40 Yr Old Mother of 5, Doing Something for Myself - Jacksonville, FL

I'm a military spouse and a mother of 5 wonderful children ages 23, 20, 17, 16 and my only little princess is 7. I have wanted to do a mommy makeover for many, many years now. My wonderful husband finally told me that either I do it this year or I can never speak on it again, so I took the plunge and started my research and set my appointment all within a week. Dr. James hardy was my top choice, and they set my appointment up quickly as well.
Dr. Hardy's office is about 45 minutes away from me, but so worth the drive. His office was very clean and his surgical center is on location. Dr. Hardy was very professional and really put me at ease. He spoke with me prior to having me undress. I was very nervous, because lets be real who wants to have someone critique them on the thing that you are most sensitive of. I've always been a confident person in clothes but not so much when the clothes come off. When Dr. Hardy came in he put me at ease very quickly and was very reassuring. My surgery was scheduled very quickly and they were able to do it in the time frame that I needed as we are being relocated with the military at the end of June. His office staff worked very well to get things done.

The day of my surgery I had to be there by 7 am. I was taken in on time and everything went very well. When I woke up I was already dressed in my binder and my breast were wrapped...I had a full tummy tuck, breast augmentation with lift and liposuction from several areas with sculpting. I could look at myself and tell I was gonna look amazing. The car ride home, I slept the 45 min ride home and most of the day. I did have pain the first 4 days that I had to take pain medication, but after that I used only Ibuprofen. I did also use my flexeril muscle relaxer for about 2 1/2 weeks for my breast, because as they started to shift and drop, I had some discomfort and chest muscle spasm. I have saline implants under muscle, I was a 38C prior to surgery, and I'm now about a 34DD/DDD depending on the bra. I definitely recommend getting a recliner and a wedge pillow for when you finally do sleep in your bed. I was on the recliner for about 2 weeks but it was so uncomfortable, that I finally piled pillows up on the corner of the couch and slept there for 2 weeks. It was very painful to lay in my bed and sit up using my stomach muscles. Recovery was a lot easier than I thought it would be. However let me tell you the first time you sneeze it will feel like you have ripped everything inside of you, I have never felt pain like that in my life. Oh also I did have drains on my hips for a little over 2 weeks and I had an issue with one coming out and had to call the office and let me say Dr. Hardy called me back within 5 minutes on a Sunday. He had me go ahead and cut the stitch and pull the drain out the rest of the way. It was a little sore but didn't really hurt.

My experience was very good, and I wouldn't change a thing. Dr. James Hardy was fabulous, this was everything and so much more!