Plastic Surgery Experiences

I had a tummy tuck a year ago and a breast reduction and lift in April. The tummy tuck went great until after they removed the pain pump and then it was quite pain full. I'm not happy with the results at all either. The breast job was a piece of cake. It was done as outpatient, I went in at 6 that morning and was home by 12 noon. I had very little pain with it. I say go for it.

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I have yet to have it done as I am still nursing my youngest, but my husband and I have put money aside for the augmentation and minor lipo. Like you, I excersise(4-5 days a week)and eat as healthy as possible, but there are some things that I am not going to to be able to fix. I really don't have any advise other than not to listen to all of those crabby people who tell you not to do it. It's your body and if it makes you feel more comfortable than go for it. God may have made you the way you are but he also motivated the med student to become a plastic surgeon so he can help you out :)...The only thing I would say is go to a few different doctors and find one you are 100% comfortable with. GL......

I had a breast augmentation in July of this year and could not be happier with the change. It cost me 5400 to have it done. The pain wasn't so bad for me and after about 3 weeks I felt great and after 6 weeks I could go back to a completely normal routine. If you have any more questions please feel free to ask. Most surgeons will do a free consultation and give you an estimate on cost. I saw 2 different ones before I made my decision.

Hi there! I wanted to let you know that I had plastic surgery and it was the greatest thing! I have known other women who had the same procedures that you are intrerested in and they were thrilled as well. There is a recovery time, of course, but with help it is so worth it. For me, the healing process was quick and the only discomfort I had was tenderness and I wasn't able to lift much for about 6 weeks. I went to Piedmont Plastic Surgery and I highly recommend them. Good luck!

#1 - make sure you are DONE with having your own babies!!! :) I mean POSITIVE! I knew a gal that thought she was & had the breast lift done and then ended up pregnant again - it was not good on the boobs and one ended up lower than the other...

#2 - my sister, who has never had children but is now married and is considering whether she wants to, had lipo and breast enlargement. She was overweight her entire life until her mid-20s when she started really watching her diet and working out HARD! She has been going to a personal trainer for years, and done all kinds of exercises - nothing at all got rid of her belly. She always had a pooch under her belly button like she'd had kids... She got so frustrated with it, she finally had lipo done. Now she is afraid to get pregnant b/c she knows her body she has worked so hard for will never be the same without more surgery!

#3 - I do know a lady that had triplets (HUGE waistline) and then another one 2 years later. She just had a tummy tuck 2 years ago after losing all the baby weight she could. She has done great - had very little side effects from the surgery and everything looks great since (at least in clothes!)

#4 - I am one of those people who was always skinny as a kid til I went to college. I have slowly put on weight over the last 15 years and now am about 60-70 lbs overweight and have a hard time disciplining myself about food or exercise. It is good to be concerned about your body - although I do believe that you are probably beautiful the way God made you, but just as I personally wouldn't have surgery done for that reason, I also should reason with myself that God didn't want me to eat unhealthy or anything, so it is a 2 way street. Do what you think is best for you, but do be careful with surgery. There are bad surgeons everywhere, so I am sure you are doing the proper research.

Best wishes to you!

Dear M.,

I can certainly appreciate how you must feel after having done all you can do to stay in shape only to find that child bearing has left it's imprint upon your body. However, it's for that reason that I would encourage you to consider whether your children would like to have a slightly droopy and saggy Mother who is alive and well or one who looks absolutely fabulous in her coffin. I'm sure Kanye West would be glad to tell you since his mother died having such surgery not long ago. Here is a clip of an article I read about the incident and what the experts recommend:

The top surgical procedures were liposuction, 403,684 procedures; breast augmentation, 383,886; eyelid surgery, 209,999; abdominoplasy, 172,457; and breast reduction, 145,822. More than 3.1 million non-surgical Botox procedures were performed last year, according to the ASAPS.

Ablaza requires all of her patients, regardless of age, to get medical clearance from their personal physicians, and to have chest X-rays and EKGs, prior to agreeing to perform surgery.

Conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes increase the risk of complications during cosmetic procedures, as do certain lifestyle choices, such as smoking, and medications, such as oral contraceptives, she said.

People who are thinking of getting cosmetic procedures should make sure they only work with board-certified plastic surgeons with hospital privileges, Ablaza said.

“We want to make sure that people understand it’s about safety, using a board-certified surgeon at an accredited facility and operating on a healthy person with medical clearance,” she said. “You can’t eliminate all risks, but you can diminish them by not doing too many procedures at one time and by screening for medical conditions beforehand.”

I hope you find this info helpful. Take care and make sure you don't go looking for a bargain price when selecting your surgeon, it could cost you much more than your wonderful husband and two children would want to pay.
;-) (Not preaching to, but praying for you.)

