My Birthday Gift to Me! - Orlando, FL

I am a 34 year mother of two small children and my weight has gone up and down ever since my 2nd child who is not 4 years old. I am 5'8" and weigh about 174lbs. I have very long legs which I love and I have a slim figure. However, when I gain weight i gain it all in my stomach and people tend to assume I am preggers!!!! UGH!!!! Very embarrassing when they ask...OUT LOUD!!!! I also had two hernias due to being very sick during both my pregnancies, but these were repaired over a year ago. I have been wanting to do some sort of Lipo procedure for the longest but never found the right time or had the money. This new procedure is very promising for allowing me to go back to work after a few days and they can use the small scars from my hernia repair. I already had my consultation at Sonobello (i jumped on it after seeing the commercials) and feel really good about this. I am so anxious that I am looking up everything I can to prepare myself for the procedure. My boyfriend will be out of town the weekend of the procedure so my best friend is going to stay the weekend with me - woo hoo!!!!! I am having the procedure on my upper and lower abs, waist, and bra roll.

So excited to get back to me. I skin seems to bounce back great so I believe that I won't have any sagging, but I do bruise easily so I will prepare for that with the Arnica pills and cream (anything you guys can recommend will be most helpful!!) I want to comfortably wear a two-piece and just go back to being able to put anything on and it look great! Also I like the fact that i can keep my butt and boob, cause when I gain weight - I like it there - looks good. I will continue to excerise and eat healthy, but it will be much more motivating when I have a better staring point. I will have 1 more consult with my doctor on June 22, 2012 before my big date. I was originally scheduled for July 6th but in my haste I forgot I was going to a wedding so I had to put it off a week. The good thing is that my new appointment is at 9:00am so hopefully the doctor will be fresh a ready to take his time and get me right!!! I like that if I am not completely happy with the results the 1st time they offer to do the procedure a second time at no cost. They said that they don;t have to do it, so they are comfortable with giving that offer. Also, all of the Doctors are M.D.'s and they are all board certified. They have done so many of these procedures that I feel good to know that I am not in a rookie's hands. I plan to follow their instructions by the letter, and heard that wearing my garment longer can help, so I will. I just want the best possible results. I will be sure to post before pics very soon.

6/22/12 - I had my pre-op consultation with my actual surgeon and I am very excited about this procedure. I was concerned that this would be just the laser lipo and that is not the case. This will be power assisted laser lipo in which they combine the tumescent lipo with the laser for the best results. Very, very glad to hear that. He just basically wanted to see what areas were my major concern and let me know what he could do. The only major concern I have is that because of my hernia w/ mesh surgery, he said that he will not be as aggressive in the abdomen area as he normally is, to not disturb the mesh. That bothered me a bit, although I know it was for my concern, but this is the area that i really needed it the most. I did let him know that was my biggest concern, and he promised that it will be fine. I trust that he will do his very best. Other than that, they provided me with Arnica pills to take 2 days before the surgery and 15 days after, (5 pellets, 3 times a day). I am going to stop and get Arnica gel and a massager because i heard about the lumps and I may need help massaging those bad boys. I am also going to get Tylenol, pads, medical tape, anti-bacterial ointment, spanx and stool softener. I am going to be sure to give myself an enema a day before the surgery to be sure I don't any problems going after the surgery. I am sssoooooo excited to finally have this done!!! I will use the doctor office bra and panties to take my before shot today and post them. I am undecided if it was worth it because i have not had the procedure and I don't want to give the doctor too many stars yet because I just met him today, but he seemd pretty good.

I had my TriScuplt/Smart Lipo yesterday and I believe it went great! So here is the step-by-step:
I made sure I had a pretty good breakfast (my appointment was at 9am)
I had to arrive an hour early at 8am so I could be pre-medicated.
They made sure I ate and offered me more snacks and something to drink. I signed some forms and then they gave me the surgical bra and panties along with several pills(anxiety, pain, antibiotic and nausea mediation)
The doctor marked me up and they I put on my gown waiting to begin my procedure.
About thirty minutes later the meds kicked in and they asked me to come in.
I laid on the table and then the "fun" began.

