27 Year Old, ETT, Lipo & Fat Transfer - Tijuana, Mexico

So far so good. Communication has been a little complicated and drawn out because most has been via email, but Fatimeh and Dr. Cardenas have both been very courteous and professional. My procedure will include the following:
-Extended tummy tuck with muscle repair
-Liposuction to waist, upper and lower back, arms and thighs
-Fat transfer to butt and/or hips
I will also be staying at the recovery house for 5 days. I only live a few hours away from TJ, but I'm sure I'll be grateful to be cared for by nurses for the first few days. I'm a little anxious about the fat transfer to the butt because I don't want it to look unnaturally large, but I hope to feel better once I meet with her in person and voice my concerns. I will be scheduling a day to do all the pre lab work at the clinic (I was quoted $165).

I found Dr. Cardenas on RealSelf after a few weeks of researching online. Her before and after pictures sold me. She sounds very confident about my projected results so that makes me feel very happy. I will post my journey here since reading all of these reviews has been a great support for me in my decision making. I hope my experience serves to help someone else who may be undergoing a similar procedure.

There is finally something I feel is worth updating about. I am traveling to TJ tomorrow to complete all of the following pre surgery lab work: CBC, Routine Urinalysis, HIV, PT, PTT, INR, Hep B, Hep C, Chem Panel, Pregnancy Test, and EKG. To be honest, I don't know what all of those are but I'm not concerned enough to look them up. All of the lab work will cost $165 USD. I live in Southern California so I'm fortunate enough to be able to take a day trip to get this done with all of the same clinicians who will be involved in my procedure. Getting this out of the way somehow makes the whole thing seem more real. Anxiousness and excitement have definitely begun to take over.

I have also started purchasing surgery related items and collecting them in what I'm calling my Cardenas Doll Box. Amazon (my online sugar daddy) has delivered the following items so far: boppy pillow, Keri lotion, Lanacane, Polysporin, compression stockings, P-Ez, Vitamin C, Iron, Vitamin B-12, and Folate. Some of the items were recommended by Dr. Cardenas via her friendly staff, and other items I have jotted down from reading all of these helpful reviews (P-Ez to pee while standing=genius!!). I just started taking the last four supplements on the list today. They are supposed to increase my hemoglobin levels to assist in a speedy recovery.

For now, I hope this information is helpful to anyone out there. I'm sure later on I will be turning to this forum for moral support more than anything else. My husband is amazing and incredibly supportive, but there is nothing like venting to people who truly understand the thoughts and emotions associated with this process. I will update soon :)

So I did all my lab work and everything came back normal. Now all that is left to do is drink lots of water, eat healthy, get in some walking, take my supplements... and wait.

The Beauty Enhance clinic was beautiful. The secretary was sweet and professional. The 'blood guy' got my tricky vein on the first try, and with no pain. I have always been told I have horrible veins, and blood work has been very painful. I was happy and relieved with his work.

The 'EKG guy' was a different story. He was uncomfortably flirty and made me feel gross and objectified. My mom walked in as he was taking off all the EKG stuff and immediately noticed he was unprofessional in his demeanor. I won't go into details, but I decided to email Rocio about it because my mom was concerned about him working at the recovery house. She was very quick to respond and apologize for his behavior, and assured me he was not associated with the recovery house in any way. Apparently he is an outside worker and Dr. Cardenas is going to address the issue. I felt reassured by her response and I want to stress that everyone else I have communicated with has been incredibly professional.

I probably won't update for a while since there won't be much to update about until the surgery nears. Maybe I'll get the courage to post before pictures along the way.