Getting better everyday at 4.5 months p.o. Mommy Makeover . - Honolulu, HI

I have a 1 year old daughter. My pregnancy was very tumultuous, with multiple hospital stays, so my husband and I decided we were done having kids after she was born. Before I got pregnant I was a 34D, 150lbs., and 5'8". When I delivered I was 180lbs and a 40F. Even after breastfeeding for 6 months the 40F remained. I had terrible back pain due to the weight of my boobs while working in a career that is already hard on the back. I had breast reconstruction in 2008 due to a tubular breast deformity, and was a 34D after that surgery, however pregnancy deformed my breasts in a new way. My stomach was also ruined, and after losing most of the baby weight, I still looked flabby and disgusting. I begin considering a "Mommy Makeover". It just so happened that one of my dental patients was planning a Mommy Makeover too, and had selected Dr. Schlesinger to be her surgeon. I set up a consultation the next day.I am very impressed by the level of professionalism, personal attention, skill, and artistry Dr. Schlesinger encompasses. He is truly gifted, and I am so glad I selected him to be my surgeon. His office staff are also very friendly and professional. Despite having to fight the terrible Honolulu traffic to reach his office, I enjoy each of my visits. I have the utmost respect for him, and truly appreciate everything he has done to make me look at feel better. At my consult and pre-op we agreed on a tummy tuck, breast reduction, and liposuction of the flanks, full back with dorsal rolls, and axilla. He gave me an INCREDIBLE military discount which allowed me to do a tummy tuck in addition to my breasts. Without his wonderful gift of this discount, I could have never afforded the tummy tuck. I mentioned that I hoped to be a full C or small D. I wanted to do my arms and thighs too, but could not afford it. Even after surgery, I still wish I could have done those areas too.Surgery itself was fine. His surgery center is beautiful and very non-clinical. I appreciated the discretion of the pre and post op area and exam room. I also liked his "designer" hospital gowns rather than ugly white with blue flecks. The pre-op time was very short, which was great; less time to be nervous. The only surprise I encountered was finding out that my abdominal pooch fat would not be liposuctioned during the surgery due to blood supply concerns. I thought this was included in the tummy tuck, however I found out that morning that having a perfectly flat tummy would require suctioning of this fat at a later time and incur an additional cost. I was definitely disappointed about this, and still hate the fat on my stomach. His anesthesiologist and surgical staff is wonderful as well. I felt comfortable the entire time despite being a little freaked out. Versed is not administered in pre-op, which would have been nice for relaxation, and Lidocaine is not administered at the IV site before IV catheter placement to alleviate pain, but otherwise the entire pre-op experience was fantastic.The first night post-op was horrible! The pain was comparable to natural childbirth. I don't remember much, but I do remember the horrific pain and screaming and crying due to how bad it hurt. I stayed overnight thank goodness. The night nurse was pleasant, but I so wish they had administered IV pain meds (which I requested overnight), rather than oral Percocet. Dr. SchlesingerI took two weeks off of work; and wish I had taken 3 due to continued pain and mobility issues. I only remember bits and pieces of my first week post-op. I wrote many texts and emails with no memory of doing so. Post-op care, visits, ultrasounds have been flawless. His office has the best hours (evenings and weekends) to accomodate the schedule of a busy professional and mother. His level of care and professionalism remains to be the best I have ever seen in any medical provider. It is a rare gift, and I am so grateful everyday for how well he has taken care of me.Now 11 weeks later, I still cannot believe how much better I look and feel! Some cons are I cannot do situps (a job requirement), and still have sharp twings of pain a couple of times a day, but otherwise feel basically back to normal. I love my new body. Although I still do not love my stomach due to the fat pooch and recurrent love handles, I do like my new stomach as it looks MUCH better than it did before. I LOVE my new boobs! They are soft, yet firm, high yet natural, and NO MORE BACK PAIN! I am now a 36 C. I feel sexy, comfortable, and now longer am embarrassed at work by large breasts. Overall, I am very happy. Dr. Schlesinger is a genius! I will forever be grateful to him and his staff!Some realistic things to note. Plastic surgery is very expensive, and Dr. Schlesinger is a high-end doctor doing high-end surgery. The entire experience was top-notch. Nobody will deny that he is expensive, however you get what you pay for, and I didn't want bargain plastic surgery with bargain results. He is worth the extra money. Also, his wait times can be long sometimes. My pre-op appointment took over 4 hours, and one time he thankfully squeezed me in to evaluate a potential complication, and I had to wait 3 hours. Most days though the wait is under an hour. He is a high demand doctor, for good reason, but be prepared, these are not usually quick visits. However, he is WORTH the wait! I have some recurrent fat on my flanks, back, and axilla area. I do not have that carved out side boob and underarm area I had dreamed of. I've lost an additional 15lbs. after surgery, so I am trying to lose a lot more because I probably cannot afford to do another surgery due to the cost. The $19,000 tapped us out. Someday maybe I will be able to afford to have liposuction to finish my stomach. I hope we can do it before we PCS in two years so that Dr. Schlesinger can do the surgery. In the future, if my husband and I can afford it, I would love to finish my transformation by getting liposuction on my stomach and touching up my flanks, back and axilla, and additionally I would love to do my upper arms and thighs. But in the end I am so very happy and cannot thank Dr. Schlesinger and his staff for all they have done to give me back my confidence and make me look so much better! Dr. Schlesinger was an answer to many, many prayers!

