27 Years Old, No Kids, 5'6", 142 Lbs, Liposuction of Abdomen, Flanks, Inner & Outer Thighs, Fat Transfer to Breasts. Chicago, IL

This journey started out originally with just wanting liposuction of my lower abdomen underneath my belly button and flanks, as these have been problem areas my whole life. No matter how much weight I lost, how much I exercised, or how much I starved myself, including becoming anorexic at several points, they would never go away. I have thought about getting liposuction for about the past 10 years and only now that I have a stable job am I able to have the time/money to proceed with it. So I scheduled two consultations where I currently live for just liposuction. I wasn't happy with either consultation as the one woman was inexperienced with no before/after photos, and the other surgeon did not really communicate what kind of results he thought I could expect. I was considering with just going ahead with it when I stumbled upon fat grafting to breasts, which I had never even heard of before. I realized that if I was going to get liposuction either way I should consider adding on fat transfer to my breasts if possible at the same time.
My breasts have always been small, probably due to my eating disorder during puberty, but I have never disliked them. Sure, I always wished they were larger and that I could fit in cute bras and swimsuits, but I had never really seriously considered breast augmentation prior to this. As I am a physician I have seen the other side of breast implants, including all the complications and risks of infection and repeat surgeries, so I have never wanted implants. I also just don't like the idea of having a foreign object in my body, as it might feel uncomfortable. Fat grafting really sounded like the perfect solution: both liposuction AND breast augmentation at the same time!
So I drove to Chicago to meet with Dr. Placik. The experience was wonderful, the office staff were very nice and the nurses knew almost as much about the procedure as I did. When I initially scheduled the consultation I was worried because the receptionist said he only likes to do the procedure on women with BMIs from 25-35, and mine is more like 22-23, but I figured I would give it a shot. The whole appointment took close to 2.5 hours, as I had to fill out paperwork and then watch a DVD on breast augmentation with a quiz afterwards that he had made. In the consultation room there were 3 huge binders with before/after pictures, which I really appreciated. Dr. Placik was wonderful and explained that he has done about 50 fat transfers to breasts, but he's different from most in that he has injected up to 500 ccs per each breast, while most doctors only do about 250 ccs. He said I could expect to retain 50-80% of the fat transferred if I use to BRAVA system before and after surgery. I was surprised that when he examined my stomach he said I have a "beautiful" "feminine" stomach and there wasn't much he could do for it, actually recommended Zeltiq. He measured all the donor sites, which will include my lower stomach, flanks, and inner thighs. He did mention that 6/50 patients did have complications including fat cysts that required aspiration. I tried on the 250 cc insert, which he said I could expect my results to be, and for me it was a HUGE improvement.
I'm so excited for this procedure now, and I just hate that I have to wait until my vacation in May to do it. I don't have to visit Chicago again until the day of surgery. I will have to purchase the BRAVA system on my own through the website. He will need to see me again 3 days post-op and again 1-2 weeks later.
My concerns so far are just that the liposuction is just as important to me as the breast augmentation and I hope I emphasized that enough during the consultation. I'm not exactly sure how to get in touch with him with questions, so I've e-mailed the nursing coordinator and hopefully she will relay my questions to him. Right now I am ~141 lbs, 5'6". I would ideally like to weigh 135 lbs before my procedure to be at my ideal weight, but I also don't want to lose too much so that he can't harvest enough fat.

