Dra. Robles 13 weeks days PO! Tummy Tuck w/lipo and Breast Lift - Dominican Republic, DO

Wow...I am still on schedule for surgery on Thursday. I can't believe it is actually going to happen. I am not going to lie...I am scared!!! Excited, but it is all a little surreal. 6 more days and counting!

OMG...I leave this evening for St. Louis and my flight leaves tomorrow at 6:00am. So nervous, but very excited!!! Laura confirmed everything via text this morning...She is a sweetie!

4 days po...I am alive and well! It has been quite the experience some good and some not so good. The most important thing is Dra Robles is a good Doctor! I have been typing for an hour and accidently erased it...not once, but twice. Just my luck,lol. I will post another time, but I will say, if you get sick from anesthesia and pain meds, you must come prepared. I did not come prepared and have had 3 days from hell! Try getting the patch for motion sickness from your primary Doctor, because vomitting after a TT is no fun! Today is my 4th day since surgery and I feel human agin...Thank God! Later

8th day po...My 4th day after surgery was good and then, I got sick again. OMG...I have been so sick! It is no fun trying to heal from surgery, when it feels like you have the stomach flu! When you do not eat and drink, you do not heal. When you eat and drink to heal, you vomit. UGH!

A couple of days ago I started drinking ensure and got some stomach meds from the pharmacy and I have had a great day today! Day 8 after surgery and I feel good. Ahhh.....I even took a walk around the block today....woo hoo!

There was a girl I met here at the recovery house, that had a TT and back lipo 4 days before mine and she did great in her recovery. Everybody is different! I never get sick...my blood work was awesome, I don't smoke and not over weight. I expected to breeze through this recovery, but my body said differently,lol I have never had a major surgery, so had nothing to compare to.

I have a Dr. appt tomorrow, so will take photos. Later...

11 days po...I had my last appt. with the Dra Robles this afternoon. She was able to take my drain tube out today! I am still very swollen. Most of the stories i have read, every girl needs a smaller garment, before they leave. Not me! It is as tight as it was on day 2. This makes me depressed to be so swollen still! I leave tomorrow 4pm and I cannot wait! I am so ready to be home! I have had a great day today, so hopefully tomorrow will be good as well! I did get a dr. note for a wheelchair if needed.

This journey has been very hard! I still do not know if it was worth it, but will let you know what the verdict is when I get to that point.

My hubby and another husband at our recovery house, went to the beach today. It was a day of relaxation he so deserves, because according to him, I'm not a good patient,lol It has been a long 11 days to say the least, but I do see the light at the end of the tunnel.

When I get home, I will be more detailed in my journey. Later...

Sorry it took so long for an update. This has been a rough couple of weeks. I didn't want to post when I was going through the worst, because I didn't want to scare anyone. I also wanted to post when I was feeling more positive and my mind was clear! And I am a very detailed person and I knew it would take me forever to type it all out,lol My husband always says "get to the point I don't need to hear all of the details" haha Here it goes...

I am a strong 50 yr old woman. I have raised 3 wonderful children and I have one beautiful grand-baby. I am a very truthful and straight up kind of gal. This will be the whole truth and nothing but the truth! If you cannot relate to my story, please do not post a comment saying "oh I am sorry that happen to you, because my experience was so much better" and do not question my story. I am sorry If I Am being rude, but I have seen this over and over again with other peoples journey. You always have the one that accuses you of false comments. Everyone has different experiences and this one is mine!

My husband and I landed in Santo Domingo around 4 pm on Independence day. As we got off we went straight to the immigration line and waited for 15 minutes, only to realize you have to have your tourist card first. Then we had to wait in the tourist card line to purchase a $10 tourist card and then wait again at immigration. I have read so many journeys that stated this and I did not write it down. Please make a note *after you land in the Dominican, go straight to the tourist card line. It will cost you $10 per person.

We finally made it through and there was Leo holding up the sign with my name. I have been told time and time again how nice Leo was, so I was expecting a nice man. He does not speak English and greeted us rudely with NO SMILE...I'm Leo...WAIT!! As he put his hand in the stop position. We were apparently waiting on his girlfriend to come back from the restroom. It took 5 minutes of me an my husband starring at each other trying to figure what was going on. He had a mean look on his face and was was not nice at all! I thought maybe we were waiting on another patient, but had no clue what was going on. Finally this pretty lady that we are waiting on walks up and gives me a dirty look, and Leo says...COME! My husband and I are struggling with all of the luggage and Leo offers no help. Finally a man at the airport offers to helps, of course because he wants a tip, but we needed his help. When we got to Leo's car Leo did help put the luggage in the trunk. At this point there is no kindness whatsoever! I was scared too death! Please understand, I have finally made the decision to have the surgery which is a big deal...then I decide to go out of the Country which is now a bigger deal. I am going out on a limb and trusting that all of the journeys I have been reading were real people and not hired people soliciting patients for Dra. Robles. My mind gets carried away and I start thinking the worse. I have $7000 cash on me and they are going to take our money and kill us! It may sound funny to you, but this is how my husband and I both felt. I was never more scared in my life! The poor area we had to drive through was very depressing and we are way out of our comfort zone and then the driver and his girlfriend are going at it the whole drive...the 40 minute drive to the clinic was a terrible experience!
Sorry...I have made myself sick thinking about it all again...I need a break.

