KEEP CALM and STAY POSITIVE, I Did it! - Florida

Before I get started I would like to commend and applaud the ladies and gentleman on this site! I have been reading most of your TT stories/journeys since March of this year and I cannot begin to tell you how much each one of your stories has meant to me, as I too begin with God’s strength my tummy tuck journey. Kimmers25 and the Community staff, I TRULY thank you for this platform that has giving so many phenomenal people the strength to share their stories and feel so much better about themselves.

And so my Tummy Tuck journey begins, I am 44, with a twelve year old little missy, just kidding..she is my JOY! I had her via last minute C-section, I gained roughly about 35 pounds throughout the pregnancy bringing my weight to 160 lbs, which did not look well with my 5’1” height after I had her. A year after I had her I hired a personal trainer, and with 3 months of weight training and diet I was able to lose about 20 pounds. I then just followed the diet plan he gave me and figured I can do the exercise on my own, I did lose more weight here and there BUT also gain some here and there especially during the holidays! Currently I weigh 134 lbs and I have been going to the gym 5 days week for the past year and doing ZUMBA in the evenings, and could not for the life of me understand WHY the lower half of my stomach would not improve with exercise. So while watching a YouTube video of a young lady who had Smart Lipo done, I built up enough courage to schedule a consult with Dr. Daniel Careaga. I did ALL my research on Smart Lipo and loved the fact that it was a procedure that the recovery was not bad. So the day of my consult I met with the Dr (with my folder full of research and questions), and explained what I wanted, he took a look at my area and told me NO MATTERHOW MANY sit-ups, crunches, etc.. that I do NOTHING is going to take that extra skin I gained after pregnancy away, but a tummy tuck. I was not prepared to hear that, NOT AT ALL! I am such a baby for anything that requires a needle or surgery and my C-section recovery was no walk in the park. The Dr.’s assistant gave me the quote for the procedure (TT, MR and lipo to my flanks) and I then began to research the details of the procedure and found this site. I have two more consults next week Wednesday with Dr. Salama and Dr. Hochstein and will make my decision then. I embrace your wisdom, experience and look forward to all the help I can get from everyone as I move forward to loving me more!

I had my consults with Dr. Hochstein and Dr. Salama on July 17 and really had a hard time choosing between the three of them. So after comparing all of my mental notes and the ones I wrote down during the consults, I finally made my decision to go with the first doctor. I was impressed by him, he took his time to explain all the pro and cons, answered all of my concerns and made me fell the job would be done right, his entire staff is fantastic!, loved the office, the cost and he had my targeted date available. I did get to see his before and after photos, got to speak with a tt patient that was waiting to be seen about her experience with him and she had nothing but good things to say, I was also given the phone number of two other patients who had the procedure done with him, which I promptly called. So my date is set and I am now in the TRUE mental and physical preparing stage!

I included office pics of the other consults I had…. enjoy

Can I get advice on which one would be most comfortable to recover from the procedure in....

My bed with lots of pillows or a couple of body pillows
A Recliner
or I the Back Max Body Wedge(pictured).