Just wanted to post an update! About 1 week after scheduling my surgery date, Dr. Placik's coordinator e-mailed me to tell me he would actually be out of town that day so I had to reschedule, which was disappointing. At first I was really worried because I had chosen a Saturday because it would have been done at a different hospital with an anesthesia fee $1000 less expensive. I'm very grateful that Dr. Placik and his staff were able to reschedule my surgery for that Monday and were able to give me an additional discount to match the previously quoted price.
The office has been very prompt in responding to my questions and the few times I had questions for Dr. Placik his coordinator e-mailed me back his responses within a few days. They have sent out a large packet with all of my pre-op and post-op instructions. I had to sign a bunch of forms and send them back, including the consent form. I have to stop my birth control a whole month prior to surgery which won't be fun. I'm also not allowed to drink alcohol for 1 week before or after. I have to take a multivitamin every day and vitamin C twice daily for two weeks prior to surgery. The coordinator asked if I'd be able to come to Chicago before starting Brava to get before pictures taken but I doubt I'll have time, so she said I could take them on my own against a black background and send them.
The office also just sent out the black hand pump I'm supposed to use with the Brava system. I'm still not sure how I should use Brava, for example, how many hours/day, how to use the black hand pump, whether I need to wear it on the day of surgery, whether I need to wear it afterwards, etc. I plan on trying to find time to call Sherri the nurse to talk to her more about it. I will probably order Brava in the next few weeks and plan to start using it the beginning of April.
I'm definitely getting more nervous and excited about the surgery and I just hope everything turns out the way I'm expecting. I can't help but worry about what will happen if I get oil cysts or fat necrosis but so many people have achieved fantastic results and I know Dr. Placik will do the best job and I'll be safe in his hands.
Still trying to lose 3-5 lbs before surgery but I'm only down 0.5 lbs since my last post, although weight lifting more. I guess it's a good thing that my weight is stable but I'd still like to lose a few more pounds from other areas like my face and legs if possible, although overall I would be happy staying at this weight once the areas of excess fat on my hips are removed.
Will keep everyone updated as I order Brava and continue on this journey.

I received Brava in the mail several weeks ago. To my astonishment, my measurements qualified me for the XL domes, which are huge! The box arrived with everything including the two domes, the sport box, tubing, filters, skin wipes, skin wash, dome cleanser, and bra. Also an instructional DVD which was helpful and an instruction book. Unfortunately the sport set does not come with a dome holder; instead you just have to let them dry in two cardboard cut-outs sent with the system, which is kind of annoying. Before starting Brava yesterday I called the Brava couch Darlene to make an appointment. It took about 1 hour to go through everything, but she walked me through all the steps, from the skin prep, placing the domes, and removing and cleaning them. She was super nice and patient and answered all my questions. It was kind of strange though that when I called the hotline initially she refused to talk about the black hand pump because it's not FDA approved, but once she called me on her cell phone she did talk about it, probably because it wasn't being monitored.
Putting them on for the first time was overwhelming and I was paranoid that I wasn't placing them correctly. The domes are huge and there is probably like 4 inches of space to the front of the domes. Since I am starting the system about 1 week early (5 weeks before surgery) she said I should take my time starting out, and to only start with 6 hours for the first night and work my way up to 10 hours by adding 1 hour per day. She told me to add an additional squeeze of the hand pump after the sportbox reached pressure. For about the first 2-3 hours I barely felt anything, but once I was around 5-6 hours I started developing moderate pain around my right armpit where the dome was digging in. I had to remove them at that point. Today I have applied a small piece of Tegaderm I stole from work (lol) over that area, so we'll see if that helps the pain. I definitely hate wearing them, and I feel short of breath because of the negative pressure. I can barely do anything around the house because if you move your arms too far laterally or medially it can cause loss of suction.
After I am able to tolerate 10 hours/day for a few days I'm supposed to start cycling with the black hand pump. I'm not totally sure about how to do this yet, so I'll update once I've started. Darlene also said I should try to wear Brava 12-14 hours daily on weekends, and for 20 hours the 3 days prior to surgery. I'm even supposed to show up at the OR with the system on.
As far as other things I've purchased, I bought the Aloe Life gel off of amazon, which I have been using instead of the skin prep wipes. I also bought Aveeno moisturizer for after I take the domes off, and Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo for cleaning my skin before. Darlene also suggested moisturizing my skin afterwards with coconut oil. As I said before, I also have a bunch of Tegaderm from work as well as medical-grade skin moisturizer which I'll try.
I also spoke with Sherri today, who didn't have much else to add, but did say I should send pictures every week to keep them updated on my expansion, and emphasized the use of the black bulb. She said several patients recently have not been using the hand bulb and Dr. Placik has been frustrated by this because their expansion has been poor.
Well that's it for now. Can't believe surgery is coming so soon. My first payment is due in a few days, scary.