I am going to have a tummy tuck but I had to postpone the date!

I'm interviewing physicians in or near Tallahassee that will do lipo with a tummy tuck, and not do a muscle repair, since I want to forego that, and I've never had children, nor been 100 lbs overweight, or anything like that.

I'm 61, and although not exactly skinny, but I'm not in bad shape. I'll include a photo as soon as I can.

I have a situation in which the skin (and fat) below my waist hangs over my bikini panties. (See photos). I plan to lose more weight before and after the surgery, but it's very hard to get weight off. I work out almost every day, and I'm doing my best to eat healthfully.

My target date for surgery is before mid-December.

So far I've found one physician who will do what I'm seeking, but he's in NY City, and that's so far away. I'm interviewing others. I found one that is closer (Tampa), but he's prohibitively expensive! ($15,000+).

I will post every step of my process, if you are all interested.

Okay, I had the meeting with the P.S. He is WONDERFUL. Oh my God what a 'bedside manner.' He encouraged me to ask every question I wanted, which was good, as I arrived with a list I had typed out.

He advised me that what I need is an extended tummy tuck. That means that the lower abdomen skin along with the fat gets removed completely. Goodbye to that hanging skin and fat. The cut goes all the way to the back, so of course, the entire abdomen and part of the hip is involved.

An extended tummy tuck automatically comes with liposuction of the flanks. I told him I was concerned about getting a waist, and he said he'll be sure to 'create' one. :)

He said the fat below the belly button gets removed completely when he cuts that huge slice of skin off (it takes the fat with it), so there's no need for lipo there at all.

Regarding the upper abdomen (where I also have fat), he will not be suctioning the fat off that area because the tummy tuck involves pulling the skin from the upper abdomen area off the muscles and extending it all the way down to the pelvis, where it is sewn up. He said it would be too risky to compromise that area any further by doing lipo in the (upper abdomen) area as well as detaching, then re-attaching that skin further down. Besides, he said, since the skin below the belly button will all be removed, and the skin from the upper abdomen stretched to reach my pelvic area, the upper abdomen will be compressed, pulled, and more than likely appear flattened, and will probably lie somewhat flat. He said that after the FULL recovery, once I'm completely healed, if I still wish to lipo that area, I can have it done.

He said 'dog ears' are not a problem with extended tummmy tuck. I was concerned about that when they sew the corners together, getting a 'bulge.'

The cost will be $8,214.00 which is definitely within my budget, although I will be getting a loan to have it done. Definitely worth it, since that hanging skin I have in the lower abdomen has been causing me a lot of skin rash under it, and I spend my summers applying skin rash ointments to the area under the hanging skin.

He will be using general anesthesia with epinephrine. I don't do well with epinephrine in the sense that my heart beats too fast and I have Mitral Valve Prolapse, but he said that I will be completely asleep and will not notice, I'll be completely 'controlled' (my heart and respiration will be completely monitored), and he reassured me about that. (I'm a basketcase about general anesthesia, among other things). He also said that by the time I am removed from the general anesthesia, the epinephrine effect will be gone.

I am going to select the date by the end of the day, and I will be putting a down payment of $800 to reserve that date. That's my problem. I'm looking at my calendar at work, and oh boy, I'm a busy gal.

Oh, and while I'm at it. He said I need 10 days. He will probably not require doing a muscle repair, however, if he goes in and sees there's separation, he might need to do a little bit. OUCH! You all might recall that I wasn't too interested in muscle repair since I have never had kids and I'm afraid of the pain associated with the muscle repair.

Wish me luck, y'all! I'll write again later and let you all know the date of my surgery.

I've selected a date: November 30. Oh my gosh, I'm so nervous! I'm going to start exercising and eating very healthy foods so I will be in as good a shape as I can be by surgery date.