Tummy Tuck, Medial Thigh Lift, Lipo Arms & Submentum...waited 25 Yrs! - Wall, New Jersey

Hi Everyone! I've been looking at this site for years,had lipo in 2011, but didn't write a review. FINALLY had my procedure 1\12\15 and actually started writing my review the night before but lost it & didn't start again because it was 2am at the time lol! I'll start by saying that I've gotten so much invaluable information from this s site and I'm s greatful to hear about everyone's experiences. So even though im writing this 4 days post op, I have my pics n info from the beginning.

My background: I'm 43, mother of 1 25 y/o whom I had at 18 & never really had the desire for more. I was 112lbs, gained 83 lbs with pregnancy, lost most of it & stayed between 118-125 forever, taught aerobics n other exercise classes & was always athletic & working out. I got stretch marks,really thin ones & loose skin. I still wore bikinis but was very self conscious about my body. No amount of exercise makes excess skin disappear. I got implants in 2000 cuz I was tired of them being flat n squishy in a bathing suit....wanted some volume back, breast feeding deflates them FYI lol! Anyway I went from a c cup to a D cup. Most people couldn't tell n that's the way i wanted it. Got remarried to literally Mr Perfect in 2003 & life was grand!

Fast forward a year and a half and weight just started piling on no matter what I did or didn't eat, I worked out like crazy, I became extremely emotional & thought I was going nuts....enter Hashimoto's, hypothyroidism in other words. Then began a rollercoaster of doctors n meds n no results for a couple of years. Just a fat,very unhappy lady. From a size 3\5-4\6 to 11\12-14 and 155 lbs. Also im5'2"! All I did was cry. Well turns out I met a brilliant doctor who was able to find the right med combo for me....which h turns out for me, this is not an easy feat. I started feeling better and was SLOWLY able to lose a bit at a time. Turns out I need calorie controlled,carb controlled, low good fats& higher protein.....carbs are not great for us hypothyroid folks,but neithe is paleo without portions....I need kinda modified paleo with some carbs or I feel crappy.

Anyway iwas able to start slowly losing & joined CrossFit over 3 years ago. Still had fat that appeared in places that id never had it until !y hypothyroidism & decided on lipo. So in 2011 I had Vaser lipo of my abdomen, back, bra bulge, inner & outter thighs. I had already had some lose skin on my inner thighs & the doc warned me that it may get worsen& although I had a little cellulite on the front of my thighs, that could get worse too. I was pretty darn sure I was gonna get loose skin especially on the inners,but the doc said let's just wait n see. Sure enough I got loose skin. He tried a lot of skin tightening treatments n tried to improve the cellulite on thefront of the thighs, but nothing worked. It wasn't horrible cellulite, but worse than I started with & the skin wwss definitely more. I wasn't upset in the least, because A. I was totally expecting it, he was more optimistic than I was and B. I planned on the tummy tuck the following year anyway in which the thighs would be corrected. It wasn't too terrible, i wore longer skirts & bathing suits with skirts. Anyway as luck n finances would have it I couldn't have th tummy tuck until 3 years later!!!! Cuz I didn't want to go into debt for it!

So here we are January2012, been CrossFitting for 3 1\2 yrs 4 days per week &'running 1 or 2 other days, took off 6 months for an elbow injury. I weigh more than ever....165lbs thanks to the muscle I've put on through CrossFit , wear a size 9 juniors, the misses sizes don't really fit my body quite right. I have muscles I'd NEVER thought I'd have n can do things I couldn't do when I was18 and I'm so proud or myself! No one ever told me Olympic weight lifting was so much fun! I can do man push ups, pull ups, climb a rope to the ceiling, c!imb over a 6 foot wall, deadlift 235#, put 135# over my head & run farther than I ever have! My core is super strong as well as my back, but even with all of my accomplishments thus far, I still have loose skin & separated muscles that will never go away without a scalpel! So I'm finally ready. CrossFit has definitely been one of the reasons I've been putting this off just because it makes me feel so good & I lobe it so much. I know its superintense & will require my ore to be completely healed....!ike 3-4 months or more. But its time! I want to look good for the summer to enjoy our very first boat!

