53 Years Old, 90 Pound Weight Loss, 2 Kids: Getting Tummy Tuck, Breast Lift, Lipo on Outer Thighs

I am 53 years old, I am 5'6" tall and currently weigh 158 pounds. My heaviest weight was 250 +/- a few pounds. At my heaviest I refused to get on a scale. The biggest number I ever saw on my scale was 238 pounds, which was after I had been dieting and exercising for a couple of months, so 250lbs might be high and it might be low for my heaviest weight, but it's my best guess.

After having 2 children and losing 90 pounds, my body looks atrocious. I run, lift weights, stay active, and eat cleanly; so I am fit. But the skin sags everywhere. Every time I look in the mirror I cringe. I've debated for years whether or not I should have plastic surgery to repair the damage and I finally decided yes, I should. On one hand, I said, "No, I won't do it," because it is completely elective and there are risks inherent with every surgery. I don't need to do this surgery to be healthy. I lost this weight and exercise exercise to be healthy. On the other hand, every time I look in the mirror I see that fat woman that I used to be. The sagging breasts and wrinkled tummy are visual reminders that I'm a fat person trying to stay thin. Finally I decided that my mental health is as important as my physical health and I decided to do it.

I am getting a Grandmama Makeover (most of you would refer to this as a mommy makeover, but I've been a Grandmama for quite a while, so there you go!). The Grandmama Makeover will include a breast lift and reduction (I hope to go from a 34DDD to a 34 C), a full tummy tuck (though I may not need the diasatsis repair) and liposuction on my flanks and thighs (saddlebags).

I consulted with four surgeons and I chose Dr. Carol Ann Aylward. She performs her surgeries at Truman Medical Center - Lakewood, in Lee's Summit, MO. All four surgeons were board certified and all seemed competent. I really liked two of the other surgeons I consulted with, Dr. John Quinn and Dr. Keith Hodge; but I was more comfortable with Dr. Aylward. I was impressed with her very personal approach and I was very much impressed with her before/after photos of breast reductions, lifts, and reconstructions. Of all of the surgeons I consulted with, Dr. Aylward's after breast photos most closely matched the way I want my breasts to look after surgery. It is really true that all surgeons have a style and that you should consult with surgeons until you find one who's work matches what you are looking for.

The other thing I found interesting is what the different surgeons recommended. I thought they would all be more or less the same, but they weren't. One of them (not mentioned above) recommended back liposuction as well as the breast lift and tummy tuck. When I mentioned that to the next surgeon he said he would never recommend doing back lipo with the mommy makeover because of all of the blood supply that would get disrupted. He said if I wanted lipo on my back, that I should do that later. It's fairly simple and inexpensive. That made a lot of sense to me.

The other procedure that the doctors had divergent opinions on is the diasatsis repair (sewing the abdominal muscles back together to repair stretched connective tissue). The opinions varied from, "You will need the diasatsis repair to be happy with your results," to, "Wow, your abdominal muscles are in great shape, I don't think you need a diasatsis repair. Have you had kids?" Dr. Aylward is of the second opinion, that is unlikely that I will need the diasatsis repair, but she will make the final call during surgery. She thinks if I need it at all, it will only be below my belly button.

I'm 10 weeks from surgery. I scheduled it on September 9th because we have a busy summer ahead of us. This also gives me time to lose at least 8 more pounds.

I'm excited, nervous, and relieved. I am very happy to have made this decision and very comfortable with my choice of surgeons. I made my down payment last week and I'm ready to go. My pre-op appointment is on August 18th.

There are many other thoughts running through my mind, but this is long enough already. More later...

It's been a week and a half since I selected my surgeon, made the deposit (25% non-refundable makes it pretty damn real), and posted my first review; and this last 10 days has been an emotional roller coaster. Should I be doing something to get ready? Did I pick the right surgeon? Do I really want to do this? 10 weeks is so far away! 8 1/2 weeks is so soon! I need to lose 10 more pounds. I need to lose 18 more pounds. I need to lose 8 more pounds. I don't need to lose any more weight. Ack!!!!! Mostly I can't believe I am really doing this.

I've always worn clothes that hid the rolls and puckered skin. I hate it when the ugly remnants of my formerly fat self show through my clothes. Now if I put on a shirt and I see the bulge in my tummy I just shrug my shoulders and wear it anyway. I know that it will all be gone soon. Almost everyone around me knows I'm getting the surgery. I figure if they see the loose skin under my shirt they will know why. I also find myself grabbing onto the loose skin at weird times, telling myself it will soon be gone.

I find myself wondering if there is anything I can be doing to prepare myself for surgery, other than stalking other women getting the same surgery on this website. Does anyone have any recommendations of things I can be doing? Is there anything I can do to improve my results? Should I get a recliner. Oh My God!! I am really doing.

