Telly

Karey - Thank you Indianlight - Thank you Brenda - I understand you feeling nervous. I think it's natural. The port was seen, I actually saw it as I was awake the entire procedure. It was stitched to me very well, it was right above where he cut me flap off. He didn't need to reposition it, just pushed the tubing up a bit while he sewed me up. It didn't need to be repositioned or anything and the tightening of my muscles does not interfere with my port. I feel great and with the same restriction as before, my belly is a bit swollen but once it is down I will feel for my port and I know where it is. I had oral pain meds prescribed and ready for me as I left the facility but before surgery I was set up with an IV with a push of something to take of the edge, then antibiotic injected into the iv. I had IV antibiotic until my discharge, then antibiotic meds with pain meds ready in a bag as I left. My legs are strong already, probably the strongest thing on my entire body. I find that my back aches alot and I work the back more, simply b/c you are right, I have to slouch over, bend over and not stand up straight for a few weeks. They tell me that the muscles are stitched in your abs, so to stand would prematurely stretch them as well as stress them. Bending over allows less stress on them and once healed and scarred in place...standing up straight will make the muscle tight! Tight is what you want, not a stretched out muscle as before the surgery. You'll have that pulled abdomen look. Just think...Beyonce, Jessica Alba, Shakira. If you can see your port buldging now then you may want to ask for a low profile port upon having your surgery. The port is much more smaller and alot less noticeable. I heard that a doc did a port exchange for $700usd. Hope I answered your questions. Eficka - Thank you and pssssh! If you had lapband surgery then you can have this surgery. There is a slight pain difference but mehh. Karey - Well the nurses were going to remove it on Friday, my last day in Mexico but my doctor said no. He said he would rather me wear my drains on my flight home than remove the drains before I left Mexico. He stated that if I were on the flight and had no drains and developed what's called a "seroma" I believe, then that would have me in pain. A seroma is a Water pocket that can grow enormously under the skin that must be drained. He told me that after day 6 - 10, I could go to my PCP and he can remove my drains in an office visit, or...I could remove it myself. I told him that I may have my PCP do it but asked for instructions on how to do it. I ended up removing them myself. He told me to clip the large black stitch on my skint that holds the drain in place and just simply pull out the drain. I did it and it wasn't painful, just felt weird. It seemed neverending. Finally got that sucker out and realized I was sweating, lol but it was fascinating. The ends of the drain has about 1000 holes in it for drainage purposes. It was pretty amazing. Therefore I had 3 options, either stay in Mexico longer and have the surgeon's staff remove my drain or have my PCP do it, or I remove it myself. Something about me too is when I had my c-section (my 4 year old) I wanted to remove my own staples so my ob/gyn gave me the staple remover and I took it home and removed all of them. Also the doctor told me to go ahead and have my PCP remove my stitches after day 10. I asked if I could do this myself and he said "surely". He stated that at the end there is the "end stitch" or something like that.. and to clip it and remove the entire stitch. He said it was all one piece and it's like an unraveling of some sort but that I'd have to pull it up. I want to do this myself. I'm excited to. As well as my belly button. But if I feel I can't do it, I will go down the street to my own doc for help. AngelaT - Thank you. The TT cost $3,800.00 USD but my plane ticket was about 333.00 and hotel was 69.00 per night for 7 days. My husband and daughter flew with me so the total cost was about 5k ish Hope I answered all of your questions.

Went to Tijuana to have a Tummy Tuck last week and took some photos of us on our way and on our way back

Definately. If you amp up your workouts and you're doing 1 hour of cardio a day and maybe 1 hour weight training, you should be 1,200 - 1,500 calories per day to feed your energy burning.... in turn strengthening your metabolism. As a guideline...(example) If you amp up your workouts and keep your caloric intake the same, you'll lose weight fast but you'll most likely enter into what they call "starvation mode". You can still lose weight moderately taking in the minimum calories up to about 2,000 calories if you run. Marathon runners take in 3k - 5k calories per day. They have to feed their calorie burning and they still lose weight or maintain.

I am 8 days post op and I am in no more pain, just some swelling discomfort. My belly feels quite swollen, more so now that the drains are removed, also too, I work from home and I've been sitting up working about 12 hours a day so the swelling is going to happen. I am told it will subside about 60% within the next few weeks. I stopped taking pain meds last Saturday. I feel pretty great with the exception of the swelling. Thank you for asking and I will continue to post more pictures in a few weeks.

Plans for today - post surgery (I read that light exercise is permissable, depending on how healthy a person is, I'm goin for it!) Cardio - 10:30AM 15 minutes -Treadmill walk @ speed of 2.5mph w/1% incline Weight training Bicep Curls - 15 reps, 3 sets @ 10lbs Tricep Curls - 15 reps, 3 sets @ 10lbs Cardio - 5:30PM 15 min - Treadmill walk @ speed of 2.5mph w/ 1% incline

Meme - yes I love it short. So carefree and less hassle but I'm thinking of letting it grow out just a bit, then once it's there, I'll decide where to go. You are right though, with the crazy workouts I plan on getting back into, I think my hair needs to stay short, wearing bandanas to catch my sweat is easier on my neck, no hairs to clear away when I sweat like a crazy mad woman. Gonnabethin - Thank you lady! They do don't they. I think I've grossed people out with the before's belly. But I really did not want to gross you out with the scar pics so I did not and will not post those till they are fully healed. ReneBean ROFLMAO @ Rene, that's cute! Telly's belly... it's swollen though. Can't wait till it goes down. He did a great job on the belly button. They go inside and find the old belly button attachment and make a hole and attach it, and stitch you. It's a new belly button but underneath, it's your old one attached. Makes you feel whole. Also too, you get to watch the entire procedure.

