Domestic Abuse Survivor, Needing a New Body to Go with New Life.., Age 33 - Houston, TX

Hi everyone. So today my journey officially began. Things just got real. I had one consultation already by Dr. Wilberto Cortes of Houston on 8/11/15, cost for consult is $65. There is a deposit of $500 to book surgery. The staff was friendly (Dede- Account Manager, no longer there), and Dr. Cortes answered my questions, but I'll be honest he is a little intimating but he is super sweet. He knew right away what I wanted and needed to achieve the desired look. Initially I went in wanting a BBL, but he told me that I would have to return to do a full tummy tuck in 6 months. ***Big problem, I barely have enough money for the first surgery so I can't come back in 6 months.) So that is when I sat myself down and decided that I have enough natural butt, and I will do more squats. My main concern is this gut. I'm sick and tired of looking 8 months pregnant after I eat every single day. I'm tired of feeling unattractive and covering up my tummy.
Ok so with that being said I ended up coming across this website. I saw a few negative reviews for Dr. Cortes. I freaked out. I wanted to get other consultations. So on 2/11/16 I will have another consultation with Dr. David Stapenhorst of Signature Plastic Surgery here in Houston. I also phoned Dr. LoManoco here in Houston. All the office staff were very nice over the phone. My only concern with Dr. LoManoco is that he requires a $100 consultation to be paid via phone at the time of booking. The fee is applied to your total due, but it is not refundable should you decide to use someone else. So, you have to be really set on him or your out of $100. Now I am aware that most consultation fees are not refundable but you should be able to pay them on the day of your appointment. (Just my personal opinion). Now this let's me know that maybe he is getting so many calls that he wants to sort through the ones that are serious about using him. Not sure. Now since then I've posted a question about weight loss prior to my procedure. I've been told that I need to be my "ideal weight" prior to the tummy tuck. Okay so here comes the diet. I was upset at first, but now I'm over it. I was upset because all the websites that I've visited show photos of these super flat after pictures. So in my non-medically trained eye, I figured that once these women healed they ended up looking like this. Not the case. Let me state that out of all the websites I saw, only Dr. David Stapenhorst showed you before and after photos and labeled the date range for the after photo, so that you have a realistic expectation for how long it took for these women to achieve their desired flatness. Another plus to Dr. Stapenhorst is that his consultations are free, and his deposit is $250. Thanks Dr. Stapenhorst, for that. For that reason I am leaning towards using him for my surgery. Don't get me wrong, I love Dr. Cortes's work. I think he is awesome, especially if you want a BIG BOOTY. I think that Dr. LoManoco has excellent reviews all across the board. However; it has been Dr. Stapenhorst that has set the bar for me. I also love the fact that when I called the staff immediately took down a tentative date for my surgery. See I was so dead set on having this surgery that I took off work already for March. We were promised a merit bonus at work and I was using those funds to cover my procedure. Well, so far no bonus. Which meant I could not pay my deposit as I planned. No worries, I just have to use another route. Anyway its crunch time. The day before Christmas I was 195 pounds, with a BMI of 31. My goal is to be 175 pounds before March 2016. I will continue to share my journey. You can also check out video footage on my You Tube Channel. God Bless

First let me disclose I was 21 minutes late for my appointment. After all the bragging I did about Dr. Stapenhorst I must say I was a little disappointed. He was short with me. He didn't convey a warm welcoming attitude. His office was empty he had no other patients there at the time. Teri (his receptionist ) was very nice, too bad she was not the doctor. He did answer all my questions, which I appreciate. He explained throughly what to expect. But when it comes to spending $10K out of my pocket not Care Credit, not loans my own hard earned money I do expect more. I definitely don't want to entrust my body and money to someone who treated me like a waste of their time. I'm very frustrating and on top of all of that I gained 2 pounds in the last 2 months. Discouraged.

So I fell,off my work out regimen but I'm back. I have 11 weeks to get it together. I need to loose as much weight as safely possible. I'm so determined to do this, I've been working really hard saving my money. I also booked a trip so I need to heal fast any tips?