Mommy Makeover: Stories

June 29, 2012:

I'm totally freaking out... I just put the down payment and scheduled my surgery for November 19, 2012! I can't believe that I'm actually doing this, I'm excited but nervous!

I was referred to Dr. O by a friend who had surgery with him and was very satisfied with his work. I met with the doctor June 2, 2012 in regards to a mommy makeover and liked him almost immediately. He is very straightforward and confident, his confidence put me at ease. Now, I just have to wait, preOp was set for November 7, 2012. I'll keep you girls posted.

July 2, 2012:

I spoke Nicole (my patient coordinator) and re-scheduled my preop for October 31, 2012. Nicole is a sweetheart and very honest; I had a minor concern and she addressed it immediately. It's a great feeling to feel like I made the right choice by choosing Dr. Anire Okpaku as my plastic surgeon. Really excited for November, in the meantime, I'm currently dieting and plan to start an excercise regimen soon. I want to be in good shape prior to surgery.

I had to cancel my surgery date for financial reasons :-( Maybe spring of next year will be a better time,,,

I had to cancel my surgery with Dr. O due to financial reasons. A couple of days later I was called from a different plastic surgeon's office that I had visited for a consultation over 2 years ago and was offered $8,000 for a breast lift with aug (silicone), tummy tuck and lipo however after further investigation I realized that the doctor that had seen me originally was no longer at that practice so I made an appointment to meet a new doctor. I was suppose to meet Dr. Marcelo Ghersi Sept 19th at 5:30 pm however his wife went into labor earlier that morning so I was unable to meet him and met Dr. Jonathan Fisher instead. Dr. Fisher made me feel so comfortable, he was very charismatic and made me feel at ease. I didn't feel rushed during the consultation even though he had done all his surgeries plus Dr. Ghersi's surgeries that day. I fell in love with him... I've seen many doctor's before but I felt most comfortable with him. My cousin is also interested in plastic surgery so I made a consultation for her with Dr. Marcelo Ghersi and I went with her so that I can meet him as well. Dr. Ghersi was very quick, straight to the point... I know that you shouldn't choose a doctor based on whether they are charismatic or not but you do want to feel comfortable with the surgeon you choose and my cousin and I both decided we will have our surgeries performed by Dr. Fisher. What I love most about this practice is that they make me come in once a month before surgery to weigh and measure me which I love because I feel pressured to lose the weight I need to lose before surgery.

Well my surgery is exactly 7 hours away and I can't sleep from the excitement. I am a little nervous but that's expected. I got 8 days off work; I know it's not enough but it's what I got and I have to make it work. At least I have a desk job, I just have to make the most of my off days and really rest. My mother in law will watch the kids over the weekend and my mother will be with me at home to care for me while my husband works. I must confess that I'm blessed after all ... I'll be updating my review on my time off and possibly posting some pics for you all to see.

Til' finger meets iPad,
sent4rmabove23 :-P

So, it's been 24 hours since my surgery.... I am so much better today. The drains burn and so does my upper thigh ... my stomach feels rock solid, my boobs feel stiff but I can definitely see the difference swollen and all. I'm trying to walk as much as possible .. I can almost stand up straight ... I'm just hoping that the discomfort leaves sooner than later. I'm getting ready to go to my first post op appointment.

I showered this morning. The gases suck but I sort of managed to do #2 and it wasnt as painful as I thought it would be. Sleeping is tough, my lower back kills me!

I had a good night sleep; woke up around 5 am used the restroom and walked around a bit before laying back on the recliner. My back starts to hurt a lot when I am up for to long time but at the same time I heard that the best thing I can do for my recovery is walk as much as I possibly can. My breast are so sore and tender and I feel a burning sensation where the drains are at ... can't wait to get them out! I'm starting to get real anxious at the fact that I can't do anything; I want to cook and clean, play with my kids and I can't. I think this is the hardest part ... do nothing. I kind of feel guilty.