Surgery:
The doctor started by injecting me with the numbing meds. The stinging from the needel hurt the worst, and it wouldn't have been so bad but they had to numb a lot of areas. I was getting my upper and lower abs done, my waist and bra rolls. So they had to inject me several times. Each area that was injected he grabbed my skin and made small incisions. I did not feel the incisions, I just could tell that he was making them. After all of the incisions were made he went in with the laser cannula and said he was punching holes in the fat like swiss cheese. He did this in all the areas before he suctioned out the fat. This did not hurt but some areas were not numb all the way and at times I could feel the stinging. This hurt but it wasn't horrible. He started witht he back and asked that I curl up on my side in the fetal or "c" shape position. it was hard to stay like this when I started feeling the cannula. After my back he began doing my upper and lower abs. This was better because I think the numbing fluid had much more time to kick in so I felt a lot less of the procedure. During the procedure I had to get up 4 times to urinate because they requested that we drink so much water. After the laser he began the suctioning of the fat. This really tickled more than hurt, but I HATE being tickled so it was almost unbearable. It DID NOT HURT but the tickling sensation became very aggravating. However, I took it because I wanted good results. After about 2 hours he was done and I filled up a canister with fat. I will have to call to find out how much was taken out. They got me up, had me put on my clothes, gave me my meds to take home and I was on my way. I took the compression garments off to change the pads and noticed the difference right away. M y stomach was FLAT! EVERYTHING ELSE LOOKED REALLY GOOD TOO. I used maxi pads in place of the ones they gave me and went to bed.

The first day hurt the worst. it wasn't excruciating and the pain medication they prescribed helped take away the pain. I was so tired I just went to sleep. I woke up around 7pm and my girlfriends came ov er and we watched movies and ordered Chinese food. I ate a little and fell asleep during the movie. The next day I woke up early feeling great!! I took a shower and was ready to go out. I felt much better when we walked around rather than sit around all day. I was out all day shopping with my friends and only felt the pain when getting in and out the car. I have not taken any more medication since last night and I will not take them unless I am in serious pain. I think that yesterday will be the worst of it. I have been taking my arnica pills as prescribed and I have yet to see any serious bruising or swelling. There is just a small section on my lower ab and bra roll that my need additional work if ?I don't see it improved in 2 months. I will let them know on my 1st week follow-up on Friday. As soon as my friend forwards the after pictures will post them.

I have attached pictures of my before and after. the picture of the front shows a big indention caused from the pads that I have removed. The indention is going away. Honestly the front picture does not give the actual look any justice. There is swelling but not much bruising at this time. I am sure that it will get much better as the swelling goes down. I am hating this compression garment and can't wait until I can take it off. I feel that it is causing a line in the back and I will address this after meeting with the doctor on Friday for my followup. Also I am not sure if there is more that can taken out of my back and lower abs or if that is just swelling. I am definitely happy though and saw the difference immediately. I can't lift my belly up anymore!!! yeah and I don't look pregnant!!!! lol

It has been almost a week since my procedure and although I can definitely tell the difference in my abs and back I am just a bit concerned that I may need some touch ups. I have now formed the lumps at me belly button so it makes my belly look a little weird but it is okay. I have some minor brusing in areas but it not bad. I need to consistently take the arnica. I can't tell if its the swelling or that I need some more work, but my lower abs could be better. I can't stand the compressions garment because it cuts into my back and crotch area, and I am scared that it will cause a permanent indention in my back. I am suppose to see the doctor tomorrow morning for a check up so I will address all of my concerns then. I did look through my paper work and I do have a copy of the insurance policy that I will get a significant discount on additional work (70%) and any surgical deficiencies will be done at no cost to me within the 1st year. So I will wait the 6 months to be sure that all is well before making that kind of decision. i can't wait until I am able to work out but I am walking now to stay in shape and eating properly. I am making a lifestyle change so all this will be work it and the surgery at least gave me a great starting point.