cosmetic surgery

Whether you choose surgery or not, just remember that all surgeries have risks. Even the simplest surgery can lead to illness or death. May not be likely, but possible.

I, too have body parts that will never again defy gravity or look like the lady (child) on the cover of Vogue. Oh well.

Edit: but I see you are a NURSE so you must already be aware of the risks? People have died from blood clots after liposuction; likely it's not many, but choosing cosmetic surgery, knowing the dangers.. as a mother, I don't get it.

I had lipo because I had some fat deposits that, due to heredity, were just stuck there.

I'm not going to lie to you. I did have some pain afterwards, but it was not that bad. You will swell, and even after you take the "garment" off, you'll see some swelling. I thought it was worth it.

What a lot of people don't tell you is that you really won't lose weight with it. You'll lose a few pounds of fat, yes, but you won't lose a ton of weight unless you are willing to diet and exercise, too. I was able to lose and stay at a certain weight until we moved four years after I had the surgery. When I started stressing, I started eating and not exercising. Pounds crept back, and here I am.

The other thing that you need to realize is that the fat will go somewhere if you have lipo and the doctor takes fat cells out. Most people I know who have lipo in the waist, butt, hips find that the fat then settles in arms, boobs, chest, knees, etc. Of course, they don't take all the fat cells in one area, so you'll have fat settle back in the butt and thighs, too.

If you do it, make sure you go to a plastic surgeon. There are dermatologists and dentists who are "trained" to do lipo. . . .not sure I'd trust them with that kind of surgery.

Hope this helps.

:glasses:

I am almost a year post-op Tummy Tuck and lipo to my flanks. I did not go in my ideal size and weight, but have continued to work on my diet and exercise. Those things never change regardless of having surgery or not. I have lost an additional 18 pounds since surgery. It somehow became easier to lose weight for me. Once your ab muscles are pulled back together you cannot eat as much because there is less room in you stomach to expand now after the muscles are pulled back in.

I love having my belly tight and can wear shirt tucked in and am not trying to disguise my middle. After having three babies my stomach was just not going to bounce back. I always knew I would have the surgery and waited til my oldest was twenty before I could take time out for myself to finally put it all back together. I worked out for three years consistently and increased my workouts heavily to be in the best shape I could be for optimal recovery. The recovery has been slow, but I am back to working out as much as I did prior and still continue to work on my diet. I still get some pain in my ab muscles with certain exercises, but am careful and feel pretty much back to normal. The swelling is finally behind me I think.

If it is something you want to do, then research and prepare and go for it.

Even after losing the weight, I am still pretty much in the same pants because I carry my weight in my bum, hips and thighs. But I do not mind wearing belts since it is a new accessory for me. I never in my life owned a belt before. My shirt sizes changed the most because I did not need to have wider at the bottom shirts. So my shape really changed dramatically even tho my pant size remained pretty much the same. My scar is looking really good and I do not mind it at all in comparison to the stretch marks and bulging belly I had before.

I went in weighing 170ish and I am now at 152 and am about 5'4'' and 42 years old. The additional weight loss has not affected my results and would like to lose another 15 pounds. Although I am less concerned about what the scale says and am working hard on my weight training to continue to change the shape of my body.

I haven't had any work done on me personally, but I have witnessed a procedure - the tummy tuck on a very good friend of mine. She was a little tubby@around 185 lb or thereabouts and instead of working out to lose the weight, she opted to have her post-baby mummy-makeover done. What happened to her body, from my vantage point, was that she now looks too straight figured. It's straight down along the sides and is weird-straight from the front - if that makes any sense. Mannish to be honest. What her surgeon sculpted via his liposuction plus tummy-tuck procedure was a man's v. It's awful when she's in her bikini. A waste of her beauty. It's strange to say, but she'd looked more feminine with her mummy-belly, then the post-surgery not so fat pullover.

I would also suggest, you request the surgeons you screen to do the work on you for their before and after of former patients, and even go as far as requesting them, if any of their patients are willing to have you look at it - directly. When it's a form of an invasive body altering surgery, you really need to have a close look at a few - if possible. Oftentimes they do probono as you would be aware as a nurse and these ones are usually the ones who'd need to avail their bodies to prove the body of work - of the surgeon.