Redefining myself through weight loss and plastic surgery- Guest post

I’ve been doing a series of guest posts lately so you could get inside what a patient has gone through and GOES through when he/she decides to undergo plastic surgery. I’ve just worked on a mother-daughter duo who have been documenting their procedures. We’ve heard from the daughter. Today’s post is from the mother.

I’ve struggled with saggy skin since I had my first child in 1970. I think of it as “dough belly” or “jiggly wiggly.” I was so small when I got pregnant, weighing 151.5 lbs at 9 1/2 months pregnant. My daughter weighed 8lbs 12oz. You couldn’t even tell I was pregnant if you saw me from behind. It was all baby. So, once I had her, the skin never went back to normal even when I got my weight back down to 117lbs.

After my second child, I started gaining weight and keeping it on. It just wouldn’t come off. I was also an emotional eater. I’d eat when I was happy, and I’d eat when I was sad. If I couldn’t eat, I’d feel deprived. It was my source of comfort. My husband was my food police and that didn’t help. I’d then reach for more food as if my own little way to rebel. I tried to exercise but I just hated it. I found nothing enjoyable about it at all. I now feel differently as I started on this path to really lose weight and find some sense of control. My top weight was 209lbs.

I felt like I needed a personal trainer to help get me off the ground. We belonged to a gym that was doing a group fitness challenge. I committed to doing it and didn’t let anything stop me. I weighed 186lbs when I went into the challenge. I had yo-yo dieted for years…it’s nice that I’m not dieting anymore. I’ve learned to make healthier choices, but that took time.

My husband had always promised that if I got the weight off, he’s get me a tummy tuck because I’d always wanted one. He stuck to his word. My daughter had found a doctor she really loved as she was researching to get a breast augmentation. She is very particular about these things and her research. We flew in from out of state. That’s how adamant she was about Dr. Ronel. So here we are…in New Mexico.

Her surgery was on Friday. She’s doing great. Yes, she’s been in pain, but it’s all been worth it. I had my surgery on Monday. So, I’m now three days into recovery for a thigh lift, tummy tuck and a breast lift with augmentation. I’m 61 years old. I decided to redefine myself. So, how do I feel?

The first couple days were rough. My daughter had to help me with everything. I’m impressed that I’m three days into it and feel I’m starting to turn a corner. I’m anxious to see what I look like with the dressings off and see the progress. Tomorrow, I go in for my first post-op exam. I’m excited because I’m starting to feel like a human being again. I’m in no way ready to part from pain medication. My body feels as if a train has hit it. This certainly isn’t easy but I know how much happier I’ll be once I recover fully. I also know I’ll be making much healthier choices from now on. I’ll keep you posted on how I progress.

If you have any questions for my patients or me, please post them. I’ll keep them in the loop.

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Plastic Surgery up in 2010

2009 may have seen a bit of a plunge in plastic surgery procedures, but 2010 saw a serious comeback in a number of different procedures, according to the newest stats published by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Here are some of the most popular surgical procedures that rose in 2010:

• Breast augmentation procedures were up 2% in 2010 compared to 2009

• Breast lifts (Mastopexy) went up 3% in 2010 compared to 2009

• Breast reduction in men were up 6% in 2010 compared to the year before

• Buttocks lift (we’ve written about this) were up 5% in 2010

• Eyelid surgery (Blepharoplasty) was up 3% in 2010

Some of the most popular minimally-invasive procedures in 2010 were:

• Botox/Dysport treatments were up 12% in 2010 with over 5.3 million people having this procedure

• Intense Pulse Light treatment was up 7% in 2010

• Laser hair removal was up 5% in 2010

According to ASPS President, Michael McGuire, MD. “The current economic climate will likely not have an impact on long-term growth. The largest contributor to the increase in procedures over the past decade has been the advent of injectable wrinkle fighters and other minimally-invasive procedures.”

“It would seem, as innovations in cosmetic minimally-invasive procedures increase, surgery will continue to decrease,” added Dr. McGuire. “However, as the economy rebounds, more patients and Boomers will continue to seek surgical body contouring procedures (liposuction, tummy tuck), eyelid surgery and breast augmentations. In fact, breast augmentations are up 36 percent since 2000. Silicone implants are now used in 50 percent of all breast augmentations.”

As more and more people continue to get both surgery and injections, the technology and healing time will continue to improve. I’m excited to see the evolution thus far and even more excited to see where we go in the future.

Questions about these procedures or any others? Please let me know!

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A journey with multiple procedures

I’m pretty excited. I just booked a mother/daughter combo for the first part of next year. The mother, who has just lost nearly 60 lbs, is so proud of herself. Weight is something she has struggled with since she began to have children. She is now in her 60’s.

