even better than I could have hoped for

I’m a 43 y/o mother of 3 who, after an internal struggle and multiple conversations with my more than supportive husband, has finally decided to go after a MMO. So... I have scheduled my TT (a full circumferential abdominoplasty) and could not be more excited. My BL will be completed in a second procedure in December. I really wanted to start my review pre-op so I didn’t forget anything lol
After bariatric surgery I have lost, and maintained my loss of, 135 lbs. That is more than my 13 year old weighs; that realization is mortifying to me. Even with a debilitating back injury, I just cannot believe I allowed myself to get to over 300 lbs. Anyway, that is neither here nor there. After I got my weight loss I now struggle with excessive skin. The most bothersome of which is around my abdomen. Of course my breasts are a sh*tshow too... but they will be addressed in a separate surgery in December (also with Dr. Finkle).
I spent months researching plastic surgeons in Denver, Omaha and Chicago; I ultimately had consultations with three before deciding on Dr. Finkle’s office here in Omaha. I won’t name names or speak poorly of the other practices, but I absolutely will go through everything that I appreciated with this group. I will start with my experience before I even made my first call... online research. In this day and age online presence is SO terribly important. While this office doesn’t have an Insta to really speak of, and didn’t provide many photos on FB or their website, I was able to find several before and aftershock here on RealSelf. Can you believe that they are by and large the only plastic surgery center in the Omaha area to have much more than anything related to cool sculpting and/or Botox photos online? I was genuinely floored by this — the Denver and Chicago practices are all over the interwebs with their fantastic results. Since we’re local to Omaha, I promised my husband I would talk to at least two local providers about my MMO. Finkle was an obvious choice to schedule with simply because I could see actual patient photos and know I wasn’t wasting my time talking to him.
My pre-op experience with this office has been absolutely perfect. To begin with, the scheduling was efficient, timely and friendly. From this very first phone call I did not feel as though I was being placed on an assembly line.
When I showed up for my consultation I noticed, rather surprisingly, that there were no other patients in the waiting area. None. I realize that Dr. Finkle is a one man operation (no pun intended), but other consultations I’ve experienced have had packed waiting rooms... even my zoom/virtual consults were obviously scheduled very close together with little room between based on comments by the intake personnel.
When Kim came out to greet me, she was an absolute ball of sunshine. Even behind her mask I could tell she was greeting me with a genuine smile because it made it all the way up to her eyes. We worked our way back to the consultation room and I discussed with her my concerns, but never asked for specific procedures. It was important to me, with each individual surgical team I met with, to allow them to tell me what they believed would be best suited for my body and would yield the best results. I knew, in my mind, what *I* thought would be best based on my research, but I’m no doctor lol
Let me just tell you, this consultation was like no other. Kim, who is beyond wonderful, went over absolutely everything imaginable. She pulled out a patient binder with before and after pics and found patients with bodies similar to mine so she could give me a realistic idea of what to expect. I mean really, I’m not gonna end up with a snatched waist and bangin’ hips and a** at the end of all this unless we do WAY more than a TT... I’m just not built that way. I CAN, however, have beautiful and sexy results. In addition to all this, we discussed before and after care, day of surgery timelines, and their certified facility.
As we sat and chatted we went through all the uncomfortable things one experiences during a plastics consultation... I got nekkid, down to a stunning pair of couture paper panties. They took a bunch of mortifying photos of me from various angles that I don’t even know if my husband of nearly 20 years has looked at me from (kidding, not kidding?), I was pinched and measured and skin was manipulated. Let me tell you something though. I never once felt like “just another subject.” Both Kim and Dr. Finkle talked TO me throughout the “exam” - never just about me or like I wasn’t in the room. Start to finish, I was Leah who had lost the equivalent of an 8th grader in weight and was doing something major for herself and her mental health.
After the physical exam, Dr. Finkle sat with me to go over his recommendations for procedures. Let me just get something straight here, when he entered the room and took his seat, he made himself comfortable. He wasn’t tensed and I never once felt like he was ready to bolt from my room because he had another patient waiting in the next room. He personally went through photos of past patients to point out those who were built like me. Those that had had the procedures he was suggesting and comparing them to other alternatives and their results. As one point he folded his hands together and sat back as if he literally had nowhere else to be but 100% with me.
As I walked out of the facility, 2-1/2 hours later, I realized that was why there were no other patients in the waiting room when I arrived. I could not believe the difference between this consultation and others I had experienced. I was floored by the level of attention and how specific they made my appointment to ME. They knew I still had one other surgeon I was meeting with, but they never discarded me as a throwaway. Not a single one of my other consultations lasted more than 40 minutes from start to finish, and this was the only office where I felt as though I received undivided attention from everyone.
My next appointment is my actual TT procedure and I will update post op!
P.S. Kim, I know you’ll read this... I just want you to know how much I appreciate you and I’m so excited to have you with me throughout all of this. I just adore you.

Have I mentioned yet how much I adore Dr. Finkle and his staff? Everything from consultation to procedure went wonderfully. Daisy was the absolute best pre-op nurse ever. I’ve had my fair share of surgeries and I always get so nervous. She was so calm and sweet... I know this sounds stupid, but she had the kindest eyes. These stupid masks make it nearly impossible to make a true human connection by hiding everyone’s smiles, but she made me feel like I was in the best hands.

I knew I was in for a long day. Dr. Finkle knew it would most likely be a 6 hour procedure, jus for my CTT. I’ll be going back in 6 weeks for a BL. Sharon was my post-op nurse and I was pretty well and out of it still, but I remember quite distinctly feeling as though I was being cared for. I am 43 years old, and wanted nothing more than to have my mom here with me after surgery, but she couldn’t make it. I know Sharon isn’t remotely close enough to being old enough to be my mom, but the care just exudes from her. Nursing is undoubtedly her calling because people can be horrible, and she’s basically made it her job to make everyone feel loved.

One thing that keeps coming up in social media groups is that people are unprepared for the recovery. I am 2 days post op (I’ll post pictures tomorrow when I go to change my dressings. I felt so prepared or recovery though. No one minced words about hints being painful... I mean, the basically cut me in half, removed all my extra skin & stitched me back up. I’m kinda feeling a Sally vibe from Nightmare Before Christmas lol. I suffer from chronic back pain from an injury a few years back. My pain management game is on point. This is such a different pain though. More like he pain after my car accident and not the resulting chronic pain. While I’m feeling pretty beat up, I’ve been trying hard to keep moving around. I closely monitor my hydration and protein intake and am determined to have a beautiful recovery. I know I have to o my part.

As of 2 days post-op, I’m thrilled. I cannot wait to actually see myself tomorrow! Absolutely zero regrets. If you are mentally prepared for such a massive surgery, I explore you to talk to Dr. Finkle.

I think I’ll wait until my next update to gush about the surgical facility.

1-week post op from my CTT and I couldn’t be happier! Staples and stitches coming out next week.