Took a little nap and had some lunch...feel much better,lol

Okay something I did leave out and that is the driving! They drive crazy so don't freak out like I did. I'm not joking when I say, we went head on with heavy traffic, just because Wilson wanted to make a left on the next block. I will say Leo's driving was better than Wilsons. I didn't think I was going to live to tell about it! I kept thinking "I survived the surgery and was killed in a car wreck...haha"

Okay so we made it to the Clinic. I felt so much better when I saw the Clinic and where it was located. Remember we are at the clinic on a Holiday, so it was like a ghost town. Leo helped with the luggage this time and took us to the nurse station. Leo was looking for Laura and she was no where to be found. I guess she was running late, so Leo left and said "Laura come soon". As I went to the nurses station of course no one spoke English. This was interesting trying to communicate,lol Anyway the nurse on duty was RUDE! She made you feel like she wanted you gone. She ignored us and we were standing right in front of her. Finally a pretty young girl with a smile on her face...yes I said a smile...YAY, came and said what Doctor? I said Robles and she said who? I told her 3 times and she said she did not understand. I thought oh great this is not even the right clinic. Finally I snatched the sign in clip board from her hands and went down the list until I saw Robles' name and pointed to it. Ohhhhhh now I understand...yeah whatever! I guess It did not roll off my tongue properly.

At this time it was about 6 pm. She took us to our room and that is when my husband said "What in the world have you got us in to?" I seriously felt like we were in the twilight zone! I started crying and told my husband I changed my mind and I couldn't go through with it. I was so scared and upset! I was so mad at myself and felt so helpless. No communication, no transportation, no pesos...it was scary! My husband tried to console me, but I continued to cry. (I am not a crier by the way and never cry in front of my husband, unless it is serious! So for me to cry my husband knew I was terrified!)
I am so glad my husband was there. I will tell you, if I would have been alone, I would have never left the airport! I know that 100%!!!!

So while I was crying Laura walked in. She wiped my tears and asked me what was wrong. I told her I was scared and didn't want to do the surgery. She did what she does best and calmed my nerves and had had me relaxed and laughing within minutes. Laura is a pretty girl, very pleasant and I really liked her! We talked for about 45 minutes. What I didn't know about Laura then, but do now, I'm sure she was thinking dang this girl is high maintenance and taking way too much of my time and I just want paid! She finally asked for the payment. Wow...I didn't expect that. I thought I would see Doctor first to see exactly what the Doctor recommended, before I paid?? It was uncomfortable, because nothing felt right. I think you should pay after the Doctor sees you and pay in an office and not in a hospital room, that is just my opinion. It just seemed shady to me. She did give a receipt, but what did that mean?

After payment she said the Doctor may come to see me, but she couldn't promise me anything. We told her we were hungry and she said they would bring me food, but my husband would have to purchase food from the cafeteria. Okay that is fine and she left. My husband was starving, but found out from the nurse the cafeteria was closed. There was a nice nurse that could speak a little English. My husband asked her what to do about food. The nurse pulled someone off the streets and my hubby traded him dollars for pesos, so he could buy some food. The nurse ordered him food at Kentucky Fried Chicken and they delivered it. By this time it was 9 pm and I still have not received any food. I was starving, so me and my hubby shared his small order from KFC and I never received any food,lol Thank goodness the sweet nurse took care of us.

FYI... It wasn't until later that my husband realized he got ripped off with the peso transaction and from the KFC delivery. Just know when you are American they will take advantage of you and rip you off. Have a peso translator app on your phone, if possible. I think it is 40.8 peso per Dollar.

Around 9:30 someone came and took my blood. Around 10 pm I was all ready for bed and they came in and told me I was going down to x ray. Well it took 5 minutes to figure out where they were taking me, because we could not communicate. (This not being able to speak Spanish, was very frustrating!)
The guy who works in X ray speaks NO English, so he had a time trying to explain what he needed me to do, but he was very nice and we had a few laughs trying to communicate. Finally back to my room and took a seeping pill, because I knew I would never sleep and knew tomorrow was a big day!

