No "Mommy Makeover" Here - This Will Be a GRANNY TAKEOVER! - Dallas, TX

I'll be 65 in 2 months and I'm an African American woman. When I told the board certified plastic surgeon at my first consultation that I wanted a "mommy makeover", his nurse/assistant (whatever!) who was in the examination room with us audibly snorted.

If you knew me you'd inevitably, at some point, be invited to my home. If you were to come visit me, I'd show you around our home and share with you the story behind how we found each of the neat pieces of art, cultural items, and interesting touchable things when we travel, then use to decorate our home. One of my brothers said of our home "Everywhere you look there's eye candy!" You and I would eventually explore the master suite with its spacious bathroom we recently redecorated, incorporating bamboo we harvested from our backyard and beautifully carved South American wood statuettes of women with long dreadlocks. Then we'd arrive at my walk - in closet, and you'd probably comment that its an oddly shaped, but big closet. Nice enough. Full of clothes. Clothes you've never seen me wear, you'd say! Why haven't you seen those clothes on me? Because my body has gotten away from me. I've been pregnant 5 times in my life and have given birth to 4 sons, all grown men now, but as a result, my body is truly out of control.

Why am I paying $60 for one bra...one that is "constructed", that can stand vertically on its own? Geez! When did my tummy start to melt down the front of me??? How did I get these deep grooves in my shoulders? Why have I lost the ability to hold a pen and write with my right hand though both a hand specialist and a neurologist can find nothing wrong with it? Could those deep shoulder grooves implicate a pinched nerve that extends down my right arm to my hand?

Because...my body has gotten away from me. I've lost control of it, and I plan to take the reins back!

You've heard young mothers talk of getting their pre-pregnancy figures back by visiting a plastic surgeon? The cosmetic industry has a very popular set of procedures called a "Mommy Makeover". Well. Look out! Because today's "granny" is concerned about her figure too. Granny has a Bucket List. Granny has beaches to comb, mountains to hike in spandex shorts, meetings to lead, and cruise ship swimming pool decks to walk across in front of hundreds of fellow cruisers. Nowadays "Granny" isn't synonymous with "invisible". And Granny CAN take charge of her figure again. With a little help.

No more bras constructed like padded armor. No more leggings topped with artistic and clever big shirts. And no more deleting pics my hubby takes of me unless I'm fully facing his camera (i.e. no side body-shots). I'm going to take charge of my figure again and wear the other 80% of my closet. I, and a very artistic board certified plastic surgeon, am going to conduct the first ever "Granny Takeover" - a breast reduction and a tummy tuck, with liposuction in both areas.

OMGosh! As I click around and read stories, I'm so inspired! Women are just amazingly resilient, strong. Fierce, actually. Stories on this website open up a whole new world out there!

Well, I got in trouble with the admin of this website - you can see my replies below have been removed. I write about my journey on my blog for boomer and senior women and they don't want me to mention my blog's website address here. But, it's too time consuming to write here AND for my blog so I'll have to limit my posts here.

At this point, pre-op, I would say the biggest thing I've learned is this: yes, get at least 3 PS consults...shop around. BUT! I thought the most important criteria were "Is he/she board certified?" and "Are his/her initial consultations free?". But I learned that even though the consult may be free to me, several doctors billed my insurance for it. Another thing is - I plan to pay for my surgery with Care Credit using their "no interest" option. I plan to choose 24, 36 or 48 months with no interest. But each PS finance person has different options. Some only offer 6 months no interest! So if I had to do it again, I 'd first talk to the PS financing person and ask IF they accepted Care Credit, and if so, what's the longest period I can finance with no interest. THEN I would ask the insurance person in the PS's office, whether they will bill my insurance for the "free" consult. THEN I would ask to speak to the appointment desk.

Just my 2 cents worth. Hope this helps someone.

I copied and pasted this from my blog to share with y'all here. Just talking about some of what I've gone through so far...

When looking for The One - the plastic surgeon you're going to trust (because you're entrusting your life to this person) and depend on (to help you reshape your body and to follow you for up to a year as your transformation evolves) - FIRST, I discovered through trial and error, I had to "qualify" him or her.

I picked surgeons from the list of Board Certified Plastic Surgeons on my health insurance website (which isn't always perfectly up to date). I spoke with the finance person in their office first - to see whether they accepted Care Credit and if so, could I finance for 24, 36 or 48 months? Then I asked the surgeon's insurance clerk whether they would bill my insurance for the initial consultation which was supposed to be "free"...I learned the common practice is its only "free" to me. Finally, I searched the internet for lawsuits in which the surgeon was involved and read the outcome. If all went well up to that point, I made an appointment for a consultation. So were free to me, some I paid for.

OMGosh. PS#1 (the first plastic surgeon I consulted) was witty, charismatic, a little cocky, and per what I read about him on the internet, VERY thorough, very supportive and had that right mix of surgeon and artist I was looking for (most surgeons have "before and after" pictures posted on their website). About that time, I attended a party, ran into a surgical nurse and I asked her about plastic surgeons in town, PS#1 included. She confirmed everything I'd heard and read about him. However, he was SO thorough he took 8 hours to perform a TT (tummy tuck) and applied THREE layers of stitches to bring the stomach muscles together. Other surgeons took 3-4 hours. Hmmm.

PS#2 was old school. He came from a long line of physicians and his sons were physicians as well. He struck me as distant, regimented, a bit chauvinistic...ex. he reprimanded his female assistant who was in the examination room with us because she attempted to answer my question for him. He only warmed up when I let him know I had read his resume and asked him questions about his background. Hmmmm.

PS#3 was professional yet really easy to relate to - everyone I encountered in his office was as well. He came from a family of physicians and his primary focus was the kind of work I wanted done.

PS#4 was really polished, professional, smooth, thorough and wanted me to begin a natural herb regimen with an herbalist and lose 10 lbs before we go into surgery. I wondered whether he got a kickback from the herbalist... Then I learned he actually was not a preferred provider with my insurance. Hmmm.

The above part of my search took about 2 and one half months. I would have loved it if friends or relatives could refer me to surgeons but so few of my friends had used a plastic surgeon and no relatives live locally. So...I chose PS#3 as The One.

Next, we plan the surgery.