I was back to work full time after 4 week following my LBL & bracio

Thanks Erin. I made a call back to the first surgeon that I consulted with to ask about his closing procedure. He also does "quilting" of the skin to the muscle but also puts in drains. He says that the drains usually don't have to stay in as long though with the extra stitching. I also talked to him about whether a combo of BL & TT would be outpatient or inpatient. He would prefer to have me stay over at Sibley for one night to be sure that I am able to be mobile after the muscle tightening. I would love to go home after surgery but getting help with getting in and out of bed at first would probably be helpful.

I follow #tummytuck on Instagram and there are is a myriad of different techniques that are used as far as stitching goes. Some of them look pretty horrendous at first, but the follow up pictures are still impressive. One of the things I liked about Dr. M was that his stitching was pretty from day 1 and therefore didn't cause any trepidation about what it would heal out to.

I have no idea on the glue, but I do know that 'swell hell' is a real thing and it's a little scary to think of no drains! There are also surgeons who don't use compression - that's also terrifying.

I just got back (on Friday April 13^th) from my Skin removal surgery in Havana, Cuba.

I can't say enough about the care I received down there - they were amazing!

I arrived on March 31^st, surgery was on April 3^rd, and I flew home on April 13^th.

The company I used to coordinate all this was Health Services International (HIS) out of Quebec.

http://www.healthservicecuba.com/

My contact was Rudy Leclerc (he looks after English clients)

Toll free : 1-877-774-2822

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They were hard to get in touch with at first - I believe I sent them an email from the website to get things started. After that I received a 30 mins call from Rudy - he explained the whole process to me, and outlined what to expect.

I paid the 509$ CAD - which allows me to use their services fro 5 years - so I can go back to Cuba as many times as I want - and they will assist me.

Rudy was amazing at coordinating things for me - and answering all my questions. Basically the faster you get your part done, and sent back to them - the faster they can schedule your surgery - my whole process was just over a month - until I actually arrived in Cuba - super fast!

In order for the Drs in Cuba to assess you - you must take pictures of whatever body areas you want them to focus on - once they evaluate the pictures - they send you back your plan - with a few options. - they call them programs - so they will tell you what they will do in the first surgery and then what they will do in subsequent surgeries if you choose to go back to Cuba. I accepted the first program they sent me - which was Abdominoplasty and Arms - but changed it to Gynecomastia (Chest) and Abdominoplasty once I got there - they also said they would do the arms as well if I could handle the 3^rd procedure (which I could not due to bleeding)

The name of the clinic is Clinic Central Cira Garcia in Havana, Cuba.

For 50 CUC (Cuban convertible pesos - equivalent to USD) they pick you up at the airport (literally as soon as I walked off the plane he was there with my name on a sign) and helped me get through the airport, and drove me to the clinic. They also pick you up at your hotel/apartment and drive you back to the airport when you are ready to go home)

You can have someone come and stay with you at the clinic as well - and it costs 40 CUC per day for them - they also get 3 meals per day for that price - the rooms are all private with your bed, a bed for a guest and private bath with shower. The extra day for myself to stay there cost 100$ because they charge you for the medical care and observation.

You stay at the clinic for 5 nights total from the time you arrive (you have to arrive the day prior to get tests done) - they do blood tests, Xray, EKG. I chose to stay an extra day, because I work for an airline and fly stand by - so had to travel on Saturday instead of Sunday.

You get 3 meals per day at the clinic - and to be honest - it was some of if not the best food I had the entire time I was in Havana.

There is wifi in the clinic - they give you a 5 hour wifi card every day for free - which you can also use anywhere in Havana that has public wifi (most parks and hotels offer this)

Once you leave the clinic - you have to stay in the country for a total of 2 weeks (this probably depends on the surgery that you have done) from the time you arrive - some people choose to leave early - but they recommend you at least stay until your stitches are removed - I left the following day - which was 3 days early - but they were ok with this - as I had no complications and things were healing nicely.

I had 3 surgeons originally (although one quit the day prior to my surgery) so I ended up with 2 surgeons - Dr Lau and Dr Cedeno - both were amazing and funny - one spoke no English the other spoke a bit - both could speak a bit of French.