I will add that my husband also had a hospital bed to sleep in. Laura said because it was a Holiday there were extra beds and she made sure he had one, so for that Laura...Thank you!
Later...

I'm back...I told you I was a detailed person,lol

Okay so it is the day of surgery Thursday, Feb 28. Laura said surgery would prob be around 10 and I would be the first one.

Woke up around 7:30 am. Laura said if Robles did not show up last night, she would be here at 8 am, so I expected her anytime. I didn't take a shower, because I knew I was suppose to take shower with a special antibacterial soap right before my surgery. The heart Doctor came and did my ekg and all was well. A while later Raquel came to my room. She was really sweet, but a little hard to understand. She took pictures of me and was trying to get me ready for surgery. I started freaking out, because it is 10 am and I have not even met the doctor. Anyway I asked her about showering and she said just take a shower, you do not need the antibacterial soap. Really????? In the meantime a nurse brings me a surgical gown, with a cap and footies and acting like they are getting ready to take me. Hold up Nellie... I'm not going anywhere until I see the Doctor. Seriously!!!! This was one unorganized mess. Try explaining this to a nurse that you cannot communicate with.

Finally around 11 the Doctor showed up. UGH! Can you say a nervous wreck!!!! Yep...I was a mess. Laura was also there to help with the language barrier. I really liked Dra. Robles. She was kind, but right to business. She marked me all up and made sure we were on the same page. I originally wanted a breast lift w/ augmentation as well as a full TT. I was a small D cup and Robles told me I had little elasticity in my breast, therefore if I get an implant, the implants would weigh me down and I would need another lift within 5 yrs. She said I had enough good tissue in my breast for just a lift. She highly recommended no implant, but would do whatever I wanted to do. I went with her recommendation. I knew I'd be smaller when it was all over, but it would be all me and not have to worry about silicone leakage. Had she offered saline implants, I prob would have went with the implants. Oh well I think this will be fine. She said it is better to try this first and if I was dissatisfied, she could always add an implant, but she could not take implant out. She said once you get implant, you cannot go back. Anyway she made me feel confident in my decision. She is a very comforting Doctor and she is very caring.

Those of you that might be interested in a lift w/ no implant. Get a quote for both. I know from my research there is much more involved with a breast lift w/ augmentation vs. just a lift. I was given a quote for a lift with augmentation, but did not get augmentation and I received no refund and I did ask. That is another reason you should not pay until you know the exact procedure you are having done.

After the Dr left within 10 minutes they came to get me. They put me in a wheelchair and gave me the blue pill and wheeled me to the surgery area. I did not like what I saw. There were many surgeries going on and all of the doors were open. I closed my eyes, because that freaked me out! The nurses that greeted me at the doors were very rude. They were scary looking. They were giving me the death stare like they hated my guts,lol Crap...they hate foreigners is what I was thinking. They grabbed the wheelchair and started wheeling me to my surgery room and they noticed it was still being cleaned. They turned me around and girls guess what I saw????? Remember the real self lady that talked about the blood stained sheets and other ladies called her a liar??? Well I saw the operating room she was talking about, because that is the room they put me in until my operating room was cleaned. I think it is a surgery room they no longer use, because the room looked scary, with ancient equipment and the table they laid me on was covered with blood stained nasty sheets. It was not fresh blood, but as she described blood stained sheets. I was only in there for about 10 minutes. They made me lay down I guess, because they gave me the blue pill and thought I might fall out of the wheelchair,lol...lol

They wheeled me to my surgery room and I was scared that the sheets were going to be gross and blood.stained. When I got into the room, I notice the table had no sheets at all. It was covered in a reddish color cloth, so if it was blood stained it would blend in,lol...I'm serious.

Oh well I'm here and I have taken the infamous blue pill, so there is no turning back now. Holy Crap!!!! The 2 nurses in my operating room were nice. They couldn't speak a bit of English, but they were not as mean looking. They put my IV in and it did not hurt at all. The nurses said you speak Spanish? I said no I speak English. I'm from the US and one nurse says NO you are Italian. I said no I'm not and she said yes you Italian in a stern voice,lol. I guess she was trying to tell me I looked Italian. Anyway she ended the conversation by injecting a syringe of meds in my IV and nighty night I went.

My husband said my surgery lasted about 4 hours and when they brought me back to my room I was a moaning and groaning. I don't remember much, but I did get sick from the anesthesia. OMG...Can you say pain! Throwing up after a tummy tuck is so painful. They did give me a shot for nausea and pain and I think I slept most of the night.