Sorry about the ramble but I posted my before pics on 1\11\15. I'm having full abdominplasty, muscle & hernia repair, lipo of triceps\biceps\developing bat wings & submentum.....double chin n fat neck since I had as a kid no matter how fat or thin I was, only getting worse as I get older. 43 y/o, 167 lbs, size 9 Jr, m or l top depending. Measurements: hip 41, just belo bb 39, bb 35.5, waist (smallest part of hour glass) 31, rt thigh 23 3\4, Lt thigh 23 1\4, rt shoulder on arm above bicep 13, rt bicep stretched straight out11.5, left shoulder area13.5, Lt bicep. OK whew! Now I'm gonna attempt putting up the before pics....

So I'm scheduled for 10:30 am , had to be there at 9:30.....knew I wasn't getting into the OR before 11 no matter what they say. If I didn't mention it before, I'm a nurse for over 20 yes, most of it in the er....I'm picky about doctors, my care etc. So let me say I've had my lipo here 3 years ago (at the Toms River Surgery Center) & the nurses rock! Everyone from pre op to pacu & in between , anesthesia etc. Everyone has been wonderful every time. My son's had surgery here twice as well. Not to mention my Doc...Dr Nagy, wouldn't have anyone else!

OK so back to it.met anesthesia Dr Fischer n the nurse anesthetist, both great! Soon Dr Nagy came in , marked me up, put my suture line nice n low below the panties I wore for him to mark me n said he would go as far around as he could n take as much skin from my thighs as he could. I'm far more worried about the thigh lift than anything else. It was very hard to find pics n information on medial (mni) thigh lifts. Most are from people who lost a time n of wright n need cuts all the way down the thigh. I'm worried about asymmetry, migrating scars, separating labia & a whole laundry list of terrible stuff I've found while researching. Anyway Dr Nagy assures me I will be fine and I'm a perfect candidate. I trust him. He marked my arms n neck...also worried about loose skin on arms n crinkly skin under neck. Again, he said he will be careful, I will be good n vaser lipo actually tightens and I will be happy. So here comes anesthesia with my versed, I remember wheeling into OR, scooting over on the table n John, the circulating nurse saying "welcome to studio 54, this is where all the magic happens!" The whole place including me was cracking up and that was it, I woke up in recovery with a cracker in my mouth n my husband sitting there looking pale. I didn't know that the nurse just showed him how to empty my drains lol!

The ride home was a little rough, bumpy from what I remember. Got home, hit the recliner, not too much pain, no nausea. Hubby gave me 2 percocet as instructed n off to sleepo I went. Woke up an hour later with some bad muscle spasm n told him to give me the Valium now. He said "no, the nurse said no Valium before 10 " or whatever time it was. I told him if he didn't five me Valium right NOW that he will be vwey , very sorry after we return from the er because not only am I calling Dr Nagy and 911, I'm calling his mother to kick his ass if I don't get a pill right now!! Lol! Needless to say I got the pill which took a while to work cuz the spasm was so bad, but he was as just trying to sdo what the nurse told him n didn't want to overdose me. I told him that I knew what I was doing n it was OK. We laughed about it later cuz he was so nervous n told Dr Nagy too who also got a good laugh.

After that first night was good and the next day food too. Just took 2 percocet faithfully every 4 hours n Valium every 6.

Just after my shower. Sorry didn't get my arms, they're just a little bruised n I hardly remember I got them done. They don't hurt. My chin, neck n chest however look like I was hit with a crowbar lol! But no pain, just b purple n swollen. I'm just realizing he didn't give me a chin strap...have to ask him why. Day 1 was a good day

Hi Everyone! Sorry, I'm not too good at keeping up with my progress on here. Day 1 was good like I wrote, but 2 & 3 not so much. I was in a considerably lot more pain than day 1. Its mostly the muscle repair and a my right thigh lift incision. Taking percocet every 4 hours n Valium still every 6 hrs. No BM yet even tho I've been taking colace n senna twice per day. My belly muscles are so weak that I needed to blow/my nose but couldn't even blow hard enough to clear my nose!! Anyway I've been mostly sleeping on n off from the meds n get up every hour or two to walk around.

