First Consultation !! Not as I planned. I need to loose weight first

Hi everyone, I am 31 and a mother of 3 (12,6,3)(all C-sections)and married. When I met my husband 10 years ago, I was 115. After the last two I am currently weighing 180 at 4'11. I dont look like 180 most people assume 150-160. However, I am so unhappy with my stomach. I have the muffin top with pants on, and a stomach that sticks out like im pregnant with dresses. I think I look smaller in black dresses if I encourage myself to wear it due to the insecurity.

I am beyound insecure regarding my stomach. I usually wear bigger tops or sweaters to make my stomach look smaller. I am constantly putting my purse, or what ever is in my hand in front of my stomach when I am talking to people. When I sit down I am covering my stomach by folding my arms.

I have decided within the last month, that I want a tummy tuck. I spoke with my doc and she is going to start the process of clearing me medically within the next week. I am hoping to consult with different PS's and have a scheduled surgery as soon as Feb. ** Do you guys think that is a realistic time frame?** My husband think I am nuts and wonders if I can live with the scar....I said to him " ARE YOU ASKING IF I CAN LIVE WITH A SCARE OR CONTINUE TO LIVE WITH THREE ROLLS OF STOMACH?) SCAR IT IS!!! I told him. Overall he supports me and understands that this is for me and not for him or anyone else. When I get dressed I am always saying how an outfit could look so much better on me if I didnt have the stomach.

I am lookig for a PS in the Chicago area (I have found plenty on-line) but I am wondering if anyone had surgery with an Chicago PS and can give some realistic feedback besides the pics I view on all these PS's websites... or can tell me what are some of the main points I want to consider when consulting.

My primary doctor recommended 3 PS...and I decided that I will go ahead and make an appointment for consultation. What are some of the major or most important things I should ask during my consultation? I really want to make sure I cover everything.

Well, I am glad to know that my family members support my decision. Stangely, last week my husband decided to question the fact that I want to have a TT, and thought that I should be able to go to the gym and work the fat off...and BOOM!! BAM!! FLAT TUMMY!!! Needless to say, this conversation resulted in a slight arugement, because he was making me feel guilty for wanting to have a TT, and a failure for not getting the fat off in the gym. So after an hour of pleading my case and letting him know its not that easy,(and plus he wasn't going to get me to change my mind) we agreed to disagree, and I decided that he should come to all Consultations with me and ask any questions that he may have in his mind. So I called a couple of PS offices to schedule a CS, and one office (well the person that makes the appointments) told me that I should get down to 115-120 pounds first. What! I knew right then this is not the PS office for me. Lady if I could just drop to 115 then I probably wouldnt need your services.. PLUS!!! I dont want to be 115 pounds. So the next office I called, they were very friendly, the last office had me a little insecure about my pre-surgery weight, and I asked if they requirred for me to be a certain weight at my height before even seeing me, and the lady assured me that this is the reason for the CS, and the PS makes that decision not the people that answer the phone, as every individual is different. So OK !! lets set an appointment date. 1/7/12 it is !!! Im excited and for some reason nervous. I probably will just pass out on my sugery date from nerves! LOL!! I want to know what the PS thinks!! Got my SHORT list of questions,(for some reason I think my list should be a page long). I have been trying to find more questions on this site, because I want to make sure I cover all the important stuff.

I also forgot to add, that since I want my surgery to be late Feb or early March, I dediced to attempt a diet challange one more time. I ordered and Elliptical and going to change my eating habits for the next two months. No crash dieting, just more excerise and less of the fatty foods. My goal is to loose 10 pounds at the least(more would be good)but at minimum 10 pounds before sugery, that will bring me to 170. So I am sure or at least hope surgery will take some pounds away. I will be comfertable at 160 (with no hanging stomach) when its all said and done. Wish me luck ladies!!

Well, my first Consultation didnt go as I planned. I spent the entire morning going over the questions that I wanted to ask. I had a 10:30 appointment, the office was small but the assistants were nice. After completing paper work, I met the doctor, whom basically looked at my stomach, and suggested that I had a lot of internal fat. ;( Well thats how he described it) I would be at risk and I would get better results with less weight on my tummy. "OK! HE HAD MY ATTENTION AT THE WORD RISK!!!!!" So at that point I decided to leave my questions in my purse and really think this TT idea through.
I had already decieded on my own that I wanted to loose 10 pounds before the procedure, but I had no idea that I would be the one getting turned down. Plus, I dont want to ever be at Risk, I want to be the best canidate for surgery. But anyway, I can appreciate a doctor thats not all about the money, and can sit and really talk to a potential patient about health and dieting. So at the end, I thought he was great, and decided to cancel any other appointments, because that would look like I was searching for a YES! AND NOT A NO!. I can honestly say he had gotten me spooked about the whole thing for a minute. However, I am going to attempt to loose 20 pounds and not 10, so that would bring me to 4'11 -160P and then seek a second opinion. So far so good, I am down 4 pounds within 9 days. I have changed by eating habits, cut the fried foods and soda from my diet, overdose on water LOL!! and joined the gym. I hope to be TT ready by late March/April. Wish me luck.