Turning 34: Big Belly No More! Decatur, AL

Officially beginning to document my TT journey certainly makes it feel real.

I had a great second consultation with the PS that I have selected. Thanks to you ladies, I was armed with a notebook of questions, which Dr. Telepun readily answered. He made me feel like I was the only patient that he needed to see. Even his nurse told me that I asked really great questions. :-)

I want to have plenty of recovery time, as well as more time to get more healthy and more fit, so that's why I chose the first week of June. It gives me time to build up my health, fitness, and leave from work.

I've commented on so many RSers posts, lol. It'll feel strange checking my journey for comments to me, I bet. Since I'm so far away from sx, I'll just update here and there, although I'll add another post detailing my consultation, if that's something that you guys want to know more about. Also, fugly pictures are on the way. :-)

Well, here I am in all my albatross tummy glory. I don't even have any kids, so the blame rests solely upon my shoulders. However, the hubby and I are eating clean and starting to be more active. Baby steps, but we are definitely moving forward. I'm 5 ft 7 in and currently weigh 181 lbs. I plan to lose a minimum of 10 more pounds before sx, but 20 would be even better.
I sure would like to look great in a bikini by the time my birthday gets here at the end of the summer!

I'm finally taking the time to detail my second consultation with my PS. I initially met with him mid November 2014, so I'll just combine both visits into this one review. I like reading details, so if you're not into detailed posts, you may just want to skim or move along, lol!

First of all, there was little to no paperwork to fill out and I waited 5-7 minutes tops before the darling nurse took me back and weighed me. She really is a sweet lady who seems to empathize with the 'needing a TT plight'. :-)

Then, she took me to an examining room to wait for Dr. Telepun, who popped into the room less than 5 minutes later. Initially, we just talked. He asked me some general health, lifestyle, family planning type of questions and why I want a TT. Next, he examined me. No changing or stripping down was necessary. THANK YOU! I just held my shirt up underneath by bust and pulled my pants and undies down around my hips, exposing only my pubic area, not the vag.

He had me do a series of sit up type moves on the examining table, asked me to suck it in hard core while sitting, and what I thought was the coolest was that while I was laying down, he handed me a mirror. He had me repeat some of the things he had me do, while pointing out to me what he observed and what he could do. He explained about laxity, getting optimal flatness, his optimal low point for his incisions, and even a couple of things about my albatross tummy that I hadn't noticed, like how one side is shaped a little differently than the other. During this process, I had him clarify incision placement and what he meant by flanks by actually showing me on my body, since a low scar is important to me and because people call the same body parts by different names. Dr. T includes lipo of the flanks routinely in his TTs, but in the interest of safety (blood flow/necrosis), he will not perform any other lipo during a TT. At least, that's what he told me. Sorry, back fat.

Of course, I gathered questions from RS blogs and tip sheets. Here are some things I asked, as well as his response.
1. How often will you see me for follow ups? every 1 or 2 days for the first week (He has the option to stay overnight in the hospital, too, which I will probably do.)
2. What about compression garments? they will send me home in one (I'll be asking more about that later.)
3. Describe the day of sx. He meets with the patient and the family that morning. He stressed how important it is for him to meet the family. Sx will take around 3 hours. While I'm in recovery, he'll check in with my family. He'll make his rounds at lunch time to see me and check in with the family again. He'll make his final rounds of the day between 5 and 6 pm to see me and check in with my family again (staying overnight). I'll be discharged the following day after lunch.
4. Does my family have to stay here during sx? (Some of you are thinking I'm crazy, but I would rather people go about their business if I'm just going to be out of it anyway. We'll be prayed up and sitting twiddling thumbs really shouldn't affect the outcome of my sx. I say that now...Anyway, they'd be within a 5 mile radius.) Family does not have to stay, but he stressed again that he wants to meet them.
5. What about recovery instructions? He chuckled and reminded me that I'll be seeing him every day or two initially. We'll be getting information from him constantly. Because everyone can be so different, he said that he prefers to hand write instructions for his patients, rather than send home a packet. Trust me, I'm all for the packet, but I get what he's saying.
6. What vitamins, teas, medications, foods should I avoid or begin? As long as it doesn't have an impact on bleeding, I can do as I please. For example, I should only use Tylenol in the 10 days before sx, if needed. Motrin, Aleve, Excedrin, etc (analgesics) increase bleeding and should be avoided. But arnica, turmeric, bromelain, etc (natural options and such) are fine-as long as they don't affect bleeding.
7. What kind of anesthesia will be under? general, like when I had my gall bladder sx
8. Will you let me know how much fat/skin you remove? He weighs it and takes pictures. So, yes.
9. What kind of prescriptions will I have? I'll get my rxs at my pre op appointment, which is the week before my sx. He'll prescribe something for pain, nausea, and antibiotic. He only prescribes something for anxiety/muscle relaxers on a case by case basis.
10. How long will it take me to stand up straight? 1 week-9 days post op
11. What about drains and their placement? I could have up to 4 drains and they will probably be on my sides. (That sounded like a lot to me, but I do have a big chunk of a tummy, and I'll be in the hospital overnight. Maybe I'll ditch 1 or 2 before getting discharged. Regardless, it'll be better to have that fluid OUT than IN.)
12. Do I need to shave or wax downstairs? Don't shave prior to surgery. It introduces bacteria. If they need any hair removed, they will use surgical clippers when I'm under.
13. What do you recommend for scar treatment? He doesn't recommend any expensive treatment items. He did say that using vitamin E oil on it is fine and that it certainly wouldn't hurt anything. (Seems a little old school in that respect, but we'll see. Plus, I keep gathering all sorts of options from RS blogs.)
14. How do you handle situations when the patient just isn't happy with the results? He handles this on a case by case basis and tries to make sure that everyone is happy at the end of the process. Of course, different factors come into play. Like, what was discussed, what's causing the dissatisfaction, etc.
15. How many TTs do you do a month? He said that it varies, kind of ebbs and flows basically. He said that probably does 40-50 a year and certainly about 1 a week, but reminded me that sometimes it's more and sometimes it's less.

Whew! That really was a lot, lol! He and the nurse both assured me that I had some great questions and that I was a great candidate for a TT-no kidding, ha ha ha! He did say that I should continue to work on losing a little more weight, as that will only improve my result. They also congratulated me on losing weight since my first consult with them.

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment or question. :-)