I would like to tackle are my upper arms, inner thighs, abdomen, and maybe even my butt. So far, I've reached out to 4 doctors, 2 from Mexico, 1 from DR, and 1 from Boston, MA. So far I'm in the works of getting quotes from Dra. Robles -DR, and Dra. Cardenas -MX.
My concerns for going out of the country is more or less how I'm going to manage recovering. Not sure how long I need to request off from work, and whether I can request medical leave thru FMLA. I would appreciate any support or encouragement from all of you, and hope I can do the same. My goal would be to hopefully make a decision within 6 months.

Thank you all in advance!