I will share more tomorrow...

19 days PO and having a yucky day. Just feeling sick to my stomach today! I wish this motion sickness feeling would go away! :(

Sorry I have been sick the last couple of days. I have never ever had stomach issues like the kind I am having. Hopefully I will be better tomorrow and can finish my journey. :)

Last Monday I got a stomach virus that lasted for 5 days. Nausea and terrible diarrhea. I couldn't eat anything except soup and crackers. You don't eat...you don't heal! FINALLY...Felt decent Saturday and Sunday, and today I wake up with a terrible sore throat and headache! REALLY? I never get flus or colds. I get sick maybe once every 7 yrs, and now I get sick...TWICE...back to back? I guess my immune system is down, because of the surgery. I'm having a pity party,lol

Today is 25 days po for me. The healing process is going slow. My TT scar looks great, but not happy with other things. I have one boob bigger than the other, I have a knot the size of a softball, just below the skin on my outer thigh. When I wear pants you can see the bulge and it looks like I have a saddle bag...UGH! Below my belly button, I have a big bulge and I'm guessing it is a seroma. It pooches out and at first you just think it is from swelling, but when you touch it, it wiggles like there is water under it...Just great! UGH! I hear so many say, no one will touch you, because you had surgery done in another Country, so not sure what my next step is? No infection and besides being sick, I am physically stronger, so that is something to be thankful for. :)

Today is 26 days po...I went to the Doctor last Friday, because I had the stomach flu. At the Appt. I told her about my TT and breast lift. She offered to look at the incisions to make sure everything was healing properly. She examined everything and then asked me to come back Tuesday, so she could clean and take out any stitches that were not dissolvable.

I went back today and though she thinks I'm a little crazy for going to the Domincan for the surgery, she bragged on Robles' work. She said, you must have really done your research, because your doctor did an excellent job, and I can't believe you are just 4 weeks PO, because you are healing so good. She also said, The way it looks today, I won't even be able to see the scars. She said at least 4 times, what an excellent job Robles did and that she has ever seen incisions as perfect as mine. It was funny, because on Friday when I was taking off my gauze, you could tell she was afraid to look. She thought she was going to see a butchered up mess,lol

After the appt. I went to the mall for a while and It felt real good. :) I do know that everyday is different and just because today is good, doesn't mean tomorrow will be. So for today...I will enjoy feeling good for the first time in 26 days. :)

Sorry it has taken me so long to finish my journey. I left off with sleeping the night after surgery.

The next morning you really don't feel much pain. They kept me pretty much pain free. I had a catheter in and iv, so no need to get up. I was so nauseated from all of the meds, it was miserable. The nurse I had was not very friendly, but not rude. I think it is just hard for them to loosen up, because we could not communicate with them. I did not like it when the nurse came in to give me shots and put meds in my iv, without letting me know what they are giving me. I like to know what kind of meds I am getting. so around noon Dra. Robles did come in to check everything and said all is well and she would be back to bring all of my meds. Around 1:00pm the nurse came in and put in a new bag for my iv, so I assumed I was going to be there for a while. No one has told me anything about leaving. About 1:10pm, the driver comes to my door and says lets go, I'm here to pick you up. WHAT???? Dra. Robles has not even brought the meds back and then the nurse came in took out my iv and catheter and said you go! I was not even dressed and we were not packed up yet, so we rushed as fast as we could, while they waited at the door. When they want you gone...they want you gone!! This place is very UNORGANIZED! Anyway away I went in the wheelchair going one direction, my husband had to get my medication, so he reluctantly headed another direction and my luggage went in another direction with the driver. Well my hubby got my meds and made his way to the car and Leo says get in the car! My husband said where is my luggage? Where is my wife? Remember they do not understand each other. Leo say get in! My husband yells NO, where is my wife? Leo says get in! And my husband yells louder...NO! This continued another time and finally Leo pointed to another location where patients are picked up from. At that point my husband could see me at a distance and finally got in the car and they picked me up. My husband FREAKED out, because he thought something happened to me. Understand my husband was an absolute nervous wreck with this whole process, so he was VERY uptight! There was another lady that witnessed all of this and she was also staying at our recovery house. A few days later after we got to know her...she told the story at dinner time and the story was hilarious! We had a good laugh!!!

So we made it to the Juana's recovery house and it was a miserable ride let me tell you. I was on the verge of puking the whole ride...OMG! I will never forget the day I walked into the recovery house. As soon as I walked in, the aroma of fried foods, made me so sick! I just wanted to be home. Juana's recovery house was nice and it was very safe. We had the best room in the house. We had our own bathroom and small balcony. Not much of a view, but it was nice to be able to sit outside and get fresh air.

