Happy Thursday!

Everyone must be snoozing this morning!  I'm never the first to post! Hope everyone has a great Thursday!  Not a whole lot going on in my neck of the woods, work and wedding planning.  That's about it!  Sure doesn't feel like January outside...and I'll take it!  Sam

I was thinking the same thing Sam that everyone must still be asleep.   I am at work, not much going on with me either.  Chilly outside and wet....yuck! Hope everyone has a great day! Jenny

Hi all! How are you doing? I'm doing okay. A little tired but in good spirits. We have got to find a different car for my hubby, so if anyone knows of one for sale in the $5000-$6000 range tops, that is in decent condition, let me know via message on here. We can drive to check it out... doesn't have to be in Terre Haute area. Otherwise, everything is good. Today our new phone in the apartment gets installed. I will be happy for that, because we got rid of our cell phone service yesterday! I will be glad to have our new phone number too, so I can give it out.

Good morning all! I have a busy day planned today. For starters, I have to go get alot of blood tests done. Dr. Bergman wants to be sure I'm retaining enough nutrients since I've lost 29 lbs since plastics (~15 lb was expected). After that, I'm running over to Lilly's to the credit union & nurses office (I need to see if they can do the P/I tests when I return to work). I'm going to pop in and surprise my boss & co-workers while I'm there. Then I'm stopping by a little place (Burrito Joint) near there to pick up some lunch for Bill & I before I head home. Whew! That is a full day for me anymore! My appointments went fine yesterday. Dr. B is going to call Dr. Gupta and see if I can stay off of the wound-vac from now on so that the skin would have more opportunity to heal. It's not like it would close up the wound within the next 10 days so I hope Dr. Gupta agrees. I did find out that if I have anymore surgeries (like a breast lift, etc) that I'm to have the surgeon contact the hemophillia center to work out a blood clot prevention plan with them for me if it's a surgery that can impede my mobility at all (wouldn't need it if I had a nose job or something like that). Also, after the surgery on the 21st, I'll only be on coumadin for 3 more months. Yay! No more testing constantly!! Well..I best get busy. You all have a terrific day! Sherri

Sherri, I know you have had complications from your Plastics, but with everything that you have gone through would you still go back to Dr. Berman?  I am in the process of researching (hope to do tummy and thighs together, isn't that what you did?).  I have heard good things about Dr. Bergman, but your complications has definetly scared me a bit.   Tina

Tina,  It's my understanding that St. V's Bariatric guidlines are in the process of being updated and one of the updates is to advise post-ops to discuss blood clot prevention with the surgeon for any type of surgery. The Hemophillia Center that I go to because of the blood clots recommends them being consulted (in my particular situation) for any surgery which would affect mobility and that the most likely course of action would be a low dose of lovenox for ~2 weeks post-op. I recommend anyone having plastic done to discuss with their surgeon blood clot prevention, especially for surgeries which take a long time (mine was 7 hours).  That said, Dr. Bergman was NOT at fault with any of my complications. Dr. Bergman will be assisting Dr. Gupta with my repairs. Should I decide to go ahead and have my breast done (late 2008 or in 2009), she is who I want to do the surgery. What happened with my intestines is something that is very rare..I am the only patient of Dr. Bergman's to have experienced this. Dr. Gupta could not give me a definate 'why' this happened to me in particular but she did assured me however that it cannot happen o the same person twice. Whew! That made me feel much better! Everyone I know that has had Dr. Bergman or Dr. Grasse (her partner) is very happy with them and the results. I had the tummy tuck with the full abdo tightening. Well worth it...well worth the $. The insurance paid for the apron below the belly button, I did for the rest. The abdo tightening part is the portion that hurts like hell if you have to cough. Initially, I was diagnosed with pnumonia instead of a blood clot in the lung so the respitory folks were trying to get me to cough up mucous...when you cough, that abdo tighting hurts big time! I had one drainage tube from that (between the pubic area & belly button). The worse thing barring any lung issues is that it takes a little while to stand fully straight so your back may ache a little bit. I also had the thigh lift. Many of us had heard that it was a painful, painful procedure. I have yet to feel the slightest discomfort from it. I do have scars on the inside of my legs that go down just about to the knee, plus scars going half-way around each leg at the panty line. I measured today and each thigh is 3.5" less than it was pre-plastics. Was it worth the $$? No, I don't think so. When I lay down, I still have the huge excess on the outside of the thighs, hips, and butt. Perhaps I just wasn't realistic pre-op but I thought the legs would be smaller than they are and the skin tighter. I'd advise you to save that money for your breast or arms. Maybe I'll feel differently about it once I have the hernia gone to where I can exercise to tighten up the legs or when I can wear a pair of jeans again...but that's my take on it right now. I would definately consult with Dr. Bergman if I were you. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Tell her I sent you!  Hey..I heard that they discount now & then if people refer their friends to them so seriously, tell her I sent you! Sherri

Sherri, Thanks for the info...one question on the thighs.....I am not necessarily looking for my thighs to be smaller, I just have a lot of loose/saggy skin on the inner portion of my thighs.  Did that part of your excess skin go away with the thighlight?  My outer thighs aren't actually that bad.  I will definetly let her know that you sent me.  Oh, by the way, if you don't mind sharing, how much did the tummy tuck/thigh lift cost you? Tina

Tina, After the insurance paid what they did, my portion was $9,000. That includes all the expences connected to the surgery (the surgey center, a night in recovery, ect., Dr. Bergman, the special garment, everything). I was like you and felt that most of my loose skin was also on the inside and not on my outter thighs. Are you here in Indy..or will you be in town in the near future? I wouldn't mind showing you the results if you'd like. That might would help you decide if you think it'd be worth it. Let me know and we'll arrange a time to get together..so I can 'model' mine...lol. Oh..I forgot to mention that with the thigh lift, you have one drainage tube for each leg...near the knee. Those, it seems like, drains forever! Seriously, I just don't think you get much bang for the buck. Sherri

Sherri, I am in Greenwood, but work in downtown Indy.  I actually saw you at the clothing exchange,but didn't get a chance to introduce myself.  I would love to see your results, if you're sure you don't mind.  Do you have a before picture to compare it to? I am just really torn, I know I want to do my tummy.  I also need a breast lift, and arm lift, but my thights really bother me.  I would hate to spend the money on it though, and not have good results.  I was actually thinking of doing breast, arm, tummy first, but now my thights look really bad.  I want to get the most out of  the money though. Maybe I should go ahead and do the breast, tummy, arms first, and see how I feel about the thighs later.  Too much to think about. Tina

Tina, A friend of mine who is a professional protographer took before pics for me. I haven't had a chance to get together with her yet to get a copy of them. I dropped her an email to see if she has any free time this weekend so I can get them. When I do, I can send you some of them and I'll take some pics of how they look now...although, I think you'd get a better idea in person. I really do think you'd get the most satisfaction though from a TT, BL and arm tuck. If you & your hubby (are you maried?) want to meet for dinner some night, let me know when & where. Us gals can go in the restroom so a demo if you want..or if you'd want to drive over to the east side (near 38th & Shadeland) that would be fine with us too. I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to talk at the clothing exchange! Darn! So many people...so little time..so little energy! Sherri