40, Phoenix Mother of 2 Teens, Smart Lipo Abs, Hips, Waist, Arms, Inner Thighs, Outer Thighs, Inner Knees and Chin - Scottsdale

I've always been a huge fitness and workout fanatic. I was a coach for a popular fitness DVD company. I did fitness shows and competed in the bikini division. I still love to workout often. Unfortunately due to some family issues, the depression hit me hard. I was making poor food choices and wasn't working out regularly. In turn gained 40 pounds. I was almost disgusted with myself. I started to workout again and lose weight but it was much harder. I quickly learned that the saying that once you hit a certain age your metabolism changes and so do how you lose weight.
If we back up a bit, when I did my fitness shows, I took 6th place. I just missed the top 5. After the competition contestants are able to ask judges what and where they could make improvements. 2 of the 5 told me that my hips and thighs needed additional work. This played over and over in my head for years. So when I started to workout again and it was even harder to lose that fat and tone up in that area, I decided to look into various procedures. My first stop was cool sculpting. After tremendous research and several consults, I realized that the pricing would end up nearly as expensive as Smart Lipo. So I decided I would not do cool sculpting. Then I started looking into the various methods of Liposuction. I went on a total of 5 consults.
My first consult was in Chandler, which is a good 45 minutes from where I live. The doctor was very nice. At this time all I wanted was inner and outer thighs and inner knees, but wanted to at least get pricing on my abdomen, hips and waist. During the consult the doctor kept insisting that I get a Brazilian Butt Lift. Although I had already advised of wanting to compete again, the insistence of doing that was too much. I don't need a bigger butt, I'm actually trying to shrink it. He advised he would be doing laser assisted liposuction but would also have water assisted available if need be. It would be done in two procedures and under local anesthesia. Their cost was $16,500. (chin and arms were not in this quote)
My second, third and fourth consults all did their procedures at surgical centers. They all did regular liposuction but also had laser and water options available during their procedure if needed. They would use general anesthesia and their costs ranged from $10,000-$15,000. Oh and one of these doctors even "highly recommended" I get my breast augmentation (from 2002) redone. Which I am not just ready to do yet. When I do that, I will go back to my original Surgeon.
My 5th consult was with a doctor in an Old Town Scottsdale location. I actually found him from another Real Self'er. I called and made my appointment for a consult and it was for a week and a half later (most doctors consults were a month out). The week of my consult the office gal called and asked if I wanted to go in sooner, they had a consult cancellation. I jumped on it. At this point, I was ready to make a decision whether I would do this surgery or not. I went in for my consult and the office was amazing. The staff was just wonderful. I went in and they brought me to watch a video which was the doctor explaining the procedure as well as showing the tools and how the procedure worked. This doctor primarily uses Smart Lipo. He also specializes in Smart Lipo. He ONLY does liposuction procedures. He does not do every other plastic surgery option. This helped me view patients before/afters and also allow me to understand that he has done over 10,000 procedures and even on famous people. I met with the doctor and was able to point out my areas. At this time, it was inner, outer thighs and inner knees but I did ask him about my abdomen and waist area. He did pull my skin back (in various areas) so I could see what it could potentially look like after the procedure. He has a surgical center attached to his office so that would reduce some of the pricing because that's a big part of the other doctors fees. He answered all of my questions and talked with me for a good 45 minutes. Then I went and talked with the office gal who discussed cost and payment options. The cost would have been $8,000 (cash price, 9K if I financed). The surgery would be done in two phases (two sep days about a week apart). We also went over dates and how far out she was booking. I had one more consult so I advised her I was going to wait until after I went on that consult.
My 6th and final consult was with a doctor in Scottsdale. One of my best friends used this Doctor twice for liposuction, I had been referred to by several people and was also someone in which another "RealSelf'er" had used and highly recommended. He was a little more old school with his procedure. He used the regular old school liposuction procedure. I would be going to an out patient facility and he recommended me stay over night at least for 2 nights because of how many areas I wished to have done. Total (no chin or arms) would be $14,000.
I thought about everything. I went through everyone's paperwork and pamphlet's and documents they provided me. I slowly started narrowing it down.
The doctor I was most impressed with was consult 5. This is Dr. Hall with Infini Cosmetics. The fact that all Dr. Hall does is liposuction, had the biggest impact on my decision. Yes, price was a big part, BUT it was not the final decision maker. I was ready to make the deposit for both surgeries. The deposits are $1k to hold the dates. The balance is due the day of the surgery. I went in and made my deposit and set the first procedure for 08/29 and the second for 09/06.

I'm traveling this weekend so I made sure everything was ready to go before I get back on 8/28. I am so excited yet very nervous. There are a lot of thoughts or fears that go through my mind that scare me. The good thing is that this is done with local so I will be awake. Although that also scares me at the same time.
These are my pre-op photos 3 days pre.

Monday 8/29 at 8am was what time I needed to be at my surgery. I have everything ready to go. The office I chose has a gal they use who can drive you round trip. She knows how to handle everything. She's been working for Dr. Hall for several years so she knows exactly what to do when she gets you home. I live fairly far from the office (which is in Old Town Scottsdale) so the gal picked me up at 6:45. The traffic at times was horrible so we made it to the office about 7:35, which was perfect. I wore very baggy black sweats, an old bra and a cheap t-shirt and a very loose thin zip up sweat shirt. I even brought my warm cozy socks since they suggested it. Everything was from Walmart so it was all cheap stuff that could get ruined. The bra I wore there got soaked from the procedure so I threw it out and thankfully I brought an extra.
They got me ready by giving me my "cocktail" to help me get a bit woozy. I then went and did measurements and my before photos. Once back into the surgery room, Dr Hall came in and did his drawings. I was starting to feel dizzy and a bit tired, but I think my anxieties took over and wouldn't allow me to doze off at all. He got me ready and then I laid on the table and the next thing I knew, he was injecting the lidocaine all around my tummy. Yes it stung, but I have to say throughout the process, I had to have them inject more because I could feel it quite a bit. It was not the pressure I was feeling it was more along the line of a sharp pinch/pain. I had my abdomen, my waist, hips and then at the last minute (while in the surgery room), I added my chin. I felt like my abdomen took forever, but it really didn't. He had me turn on my sides (one by one) and then he went back over me and had a look at me and did a few more times in my abdomen area (because he's a perfectionist). Then he numbed my chin and did my chin, which took less than 5 minutes. At the very end, I was shaking so bad because I was cold and I was filled with the lidocaine. The nurse stood me up and because I was so shaky she had to have me hold her shoulder. I was already "draining" so she had to wipe me down before she helped bandage me and then put on my compression garment. She showed me exactly where to put the pads. I was sort of out of it and could hear my words slurring a bit since the "cocktail" kicked in. She helped me change my bra and throw the soaked one out. Then put on my sweats and flip flops. 30 minutes prior to me being done, Dr. Hall had them call the gal that does the medical rides and tell her I would be ready in 30 minutes. After I was done dressing, the nurse had me eat crackers and have some water to ensure I wouldn't throw up from all I had taken and the injections, especially with how badly I was shaking. Since I am having my inner and outer thighs and inner knees done next week, my compression garment goes from just below my knees to just under my boobs/bra. So with that being said, I bought an extra CG. I highly recommend it regardless if you have additional areas or not. I will explain why in my post surgery update. Pre-Op Day of photos won't upload, I'll try again shortly.