The First Few Day After A Lower Body Lift!!

My name is James and I went in for a lower body lift with liposuction and tummy tuck on May 26th by Dr. Carmina Cardenas from Beauty Enhancement. I have got to say she is without words wonderful and has a true care for her patients.I work in healthcare and meet many different people this is one I can say is genuine. She has taken as much time as needed with me before and after Surgery and though it is a Holiday weekend she has still been to see her patients every day.  I am making a recovery at the Beauty Enhancement Recovery House and while I will not lie and say I am not sore and feeling low I have to say the staff here are some of the best and most caring I have come across.They have gone out of there way to meet needs and make you smile when the tears come. I have a long road yet to go but each day is brings me closer to seeing the Man I have worked so hard to find in the years since my weight loss surgery. 

You have not been a member here very long and this looks like it could be your first post. Did the doctor give you a discount for posting this? Why have you not shared any part of your journey before? I see you have pictures posted from an OH conference and THIS article about you, but something seems fishy to me.

Hi Laura,

James is legit, I can vouch for him.  I understand your suspicion and wanted you to know

I have been a member with OBH. Since finding out about there program  March 2015  but you are correct I have not posted anything in the chat portion of this because untill this Surgery happend for me because there was little for me to share other on my profile page. If I am in the wrong Forum  please let me know so I can change this.  As for posting about the doctor and the Recovery Center I am currently at. I've been truly pleased with everything and so grateful for them I thought it would be a nice way to let others know it's a good facility. Nothing gained from it other than a genuine sign of respect because I have been given truly good care being alone and quite far from home myself. I truly hope this is all right and if not someone please allow me the courtesy of knowing so I can fix that as well.

Hi James

Welcome!  We sometimes have people that come on our site and pretend to understand what we all have been through but are only here to spam for a surgeon.  With you not having any history that is why Laura thought you were one of the spammers....

You are on the right forum to share your experience and get support.  We are so glad things are going well for you.  Congratulations on taking that final step on your journey.  Another great way to share your positive experience with our members is to leave a review. Here is the link to do so:

Review for Dr. Carmina Cardenas

My best advice I can give you is give it time.  You will be so sore, swollen and misshaped. What I mean by misshaped is things in the first few months will look off.  But TRUST me, you will be so happy.  They say give it a year to really see the true end results.  If you were like me and had tons of skin you will feel light as a feather getting rid of that heavy load. 

I am so excited for me and keep us posted on how you are doing and I am here for you all the way

Thank you so much for the info back Kathy S. It truly helped.

 I did not want to do anything wrong with my and since I am new at posting I know it is better to be safe then sorry.

I also want to say thank you for the reassurance on this surgery because it has been a hard few days for sure and my emotions have been all over the place.

I have been very lucky and very blessed because I heard so many horror stories about having plastic surgery and yes while it is not at all pain-free haha  it has been much better than I thought it would in many ways. I had more extra skin than expected come off when they started while this was a good thing it has left me much more sore and brushed. I am moving slow and even had my moment's I asked them to shoot me haha but in all truth I am so Greatful if for just one huge reason alone. You see the last 2 years developed bladder problems from the extra skin and had lot's of discomfort making using the bathroom top carne  more often than it should with a constant need of going to the bathroom frequently. This morning even with everything I have going on in the healing process and say with 100% insurance I am grateful beyond words that I can go to the bathroom and use it and feel normal. Meaning I don't have to lift my stomach I don't have to rearrange and hope that the pressure will ease off if I'm not close to a bathroom I may be sharing too much but for me that is worth more than any dollar amount could ever be. I want my body to look good yes but at the end of the day I want my health to be the top priority and I feel like I have been given that even with the long road of recovery ahead.

Please anyone that takes time to read this I am open to any and all suggestions sharing and information on the next year of what to expect with my body changes and my feelings overall I know many people have been down this path in many different forms and I am open to learning from their experiences. Thanks so much again.

sincerely James Habourn.

Hi James,

I had WLS 12 years ago, I had PS over 10 years ago, I can say without any hesitation the PS had more impact in my emotional well being than the weight loss. I know that is hard to believe but it's true.  I had to use ace bandage, 2 brief girdles just to work out.  The open sores were horrible and so painful.  My plastic surgeon did my surgeries in 3 phases, so I had PS 3 times. 

To help pass the healing time, make a plastic surgery bucket list.  Write down all the things you want to do when you are better.  The clothes, the activities.  The things I could do without all the skin was AMAZING!  

Keep me posted on how you are doing!

I am almost 6 years now out from my band Surgery and that alone opened my life up in ways that very few words can give justice.  This PS was something when I started out I would have said was never going to happen but after a significant loss of bladder decided it had other opinions and it was going to push me towards PS surgery or live in pain and discomfort from then on. This has been a sea of emotions for sure and on a day such as today when I am feeling beat down wrung out I think the idea of a bucket list is truly a great idea.. Because you are correct if my surgery out come stays as planned I will truly be able to do things I would never before do to my looks ans feelings about myself.  Thank you for such a great idea I am starting on that now and Kathy S. I do hope to stay in touch because this small forum today has already made a difference. 

Are they new?  They don't seem to have to many pictures on the web site. How are the prices compared to they US?

Leafs2016 To the best of my knowledge no they are not new and have been a part of Obesityhelp for quite some time now.I do know Dr. Carmina Cardenas has been doing plastic surgery for many years.  I am not sure why there is limited information or pictures on here for them. I was introduced to Dr.Cardenas and member's of her team at the National #OBH2015 conference when she did my consultation and I was blown away for lack of a better word by how good as well as easy she interacted with me from the start. What I was very pleased to learn is she herself is a past weight loss surgery pt. As well as had skin removal done herself so I felt she could see the place I was at with the feelings about my looks.

         I would be glad to answer any questions I can about surgery.I can only speck for myself but I am 13 day's out and I  can say it has already been a life change and a help for me.