Days 4-6 post op, pretty much the same. My belly is tight and swollen, stitches under tape intact n the incision looks perfect. Belly button still up for debate and probably not fair to give a final decision until most of swelling is gone. Tomorrow will be 1 week post op n I'm very excited to get my thigh drains removed.... 3 drains are a little much. Still showering with Hubby's help whom if I didn't mention before is my sweet, darling angel that I love e sooo very much and is taking such wonderful care of me. He:s so careful & gentle with everything, treats me like I'm a little China doll that may break. I'm such a lucky lady. He does work all day & I'm alone, but I'm able to get to the bathroom, kitchen etc on my own & he helps me get ready for bed at night. He makes dinner, cleans the bathroom that I use every day b/c he doesn't "want to take a chance of any germs in there" while I'm healing lol! Does the laundry , takes care of our cat n dog & basically everything. I do nothing at all. Oh, did mention he's wonderful lol!

Forgot to mention that days 5 & 6 every once in a while I felt something running down the back of my rt leg, it was clearish and nothimg was bleeding, so I figured id mention it tomorrow at my 1 week appointment.

So day 7 I go to PS office & see the nurse to have my thigh drains removed, which wasn't horrible. It does burn, but for a minute and its over. She removed the tape from my tummy incision which is beautiful BTW....exactly what I asked for--low, even, neatly stitched & extended almost to the beginning of my butt cheek! Removed stitches from arms lipo & from behind my ears from the submentum lipo. So I told her about the drainage I felt behind my leg, first she checked the stitches in the front of my groin (from mini thigh lift) and all OK. I had to turn over & sure enough, there's a separation/opening near the back of my right butt cheek. She cleaned it & applied some dermabond (basically skin super glue) which we use to close some wounds that don't require sutures. Anyway, my PS applied this on top of the entire suture lines in each groin for reinforcement when he closed me up. So she sais she wanted me to come back Friday (4days from now) as he's in surgery to have him look at it. She did say that in was aheadmof the healing game on my tummy tho which is good news. So I was a little bummed to say the least. Thigh lifts always, always have some kind of healing complications per my PS and he did tell me to expect some kind of complication more probably than possibly, but usually nothing terrible. I just didn't expect it so early I guess. I'm still finishing up my post op antibiotics & imagine I will be getting more.

Just some pics

So after the check up with the nurse yesterday n finding about the opening, I was a little depressed, but figured it'd be fine with antibiotics & the dermabond/reinforcement. Well thus morning i noticed that the sides of my panties, I'm wearing boyshort panties with supersoft material a size or two bigger than I need so as to not add any friction to my groin incisions & have been since day 1. So the sides, like where the groins are were wet. Not bloody but more of a serous drainage. So being the crazy nurse that I am I go up n get the big round magnification mirror to check things out....since its now very hard for me bend down n see what's going on. So as I'm looking, to my horror I see what I believe is another opening on the right side this time in the front of my groin next to my girlie part! AND I saw some redness next to it on my leg so then I freak! Crying & crying uncontrollably. All kind of thoughts were going through my brain....I'm going to split open on both sides n be mamed, I'll have awful scars n look worse than when I started, I'll end up in the hospital with sepsis and the list went on n on. So I decided to call my PS office since I now have a second opening & I see redness on my leg next to my groin n I have one anti biotic pill left. I call n was told to come in that evening. Luckily I'm only a 6 minute ride fharom his office. Sure enough I was right. He prescribed keflex, cleaned it with saline n added bacitracin. He told me to clean it daily n apply bacitracin n gauze.hha. hara spot to get it to stick! He said it was good that I did not wait til my Friday appointment & needed to start abx asap. He reiterated what he had told me from the beginning that usually 100% of patients have some kind of healing issue there. Still, I'm not happy about it one bit! So I go home feeling mildly releived that he saw it at least n I have abx. Spent the rest of the night crying on and off...my poor husband. Anyway being a nurse & having much more knowledge about complications etc. Doesn't help the cause either. I mean I'd rather know, but it does make one more paranoid/obsessed/crazy thinking about everything. So hoping for a better day tomorrow.