30 Years Young BBl,TT,Full Lipo - Dominican Republic, DO

After a two years of wishing and almost a years worth of deciding here I am ready to get my pre children body back. I'm a active duty Soldier, 30 years young and most importantly mommy of two boys 11 & 8 months. After several reviews I have decided to move forward. I knew from the beginning I would be apart of #TeamAlmonte I just didn't know when. Because of the military getting leave and time off of work is extremely difficult let alone the lack of support when it comes to cosmetic procedures so my date was moved from March 2017 to 11 August 2016!!!!! I'm so overwhelmed by everything and feel totally reactive. So far I have the date and blood work complete. After tomorrow I should have confirmation that Lesley received my deposit????.

Ok ladies, I successfully sent the wire transfer Lesley confirmed it was received and secured my date. I received a checklist for her of what I need to bring and I defiantly have some shopping to do this weekend. I received my labs from my Dr and my Hemoglobin is 12.6 which is terrible but defiantly needs to get higher so I started my Iron, vitamin c, multivitamin,b-100 today any suggestions on welcome!

Next step booking my flight, just have to figure out which airport to fly into?!?!

Sx date??
Flight??
Dream Body RH??


Pre/Post Surgery items- Pending



Dream body recovery house has been phenomenal thus far, Carrolyn responds very quickly and has answered all my questions and concerns with patience and sincerity. The list of post surgery things like robe, gauze, tape ect has been significantly reduced as they carry these items as apart of the package at Dream Body RH. So I only have a few more things from the checklist to get.

Still waiting on my expedited passport, spoke to courier and should be here by next week.

Hey team thought I would send a quick update, time seems to be going by so slowly. My son is 8 months and I've successfully weaned him off of breast milk but can't seem to stop lactating! I'm so engorged it looks like I have implants. I've thought about takin sudafed but I'm not sure if that's a good idea pre sx. On another note I'm finally ready to take my before and after pictures and I will post them tomorrow !

Ok real self sisters, 10 days until I fly out :/ mixed emotions but overall optimistic.

Hey Real self sisters just checking in! Mixed emotions over the last few days mostly excited but sad I'll be away from my husband and boys. I defiantly feel guilty about leaving my 9 month old, however I am grateful my mom is here to bridge the gap and help my husband. Moving on . . . I fly out tomorrow morning at 6am from Dallas, I'm pre TSA checked and already printed my tourist card so hopefully the airport should be a breeze. Hopefully lol well that's all I have for now.

Ok so everything about being cool calm and collected has went out the window, my emotions are all over the place Joking/Not really lol

Airport arrival: A representative for DreamBody recovery house was there waiting for me, however she speaks NO English and of course I speak NO Spanish. Thank god for two things the translator app! And for Leslie (Dr Fatima Almontes assistant) because I was able to call her on what's app and she was able to give directions to the clinic where I needed to go as soon as I touched down

Fast forward to the clinic, I arrive for all the test, trust me when I tell you a lot of test but that's good because safety first. Blood test, EKG, X-ray, provide urine and fill out lots of paperwork. When you come into the clinic come up the stairs on the left and Dr Almontes office is through the doors on the left. When I reached her office no one was in there so I called Lesley and when she came upstairs She greeted me with the warmest, friendliest hug which I desperately needed. As soon as I seen her I remembered why I choose this team!! We went into the office completed the following: forms, payment, before photos and we went over pre sx rules and if I had any questions and to be back at the clinic by 0600. I am 2nd on the chopping board;) lol so she said I should be in surgery by 930!

Recovery House. . . To be continued



FYI defiantly print out your tourist card online prior to flying it saved me a lot of time when I got to immigration. Make sure you have your recovery house address on hand for the custom forms you will fill out on the plane.

Good morning ladies here I am at the Cecil (clinic) just checking in in my gown waiting for Dr Almonte to come for consultation. My stomach is in knots and my period came on last night! Maybe it's the stress who knows but what I do know is I'm here now and I'm ready to get this over with so I can begin a healthy recovery.