Hi M.,
I think it's great that you take such good care of yourself. I've never had those particular procedures, but I've had an excellent breast augmentation experience with Dr. Mary Gingrass, here in Nashville. I highly recommend her. She's very sensitive to the shape of your body and what will work right for your body type and lifestyle. Good Luck!1
J.

My friend just had a tummy tuck Tues. She said that it hurt most the 2nd day but she just upped her meds. She has tubes on her belly for the leaking and she has a pack of the numbing meds attached to her as well giving her a constant drip. I visited her today and she was happy and able to get up and around. She says it is sore and sometimes she feels a pinch around the stitches area. She has it all wrapped up and will see the doc in a week and be able to take it off and get the stitches out. The doc sewed up some of her muscles while in there to make them tight again. The incision is just about from hip to hip. They make you a new belly button b/c that is where they cut. She is very excited and said she would do it all over again. It hurts to laugh, cough, sneeze, but honestly, I had 2 C Sections and other than the size of the incision, they sound similar and I was up and around the next day but doing good and back to normal in 2 weeks. She cannot bathe for a week though b/c the stitches cannot get wet, only sponge bath. Whereas with my C Section, the smaller incision allowed for tape or dissolving stitches and I could shower the next day. When you go for your talk with the doc, she will check your muscles. She will only do the tuck if you only have extra skin to remove. If you have fatty tissue, she will have to do lipo suction to remove that fat before she can cut the excess skin. The skin has to be able to literally lose the center and then be sewn back together with the center chunk cut out. So, if you have fat, you cannot sew the two pieces together.

As far as boobs, I have several friends who have had it done. They all love it. One friend's leaked and she had to have it re-done. All are very happy with them and no complaints!

Good for you!

W.

I am in the same boat, I plan on having a tummy tuck, and not only a breast lift, but a breast reduction as well. After three kids stomach looks like a road map lol. But anyways, what I am getting to is this as of yet I don't have a lot of information about the procedures. I do however look up as much information as I can and watch shows on it. Dr 90210 is a good example most of the time its young women getting implants, but it does show some tummy tucks, and breast lifts/ reductions. From what I understand, the tummy tuck is very painful, and you need to be able to take the time to heal, no kids popping up and bouncing on the bed and such. You'll need to either have a family member close by to help you or spent some time at one of those clinics specifically designed for recovery (personally, I could never afford the clinic, but boy does it sound nice LOL) Anyways, good luck and God bless! :)

I have never done this, but I say go for it. Try to find a surgeon through referrals. Eventually I want to get a tummy tuck & a breast reduction, so I would love to hear what happens.

I don't have the facts in front of me, and maybe these are myths, but my sister did a lot of research on breast implants or lifts (not sure all the differences between them) a couple of years ago. She found two negatives. One is that you have to go back like every 5 years to have them 'touched up' so to speak, which also costs more money. Also, most importantly, this makes it extremely difficult for breast cancer prevention, not being able to notice lumps etc.

Good luck with your decision.

I had a breast lift and implants when my twin girls turned 2. Unfortunately, I had a challenge and had to go back for a revision, so I had to recover twice. However, I still recommend it! I took it easy for two days after the surgery (stayed with my mom away from kids) and then was very careful after that. Was not terribly painful - in fact, pain medication caused more problems than anything. I don't know much about tummy tucks though.

I know someone who did both, but went out of the country to save money and it wasn't worth it. Her tummy is now lopsided and the breasts aren't the exact same size. She loved that she got rid of some of the tummy fat after three pregnancies, but I'd say, if you are going to do it, spend the money to do it right. It did take her about a month to recover and she said it was really painful.

Hi M.,
Go for it! Make sure you find a MD that is right for you. I would defintely go to Louisville for that. Check out www.myimaage.com DR Hass is the doctor doing my breast augmentation and I can't wait. The facility where he is is absolutely beautiful and state of the art. Tere is one MD in E-town that does plastic surgery, but he seemed really shady. As a matter of fact right now Imaage has a special on tummy tucks. My neighbor is interested so I asked about it. A ballpark figure is $5,000 for the tuck. I am not haveing a lift (don't have enough to lift) :):) so I don't know what that would run you. Anyways, I say if that what's you want then do it! Drop me a line if I can give you anymore info. Good luck!!!!

I've never "been there, done that" but I watch Dr. 90210 and have seen amazing results and think the ladies that do it for the right reasons (internal pride vs wanting to look perfect for others) are great.

The only advice I can give you is that when I was in the hospital for a hysterectomy the nurses told me that the pain I was in was nothing compared to the ladies who were in there for a tummy tuck. So, I would say be ready for a little pain...but if you can afford it and want to do it, go for it :)