Mommy Makeover - No Kids, Needed for Years of Yo-Yo Weight Loss - Jacksonville, FL

I went for a consult with Dr. Desai on 6/24/13 for a breast augmentation. I had already scheduled Vaser lipo on my flanks, thighs, and lower stomach with a different provider and I wanted to make the girls look a bit better around the same time. A bit of a bummer, it turns out I need a lift and an augmentation, but the overall experience in the office was great. The doc and his staff were super polite, no one made me feel rushed, and everyone was great about answering all of my questions. We decided on 400cc implants, which probably took about 45 minutes because I could not decide. I mentioned that I had scheduled lipo elsewhere and no one commented on this outside of asking the date so that I could schedule both surgeries around the same time. I appreciated that there was no push to add more to my procedure or to change my mind about using the other office for a portion of my surgeries. I scheduled my augmentation and mastoplexy before I left the office for the end of August.

The next day I went online and reviewed the doctor further, read his reviews, some of the literature he has contributed to in scholarly journals and decided to schedule another consult to have lipo done by this office instead of the other one I had chosen. So...on 6/26 I was back in their office for another consult during which we decided to do lipo on my lower back, flanks, and thighs, as well as an abdominoplasty (full tummy tuck). Again, there was no selling of the services, I felt very comfortable with the doctor and the staff, and I appreciated the time taken to answer all of my questions and make me feel comfortable. I had originally also had lipo scheduled for my knees, which the doctor nixed. It seems my knees are not as fat as I think they are and the result would probably be not what I am looking for. So...we added all of this to my procedure in August.

The end result is that I now have a Breast Augmentation and Mastoplexy, an Abdominoplasty, and lipo for lower back, thighs, and flanks, scheduled for the end of August. I labeled my review as a Mommy Makeover because the procedures I'm having are essentially very much the same. I don't have kids, but for the last 12 years I have yo-yo'd up and down 80-100 pounds almost every year, which has predictably not done wonderful things for my figure. My highest weight was last September at 237, my current weight is 158, and my goal weight for the day of surgery is 139.

So...since a main reason I chose the surgeon that I did was based on other reviews published on this site and those reviews have made me substantially less apprehensive about the procedure, I figured I would start my own story on here to possibly help someone else.

Countdown: 54 days until surgery

Yesterday was my pre-op appointment where I was only supposed to meet with the patient coordinator, however I’ve been collecting questions since my last consult with Dr. Desai, so I had a list of things I wanted to review with him first.

The first part of my appointment consisted of meeting with the doc and his PA during which time I was again appreciative of the fact that I was treated like the only patient in the office, when in fact I think they were a little behind schedule and it would have been easy to rush me. My biggest concern is the fact that I don’t want to end up with giant ta-ta’s, especially since I’ve had large ones my entire life and that I’m still about 20 pounds from my goal weight (I’m 150 and I’d like to be 125-130) and I don’t want to end up blowing 20K and still look bad. I was assured that losing the 20 pounds after surgery would not hurt the overall aesthetic (whew!) and that the 400cc’s (silicone) that we had chosen was what we should stick with. I did the rice test the night before and 400cc’s made me look like stripperella, so I’ll admit, I’m still a little worried that I end up with giant honkers, but I’m trusting the judgment of the doctor, who knows a whole lot more about implants than I do. So…400cc’s it is. Also, we discussed the difference between high profile and moderate profile implants (mine will be the latter) and the reason why he would be doing an anchor lift instead of the lollipop that I assumed would be his choice. Again, it was explained in very easy to understand terms and the choice made sense to me.

Next, we reviewed the placement of the scar for the abdominoplasty, which I feel comfortable with. We also confirmed all of the areas I wanted liposuction on. I expressed my concern that my thighs might need a minimal incision lift (the one where the scar is hidden in your groin area) and that I really didn’t want the scar going all the way down my legs as is the case with a regular lift. He explained the resulting differences between the two different types of lifts and we decided to more aggressively lipo the inner thigh area so that three months down the road I could have the lift. After the pain of this surgery, I may want to jump off a bridge before I ever have surgery again, so this way I’m kind of committed to the second surgery since otherwise my thighs won’t look great. That was my reasoning- his is that the final lift will look a lot better if they don’t have to lipo at the same time, because all of the swelling would be gone. Again, makes sense to me.

