So even though this blog is kind of on the DL (out of
laziness/apathy about sharing it, not because I care about privacy or who reads
it), I’m going to post a few updates about my thrilling adventure into plastic surgery.
I found some blogs about tummy tucks and
similar procedures that were really helpful so figured I’d blog about it so
that if I end up doing it, it’ll exist somewhere on the internet for posterity.
I had a consultation this morning and it felt pretty
awesome to get things moving. My BFF is
a doctor in Delaware so she gave me the name of a plastic surgeon in Wilmington
and I figured I’d start with him. I
liked him a lot and felt good about the visit so I figure I may only do one
more consultation before pulling the trigger on this bitch. Here’s a brief tour through my mindset, what
I was concerned about, not concerned about, and what I wanted to get out of the
consult.
I did a decent amount of research on both procedures and
accepted the fact that I’d probably be taking 2 weeks off work. Fine, whatever, I’ll cut my vacations down a
bit for 2015. Besides, if I’m going to
throw a buncha cash-money at plastic surg it probably wouldn’t kill me to cut
out a Vegas trip. Also, I already talked
to my parents who are the shit and who agreed to babysit me for the week or two
following surgery. Schedule-wise for
both me and them, March/April/May is probably the best time they can be at my
beckon call. Plus they have a sweet
comfy mega-sectional with recliners at their house so I can just stay there and
lay around watching TV without moving at all for 39483 straight hours. So, recovery is whatever. I know the pain and discomfort will be shitty
and I won’t really be able to appreciate the extent of it til it’s happening so
it is what it is. So, I really had very
few questions about the logistics of it going in, just wanted to clarify things
and most of all.. COST. If it wasn’t
going to be in the amount I mentally budgeted for this, might as well quit
now. I’m not tryna finance this thing, I
got student loans to be paid and I don’t need another monthly expense.
Basically, the doctor talked to me for a bit while fully
clothed (me, not him.. I mean he was too) and asked about my weight loss, assured
me that it didn’t matter that I wanted to lose another 15 pounds, etc. Then he had me get mostly naked (bra and
thong stayed on) and he checked shit out, felt around on my stomach and arms,
and then I got dressed again. That part
lasted seriously like a minute, super quick, not that I really cared either
way. He’ll see me way more naked during surgery. Then I got dressed and we talked about
logistics, cost, scheduling, recovery, other stuff, etc. One thing that I really appreciated was that
he didn’t try to talk me into getting other stuff. I was fully expecting him to try to sell me
on a boob job, thigh lift, or some other stuff, but from the outset when I said
tummy tuck and arm lift he didn’t push it.
Everything else he told me was basically just confirming what I already
knew about the procedures. I asked him
about scarring from the arm lift because I know that’s a concern and he said
the scar is there, it goes to your elbow, it may never fade, etc. Personally, a scar doesn’t bother me and I’d
take that over the extra arm skin, though I did google some post-brachioplasty
pics when I got back to work just to see more examples. Finally, price. In my head I figured it would be about/at
least $12k based on some people I talked to and things I read. I know it varies by location, doctor,
individual, other stuff, but still wanted to go in with some idea. He quoted me $11,950 for both procedures so I
was very happy to hear that. In a
perfect world I was hoping it could magically be closer to $10k but was really
just hoping it wouldn’t be higher, or substantially higher, than 12.
So, once I got past that final hurdle of finding that the
cost wasn’t going to be prohibitive, I felt like a million bucks (except that
this will actually leave me much poorer and further from a million bucks). All the same, I knew I wanted this, and still
do, and now it can hopefully happen! As
long as I don’t go through any kind of massive problem or emergency or
something that drains my funds in the next few months, I think I will
definitely go ahead with it. But,
because it’s a ways out, it probably won’t feel so certain until it gets a bit
closer. I’m going to do another
consultation with another doc in the Jerz and then figure out my gameplan.
Assuming I do this thing, I'll probably post before (like, post-weight loss, pre-surg) pics at some point but not until I see the after to make sure it looks more awesome. Otherwise it's like, whomp whomp, this is what I currently look like and I want to pay money to get it changed. So, hopefully updates to follow!
