Lapband Patient from Australia Travelling to Miami for BBL - Surgery Booked for 21-03-2017 - Miami, FL

I have had a mixed experience so far. After some RS stalking, I had narrowed my options down to Dr Hasan and Dr Fisher. Contacted Vanity via email and after a response, called and spoke to Leo. She suggested I go with Dr Hasan - more than happy to, love his work! Through email correspondence (way easier for me with the time difference) I checked with my coordinator that Dr Hasan would be comfortable performing my surgery with my lap band in place - he confirmed it was fine. In true organised Virgo form I set my surgery date, paid my deposit and booked my flights. So far, so good right? I received pre op instructions a few days later from Claudia. I emailed her back asking if Dr Hasan was 100% confident with performing the surgery with my lap band - I'm not sure why I did it, I was just feeling unsettled about the situation. Well...always trust your instincts ladies (and gents)!! I received an email from Leo a few days later saying that Dr Hasan was no longer confident performing the surgery and suggested I go with Dr Fisher as he has experience with my situation. No problem except... Dr Fisher was away the week I was initially booked in for... And I'd already booked my flights... from Australia... which were going to cost me close to $1000 to change. You'd think that considering Vanity had got me into this predicament they'd help a sister out but apparently they don't operate that way. As I'm not willing to throw away $1000 especially considering I had disclosed all necessary information straight up and Vanity were not willing to accommodate me, I had no choice but to cancel. You'd assume that after all this drama that Vanity willingly refund my deposit and move on. Wrong. They are now wanting to charge me a $400 cancellation fee even though they have provided no service and it's their fault I had to cancel. Ridiculous. That whole thing is yet to be finalised. ANYWAY onto the great news. Have been dealing with Nancy from Dr Salama's office - what a breath of fresh air that has been. Prompt and informative responses and she is so warm and friendly! Now booked in with Dr Salama for the 21st of March (my original surgery date) and I am beyond excited, absolutely love how he shapes the body. As I have lost a considerable amount of weight I do have loose skin particularly around my back, Nancy advised they have a technique that tightens the skin during lipo - definitely something I'm considering as well as the cell saver - I know recovery from BBL is no joke and anything that can help, I'm down for! I'll keep everyone posted on my journey.

So I have been panicking majorly lately regarding my 20 hour trek (not including the 2 stopovers ????????) back to Melbourne and the impact it's going to have on my surgery. I am staying in Miami for 15 days post op - so sitting down for that period of time is not an option. Lucky for me I've booked through Air New Zealand and lucky for me they now offer the skycouch. It's basically the entire row to yourself where the handles go down and the feet rests go up to form a bed kinda thing. They provide you with a mattress, pillows and blankets as well. Even though it cost me as much as my tickets, it's seriously the perfect solution to my dilemma

I'm not sure if anyone else travelling from Australia has had the same issue - I am having so much trouble with getting the correct tests done. Doesn't help that I have a phobia of blood tests so fingers crossed everything works out well... I'm dreading the thought of doing another one.