My first 3 days were hell! I cried, asking myself why I did this! I was miserable to say the least! This is not easy ladies!

THE RECOVERY HOUSE...The ladies in the house were nice, but we could not communicate well. My husband did download a translator and that did help. Now what I'm getting ready to tell you is my opinion only. There were other ladies that did not complain, but to me the food was TERRIBLE! I was so sick and all I wanted was soup, crackers and jello. They did bring me soup and it was full of spices and onions etc. so I could not eat it. They do not know how to make bland food for the nausea tenants. I told them more than once jello...jello...jello please. They brought it twice and both times I had to ask. They knew I was sick and would bring in fried foods...REALLY? One night all we had to eat was a big pile of what looked like mashed sweet potatoes and grilled onions on top! I am telling you the food was TERRIBLE! In the 12 days we stayed there, I liked 4 meals. In the morning they would bring you grilled cheese and it would be cold! Like they made it the night before. Thank God on day 4 my husband found me some ensure! I drank one in the morning and one before bedtime and it did help coat my stomach, helped my nausea and gave me some nutrition.

This recovery house was not terrible. It was a nice house and the ladies were nice, but they do not help you and the food is terrible. Oh and did I say the food was terrible,lol...lol They are there to cook and clean. If you are by yourself, this is not the best place to stay. If you bring someone with you, that can help you, then you will be fine. Juana is very nice. She has a full time job and 2 recovery houses, so she is very busy. She does stop in to check on you in the evening, to make sure all is well. This recovery house does not have hospital beds, like some of the other recovery houses.

I will give you an example of how they do not take care of you. On our last day we would be leaving for the airport about 1:30 pm. We are eating lunch around noon and a new lady came in. The previous day she had a TT, lipo and BBL and when she walked in the door, they sat her at the table to eat. All I kept thinking was...she just had surgery, she cannot eat this food and how in the world is she able to sit at this table? I just know with my experience, that my first 2 days at the recovery house, I did not leave my room. I just was not able! Anyway I said to the lady are you okay? She said yes, but I could tell she was struggling. I knew that there would not be a room available for at least 2 hours and was wondering what she was going to do for 2 hrs. While the lady was eating, she turned white and started having problems. The food had made her sick and she started cramping really bad and was getting sick. There were 3 ladies there and they did nothing! The lady could not stand up on her own at this point and they expected her to sit on a hard couch for 2 hours...OMG! The ladies would not help her, so me and my husband grabbed her and took her to our room and took care of her. YEP...we took care of a patient, because the ladies had NO compassion! NO COMPASSION! I honestly think that they liked seeing us in pain, because they never tried to comfort me in my sickness!!! I'm guessing they are thinking, if your stupid enough to get surgery, you deserve to suffer. This is just my opinion. Anyway after we laid her down and got her comfortable. They did finally come and help her, but I had to get mean. It was UNREAL! The lady was so thankful! Like I said...if you are by yourself, this is not the house for you!

If you choose to stay here, I recommend you bring food. If you are the nausea type you need to bring Ensure, packets of oatmeal, crackers, snacks, maybe chicken noodle soup and anything else you can think of.

Juana E. Taveras
809-273-7071
email: huespedes19@gmail.com

Something else you need to know, if you bring a spouse. My husband and another guy in the house wanted to go to the beach one day. The guys were going to take a taxi, but Juana insisted that they go with her driver. My husband asked the driver to drop them off for 3 hours and then come back to pick them up. The driver insisted that he stay with them. They were done with the beach and my husband told the driver he wanted to buy him lunch for taking them to the beach. They stop at a shack on the beach that the driver recommended and a lunch for 3 came up to $80. My hubby about had a heart attack! After lunch my hubby thought they were headed home, but the driver wanted to take them somewhere else. My husband thought, wow...he is being very nice and just wanted to show the guys around. After that stop my husband was past ready to come back and the driver insisted they go somewhere else. Anyway when they finally got back to the house, he told them it was going to be $40 a piece, for a total of $80. WHAT? His lunch was paid for, it was the drivers idea to make additional stops and my husband was just being nice and went along with it, because he didn't want to hurt the drivers feelings. Well my husband said, you ask Juana for your $80, because that is too much! That evening Juana asked the other guy for $40 and he paid it reluctantly, but my husband refused and said $40 was more than enough and he paid the other guy $20. As nice as they may seem...THEY WILL TRY TO RIP YOU OFF! You are a rich stupid Americano!

If you want a second opinion on the house...ineedracks stayed there as well.