I had 2 anesthesiologists as well

Both Surgeons and both anesthesiologist - checked on my several times daily after my surgery

I had 8 nurses total that assisted me during my stay - whi*****luded the head nurse, and the Patient Assistance Lady (who is the one who baths you after your surgery and walks you to the O.R> and takes you back to your room). Most could speak enough English so we could understand each other.

It is customary to tip your surgeons and nurses - I asked a friend of mine - who is best friends with the Canadian Consulate in Cuba - and she said that you basically take 10% of your total surgery cost, and divide that up for tips - she recommended 10$ to each nurse, and then divide the rest between the Drs. I ended up giving all 4 Drs 20$ each, the Head nurse 5$ (because she didn't really do anything for me), another nurse 5$ because again she didn't really do much for me - and all the other nurses and Patient Services 10$ each. I also gave them a bad of treats each at the beginning of my stay, and another bag of goodies along with a thank you card and the top towards the end after my surgery.

You have the same person delivering your meals 3 times a day, a cleaning lady that cleans your room 3 or 4 times per day - fresh sheets and towels - I tipped them each 1CUC each per day - and gave them a bag of treats in the beginning as well.

i did end up with 2 drains - that were removed the day I left the clinic - which was 3 days after my surgery (surgery on 3^rd, checked out on 6^th) - the drains were not too bad - it was 2 tubes going into 1 container that fit into the pocket of my pyjamas they gave me to wear. I didn't feel a thing when they removed them (I was nervous about this - but you are numb in that area still - so no feeling)

They key to my success was to get up and walk - I walked back and forth in that hallway for days - however I was the only one who seemed to do this - the others stayed in their rooms. The nurses kept telling me that I didn't look or act like a patient...lol

They sent me home with a bottle of alcohol, and gauze and tape to change bandages daily - I would recommend bringing some bandages of your own - because they did not give me enough.

They tell you when to come back to get stitches out - and it was my surgeon *****moved them - he checked everything out - and told me everything looked perfecto!

You also have to bring your own binding garments - depending on what procedure you are having done. I bought mine through a company in Vancouver - however I now realize I could have saved money by ordering directly from the company in the USA - even with the exchange etc....

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Here is the company in Vancouver http://www.curalux.ca/ her name is Jenny

Here is the company in the USA where Jenny gets her garments from

www.isavela.com

The Drs in Cuba were very impressed with the garments - said they were very good quality. You will need to get 2 sets - one to wear - one to wash - they also have stage 1 and stage 2 garments - and lots of options - just ask and they will help you choose.

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Now for the part you have all been waiting for - the cost.

As I said - I had abdominoplasty and Chest done - and the cost for that was (all in CUC or USD):

Abdominoplasty : 845 CUC (includes lipo)

Arms : 335 CUC

Chest(male) : 595 CUC

Various other charges:

Operating room : 300 CUC

Anesthesia : 400 CUC

Other small minimal charges - 7 CUC here, 20 CUC there, all your tests etc.....

My total was 3313.14 CUC or 4387.54 CAD

(this included my stay in the clinic, food, and transportation from airport and back - the surgery, the pre op tests, and follow ups, including medication and supplies to change bandages after discharged)

I also had to rent an apartment for my stay after I left the clinic - you can find tons of those on Airbnb for around 40$ CAD per night if you want the place to yourself or as low as 20$ CAD per night if you want to rent a room in someone's home.

Food in Havana is fairly cheap - and taxis are not too bad. I only had to return to the clinic once to get stitches removed - so I chose to stay in Old Havana - but there are lots of places to choose from closer to the clinic if you want.

I think that is about all I can think of - If you have any questions - please let me know and I will answer as soon as I can.

I highly recommend this clinic - and will be going back again next year to finish up.

one month and a half later . . . . loving my breasts again. had a bit of a spesis scare . . . . thought i had the flu and went to express care as opposed to meeting up with my PS two sundays ago. raging fever for over 5 days. apparently pain in left breast was not due to healing (duh). all is well and have follow up with PS today. it's so weird at almost 60 having cute breasts that do not require a bra. it's borderline freaky in the best possible sense. monsplasty even made overall tummy tuck seem even flatter. too bad i have old, wrinkly arms and upper thighs but have no desire to do anything else. 3/4 sleeves and bermuda shorts i guess :).

thank you gwen and erin for all of your advice. super best decision and so glad i did it sooner.