Never Thought I'd Do It - Cosmetic Surgery?? **10.5 Months PO**

Date has been set! I met with two surgeons on Tuesday, August 6, 2013. I had an appointment set with a third, but canceled after talking with two. Each Dr. said pretty much the same thing, but it was the approach that was different between the two. I brought a list of questions to ask each one. It came down to who made me feel comfortable, who didn't try to sell me on extra stuff, and who took the time to explain the process COMPLETELY. And that is Dr. Todd Pollock. Let me tell you about myself before I dive into my review. I’m a 39 year old wife and mother, 5’2 and 175lbs, size 10. I wear a size 10 at my weight because I lift heavy weights, jog, do Insanity, P90X and whatever else I can think of to mix it up. I have not been consistent with this lately and have been creeping up on the scale in the last 6 months. I plan on tightening all this back up and hope to lose about 10-15 lbs before my surgery. I want the Dr.’s work to be worthwhile. On my consultation day, I was in Dr. Pollock’s office for almost 2 hours. The office staff was VERY nice, but not overly friendly like it was fake. Just very nice. Then the doctor came in and did a visual examination, told me what procedure I should do, and told me procedures that I did NOT need. Afterwards, he took me to his office and he spent over ONE HOUR with me using a presentation that he goes through showing the process from beginning to end. His presentation answered all my questions. I went to the second Dr. and I was in and out in 30 minutes. (I'm sure you can understand why I went with Dr. Pollock). He had a LOT of people in and out in his practice. And it is BEAUTIFUL. More like a surgery center with a spa attached. Honestly, the 2nd one was very nice and personable, and experienced. He just came off as a quick salesman to me. I talked with him in the examination room with his coordinator, and she did not leave when he started explaining the procedure. She'd answer for him in some instances. He didn't take me to his office to get more details, so it felt like I was rushed. He also told me to add more procedures to get the most change. He told me I didn't need to lose weight before the procedure, he'd take care of that on the day. Of course, it was a lot more money and over my budget. Now not losing weight is fine with some people, but not me. I'd rather do things the healthy way as much as I can, THEN let the doctor take care of the rest that I can't. And I’ll be honest, if I had went to him first instead of my Dr., I would have been fine with him. But once that standard is set high, you can’t step down from it. I just wanted someone who didn't seem like he's so busy that he can't take the time to talk to me. And I want him to take the time with me on the big day, no rushing to get to the next one. That’s why I took the recommendation from other Realselfers to go to more than one consultation. I knew my decision by that evening, but I decided to sleep on it (calm down) and make my decision the next morning. When I called the office on my way in to work that Wednesday morning to set the appointment, I told them my name. The woman who answered the phone said "Oh you were in here yesterday right?". I KNOW the other office would not have remembered because they are so big. That means something to me. They gave me to the coordinator because I asked for her because she was so nice and personable. We were talking like we knew each other a while, that's how comfortable it was. I'm highly impressed with him and his office staff.

I just realized I left out the most important part, and that is what procedure I’m doing. I’m getting a full TT with muscle repair. As I said before, I never thought I’d actually go through with this procedure. For years, I’ve always joked “If I had the money, I’d be laying on the table!”. I’ve said it so much over years I need to get a T-Shirt with that saying. I always thought of it as a joke, but as I’ve advanced in my career as a Technical Writer, I realized that it really is a possibility now, financially. For the last 2 years, a friend of mine has been talking about getting a tummy tuck. She was supposed to start visiting some doctors after she did some research. I told her to let me know how it went and what to do, then I might start looking into it myself. Well, once I got the idea in my head that I can actually get it done, I beat her to the punch and started my own research in June of this year, then set up some consultations. I specifically looked for doctors that performed the drainless tummy tuck. I saw that as the highest complaints of tummy tuckers on here.

I’m turning 40 in June of 2014, and what perfect timing than to give myself a great birthday present. I’ll be halfway through my recovery by then and looking great. My motto is I want to be fit, fine, and 40! My husband is supportive of my decision, although he told me I look fine just the way I am. What a perfect thing to say.

I can’t wait until my pre-op visit. Now that I’ve made my decision and paid my deposit of $250, all I have to do now is be obsessed with this site and exercise. So while I wait, I’ll share my weight loss journey on here once a month. I need something to hold me accountable, so I appreciate everyone’s support. I’m getting back to jogging most days of the week and doing weight class at the gym 3 days a week. I love to jog outside and hate the treadmill, so when it gets dark early this winter, I’ll switch back to my home workouts in the morning before work. I’ll be trying Sean T’s T25 for my cardio, in addition to the class at night. Wish me luck with this weight loss ladies. I want my abs to pop out by the time the Dr. is done with me!

I started back exercising on Monday. I’m 39 years old, 5’2 and currently at 178 pounds, and a size 10. My jeans are starting to get really tight around my belly, which is where all of my weight goes, of course. And I have a very big booty. I love my big booty. And since I love my big booty, I know that’s going to be the focus once I get rid of this other booty in the front.

I haven’t been working out regularly for about 2 months (with very infrequent exercises) because of laziness and a little lower back pain. I have to be very careful with my lower back whenever I work out. I hurt myself twice doing Insanity with all those jumps. Now I modify and don’t leave the floor. But I’m currently walking (trying something new for back, I usually jog) and lifting weights. I walked 6 miles on Monday, weight class on Tuesday, walked 3 miles on Wednesday and weight class on Thursday.

I’m trying out the Paleo diet to really get this weight loss started. It focuses on protein and veggies, no grains, wheat, bread, etc. I cut out my daily glass of wine (whine!) and drink about a gallon of water a day. I’ll try to update my progress every few weeks.

I’ll post my before pictures this weekend. Thanks for the support!