To be continued...

Ladies...Go to youtube.com and search massagebyheatherw. she has videos on how to give yourself lymphatic drainage massages.

6 weeks PO...Sorry for the Journey delay...I left off with he recovery house.

So while you are at the recovery house you will see the Doctor. A driver will come and pick you up and take you. I had Surgery on a Thursday and before I left the hospital on Friday, the Doctor said, if your drain leaks you need to let me know. On Saturday morning my drain was leaking quite a bit. I told Laura that morning and she said she would tell doctor. On Saturday night about 9pm the lady of the house comes to our room and says, You Go to Doctor! I was thinking NO WAY...I'm in bed almost asleep...I'm sooo sick and just want to go to sleep. It was hard to communicate with her and I told her NO! It was late, I'm sick and I'm not going!!! Of course she couldn't understand me and she yelled GO! GO! The driver was there and taking me to the doctor. I had no choice, but to go to the Doctor,lol. I can laugh about it now, but I tell you at the time, it was no laughing matter!

When we got there, Dra Robles was dressed up as if she was out on the town and came in just to see me. I'm guessing Laura forgot to tell her, or Dra. Robles just forgot, and that is why it was so late. The Doctor was sooo very sweet...she checked everything and wanted to know where my garment was? I said, I did not have one. After surgery they give you a temporary wrap with Velcro and before you leave the hospital the Doctor is suppose to put you in your new garment, but I did not know that at the time. So ladies...don't leave the hospital without your garment. Anyway...she unclogged my drain and cleaned me all up and gave me my new garment. The garment was so tight that I wanted to puke! I did my best with deep breathing, to keep from getting sick in her office. Anyway on the way home...yep... I puke all over me and my new garment and the drivers car. It was terrible! My husband cleaned the car as best as he could and gave Wilson a $20 tip...I felt really bad! I then get off the elevator at the recovery house and start puking again. It was sooooo PAINFUL! That was the day from HELL! At this point it was 10:30 pm, no washing the garment...I just got cleaned up best that I could and went to bed.

The next morning I had my garment washed. she dried it and it shrunk. I could not get it back on. I'm telling you, I know the garments are suppose to be tight, but mine was soooo tight I cried and had a hard time breathing. It hurt so bad and now it is even more tight. My husband did his best and could only get it on half way. I had to call Laura and tell her my garment was too small and she said yes...that is normal. I said no you do not understand, I have to see the doctor!!! Very upsetting, because the garment is a very important part of healing. I finally went back to the doctor on Tuesday. When I came in this time, the doctor examined me and said where is your support bra???? I said you did not give me one, I was just wrapped in ace bandages. Anyway she gave me a bra and a new size Medium garment. As much as I like the Dr. she is very disorganized!!!! It was a busy time and her assistant Raquel had to suddenly take off a week, because of pregnancy issues. I'm guessing these are the things Raquel normally did.

Some advice...When you know you are going to have a doctors appt. , get ready in the morning, because you never know when the driver will be there to pick you up. The may tell you your appointment is at 1pm and show up at 11. They were disorganized like that. I was there at a very busy time, so maybe it is not normally that crazy. This is just what happened to me, every single appt.

I was at the recovery house for 12 days. I was sick 9 out of the 12 days. The procedures itself was a little painful, but nothing too terrible. The worse issue for me was being constantly being nauseated and not having the right food and meds to deal with it. If you are the type of person that normally gets motion sickness...get a prescription for anti-nausea meds. I don't care how you get them, just get some,lol...lol! My experience could have been so much better, if I would have had meds. I don;t mean dramamine either. I had that and it did not touch my nausea. You need to real deal!!!!

I did feel better on my 11th day and me and my hubby walked to an ice cream shop. It was only about 4 blocks away from the recovery house. Ask the ladies about the Dominicans ice cream shop. You will want to try it out.

On my last visit to the doctor I had to wait over an hour to see her. That happens...when I walked in the room there was bloody fluids in front of the patient table and on the step stool. It appeared someone's drain was removed and they spilled it. I don't know, but there was a puddle and it was disgusting! GROSS!!!! That room was disgusting that day!!!! The trash was overflowing with bloody nasty stuff and I was very uneasy! I just stood and looked at her and pointed to the mess in the floor and she got a bunch of gauze and cotton to soak it up. My last visit and I was very disappointed. She was so busy and acted annoyed that I was asking her questions. She had her scrubs on and I'm guessing she was in between surgeries. She did take my drain out and was in such a hurry, she was trying to yank it out before she cut the thread. They sew a stitch in the skin to keep the hose in place and she was yanking it! I screamed and Dr. Almonte looked at her puzzled and said u need to cut the thread. OMG...OUCH! Although she was in a hurry, I did however manage to get a note for wheelchair access for the airport. Other than that, it was like....I'm done with you...now GO! I was very disappointed! I received nothing to inform me of how to take care of myself. I tried to ask as many questions as I could think of, but when someone is rushing you, it is hard to remember everything.

