After 2 caesareans, my stomach had a hanging pouch. I'm pretty even all around and curvy, but that pouch just bothered me. At 5'3, 177 pounds, and a size 8, I didn't do the surgery to lose weight. I did it to look the way I wanted. Breast, butt, and thighs were nice; but that darn tummy Was not nice. Updated on 9 Apr 2016: It felt so good to be out in clothes. So far I've lost 7 pounds. Still slightly swollen (day 17), but that pouch is gone and tops fit! Shirt is a small and so is jacket. Haven't been able to fit it in a while... Updated on 10 Apr 2016: Updated on 11 Apr 2016: So yesterday I thought " I wanna see if I can go without my binder." I read doc reviews where they said that it isn't proven if the binder helps with the abdominoplasty. I've worn the garment everyday since the procedure and have not had any problems with it (I know many of you wanted to snatch yours off). On with the story: It was awful!! I felt unguarded. I felt puffy, although, upon checking in the mirror, I looked great. The worst part came at night. I slept without it. Woke up and had two Lipo lumps on the side. They hurt and are hard! Needless to say, I am safely and securely back in my garment and won't let it out of my sight again! Lol. Updated on 17 Apr 2016: Feeling good. Learning what swells me: vodka!!! I've developed an insane sweet tooth (cycle is due soon), so really need to work out, but haven't been okay'd yet. Here is a pic. Thighs and hips...whoa! Expanded out of nowhere. Updated on 5 Jun 2016: Whew!!!! This surgery is a journey. A journey of pain, swelling, and flatness. So here is the honest truth: Lipo and tummy tuck are cosmetic surgeries. Yes, my stomach looks dope. I'm so glad to have that pouch gone and that bloated look out the window. But man oh man, my damn thighs have enlarged! Lol. I guess fat cells really travel. I have to be extra careful of what I eat. Alcohol-no! Sweets-bad. Lol. I literally weigh the exact same as when I had the surgery. My tummy is flatter, but again, he butt and thighs are bigger. I'm still glad I did the surgery. Definitely should've had thighs done at same time. Not getting anymore surgeries because the pain was just enough for me! All in all, I feel wonderful. I think I look awesome. I'm thankful. I do need to step up the weight lifting techniques because just treadmilling isn't working. The pics aren't enough justice. I'll update once I'm 3 months post. Updated on 22 Jun 2016: So I had the surgery March 23. Very pleased with my results. The one thing that I didn't expect was the cellulite!! My thighs are huge now (I've always had big thighs, but they've grown since surgery). I really don't mind the thighs-a great trade off for a poochy tummy. Unfortunately, the cellulite is crazy! I just cannot believe how much cellulite is on my legs in such a short amount of time. 3 months and I cannot wear shorts! At all! To say I'm sad is an understatement. I wasn't warned of this and now I need to warn everyone: FAT TRAVELS TO OTHER PLACES AFTER ABDOMINOPLASTY! Sigh. Updated on 26 Jul 2016: I'm really shocked that 4 months have passed. My tummy looks so dope! Let's see, I now weigh 165 (diet pills and treadmill help). I was 177 post surgery. Size: 8 or small in tops and medium in workout pants. Honestly, I don't regret the decision at all. It was a rough road and I'm finally seeing the benefits. Now bad stuff: weight distribution. My arms and thighs are much more flabby, hence, the diet pills and treadmill. If you look at my pics, you can see they work. I still wear my garment at night. Gives me a great contour by morning. If you're in debate about the surgery I'll say this: Do it, but have help for the first 2 weeks. I'll update next month. Updated on 25 Oct 2016: I'm happy. Stomach is tight. Pics show for itself. I didn't think so in the first month, but this is THEE BEST DECISION I HAVE MADE Updated on 14 Nov 2016: The first two months went slowly and painfully. Now, I can't even remember that time. Went to Cancun and was just amazed at my body. If you are debating....DO IT!
Pros: 3.6cc is use on my face. It turns out as great as I was 30 years ago!Cons: a little pain during injection. My legs are sore after in jection. I will wait and see how long it will last.