Carlene I re-read the girls post and I agree with you. Just by the response of that doctor and him kicking her out of his office..... no words. But I understand each side of it, Dr. Oh and the patient's. It's a complicated situation yes but thank goodness this is not a common situation.

Sugar, Yes I had a full abdominoplasty. My port is about 2 inches left and about a half inch down below my belly button. They never moved it as it was in a perfect place when they removed most of my apron. The port was not an issue. My surgeon has had quite a few patients with ports come in for TT and he would reposition it or install a low profile port if needed.

No surgery is ever guaranteed 100% without complications. Things happen to patients that are not always the fault of the surgeon, things just happen. Though I am grateful I am healthy and "Ok" I knew, before I paid for the lapband surgery that there was a possibility of erosion, slippage, complications, reflux, etc. I also knew with the tummy tuck that if the blood does not circulate and the cells die, that tissue could die and hence I would be in serious trouble. I am still not in the clear on this...as I am still healing but I knew the risks. I wish her well and a speedy recovery. I too had my surgery in Mexico and Dr. Rumbaut was superb. I also recently had my Tummy Tuck in Mexico with Dr. Romero and he too was incredible.

Ok Chrispygirl, I do understand. I'll wait till I'm all healed up to kick some serious workout ass. I will get you guys into 4 pack gear before long! Even if it takes 2 years. Good going Lisa!

Where the heck is everybody? No one working out?

Hey I thought maybe this would be fun to do. Everyone that has read in through this thread has already seen these pictures but I have put them side by side. Notice how far down my older belly button (if that's what you call it) was from my tattoo and how far down it is now after surgery. I can see now where the 9lbs of skin went.

Well if you cannot find support here try www.band2gether.net/ I visit this site and I get most of my questions answered even if they don't have anything to say, lol.

Here is a picture of my belly before the tuck and a picture after. Notice how close my new button is underneath my tattoo and how far it was before the surgery. I had quite alot of skin removed.

Here is a picture of my belly before the tuck and a picture after. Notice how close my new button is underneath my tattoo and how far it was before the surgery. I had quite alot of skin removed.

Wow all of the foods on your list sound delicious and very healthy. You did great!

Here are pictures I took a few minutes ago. The pictures are of my new bellybutton, the compression garment and lastly, the drain and vac called "Drenovac"

Sheeesh! A whole pint of ice cream?!?!? You received a list from your surgeon or nutritionist about what to eat and what not to eat. No one goes into this band surgery without any instructions. Surely there is something they give you as a guide to go by.

Hi MelodyJ, it's good to hear that you are alive and well. I've been out and about, working hard and working out hard, trying to prepare to leave town, which I did about a week ago. Yes I'm home now and I just had surgery. I am still very swollen but I did manage to jump on the scales. 146lbs and counting. 16lbs to go..I can't wait! Congrats on the new job!:clap2:

Thank you ladies! I saw Dr. Romero. He's really great! He's with Tijuana Cosmetic Surgeons. I did not request a low profile port. My port is soo buried, even before the surgery I could not feel or find it. No problems. I am fine with what I have. At first the compression garment hurt like shi*t! But now it's my best friend. I took a shower without it on and it wasn't too bad but my husband washed it last night and I put on one of those gym waist compression sweat belts, reverse though so that I don't sweat (per the doctors recommendations) just till the compression garment dried and it was tight on me but not as snug and did not secure me as well as I wanted it to be. This morning I woke up, my tubing where it exits my body was kinda stuck to the belt and (ewww) it hurt and wasn't purdy. I put on my dr. prescribed garment and I was in heaven again. It really grabs you tightly and makes you feel sooo together. It's like a body girdle. The tape around my waistline that covered my stitches got wet therefore the doc told me that if it got wet during a shower, try to dry it. Having a moist tape is harmful to my healing process. I decided to go ahead and peel it off and there was alot of dried blood on the tape. My husband took the blowdryer and dried my incision area, how sweet. I'm healing nicely but wow am I still very swollen. No pain this morning whatsoever. I have not taken pain meds for about 14 hours. I feel great!

Esmeralda, my doctor's name is Dr. Romero out of Tijuana. Send me a pm and I will give you his information. Thank you Ousooner. You are practically there. Keep up the good work and don't let the trial peripheral things bring you down. You are one great motivating forces around here. Hope we can do the same for you. Sugarplum, I know it's hard. My father was at 2 packs per day. There are no words that I could say to make this better or easier for you. All I hope for you is that you permanently quit and will get much healthier, tummy tuck and smokefree. Here are our final pictures here in Tijuana. We had dinner at a fancy restaurant last night called "Gypsi" spelled ending with an "i" and some photos here at the airport in San Diego. I was transported through the airport via a wheelchair. The lady that did the body search says she sees quite a bit of patients arriving at the airport with bandages, drains, etc. She was soo sweet and was gentle with me. I have some discomfort and some burning pain but other than that, I am ok. My DH and DD are in the pics with me. My son opted to go to NYC to watch the Giants game. Go figure eh? Here are our pictures at San Diego Airport right before we board, as you can see I am very bored. I'm snapping shots all over the place.

www.fillcentersusa.com charges 299 for initial eval and fill and 155 for each fill thereafter.

Thank you Teresita and Sam. It's been quick but a very tough road and I am soo glad I did it. Mucho mas work to do yet but I am there all the way. I am not at the level of fitness I wish to be but the goal is to get there. Motivation is great but determination is the key.

In these pictures I am 3 days post op and still extremely swollen. How I used to look