“Full TT, Bit o' Lipo, Medial Thigh Lift scheduled for June 2012”

I am 50 years old, 4 kids ranging from 24 to nearly 8 (first one C-section, good scar; the rest VBAC), and family propensity for belly apron. Top weight was 235 in 1998 at 5'3" - morbidly obese BMI. Started Atkins several years ago and have slowly lost 80 pounds now. Apple body habitus so I know I will never have a lovely curvy shape but frustrating to lose all that weight and only a handful of inches in the waistline, lol. Now just shy 15 pounds to making normal BMI, and from what I can tell they're all sitting on my belly. :( So figured while my money is still of any value would use it to take care of this while I can still heal from it and enjoy it. :) There seems to be a limit on which doctors in the area do medial thigh PS so it narrows my choices but I don't mind, the choices are still good.

Updated on 21 Feb 2012:
Thank you for the suggestions and encouragement. Have been researching more in earnest lately - motorcycle riding season and paragliding training weather are rapidly approaching and I suspect I'm already going to be missing some, or will have to postpone PS until after summer... either way will not be a tragedy, I just didn't move on this fast enough. :) Have scheduled two consults - one at the end of February and one mid-March. Both are no charge. One other doctor has a *very* good reputation but charges for the first consult, and I guess I'm balking at that until after I visit with the first two. I suspect I would only pay for a consult if the complimentary ones didn't feel right.

Also making peace with my weight that refuses to go lower than 155 - according to some goofiness I read I really am big-boned (according to wrist and elbow measurements) even though I'm short plus I do have decent muscles soooooo... I *think* with TT and lipo and medial thigh lipo/lift there will be enough difference that I'll be satisfied, then maybe arm lift later. I think the breasts will be left alone, they're "udderly" out of shape it's true ;), but meh, just not worth the $ and pain to me at this point to change.

Not sure spouse is totally on board with this yet, but it doesn't matter. That "You're fine the way you are, I love you whatever you look like" just doesn't cut it, never really has, and it just sounds wrong although I doubt he means it the way it sounds. Tbh, it's not for him anyway, it's for me. And it may wind up being a mistake, but I'd rather give it a try than not and wish I had. :)

Updated on 1 Mar 2012:
First estimate for damages is $12,140 for full tummy tuck and medial thigh lift, not including preop lab work and medications or $700 cost for overnight stay in hospital should I choose to take advantage of that. I have another consult with another physician with this practice (their policy) who specializes in PS after weight loss. Dr. Rast is extraordinarily nice - *everybody* in the office is! - I just want to see what a specialist in surgery for my particular situation has to say about it, and I left without asking a few questions I should have so will write them down this time. :) Like, is there any health benefit to getting this excess skin and fat off the midsection? And I should have asked for some different quotes - full abdominoplasty alone, abdominoplasty plus brachioplasty, abdominoplasty plus medial thigh, medial thigh alone. It may be better doing belly and arms now, then thighs in the fall when riding season is not such a big deal to me. If I get the thighs done now, it is possible I will miss a whooooole lotta riding time this year. Talk about PMS (Parked Motorcycle Syndrome)! ;)

Updated on 6 Mar 2012:
Picked up a new-to-me electric lift chair for $75 (craigslist) and got busy deodorizing it with Lysol and baking soda. It's not horrible but cigarette smoke is a migraine trigger for me so want to make sure it's ready to use when I need it. :)

Updated on 19 Mar 2012:
Second consult today, this time with Dr. Gary Hall. Very nice place, office pristine and personnel very nice as is Dr. Hall. Asked more questions this time including how much improvement in my thighs could I expect with tummy tuck alone, and his response was "To be honest, not much." He has never seen much improvement in the thighs with a simple full tummy tuck. He would expect a lot of improvement in the pubic mons, but not the thighs. He did explain the full range of risks in the medial thigh lift including dehiscence of the wound, but he has seen that in 2 (partial, not total) out of 30 MTLs he has done in the past year, and none of those became infected, and both healed completely to the point where one could not tell which incision has dehisced. He recommended some lipo of the flanks to contour. Felt scar could be limited to front, but would be very low, into the pubic region. We discussed pain management since I can't take codeine or codeine derivatives; he recommended pain pump whether I stayed overnight or not, and I need to call my ortho surgeon to see what he eventually gave me (seems it didn't really work, but at least it didn't give me belly pain). I saw some before/after pics they showed me; none looked like me though. This office is further than the first place, and the price is pretty much the same, maybe a smidge higher. Also just the one physician in the office so no coverage if he's sick or off. Still, not bad.

