43 and Ready to Do Me. Colorado Springs, CO

Ever since I had my last child in 2000 I knew that I wanted a tummy tuck due to separation of my abdominal muscles. After my first 2 children it wasn't too bad, but after the youngest I knew that it was not going to be the same. I gained 15 and 16 pounds with the older children and gained a whopping 90 with the youngest. Well, they are older now (15, 20 and 22) and I am ready to do something for myself. I visited one doctor in October about smart lipo and he was nice enough and answered my questions, but he was not a board certified plastic surgeon. I visited another doctor, who is a board certified plastic surgeon, and he was nice, answered all of questions and then some. He told me that he could do lipo or cool sculpting but it would be throwing my money away because I would not be happy with the results and neither would he. He confirmed the separation of abdominal muscles and that a TT was the best way for me to go to get a smooth stomach. His quote was almost $10k with included the TT with muscle repair and lipo at $5500, the surgery facility at $2700, the compression garment at $400 and the scar repair strips at $400. I don't have the exact numbers in front of me at the moment but they are very close. I really liked this doctor and friend had her breast augmentation performed by him. Also his quote is good for 90 days. However, I want to do my due diligence and speak to 1 or 2 more PS. There is a doctor that is closer to me in town and he has gotten some excellent reviews so I'm going to schedule a consultation with him. I kind of slowed down in my search just because I have applied for a promotion at work in another department and I don't want to take off too soon if I get the job. So, I will keep everyone posted on how my next consultation goes and when I foresee me having the procedure done.

So I went to see another surgeon about a month ago and I really liked him because he has been doing this for many years and the staff was great. What I found surprising was that he was almost half the cost of the first doctor I saw and I liked him too. Until I set a date I'm just going to refer to my potential PS as Dr. R. Anyway, what really impressed me about Dr. R was that he looked at my complete medical history before making any recommendations. That is important because I had a thyroidectomy in 2013 and he wants to make sure that my replacement hormone is correct. He did not want me to lose too much weight down the road and waste my money. He also suggested that for optimal results that I lose 20 pounds and I gotta say that I was so with that because I wanted to anyway. He just provided some additional motivation and even suggested swimming to help the weight drop faster. Another plus for this PS is that he's only 15 minutes from my home. So long story short, once I drop the 20 and get my endocrinologist to sign off that my meds are stabilized it's a go. I'm deliberately reserving 2 weeks of my PTO for around the fall so I can get it done. The weight loss is going great and it really helps that there's a gym in the building where I work. And since my workplace is a good distance from home I have a membership at a gym near home that has a pool. Before I close this long post I just want to say really think about any procedure you want and do a lot of research. Word of mouth can be helpful but all of our bodies are different and you really have to go with what you feel is right for you. And although I may go with the less expensive PS it's because of his experience and bedside manner.

I have been continuing to research extensively while staying super busy with work. I found a doctor that's about 60 miles away and want to check him out. One reason is because he has excellent reviews on RS. The other is that he does the drainless technique and has great results. Because he is high demand I can't get in to see him until June, but it works for all of the meetings and training I have coming up. I am hoping that I get a good vibe from him because I know when I want to get the procedure done. Until my consult I will continue to stalk reviews of those already on the flat side. ????