Today has been a good day .... I woke up and showered and put my bra and compression garment to wash and dry so I was bra and compression garment free for like an hour and it felt soooo good. That was the highlight of my day :-) I feel so much better, im not even taking Tylenol so day 4 is definitely an awesome day. Im not draining a lot from my left side ... ive pumped it and unclogged to make sure but in 12 hrs Im only draining 5 average. The right side is more active. Im a little annoyed by the swelling I do hope that it goes down in due time.

Morning girls! Day 5 ... I barely slept. I was hot as hell and didnt want to lower the a/c because my kids were coughing really bad and I had run out of Delsym for them so I sweated a lot last night. I woke up, picked up a little, cooked myself breakfast, showered and now Im just here updating my review. Girls, I'm so fustrated with the swelling!!!! It doesnt look real bad in pictures but looking at it in person bums me out... I have to constantly need to be reminding myself to be patient .. Im only 5 days post op and have to give my body time.

Yesterday I broke down crying ... I was alone all day and I don't do well behind 4 walls so my mom is treating me to a mani and pedi today and I am in heaven ? This morning I had a follow up with my doctor .. drains will be in for 5 more days (top)... BTW, I pulled on one of my drainage hoses while sleeping last night ... OUCH! Besides that, all is good return to work tomorrow :-)

Well I'm 10 days post op and I still have my drains in. Things are not looking good down there; for starters, my va jay jay is super swollen which I know is normal but what is not normal is that I have red stretchmark looking lumps on it. First off, I didn't have stretchmarks on it to begin with. My va jay jay is inflamed, tender to touch and sore. Secondly, im expelling a lot of lymphatic fluid from my left drain. The fluid is coming out of the actual skin and its yellowish and goey :-( I have to wait until Monday to be seen at the Dr's office. In the meantime, doctor called my local pharmacy for some more antibiotics. Monday can't come any sooner ..

On a lighter note, I bought a casual dress to wear until my drains are pulled out on Monday and my boobs look great in the dress so does my swollen flat tummy.... cant wait to go shopping! :-)

So today is post op day 12 ... Friday night my mons pubis was inflamed, tender to touch and sore the following morning I had lymphatic fluid coming out the drain incision and it was yellowish and goey. Well today I went to the Doctor and they confirmed that I have an infection. I feel and look like a muffin and I want to cry as I type this ... Dr. told me not to wear CG because the pressure makes the infection spread and what we want to do is isolate the infection. My stomach is so swollen and red :-( I know this is just a minor setback but it's only normal for me to feel fustrated so I turn to my RS family for a little venting. I hope everybody else healing well ...

Ok, things are starting to look better down there! So happy to announce that the redness and additional swelling from the Cellulitis looks like its officially gone regardless I'm still on antibiotics until next Wednesday. I haven't been using my CG since Monday but the Dr. gave me the go ahead to start wearing again and I'm honestly excited to because the swelling makes me feel fat lol... I'm on the flatside but inside I feel like Ms. Puff lol Well, I put up my 15 day post op ... a lot of swelling happening but you know what? I don't care! It's part of the process and three months from now I am going to look fabulous in my bikini!!!

So on the 6th of Feb I saw my doctor I had been on antibiotics for 10 days .. Everything looked great. Unfortunately the following day the redness came back, I didn't call my doctor that Thursday I waited until Friday I wanted to see if the redness will go away but it didn't. The doctor prescribed me bactrim ... I started the Bactrim that Friday night and by Saturday at 3:00 pm I started with headaches, chills, fever, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. I just started feeling better today a little after 6 pm. I called the doctor in the morning and he told me to discontinue the bactrim ... I had a horrible weekend but at least now I feel better THANK GOD!

All I can say is that I don't regret having this surgery done. I am beyond happy and I recommend Dr. Fisher to anyone. Just look at my latest picture .. words cannot describe my joy.