I have finally made it to that magical three-month mark. And while I know I look better than before surgery, I am a little sad overall. I love, love, love my breasts, so no complaints there. But when I look at everyone's tummy tuck results, they look amazing at three months, with flat, tight stomachs. My stomach is flatter and tighter, but due to the fat he couldn't remove at the same time, it is not flat and tight. And I still have pretty large love handles that stick out which is an area that was liposuctioned (I still have a bruise there after three months to prove it). I am still embarrassed when I sit down, because I still have a big "gut" that sticks out and hangs over my waistband. Almost $20,000 later and when I look at my photos, I still look like a "before" picture. Don't get my wrong, I wouldn't trade my new body for my old body, but I thought going into this that in the end I would be comfortable in a bikini, with a tight, flat stomach. I could NEVER wear a bikini even now, my stomach is still not bathing suit ready. I am thrilled to not have huge rolls of back fat anymore! So that is pretty amazing. I still have small rolls, and large fat deposits on the sides of my boobs, which were liposuctioned. So I am kind of sad about that. The person who referred me to my doctor is now over 6 months post-op and just went back to him last week to have her thighs, knees, stomach, back, and arms liposuctioned (during her surgery the anesthesiologist damaged some dental work I did for her and I had to come in a few days later while on-call to fix :( which isn't good). She looks tiny, but her surgery was $7,000, but she is so happy, so maybe that is what I need to do. Save up for a year or two and have my stomach and arms liposuctioned, and my back, hips, axilla, and side-boobs liposuctioned again even though they were already done once during my mommy makeover. My husband is going to Dr. Schlesinger to have his stomach and hips liposuctioned in July, which is $10,000, so we won't be able to afford for me to complete my mommy makeover liposuction for quite awhile. So while I am very happy I don't have my old body, I still feel like a before picture. I went from a terrible, disgusting body, so I am extremely grateful for that. But I spent all this money, spent all this time recovering, and have dieted and worked out, hoping a mommy makeover would give me a body I could feel good about and proud of. But 3 months later, and I am not comfortable being nude, in a bikini, or in tight fitting clothes, I can't sit down without a large protruding gut, and I still have back and hip rolls. What I do LOVE are my boobs! No more back aches; the huge monsters are gone! I could not be happier about my boobs, they are amazing and I am SO grateful for what a wonderful job he did on them! So A+ for the boobs and C+ for the body overall at three months.

I'll add that Dr. Schlesinger and have staff have always been wonderful! Follow-ups every other week, ultrasounds to help break up the hard knots, wonderful snacks in the waiting room, very flexible.... Although I didn't get the results I dreamed of for my stomach, his work on my boobs was a God-send and wonderful. He and his staff have always been amazing to me.