The next 8 1/2 weeks are going to FLY by. I'm very busy at work and we have a family reunion at the end of the month that will take us out of town for a week. I know it will seem like no time and surgery day will be here.

I've lost a pound since my first post. Yeah! I really do want to weigh 150.0 or less on September 9. Then after the surgery that will be that. No more weight loss for me. Just exercising and eating right for the rest of my life, to stay healthy and fit. It's hard to believe that I am no longer going to be that person that is always trying to lose 10 more pounds. Once the surgery is done, that's it. It is so liberating, on a way. I've been gaining and losing weight my whole life. I feel confident about doing this surgery now, though, because I lost most of my weight over 3 years ago and I have kept it off.

So that's all I've got for now. I'll take more photos after I've lost a few more pounds, and right before surgery.

Again, I'd appreciate any advice and of you ladies may have.

Thank you and Good Luck to everyone! May we all recover quickly and be happy with our results!!

It's been a little crazy around here.

First, we are going through a huge transition at work and I am in the middle of it because of my role as CFO. Another company has been in negotiation with the owners of the company I work for to buy a significant portion of the company. It has been incredibly stressful to stay a step ahead of the negotiations and to make sure my company's executives have all the information they need to make good decisions. Of course, I had no way of knowing this would be happening just as I was getting ready to miss two weeks of work for my surgery. After much deliberation, we decided to not move my surgery date due to work. We figured by September 9th, the negotiations would be done and I would be back at work long before the targeted acquisition date.

Then, a few days before my scheduled pre-op appointment I got an email from my surgeon asking if I was stilling planning on having the surgery on Sept. 9th, and asking if I paid my deposit, and saying I needed to schedule my pre-op appointment. I emailed her back and said, yes, I am planning on surgery on the 9th, that I had paid my 25% deposit months ago, and I had a pre-op scheduled for Thursday at 1:00. She emailed back and said that I needed to call the office and reschedule the pre-op because she was going to be out of town on Thursday.

Needless to say, I tossed and turned all night. I kept thinking about the fact that the surgeon's support staff wasn't even good enough to get appointments scheduled correctly (this was the 3rd time we had a scheduling snafu) or keep track of deposits paid, so how were they going to be good enough to provide the surgeon and me with the support that we would need leading up to and after the surgery.

The next morning (Monday, 2 1/2 weeks prior to my scheduled surgery) I emailed the surgeon and told her that her emails made me anxious and asked her if she felt like she had the support staff she needed. Later that morning I called the surgeon's office to reschedule the pre-op. I figured we would discuss my concerns face-to-face and I would have to make a decision on whether or not I should cancel, knowing that I might lose my deposit. The receptionist said she'd have to call me back after talking to the surgeon. 2 minutes later the phone rang and it was Dr. Aylward on the phone. She had received my email and wanted to discuss my concerns. I asked her to tell me what was going on with her support staff and she told me that there had been a lot of turnover that she had no control over because the hospital had made some changes. Bottom line, when she was done telling the story I told her I was not comfortable proceeding with the surgery, but I was concerned about the fact that I had already paid a $3,300 deposit. Dr. Alyward said she understood my concerns. I got the impression that she was as frustrated as I was with the situation. She promised me that she would see to it that the hospital refunded my deposit. Within minutes of hanging up the phone, Dr. Alyward copied me on an email to the hospital's billing department asking them to refund my deposit. A few minutes later the hospital's accounting office called and said the refund had been processed.

To sum it up, I still believe I picked a great surgeon. I am confident that in the right circumstance, Dr. Alyward would have done a phenomenal job. Unfortunately, she did not have enough control of her staff/situation at the clinic. I appreciated her honesty and her willingness to go to bat to get my deposit back.

When I was picking surgeons, I had a hard time picking between Dr. Aylward and Dr. John Quinn. So it was a pretty easy decision to decide to have Dr. Quinn do my surgery. Within 48 hours I had the surgery rescheduled for the 16th of December. Luckily my husband has some flexibility at work and he was able to reschedule his time off.

So I am back to waiting, but I am ok with that. I've been stressing out due to work, working too much, eating too much, not getting enough sleep and not exercising enough. This morning I went to a new gym within a few blocks from home. I am going to hire a personal trainer to help me get into the best possible shape I can be in prior to the surgery date. I need to lose the little bit of weight I have gained and be as strong and fit as I can be prior to the surgery.

The negotiations at work are complete, so now we are going through the due diligence process. Even though that will be stressful, it won't be nearly as bad as the last 4 weeks have been. I am looking forward to getting back to a reasonable work schedule.

So there you go. That's what's been going on around here.