Good morning RS sisters I am doing well this morning, I haven't been able to get out of my bed or see under my faja yet so I'm excited to get out of bed today. Dr Almonte said she needed for me to have more fat for the bbl. I'm 5'6 146 pounds so I'm not sure how much fat she was able to get, bug I'm confident she got something because for so bruised under and on my sides of my breast lol for all I care she could have taken the fat from my breast. There is slot of tenderness on my back and hips so I'm confident she took what she could I'll just have to wait and see.

Over the course of yesterday and last night I've had 4 different nurses, 3/4 are fantastic. Polite, smiling, singing and have been taking great care of me. The 4th one isn't terrible she is still competent in her job just not polite, friendly or gentle lol

Every three or four hours they come like clock work to do the following:
-drain your urine ( still have catheter in)
-drain all the blood from your drains
-give you fluids /pain meds in your IV, sometimes your arm (ouch)
- Give you a shot in your leg for swelling

I requested for my RH nurse to stay at the clinic over night with me for two reasons, the first was because of all the bad reviews I had read about hospital care, the 2nd was because I woke up from surgery in quite a bit of pain. After they gave me the soup and my first pain medicines the pain is absolutely manageable! Put it this way I was able to sleep most of the night, slightly uncomfortable but still a great night of rest. If your under the care of any doctor at this clinic you stay will be fine.

What's included:

Stage 1 Faja (2nd is $160 from my doctor or $75 from DreamBodyRecoveryHouse)

Wifi, own safe/room/bathroom, refrigerator, leg compression sticking to reduce risk of blood clots and food. Food is ok lunch was vegetable soup. Dinner was mash potatoes with slices of cheese and fruit I just haven't had much of an appetite. Well that's that for now I'm in need of a much needed nap!

Good morning RS sisters! Long time no speak my apologies for the delay in updates but recovery is just that recovery. Lucky for you all I have a decent memory lol I am doing a separate RH because mixing Dream Body Divas Recovery house with everything else would not do it justice! They are phenomenal!

Day 1 post op
Before I was discharged from the the hospital Raquel (Almontes assistant) came to clean and check my scar and belly button. She was concerned with so much swelling she told me each night to undue my faja while I slept. The reason for this was because she didn't want my belly button shape to heal vertical, she gave my some gel to put in my belly button once a day, showed my how to unclog my drain and told me my discharge orders I.e

Do NOT try to stand up straight

Don't shower or get in the bath

Do not try to wash your incision/belly button

Do not remove your gauze or tape over the scar

She gave me and my RH nurse a run down of my medicine, how and when to take it to include what each one was for. She gave very precise instructions to my nurse about if XYZ happens contact me. She made sure we had each others numbers and reassured me to call if I needed anything. When you leave this clinic they wheel you down to the back entrance and your car pulls up all the way up to the door. You WILL need to sit in the front seat so they can semi recline it back. Dr. Fatima also came to double check me over before I was discharged, she is so sweet, caring and professional. She answered all of my with patience , looking back even some that were not very bright lol

I was dreading the ride from the hospital because the car rides here are bumpy, rough and they isn't really a law of traffic here. Everyone goes when they feel like it so slamming on brakes is common, however the RH driver was exceptional, he drove so careful and even put on his hazard lights!

Day 2-3 PO

Once I was at the recovery house I realized exactly how helpless I was and believe you me when I tell you this is where your recovery house is vital! From all the back Lipo I was so swollen I didn't have enough skin elasticity to even lift my arms to brush my own teeth. When you get to your recovery house don't put anything about hip level because you probably won't be able to stand up to reach it. Expect to need help and don't be afraid to ask for it. For the first 2-3 days my RH nurses: bathed me, rubbed aricare gel on my back, emptied my drainage reservoir, helped my pee in my urinal. I only took my pain medicine when I was in pain which for me was at night when I was trying to get sleep. My RH provided a hospital bed upon request, this was so important for me because I slept upright for the first 3 days. I'm not used to sleeping upright so I took melotin to help me sleep and it was successful because I have been able to sleep all the way through besides the odd pain and uncomfortableness here and there.
I continued to take my vitamins post op for swelling ect and even though I hated and despised having to get out the bed to stand and pee I drank lots of water! Flush out all the bad toxins.