Lastly, I confirmed that there was nothing that would fix my bat wings except an arm lift and that lipo would just make them look worse, so again, bummer on that…I was hoping somehow that had changed between this consult and the last one, haha. After all of my questions had been answered, I feel a bit less nervous about the surgery, although still apprehensive.

After I finished my chat with the doctor, I then moved on to the patient care coordinator. If anyone is reading this and thinking about using Dr. Desai, the girl that works in this position is really wonderful to work with. I’ve emailed her with questions a few times and she’s always gotten back to me within an hour or so and she’s very reassuring regarding the process. I filled out my photo consent form (I declined consent on everything at the moment, but I may change my mind later) and my risk for PE form. Then she gave me my prescriptions (Zofran, an antibiotic, Percocet, and Phenergan, which I specifically requested because anesthesia tends to make me super sick and I wanted a second option after the Zofran), gave me the surgical center papers, and scheduled my follow-up appointment roughly 10 days after surgery. Then I paid my $18,999 (which didn’t include the $1000 I paid to schedule the surgery) and I’m apparently now all set for surgery in 2 weeks.

So, for anyone reading this, apologies for the long post! I have read hundreds of stories on RealSelf at this point so that I would have an idea of what to expect and the detailed posts were particularly helpful for me. Good luck to everyone else having surgery this month! ?

Countdown: 14 day until surgery

It’s over and I lived! I was super stressed about it last week. My concern is more with anesthesia than with the actual procedure, which as it turned out went just fine. Anesthesia in the past has made me terribly sick and this time I’ve had almost no nausea. I arrived at the surgical center at 5:30 and met several nurses and the anesthesiologist. After I was all situated, the doc came and drew lines all over me. He was very polite the entire time and patiently answered my questions. After that they gave me a Valium and I vaguely remember getting to the OR and sliding onto the bed, and then the next thing I know I woke up in recovery.

I was lucky enough for one of my best friends to spend a few days with me and since she’s a nurse I was extra lucky. So, while she drove me home, I don’t actually remember that part much. I then laid in bed for a few hours, all propped up on my big wedge pillow (such a good buy- it’s totally comfy). Then I relocated to my couch where I spent the next several hours basically watching TV, though I don’t really remember what we watched. Yesterday, I was not in a ton of pain at all, which I think made me a little more overconfident about today!

I woke up at 8, got out of bed to go to the bathroom, and holy cow, shooting stabbing pain everywhere, which I guess is what I get for not taking my Percocet as often as I should have. So, popped a Percocet and went back to bed until noon. Getting out of bed again was a total delight, but I hobbled to my couch. As soon as I’m reclining with my feet and head up, pain is at a 0. As soon as I try to move, the pain is a solid 7.

After being lazy on my couch, I decided I wanted to see the results. I had my abdominal binder, my compression garment, and my chest was wrapped in ace bandages. Yesterday just getting the compression garment on was a task and a half, but today took off the binder temporarily and unwrapped my new girls. They are beautiful! So high, and tight, and ok yes kind of sore, but still, they appear completely symmetrical and like they’re just suspended there, unlike the boobies I had before that kind of laid on my chest. I’m hoping that as the swelling goes down and the implants drop that it’s not a noticeable difference. I like them exactly the way they are right now!

My scar for the abdominoplasty looks good, it’s nice and low which is what I had asked for, and my stomach looks quite flat. I also had lipo in a couple areas and I can’t quite yet see a difference, I think because everything is so swollen.

Overall, for as much as I stressed out over the surgery, things seem to be going as well as expected. I’m looking forward to not having drains, and hopefully they can come out next week. Only one has any fluid draining into it and it’s a very small amount.

Also, I need to very careful with my weight while I can’t be at the gym, so even though I know I’m retaining lots of fluid at the moment. I have been weighing myself. I woke up before surgery at 153 and when I got home I was 161. As of just this morning I’m 158, so ideally when the swelling goes down even further I should hopefully not gain during my 6 week break from the gym.

I am so far quite happy with the experience, and I would totally recommend Dr. Desai to anyone interested in cosmetic surgery procedures.

Countdown: 2nd day post-op