Hate my breasts
I had a no vertical scar breast lift with fat grafting to my smaller breast to even out the size discrepancy. I’ve retained sensation in my nipples, and my breasts are closer in size. My breasts are filled with oil cysts in my breasts and there is free-floating fat in my left breast. It blocks my cleavage, so I need to wear clothing tight enough that my weird uniboob doesn’t show when I bend forward. I asked if this was a risk in advance and he said no, he just talked about breast cancer, which is not a risk. My areolas were naturally round, smooth, small, and the softest skin on my body. Now none of that’s true. They’re now large, wrinkled, ovals. For four months after the breast lift, my breasts swelled about two cup sizes. They’re now covered in stretch marks and the skin is much rougher than it was before. There is almost no distinction between my breasts and the surrounding skin. I asked if I would bottom out in advance, he said no, and now I’ve bottomed out horribly. I have unnaturally flat breasts that are too wide to fit into bras. The fat along the bottom of my breasts was cut unevenly, so they’re not round either. When looking at photos, be careful to only look at photos taken 6 months after surgery. I was obviously just shown photos of people in the initial swelling stages. He also tried talking me into implants multiple times without telling me any of the risks. I’m getting a revision with Arthur Dean Jabs in a few weeks. Updated on 29 Mar 2022: My main concern going into the revision was not have cleavage anymore. The surgeon who performed the revision said he placed sutures along my sternum that pull at the skin in an attempt to fix the issue. It did not work. No one I had consultations with had ever fixed this before it's such an uncommon problem. I'd never heard of this happening so I didn't know to look out for it. I might never be able to wear a swimsuit or most of my clothes ever again.
I had this procedure over a year ago. For fat grafting, I was talked into getting a lot of lipo. Coolsculpting produced much better results and I would encourage everyone considering lipo to get coolsculpting instead. I requested lipo for my inner/outer thights and flanks. The lipo is uneven, asymmetrical, and lumpy with skin rippling. Around my hips where the cannula was inserted, there are lines from the cannula so deep they show through leggings. Fat looked much better. The top of my legs have deep depressions creating a weird concave that’s accentuated by the lack of lipo towards the bottom of the thigh. The top of my leg is completely flat where there’s supposed to be a slight curve. Fat was removed unevenly in the inner thighs, so you can see a line where he just missed the fat. One leg is obviously bigger than the other. For my flanks, not enough fat was removed, so what’s left is rippled. We did not discuss love handle removal, but he did it anyways on only one side. The asymmetry shows through most clothing. I need to have fat grafting and more lipo to my legs and lipo to my flanks and other love handle. Before photos were not taken. Updated on 7 Jun 2022: I had my first legs revision 2 months ago. I need much more fat grafted to my outer thighs to fill in all the dents I did not naturally have. Here I've included before/natural photos I didn't use in my initial review. My legs were completely smooth and now they're covered in dents. Filling them will take so much time and I've just started. Updated on 13 Mar 2023: After 2 rounds of sculptra and fat grafting, I still look like a monster. I spend every day insecure about this bizarre disgusting dents. My waist to hip ratio is absurdly narrow. The revision lipo created new dents as well. Just don't get lipo. It takes a long time to see how gross it looks, so you can't trust their before and after photos.
It’s still unreal to me that I actually had the surgery done – I had it rescheduled twice before actually going forward with it. You may think that lugging around 40HH/I breasts for over 20 years would be enough reason for me to jump at the opportunity, but I was so scared about actually doing it. (I mean like terrified flipping scared.) Some of the questions going through my head were: Is having the surgery too extreme? What if some thing goes really wrong on that operating table? (And I know this may sound selfish…but) What if the surgeon makes me flat-chested? Maybe I can just learn to live with the daily headaches, neck and back pain for the rest of my life? I mean continuing with lifelong physical therapy for the pain isn’t that bad, is it? Ok, maybe if I lose like 100 lbs it will shrink them? (If you are big boob sister, you know this doesn't help much, but others still actually think this will solve all our problems.) A while back, I basically starved myself and got down to a dress size 4 –I ended up with a G cup bra size – and I still had the pain issues. I also had to deal with some really archaic opinions from well-minded people. You know like, “men love big breasts – why are you getting rid of yours? Or, I wish had your breasts!” Umm… did I mention that I have had daily back pain and severe headaches for the last decade?!! And have you seen some of the breast-obsessed guys out there – not interested in their attention. I have also been told that I was “messing with God / Nature’s work.” Ok, as a Christian this really pissed me off – since the God I know is loving, I’m pretty sure me living a life of pain when there’s a medical remedy for it, would not be a good thing. And in the end, that was what it came down to - my quality of life. I don’t want to embarrassingly break another bra strap in gym class, on a treadmill, or when I attempt a jumping jack. I don’t want to wear 2 bras, 24 hours, 7 days for the rest of my life– just for chest support anymore. (I sure as hell can’t afford continuing buying those $60+ bras.) And I especially do not want to spend the rest of my life with daily back, neck and head pain. This is a medical problem – and thankfully, there is a medical remedy out there for it. There’s a lot that happens on the journey between deciding to have the surgery and actually having it done, and recovery, that I plan to share. (Thanks to all my brave boob sisters who are sharing their journey on this site :-) But I can share today with those debating the decision that when I woke up in the hospital after having this procedure– I cried. I looked down at my chest, throbbing, and wrapped in gauze and I cried – out of sheer relief. I had actually done it – I made it through the surgery (Thank God), was not flat-chested :-), and moving my neck side to side freely – first time I had done that in years.