Getting on/off your bed
-It's hard to get on the bed then get comfortable because you can't twist and turn and if you has muscle repair you core is extremely swollen and sore so you can't lift your body back or forth to sit up. so when you want to get in your bed (if you have a hospital bed) lay it all the way flat and sit towards the top of it, move your legs one by one onto the bed, use the bed remote to start lifting the head of the bed up. You will start to slide down and won't have to move up or down or strain your TT scar trying to sit back on your bed. If you feel strain in your abdominal area use the remote to lift the foot of the bed up (also great for blood circulation)

Going #2
-had them cut the flap off of my
Faja so I could go #2 with my faja on!

Last but not least my support group was very very important during this process, especially my recovery. My support group have been very positive from the beginning. The initial post op days are when you have self doubt about your choice, the outcome of your results and for me I realized I left my 9 month old baby to have an elective procedure down in a country I had never been too. It was my support group that reassured me that I had researched this doctor/recovery house, this is not something I did selfishly and that I deserved to improve my body. Negative energy is not welcome during recovery,this is not the time for family or friends
to call you with their problems or tell you the glass is half empty.

Very Very swollen

My first check up, the powder is to dry out my belly button for healing, Dr Fatima Almonte said the stretch marks are swollen which made them raise up on my skin. The stretch marks are what make the scar look uneven and bumpy but they will lay down and even out once my swelling goes down ;) but because of the muscle repair my stomach is very very swollen.

The picture with the plastic wrap is when the masseuse puts hot paraffin wax on, amazing!

Just wanted to write a separate review for the recovery house I stayed in because it was amazing and I like to give credit where credit is due! Initial I was nervous because the nurse and driver who received me from the airport spoke moderate English, this is where the translator app was super helpful. All basic terms like food, bathroom, more, pain ect aren't a problem. The owner is from Texas and from the initial reservation was involved daily to check if I had food allergies to how I felt daily and most importantly how her staff were treating me. Carrolyn is always looking for ways to better her establishment, she recently enrolled the nurses in English classes which seems to be doing wonders because by the time I left the need for the translator app wasn't needed as much. The house is located about 5 minutes from the US embassy in a very upscale, gated neighborhood. I was told there may be construction because they were building more apartments but I never heard a peep. Safety and Privacy here is at the top of the list in the event you want to secure your stuff in the closet in your room or the actual door to your room all doors come with keys. They only take three ladies at ANY given time so I didn't need to secure anything as they only came in my room with my permission or while I was in there to change my sheets and make my bed. Hygiene and the overall cleanliness of this house far exceeded my hopes, the girls sweep, mop and sanitize your room/house daily. I stayed in the single room because I was worried about having a loud or inconsiderate room mate, I loved my room it had a 50inch tv with Netflix, double bed and hospital bed (by request), my own personal bathroom and so so much more. After a few days I was able to move around and was finally able to walk into the dinning room to eat and watch a little tv, I met a SX buddy KiKi there and it was a huge comfort to have someone to talk to that was positive and down to earth. I defiantly suggest bringing a friend if you stay at this recovery house there is plenty of room. If your on your own or attempt to come out of your room to meet the other ladies or spend time with the nurses while they cook because one it helps make the time go by faster and two it's very uplifting to chill with someone who is going through the same thing as you or see a friendly face when your far away from home. Food- one word AMAZING! So healthy and delicious I defiantly contribute 50% of my speedy recovery to the food and fresh juice. I initially needed help using the bathroom and simply getting up and down, the girls were always readily available or just a shout away. They were on point with my medicine even if it was at 11pm at night, there is ALWAYS a nurse able to help you if you need it! Whether I needed a laugh or help putting my socks on I could count on the girls to take such God care of me and I'm truly thankful I chose this home away from home. I could go on and on about how great the staff were but I'd be here all day, if you have any direct questions i.e what to bring and not to bring or whatever please don't hesitate to ask!