#TeamCardenas Tummy Tuck, Lipo & FG

Arrived today! San Diego is beautiful and super warm. Drove across the border with Gabriel, there was a little traffic so it took about 25 minutes. He dropped me at the clinic and I met Fatimeh and Dr. Cardenas, who both greeted me with friendly hugs and cheek kisses. Dr. Cardenas spent time with me and answered all my questions, and then looked at me with my clothes off and we discussed my wish pics and what I want my specific surgery results to be like. She was very honest and made sure I had realistic expectations for my results, scarring, etc, and put me at ease. She didn't rush me at all and I felt like she really cared. She talked about recovery, having had a TT herself, and assured me that it would be difficult/painful but not unbearable, and to remember the results I was looking forward to. Afterwards I paid off my surgery balance at the front desk, in addition to the cost of my CG...I was a dollar short of $5 and instead of breaking my $20, Fatimeh just took the $4. Afterwards Carmen, who runs BCRH, took me to the house and showed me around. It's a nice place but nothing fancy, just a house. It's super cold here though! I had lunch (I was starving after my 6 hour flight with just a bag of chips and cookies) and it was pretty good: grilled chicken, avocado, slice of buttered whole wheat toast, these little noodles that tasted like rice & beans, and some yucca, carrots and zucchini. Filling and hit the spot! Since then I've just been setting up the internet, setting out my supplies, and calling my family and friends. I'm a lot less nervous after meeting everyone today, but I'm sure that I will be anxious tomorrow morning. I'm staying positive and believing that everything will go well and I'll get the results of my dreams. Wish me luck...more to come!

Hi Ladies! I am officially on the other side. I'll start from the top. Last night I chilled and talked on the phone, and watched some shows. Eli, one of the nurses, snuck me a Lindt chocolate...I thought I was on NYC time, and had dinner around what I THOUGHT was 8 pm, but was really 6 pm. Long story short, I could've eaten until 10 pm Pacific time, but messed up the hours and was too tired anyway. The other nurse, Roxana, woke me up and brought me a little pill at 10 pm, which was probably for nausea.

Ok, so I woke up the next day, and we drove to the clinic. I had my blood drawn and my hemoglobin levels were perfect. Then I went upstairs to my room and changed into a hospital gown. Dr. Cardenas came in and greeted me, and I gave her the wish pics we'd discussed. She marked me up with purple paint and I tried on this bikini I brought to show her how low I wanted the scar. Everything was fine, waited for a while. Got an IV. Then was wheeled in on a wheelchair and met Dr. Levya, the anesthesiologist. He inserted soemething into my IV after I laid butt-down on the table. I was like "is this gonna make me sleep? I'm a little scared," and next think you know, I remember them lifting me and then I just remember waking up in my bed. My surgery was about 5 hours I was told. After, I woke up every 2 hours wondering what time it was and if i could go to BCRH. The nurse, Angeles, kept checking on me, giving me pain meds, bringing me juice, emptying my drains, changing my pad on my back (for drainage), and giving me water and blankets. Dr. C and Fatimeh called my mom and sister around 10:30 pm Eastern time to let them know the surgery had gone well.

This morning at like 8:30 Fatimeh and Dr. C came in. I had my wet bandages changed by the nurse and Dr. C showed me a pic she had taken with her camera phone while I was in surgery lmao. It was of my butt, she said "I love your results, let me show you!" Haha. So pretty much: she took off 4 lbs of skin & fat and brought my stomach down to an inch over my old belly button. My incision is low but a little higher than normal because there was this one stretch mark I HAD to have gone! It only shows like 4 mm or so, so you can't even see it. I ended up getting an ETT and my scar was longer in order to account for saggy skin on sides, which Dr. C hates...her incisions are usually a little longer from what I've seen. She told me she took out 5 liters of fat, brought my waist in 4.5" (the least she will pull in is 3" for people who exercise a lot, so she said I had good muscle tone ;]), and put 760 into each cheek. At first, I was like um, my ass was already big, now it's HUGE. I can't really turn to see my results as there's no full length mirror, but my stomach is smooth and needs to flatten out because the sides where your ab lines would be look scooped out, I'm sure bc the skin is stretched. My incision is a little puckered in places but I think thats normal, and my bb looks bigger than before, but I'm trying not to focus on anything because it's day one.

After, I wolfed down some yummy hot oatmeal with strawberries, jello and juice for breakfast, since it'd been so long since I'd eaten. The nurse said I needed to sit up and if I wasn't dizzy I could take a shower. Sat on edge of bed, thought I was fine and bam, got a hot flash and sweats and had to lay back down. Tried again 20 mins or so later, and was able to hobble my ass to bathroom with a walker and sit and get a "shower." The nurse gave me a bar of soap and wet me down but I didn't feel sqeaky clean, just no longer sticky. It wasn't some intensive, nook & cranny shower lol. Got back into bed, paid for my meds (I can't remember but I think they were $56), got my blood drawn for hemoglobin again, had to have my pad changed because I was soaked all over my back, fell asleep, woke up, got frustrated of not feeling normal or being home (and it's only day one), used Fatimeh's phone to call fam and friends, got my clothes on, got post op instructions from Fatimeh, hobbled down the stairs to the van,gave the instructions and pills to Carmen, and rode back to BCRH; so here I am! Just demolished some fish, rice and veggies and juice after getting into bed and taking some meds. Feeling better but I know that this is gonna be ROUGH. Not in my faja yet, and I can post before pics but no afters yet bc I haven't been able to take any.