Tummy Tuck: Stories

Hi everyone. I've been an avid reader of all of your reviews, the surgeon q&a's, and the forum. I hope my experience goes as well as some of yours and that I can learn from the wealth of knowledge here on RS. About me: I'm a 29 y/o mom of a 17 month old daughter with a divorce pending (we've been separated for over a year...). I know the surgeons are generally adamant against doing TTs on women not done with having kids, but as a young-ish almost single woman about to re-enter the dating world, I really feel that I need the boost in self confidence that so many of you have gotten from your procedures. That's not to say that I am definitely having more kids, as I had a rough pregnancy, traumatic delivery, and horrible PPD, but if I find and fall in love with a man, I may want to have another... Who knows? All I know is I am really upset every time I look in the mirror and while putting on clothes in the morning. The thought of being intimate with a new man with my huge flipping stretches out tummy terrifies me. Ok, enough of that. Time to be positive. :)

I'm 5'6" and 175-185 depending on the day and the scale. I know I'm overweight but the decision to have this surgery just recently materialized (like last week). I'm active duty military and they are currently paying me to go to grad school in preparation for my next job. The school I go to has a 5 week winter break and it dawned on me last year that if I ever want to do this, given my personal and professional situation, the time is NOW! I figure that the TT and lipo will take away a lot of my problem area and will motivate me to continue to improve my health/body afterwards. I am concerned with the healing time as I have a physical fitness test scheduled in early February but I'm hopeful it goes well and I heal enough to workout hard in 6 weeks.

I have three consultations scheduled in the next two weeks. Two are scheduled in St. Louis (one with Dr. Kofkoff and one with Dr. Hoffaker) and one the following week with Dr. Hawes. Dr. Kofkoff has amazing reviews and good pictures, but he also has a higher price tag than the other two. Dr. Hoffaker also has good reviews though there were a few mixed ones. Dr. Hawes has less reviews available (that I could find anyway) and the reviews are mixed. However, he has the lowest price tag. I should note that both St. Louis surgeons require an overnight stay while Dr. Hawes does it out-patient which explains the difference in price. I know I won't know the exact cost of my surgery until I do the actual consultation, but all three offices gave me an estimate so that I could work in getting financing in place.

All three offices have available OR times available for me. Hopefully those times will still be available when I'm ready to schedule. I feel a little pressures to schedule a date now but I do think its important to meet with the surgeons first. I am a horrible BS detector (I give everyone the benefit of the doubt - explains my failed marriage...) but my mom will be joining me and she's an expert. :)

One thing I am trying to figure out is about my daughter. We're attachment parenting and she still nurses when I come home from school and at night. Have any of you nursed after having your TT? She's old enough that she can climb up on the recliner loveseat with me to nurse without needing me to pick her up, but I'm worried that she'll unintentionally press down on my stomach or knee/kick me while moving around... Guess I'll ask the doctors next week.

Ok I need help. Badly. I had consultations with the top two surgeons on my list (and two of the best in my city). I have never had cosmetic surgery before and don't know how to choose. Tell me what you think -

Surgeon A: He wants $11,000 for a standard TT with MR and limited lipo of my abs and regular lipo on my flanks. He is a conservative surgeon and wants me to be realistic with my expectations (which I do, I just wish he was more optimistic)...

Surgeon B: wants $14500 for an extended TT with MR and a more aggressive lipo of abs, waist, flanks, back, and inner thighs. He has a calm demeanor but a more positive attitude saying ill be very happy with the results and it will be a huge difference.

So... What would you do? An extra $3500 is a huge issue but I can make it work if necessary. My surgery will be dec 10th, regardless which surgeon I choose. I dont know why one surgeon thinks standard and the other says extended, but thats the way it is. I appreciate Surgeon A's idea of being conservative in surgery. I don't want complications, but I want to look/feel better! And I want a surgeon who knows what he's doing, not one who knows what to say to get me hooked. But I can't decide if that's what surgeon B is doing. Ugh! Help?

Decided on a surgeon - it came down to results (by pictures posted here and on his website), reviews (though my surgeon has SOOOO many amazing reviews online it makes me wary that he's too good to be true...), and price (although he's less expensive than the other surgeon, he's also doing less lipo... so if that is something I want to pursue in the future, I'm glad that I'll have funds available to get it done).

One week till surgery. :)

Thanks to my brother who came to visit for Turkey day with a cough, I have caught whatever he had and my surgeon feels that due to my cough/sore throat, that it's not worth the risk of going under. Plus, the anesthetist will probably refuse to put me under anyway. It has to do with the breathing tube going into through my throat and possibly spreading my throat junk to my lungs.

Only problem is that the window of time in my career that I have to get this done, combined with my surgeons super busy December schedule, means it's possible I won't have a chance to schedule this again for years.

Sad. :(

So I was able to reschedule my surgery for the 27th. It's been a blur of pain, sleep, drugs and drains since then, but I am amazed at my results. The fact that I know I'm swollen and that they results will get even better is hard for me to comprehend. Check out my pics! My PS removed 5.5 lbs of skin and lipo'd about 3500 cc's from my abs, hips, and flanks. No more enormous love handles!

Hey ladies! Thanks for the kind words. Don't let the pictures fool you. I have a couple windows of about an hour each day when the timing of my pain meds and muscle relaxers converge where I feel like I can walk around semi-normally. The rest of the day, I'm just as hunched over as everyone else. My main problem is not overdoing it during those times because they end up hurting me more in the end...