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I've been considering having a Mommy makeover ever...
I'm pretty petite, 5'2" and currently 120lbs (my winter coat - hoping to start eating cleaner and exercising to reach a 112lbs goal before surgery). My babies were a good size getting bigger than the next one (7lbs.15oz, 8lbs.10oz and 9lbs.5oz) and since I have a short torso, you can only imagine what shape my abdominal muscles and stomach skin are in from housing such big babies!
I breastfed all my children. The first only to 9 months, the second to 1 year, and my third to 18 months. Due to an inverted nipple on my right breast, all my boys favoured and fed off the left breast only - to the point where only my left breast was producing milk! I joked with my friends about my breastfeeding breasts and labelled them B'sy and D'sy but in reality having breasts that are two different sizes was not funny and very difficult to dress! Now, from all the wear and tear, my left breast sags quite a bit and is even harder to dress and it's like putting soup in a bra!
I did a LOT of research into the surgeries and found trying to find a doctor overwhelming. I am in the Niagara Region and Toronto (which in 1 hour away) has so many highly rated doctors. Getting the time to see them for a consult though was difficult, especially since I couldn't seem to visit them on the same day. I disliked that they also charged a consult fee. I understand the reason for it, but I feel like I could be taken advantage of by receiving a ridiculous quote or be subject to rudeness and unpleasant mannerisms and loose out on my consult fee when I chose not to go with them for those reasons.
The search was tiresome but I started by looking at the before and after photos. I was looking for looks (both breast and tummy) that was after. Their attention to detail was obviously a very big factor in my decision. Once I narrowed it down to half a dozen doctors, I began to look at reviews and ratings from ratemyMDs.com and realself.com. I especially liked realself as I could see posts from doctors answering patient questions and this allowed me to get a feel for their character. Through looking at the high ratings, I added to my list of doctors once I view their before and after photos. One doctor, Dr. William Deluca, stood out to me as he was so highly rated. I visited his website and saw that he catered to out of town patients (I'm 4 hours away) and I happily filled out a contact form introducing myself. To my surprise, I received a personal response 30 mins later at nearly 10:00pm at night!!
As I was extremely impressed with his before and after photos (they all looked so perfect!! Not one single "after" photo made me doubt his attention to detail!) and his diligent reply, I decided to book a phone consult with the good doctor. The secretary I spoke to was very very kind. I have spoken to many and all to often I find them to be a tad rude and pushy, so this was a refreshing change!
I had my phone consult yesterday, March 18, 2013, and he was very soft spoken, and answered many of my questions before I even got to ask them. I did not have many questions so the whole consult was only about 20 minutes. Based on my photos, he recommend silicone (up to 400cc) with under the muscle placement with a Benelli/Donut lift on my left breast. He believes the tummy tuck will be very straightforward and believes I will have a low incision. Everything I kind of already decided on, although I thought I may need a lollipop lift! I really felt he was on the same page as me and that he knows exactly what I'm after. Just to be clear though, I did email some photos of what I would consider "perfect" and ideal for me!
Today, I called his secretary, Karen, and booked my surgery for June 18, 2013. She told me about a package she would mail me and briefly went over what will be included in the package and the next steps. She was very kind and made me feel very comfortable. She also reassured me that if I have any questions at anytime that I can call or email her. She reiterated that a few times so I know she meant it :)
Now I just need to wait exactly 91 days for the new me!
UPDATE: April 2, 2013. It is now 77 days until...
It is now 77 days until my big day. I'm starting to get really nervous. I feel as though I'm going to be going through all of this (spending money and all the pain) just to be trading one insecurity for another...a huge scar from hip to hip. I'm sure it's just the nerves talking but part of me wonders if I could have "fixed" these tummy issues with an even better diet and more exercise.
Less than 3 weeks til GO TIME!
The last couple days has been ALL about my upcoming surgery. Finding hotels, making arrangements for the kids, asking my doctor last minute questions, and frantically looking at everyone mommy makeover video ever recorded on youtube so I have some kind of idea of what exactly I should be expecting.
I trust my doctor will do an amazing job, and am so confident in my choice in him. That fear has long passed. I am not worried about the pain. I've birthed 3 children and I think I have a pretty good pain tolerance. That fear was never an issue. What is running through my mind over and over again...my biggest and only concern, is how quickly will I heal? When will I be functional again? I know I need to take it easy, and believe me, I will to the best of my ability but there are factors making it so difficult to just relax and forget about.
The first thing, is that my doctor is 4 hours away. I choose to travel because I wanted the best and I still stand by my decision but its tough being away from home and having to stay in a hotel. I am sure I will love it...not having to worry about the cleaning getting done or the dishes or wondering what kind of trouble my kids are getting into, but really...there is no place like home and I am wondering when is a good day to make that trip back home. My doctor says I need at least 2 days...the youtube videos I've been seeing make it seems like day 4 or 5 is the best option. But there is always the uncertainty of how well I will heal...and that just plain sucks.
My other big concern is that I run a home daycare....yes...can you imagine?! Clearly I don't have much holiday time and I don't feel right booking weeks off at a time. So I've made the difficult decision to take just 1 week off and semi-return to work with the help of my husband and my mother-in-law the following week. My friend has agreed to help the weeks after that.
