After Years of Stalking Realself my Dreams Are Finally Coming True! August 22, 2016 - Dominican Republic, DO

I don't even know where to begin! Hmmm...a little about me...I am 24 years old, married, mother of 3. I live in Orlando, Florida. I have wanted elective surgery to perfect my imperfections since I was about 16 years old, however, I wanted to have kids first. Now that I am done having kids (my youngest is 15 months old) and I am fully recovered from cervical cancer, I am finally ready to make my move! Lol. I have been stalking this website for years and I just can't believe I am finally here writing this review. It doesn't feel real. Anyways, enough about me for now. At first I was considering going with Dr. Fisher in Miami but after hearing all the horrible stories about Vanity staff I decided to look elsewhere. After a little research I have decided to get my procedures done in the Dominican Republic (word on the street is they do it better over there with less regulations, however, be sure to do your research because there are tons of horror stories). After extensive research I have decided on Dra. Fatima Almonte, and I feel she is the safest choice for the results I'm looking for. As far as I know she has 13 years of experience and she has never had a death occur, (correct me if I'm wrong) she is very by the books, and only performs up to 3 surgeries in one single day. Not to mention she has some great results. I follow her on instagram (drafatimaalmonte) check her out. Anyways, I have been in contact with Leslie, Dra Almonte's surgical coordinator and so far she is great, minus the fact that she can be hard to get ahold of which is completely understandable, I'm sure she is very busy and receives many messages each day. My trick to getting ahold of her fast is to just call the office in the DR. I simply just downloaded an app called "Viber" and paid $2 for some minutes. I believe it costs 5 cents per minute to a landline or 13 cents per minute to mobile phones. Luckily I did because I was becoming impatient (Lol) and when I spoke to Leslie on the phone there just so happened to be a cancellation for August 22, 2016...which was less than 4 weeks away at the time. So of course I took the date, paid my $500 deposit via Sharemoney, booked my roundtrip flight which came out to $529, and I have also sent my $100 deposit for Maria's Recovery House (Total cost for my 10 day stay will be $600 which includes transportation to and from the airport and appointments, 3 meals per day, and a live in nurse). Oh and before I forget, my total cost for Dra. Almonte is $4400 which includes Tummy Tuck + Liposculpture full back, full abdomen, flanks, waist + BBL and I also added chin and arm lipo which makes it come to $4600. Not bad right? It also includes:
Preoperative Cardiovascular evaluation and blood tests, EKG, X-Ray
Post operation medications:
*Levo antibiotics 750mg. Every24h am
*Azitrom antibiotics1g. Every4h pm
*Artricom Relax pain medication Every12h
*Tasec Omeprazol 40mg Every24h
*Falcifor Ferro Every8hr
(Heparin shots is not included = US$ 40.00 additional for a box with 4 injections)
1 Post op garment
1 night at the clinic
Free of charge consultation post op

Also I was told my hemoglobin has to be at least a 12 to have an Sx done and above a 13 to have everything done. Mind you, I'm 3 weeks away from surgery and I have no idea what my hemoglobin is but I ordered an expensive hemoglobin meter that is coming in the mail tomorrow and for the past 4 days I have been taking my vitamins with iron, folic acid, vitamin b12, and plenty of vitamin C (be careful with the vitamin C though, too much can cause diarrhea), I am also eating healthy foods rich in these nutrients and drinking lots of water and pineapple juice. I am so scared my hemoglobin will be low but I am praying. I know it can take many weeks to raise it.
I went for my passport yesterday and expedited it, everything came out to about $250 and it can take up to 3 weeks which also has me nervous as hell. I just pray there is no problems. I would be devastated after spending so much money. Another thing is finding a babysitter for when my husband is at work, I don't trust anyone with my kids and family is always busy so this is a tough cookie to crumble but I am confident we will figure it out.
I will keep you ladies up to date with before and after pictures but for now here are my wish pics. I am 5' 5" 155lbs (used to be 128lbs before my 3rd child, this time the weight didn't come off). If anyone has any suggestions on what I should bring with me to the DR please help me out so I can start ordering what I need. Also any tips would be greatly appreciated. I am a little nervous and scared to be having surgery outside of the states...especially alone. That's all for now, feel free to ask any questions. Any input or opinions would be great too. Thanks for reading.

XOXO

Today my hemoglobin meter came in the mail. It said my hemo was a 12.0 and according to reviews the device is relatively accurate. My Sx is only 3 weeks away and I need my hemo to be a 13 but my goal is to reach a 13.5. I will be having my hemo professionally checked next week to get an exact result. Is it possible to achieve my goal in only 3 weeks? I have been taking my vitamin 2x per day...it has 18mg iron and I have been getting plenty of folic acid, vitamin b12, and vitamin C. How much iron is safe to take daily? I know it can be dangerous to take too much. I have also tried eating as much healthy foods as possible (we all know how hard that can be!) If anyone has any tips on raising hemoglobin fast please let me know, it would be greatly appreciated! I still can't believe this is real, I have been feeling very nervous and scared about going to the DR alone for Sx. I'm scared I won't come back alive and that I will leave my kids without a mother. I'm sure these are normal feelings and most likely everything will be just fine. At the same time I am so excited...I've wanted this for so long. My Sx is scheduled for August 22, is anyone else having surgery around then?

Does anyone have any suggestions on where to buy lipo foam? Also lists of things I might need would be appreciated. I want to make sure I don't forget anything important. Thanks in advance.

XOXO