I'm safe and sound now and I'm not trying to scare anyone, just want you to be informed. I once read that the sanitary in the dominican is the same as in the US. It is not the same and far from it! Just be prepared!

So finally it is going home day!!! YAY!!!! I wanted home sooooo bad, I missed my kids. my dogs, my house, my bed. I missed home!!!!

As I got out of the car at the airport, a gentleman could tell I was struggling and said do you want a wheelchair? I said yes please and he went to get the chair. He then wheeled me in front of everyone and took me straight to the AA counter. I then gave American Airlines my doctors note and they got me an American Airline wheelchair and they took care of me from there. *Remember to have cash for tipping. We went in front of every single line, it was AWESOME! American put a Wheelchair request in the computer and when we landed in Miami, there was a wheelchair waiting for me and the same when we landed in St' Louis. Ladies...If you have a Lipo and a Tummy Tuck, do not...I repeat DO NOT forget to ask for a Doctors note for a wheelchair!!!!

We had a 3 hour layover in Miami and my husband and I said what are we going to do for 3 hours? Let me tell you... because we had wheelchair service we went in front of the immigration and check point line. We had to pick up our luggage and recheck the luggage and barely made it to the gate in time. We were there 10 minutes and they started boarding. Had I not had the wheelchair, we would have no doubt missed out flight! We prob spent $30.00 in tips, but it was so worth it!!!!

I am 6 weeks po now and still having swell hell. I have a new Pontebella garment and plan on wearing it for another 2 weeks and then will switched over to spanx for the last 4 weeks. That is the plan anyway. I will have to wait and see, because my progress seems to be much slower than everyone else.

I started walking a brisk 2 mile walk on Monday and couldn't do it yesterday or today, because I'm feeling pain in my stomach. UGH....I just want to be normal again. No pain...No gain is what I keep telling myself. This too shall pass.

I will try to post pictures soon. I'm still worried about my stomach. On monday, I sent a video to Laura to show Robles and still have had no response. That is frustrating! What is even more frustrating is Laura sent me a text last night and I'm sure it was a generic text to 100 patients. It said...Hello how are you? Please keep me posted about your recovery. Really???? I sent back a text and said i did...I sent you 2 videos 4 days ago concerning the issues with my stomach and still no reply!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Still waiting...:)






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7 weeks po today and think I may have a seroma. I sent video to Robles yesterday and she said I needed to get it checked out ASAP.

I called a PS that actually did eye surgery for me 10 years ago and he refuses to see me. I am waiting to hear from another ps about 100 miles from me, but it doesn't sound promising.

I left a messsage with a mesage therapist that does lymphatic massages, but I do not know if she knows anything about seromas and drainage. I am waiting for her phone call as well.

And lastly...l also left a message with my primary physician. I want to see if he can order a sonogram to see if there is fluid build up and then I have no idea from there.

This is STRESSFUL!

I'm 7 weeks po today.

Today I found someone about 40 miles from me that does Lymphatic massages. I have an appt. on Monday...YAY! hopefully she can give me some insight on my tummy.

I have been walking 2 miles a day trying to loose 10lbs. I'm coming to the conclusion that maybe the reason my legs are so big is not because they are swollen, but because I have gained weight,lol Right now I am at 138 lbs and I am normally around 127 to 130. That is 138lbs after a TT with lipo in the waist and flanks. That would put me about 143 to 145lbs had I not had some fat sucked out of me,lol. So i got to thinking...Maybe my legs look extra big, because my waist is smaller. hahaha! I'm ready to loose this 10lbs and look great this summer. I am thinking waaayyyy too much.

I will be 3 months po on may 20th and I am going to start slim n 6. That will be 6 weeks before we leave for our Florida vacation. I could probably start exercise earlier, but I don't want to do anything to mess up Dra Robles work,lol. So for now... I will walk.

Also my 3 mos po is when I will no longer where this freakin garment! I hate this stupid thing. It is itchy and I don't sleep well with it on. I can't wait to be normal again, but HEY...I'm back to having good sex, so that's a good thing....haha!