The kids I have are amazing but lets face facts...these are kids...some young. There's a lot of lifting! Lifting into highchairs, onto the toilet, into their beds. To have to be dependent on someone virtually all the time for a whole 6 weeks really sucks.
Hoping I can learn to relax and not worry about those things...this is my time and I deserve it. I'm happy that my eldest son will be on summer vacation starting in my third week post op. He will be a great, great help once my husband needs to return to work!
Provider Review
I did my research and since this was going to be a lifelong change, I needed to make sure that everything was going to be perfect and to achieve that, I did to find the perfect surgeon. I started out locally, looking within the mega city nearest to me (Toronto - 1 hour away). My search consisted of looking at before and after photos of the work I was wanting done. If there was even a handful of after photos that made me wince, that surgeon was out. I obviously looked at hundreds of websites and the handful that made the cut received emails with inquiries and attempts to book consultations. Most of the responses were fairly quick and the ones that were delayed by a week got crossed off my list. All were responses from secretaries or nurses which is what I was expecting and half of them were automated responses (which I disliked a lot but didn't rule them out because of it). Following this I started with phone calls. In nearly all cases I found the secretaries to be rude, forceful and unhelpful - which obviously crossed them of the list. In the end, I had no one I was considering and had not even made it to the consultation part of the process and had not been in contact with a single surgeon! At this point I felt my standards were too high but then came across a website where people mentioned they were traveling out of state for their surgeon. Since I am so close to the New York border, I thought I would try a few of the surgeons in the Buffalo and Rochester areas (both 1 hour away) before readjusting my standards. Somehow, and I can't even recall how, I made my way to Dr. Deluca's website who was initially outside the zone I was considering traveling (Albany - 4 hours away). I looked at his before and after photos and there was not a single one that I felt showed any flaws, not a SINGLE one! I would have not only been content with having any of the results I saw, but ecstatic! I continued searching his website for more information and discovered that there was an "out of town patients" section. It was like a dream come true. I filled out the out of town patient consultation form and about an hour later at 9:17 p.m. I received a personalized response from Dr. Deluca himself. The very next day I responded back with the measurements and photos that were needed and booked my telephone consultation. The consultation was 30 minutes and consisted of a dozen questions which I previously jotted down. Dr. Deluca was extremely polite, soft spoken and a pleasure to talk to. He answered all my questions without sounding the least bit annoyed (I'm sure some of them had to sound ridiculous!) and made his recommendations with confidence. He even provided me with a quote at the end of the consultation - a number that was much less expensive than what I had been quoted in Canada. Aside from booking the consultation, my correspondence was always with Dr. Deluca up until after the consultation when I decided I needed to have him as my surgeon and booked my surgery with his assistant, Karen. I spoke with Karen was good hour about the whole process and she asked me several times if I had any questions. I didn't at this point and she assured me that I would and that I shouldn't hesitate to contact the office at anytime. Sure enough, within a few weeks before my surgery, I had many questions so I called and sent out my rounds of emails, most of which were responded by Deluca himself, and all within a day. On Monday June 17th I met with Dr. Deluca for the first time and felt extremely confident with my decision in choosing him. He was exactly as I imagined and I felt extremely comfortable with him. When it came time for the big day, I was obviously nervous. I tend to joke around when feeling like this and Dr. Deluca was a blast to joke around with. I recall him coming in to do his drawings and asked me how I slept. I told him I didn't sleep at all and that wasn't important....what was important was how well he slept! He chuckled and assured me he slept just fine. After drawing his lines he left me by telling me not to worry and that I'll do great. I responded by saying "thanks, so will you! Right?!" Again, he chuckled and said he will be doing better than me. It felt as though I blinked and was greeted with my new, less droopy body. I felt great and things could not have gone more perfect. I had my first post-op visit and he examined me with a careful eye to make sure all was going well. He looked like an artist concentrating on a masterpiece! (For the record...I only waited about 5 minutes for both my pre-op and post-op appointment!) Currently I am only a week into recovery but my breast lift has resulted in two perfectly even and perky breasts with the augmentation being the appropriate size I had described. Once the implants settle and the swelling goes down, I am sure I will be the envy of many since I truly believe they are perfect! Perfect slope, size, nice round shape and completely symmetrical...I didn't even think it could be achieved with the sagging I had previously! My tummy tuck has left me with a nice flat tummy and I have little pain and bruising which I attribute to a job well done. My incision is so low that is practically touches my pubic hair line. I am still healing but some of the tape has lifted and I can only find what looks like a hair running across my belly...this is the "scar" I am being blessed with (assuming things continue healing so well!). I have had a couple questions within the last week and to no surprise, Dr. Deluca answered them all very quickly, one within 5 minutes! I am not sure when I will be seeing him again but you can be guaranteed that a great big hug will be given for his amazing job well done! As for the stars below. I truly believe he exceeds the 5 star rating in all areas. He really is THAT amazing. I will be referring anyone who is considering any kind of cosmetic surgery, no matter their location as I attest that he is definitely worth traveling to!