How do you choose what procedure?

I'm 17 months out from lap-band. I was self pay. I have been at the same healthy weight since Nov. 2008.

My question is...how do you choose what procedure to do? I'm like most middle class Moms...I have my share of debt, I'm saving for my children's college fund, retirement, try to take a vacation here and there,  I have two growing boys, house, car payments, etc. How in the world do you work in ps and how can you choose what procedure? 

I'm 35 and started off 190 lbs. I have a very small frame so 190 lbs was a lot for my body and so I do have a lot of damage  because of the excess weight. My thighs and stomach look like someone came after me with a meat cleaver and tenderized me for sometime. I had two large babies so my  lower tummy is a wreck. My breast look like I had a mastectomy (hope this doesn't offend anyone), but I don't know how I feel about implants. I think in the right kind of clothes...I can look just fine. Other days...I look at my destroyed body and wonder if I could ever pull of f ps, but don't know where to begin. I'm nervous that if I start picking off things I don't like...I won't ever be happy with anything. I don't want to be one of those ps frequent visitors.

How did you choose and why?

I knew from looking at pictures of results and talking to people that had various procedures that I wanted a lower body lift.  When I went to my ps consult, he evaluted my body and we talked about the things that I would like to fix and the order of importance.  From our meeting, he determined that I would get the best results from a lower body lift, so I was definitely on the right track.

I'm scheduled for my LBL in October.

You know the things that bother you.  When you see a plastic surgeon those will be the things that you will lead the conversation with.  The plastic surgeon will be able to tell you what can be done to fix those areas and help you prioritize the stages to get things done.  He will also be able to give you an idea about whether or not you have realistic expectations of the outcome.

As for me - I have left the order I get things done entirely up to my plastic surgeon.  I can only have one procedure at a time because of a medical condition.  The trick is to find a plastic surgeon that you feel comfortable and confident in. 

Red

Red

I think you have to decide what area of your body bothers you the most.  For me, I always knew I would need to have my belly done since that is where I always carried more weight.  I didn't plan on having anything else done.  I had my panni removal done 4 weeks ago, insurance covered it.  I know you said you were self pay for your band but perhaps your insurance would cover something considered medically necessary such as the panni, maybe a "breast reduction" if your boobs are super long.  You might have to pay out of pocket for implants if you decide to get any and for muscle tightening when you panni is done.

I understand what your saying about starting to feel like you might not ever be happy and just keep having procedures.  Like I said, I was only ever planning on having my panni done but now that its done, I'm thinking about a breast lift, thigh lipo, arm lipo etc.  I think this is normal and we need to be aware of this because our bodies are never going to be perfect. 

Have your plastic surgeons that you consult with give you pricing for individual procedures as well as "package" quotes so you can decide which procedure you might potentially pick and choose to have done depending on cost.

You could also look into having you PS done at a teaching hospital/medical school and pay a reduced price. 

Hope this helps.

When you want it all done, it's hard to make the choice but for me, I started out with what bothered me the most and what had the biggest impact on my life, my health, my figure.  My hanging panni was the biggest thing for me.  I was like hell, if I get NOTHING ELSE DONE, can I live with just having the tuck done.  So I went with that.  Ended up with a full LBL.  But even if I would have stopped there, I could have worked around the other stuff.  Even though I ended up getting more work done, I could always find something to tweek.  So I say, assess your body honestly and go with what would make the biggest impact for you and start there. 

Well, you are right that -- for many people-- once you start fixing one area, the remaining areas seem to look even worse so PS can become a cycle.  For me, the choice was easy... my pannus and mons hung down SO low that I was still having to wear baggy pants and tunic-length shirts even after losing 160 pounds!  Many mornings I would end up in tears trying to find something to wear to work that hid the fact that I had bulges (despite trying all sorts of compression-type garments... NONE of the help a large, saggy mons!) where women are NOT supposed to have bulges.  I was already so depressed that I would have ended up suicidal if I had not had that PS done.  I also had my arms done, but part of my justification was that I had already been so unhappy for so long because of my body that I did NOT want to lose any more of my life because of the way I looked... and I knew I would still be very unhappy given how large my batwings were. 

My breasts are still a DD (and hang to my waist without a bra) and require help from Victoria's Secret to look decent, and I will NOT expose my wrinkly, ugly thighs in public under any cir****tances, but I can live with wearing knee-length shorts and paying big bucks for a decent bra.  So I am done with PS (which is good because, being single with a mortgage, a car loan, and $40,000 in student loans to pay off, I cannot affrod any more!)

Lora

I have lost over 100 pounds and once I maintainted for 6 months I was eligible. I am a single parent of a 7 year old little girl so finances were especially difficult for me. Finally I decided that I was doing something for ME debt or no debt I f'ng deserved it! I have college loans I pay on, I have a child with no child support, I have a home and a car etc....

I did not want to live in that body anymore and decided to GO FOR IT. Mind you I would have loved to have my boobs put back where they belong, like yourself however that put the price tag out of my reach. I decided a good bra can handle that for now and my stomach was my biggest concern.

I went with the LBL procedure. My doctor did the pinch test, if you can continue to pinch skin around the entire circle of your body you will not be happy with just a tummy tuck. You will have dog ears or saddle bags or whatever they call them. If I am going under and spending the money i wanted it perfect. Since I also had no butt and read a ton about people upset with having no ass I also chose the butt flap procedure. The skin they would have just cut off from my back flanks were twisted and nicely placed in two pockets under the muscle in my bum. This gave me a strong definition and helped me steer clear from the no butt problem.

I hope this helps. GO FOR IT, you have come this far. WHo wants to start something and not finish. I know easier said than done but I pay minimum payments per month. I do what I can do and if I have some debt, whats new...just add it to the rest and do thebest I can!