I am feeling good, but still swollen, but I guess that is normal. I just feel so fat! I actually feel 7 mos pregnant at times...haha. Oh well, when it is all said and done, I'm sure it will be all worth it. I will make my final decision on...was it worth it or not, on my 12 weeks po. We shall see. :) I'm thinking yes. ;)

Last night on real self I wanted to read what other Doctors has to say about compression garments. Every single Dr said no more than 6 weeks. I still plan on wearing one, but last night I decided to sleep without one. It felt weird and I was very cautious in the night, but I woke up and had less swelling then I normally do. My legs are usually swollen and I woke up feeling more like myself. I felt so good this morning! I started trying on some of my old clothes and I looked really good. I was excited for the first time!! I could actually see what I was going to look like.;) I'm at 137lbs and still have 7 to 10 lbs to loose and I'm working on that, but give me to July 1st and I'm going to be strutting my stuff,lol

I really think the compression garment is cutting off my circulation at night and causing me to retain water, so for now on at night...I'm garment free! WooHoo!!!!!

7 week po...I went to get a Lymphatic massage today. I thought it was a waste of money and won;t be back. She did tell me that I do not have a seroma. That is good new! She said it was inflammation and I'm just swollen. Anyway there are some u tube videos that show you how to do the lymphatic massages...I say save your money. Of course that is only my opinion.

I have had several message me and ask if I was happy with my breast lift.

I have been waiting for the swelling to go down, before I would said yay or nay. I have not been happy with the lift, but wanted to be patient. Now that the swelling has gone down, I am even more unhappy with the lift.

It is not terrible and it is nothing serious, I'm just not happy with it. I feel she rushed through my surgery and was suppose to do a small reduction in my right breast and it is obvious that she did not do the reduction. My right breast is still larger than the left. Nothing life threatening, but when you pay to have something done, you want it done right and she took shortcuts!

Also I have researched breast lift and I know there are 3 main breast lift. In my situation in having 50 yr old sagging breast, my type of breast lift should have been what is call the anchor lift. She only did half of an anchor???? Why???? I have no idea? Short cut I'm guessing.

One of the things I hated about having sagging breast is when I wore a bra, I always had to lift my boobs, because the bottom part of the breast would fall below the bra. It was so annoying! Well because she did not do an anchor lift, I still have the problem. This is so aggravating!

I would load a picture to show you why the anchor is important.

So those of you with sagging breast, tell the Doctor you want a full anchor breast lift, or you will not be happy. I did not mention the anchor to the Doctor, because she is the Doctor and she knows what she is doing. Or you would think so anyway. I never dreamed she would half do it!!!!

Anyway I hear so many that love their breast after surgery and though mine are not terrible, she did not do a great job. :(

An update on the TT. I am still swollen and feel fat and I am depressed most days. My healing has been so slow and can't wait to get past this!

You ladies that do not have all of this swelling and have healed quickly, you are very lucky!

I also want to say, that 10 days ago I sent Laura a message and two pictures of my breast. I wanted her to see the difference in the size of my breast. I received no response! :(

I uploaded some new breast photos.

When you are looking at the breast lift photos, remember these are 50 yr old breast.

You can compare to the before pic and see there is a huge improvement. Also I did not get implants, just a lift. I just wish she would have given me the best lift possible. I don't want to scare someone from getting a lift, I just want you to be aware and know what questions to ask.

Also notice the pooch in the tummy area before my surgery and notice the pooch is still there after the TT. I'm still not sure it was all worth it. You have to take into consideration that there was not a ton of skin for my TT situation. Had I been much larger or had lost tons of weight and had lots of excess skin, than heck yeah it would have been worth it, but in my situation I just don;t see a huge difference. Maybe when the swelling is down, I will have a better outlook, but for right now I am not thrilled.

I will be 13 weeks po tomorrow and I stopped wearing my garment at 11 weeks, accept for exercising. 10 days ago I started a diet and exercise program. I walk and light jog 2 miles, 3 days a week and I do Beach body's, slim and 6 " Burn it up" on the opposite 3 days a week. I do skip the ab workout on the slim n 6. I will tell you I am sooooo out of shape! I have lost 4lbs and I am now 140lbs. I'm usually 127lbs, so I have 13lbs too loose. I have been a terrible patient, will NO PATIENCE and have been so depressed, that I have eaten my way to an extra 15 lbs. Dumb I know...have surgery and gain weight...UGH!!! The swelling made me feeI so fat and without being able to exercise, I became depressed and fed my face. At least I know I am on the right road and within 6 weeks, I will be looking good! I first started working out with the garment on and this week, I said the heck with it and I am garment free!!! Feels great!!!!! I am going to Florida in 5 weeks, so I have to get rid of 10 lbs. That is 2lbs a week...Can I do it???? ;) I feel human again...YAY!!!!!!