I have one more consult scheduled at this point, with Dr. Cannova back at the first place. Still hoping somebody here on RealSelf will come forward with a review on him. ;)

Also uploaded a more accurate thigh pic to hopefully enlighten those wondering why I would bother. It's a relative thing I'm sure... just realize that what you aren't pleased with and are trying to change (with plastic surgery or makeup or hairstyle, etc) somebody else would probably be happy with too. ;D

Updated on 29 Mar 2012:
Just back from third consult - Dr. Cannova at APSPC. Quite excited. He specializes in PS after weight loss. He says underneath it all I'm probably not as apple-body as I think... hmmm, that would be nice. His plan would be abdominoplasty with lipo to trunk, wedge excisions of bilateral inner thighs. The lipo would include the upper belly skin that will be covering the abdomen (to thin it) and extend to back through nick incisions (I wasn't sure about this after reading all the comments about pain and he confirmed it wouldn't be fun postop but explained it would make a big difference, yet left the decision up to me). The TT excision would be hip to hip - my apron is wide as is obvious. He was honest and up front about the very low weird circular stretch marks in bikini area (I call them my blow-outs, lol), there are no guarantees on how much can be taken out, but *meh* that was never the point for me anyway. He felt the thigh lift would be minimally invasive, short incision lines in the groin, so I'm going for it. And the damage estimate was *get this* LESS than the other two - $9754 total not including preop lab and meds. I again think I'll skip the overnight stay, still on the fence about a pain pump, he is not sure it's worth the $300, thinks he can figure out something that will do better. I'm 99.9% sure I'll be scheduling with Dr. Cannova within a few days, for procedure near end of June (if there weren't so many scheduling conflicts I'd be doing it a lot sooner!). :)

Updated on 29 Mar 2012:
p.s. - had to throw this in - last night I visited youtube to watch an abdominoplasty being done (just as I'd watched acromioplasty done before my shoulder surgery, it wasn't that bad at all)... and in the middle of the pannus excision I started getting *really* lightheaded and had to stop watching! So very strange, because I want to see it done. Didn't feel barfy, just the room got bright and knew I needed to stop... maybe forgot to breathe, lol. Gonna try again later... morbid curiosity. :)

Updated on 29 Mar 2012:
Well, that didn't take long. Scheduled for June 20 (after out-of-town guest leaves). No bowel prep, just NPO after midnight the night before (I plan on liquid diet for at least one and maybe two days prior anyway, just makes sense). Only lab will be a hemoglobin check the morning of surgery. They'll call closer to the date for more info, but that's what I asked about and know so far. Time to stop obsessing for a while (I hope) and build up strength. :)

Updated on 29 Mar 2012:
Okay, scheduler called and outpatient surgery center was booked on the 20th already, the 22nd it is. :)

Updated on 22 May 2012:
One month out - thanks for the reminder babyrainbo, lol! Time flies... ;) It's been a little eventful. I had gone off birth control pills at the end of February 2012 because they were not really working (breakthrough bleeding) and I knew I would have to anyway for surgery. Had a "pill period" (light, short" in March, and nothing in April, and got worried. Very slim chance of pregnancy (one exposure, used a sponge but discovered the failure rate is high - wth?) and nipple tenderness, got worked up and upset, nausea set in, I'm too old for this, some of you know the drill... lol. Very happy when period started April 30. Taking no more chances - no more whoopie, lol. Also gained 5 pounds within a week or two of all these body changes (when I thought I was pregnant), and they would not budge no matter what... finally coming back down. Read some people gain weight coming off BCP. Nothing I did on BCP was normal, so maybe that's what it was. Frustrating! Anywho, bought shower chair for $4 and toilet seat riser for $6 (no arms) at thrift store and cleaned them up *really well*... Lastly, got approved for 15 months interest-free credit card for half the surgery amount, and will pay cash for the other half, guess that's all due in a couple of weeks. I do have an annual check-up with my primary care physician next week, so if anything is amiss she can catch it before I'm locked in.

I find myself maneuvering my squishy bits around (now I know how Stretch Armstrong felt!) and seeing what the contours might be here and there. I want it to be gone already. :)