One of the reasons she struggled with her weight was because food was a comfort source to her. Her husband has always been a runner and in shape for the most part. He would complain, she would “rebel” and proceed with her unhealthy habits. She hit an all time high in her weight and finally decided to do something about it…at 59 years old. Just goes to show it’s never too late!

So, over the past year, she has joined a gym and been fairly serious in eating healthy. But now that all this weight is off, she’s has quite a bit of saggy skin and hates it. She has multiple procedures that she wants to have done, but we’re limiting it to three at this point. She is in great health for a 60 year-old woman, but safety comes first.

We’ll be doing a tummy tuck to get rid of the saggy belly skin, a thigh lift and a breast augmentation with lift. After that healing process (and we’ll be having her journal, meditate, and practice holistic healing), we’ll get the rest of the things done that she wants. Because of her limited budget, she’ll be financing some of it, but we have some great plans for financing her procedures, so it won’t be a big deal.

I’m excited to share her story over the coming months as she undergoes some serious transformations. I can’t wait to see her get what she’s always wanted, and I can’t wait to share the before and after photos of this body contouring package we do.

Yeah, it’s never too late!

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My 57 Year Old Breasts

One of my patients wrote this, so I’m posting it as a guest blog. Thank you, Gail.

Here’s to the journey:

If you wait long enough you surely lose your motivation. Or do you? For thirty-seven years I waited to ‘fix’ the breasts I lost in pregnancy. Now that I’m fifty-seven years old; it hardly seems worth it. After all, I am gray, getting wrinkled, and feeling a bit creaky in my joints. Why on earth would I need to get breast implants? On the other hand, I do seem to bring it up a lot – the fact that I used to have gorgeous breasts and I miss having them. Every woman I’ve had more than a few conversations with has heard my sad refrain. I was humiliated when my two teenage daughters (daughters are so kind to their moms), made fun of my breasts, even as theirs were developing perfectly. They named theirs, as they were developing, peanuts for the younger one and watermelons for my eldest. I was sneakers, as in old and worn-out, and I was only in my mid-thirties at the time. A few short months ago, my eldest, now in her mid-thirties snapped at me, “You have been talking about the breasts you used to have since I was born. Either do something about it or Shut Up!”

And so I did – something about it. I knew I couldn’t ever shut up about something that had bothered me for so long, so I made an appointment with a plastic surgeon to see about my breasts for the fourth time in over thirty years. This time I signed on the dotted line. Thirty-eight years ago I gave birth to the first of my two daughters. I was nineteen and totally naïve. Young, athletic and thin, none of my friends had trod down this pregnancy path before me so I knew nothing and my mom kept mum, for some unknown reason. I was idealistic and head-strong and although my husband was still in college, I was ready for my babies.

My breasts nearly exploded during my pregnancy, from a firm 34-C to a gigantic 36-DD plus. I borrowed my mom’s bras during my pregnancy because I couldn’t afford new ones and I came out the top of her 36-DD’s. My husband’s college buddies called me ‘tits-on-a-stick”. I nursed my newborn daughter and slept on a pile of towels to absorb the extra milk. My doctor said I could have been a wet nurse, in the old days, I was so prolific. Once I stopped nursing my breasts went down, down, down to barely fill out a B cup. My husband, now my ex, looked at me and said, “What do we do now”. I burst into tears and have never forgotten.

When I was 27 I divorced the father of my children and went to work, finished my education, and raised my children, as a very single parent; no help, no child support. We were very young and I made a decision, not to save for retirement nor spend significant sums of money on myself. There was time for that when I got older, once my children left home and finished college.

But my sagging breasts nagged at me. In a gym locker room over twenty years ago I noticed a woman, older than myself, with the most gorgeous, perky breasts, just like the ones I had for about 4 years (easy come, easy go, I thought). “Can I say something personal”, I asked, embarrassed to be looking at a naked stranger. “You have the most gorgeous breasts.” “They aren’t my original ones”, she said. ”I was too flat so I did something about it. Beautiful, aren’t they?” Happy for her, but envious, the image remains in my mind to this day.

At thirty-three I made an appointment with a plastic surgeon in Massachusetts. “You are a classic”, he said. “You lost a significant amount of breast tissue during children-bearing and now you sag”. At that time, the potential side effects scared me. I could have problems as I got older. Anyhow I couldn’t afford it. And then, yet again, in my forties, I visited a plastic surgeon in Maryland who wanted to give me very large breasts. I ran. Like Goldilocks, I was looking for the perfect situation.

I am now semi-retired, in other words, I took a pay cut to work a less stressful job to live in my dream location – Santa Fe, New Mexico. I can’t afford to pay my mortgage so I have a roommate. One of my roommates had to get emergency plastic surgery for a cut on her forehead. She just loved her surgeon, a Dr. Daniel Ronel. And once, again – having waited another fifteen years, I decided to get a free consultation. But this time, the stars had aligned. My warm, talkative surgeon (who used to be a Pediatrician and has that compassionate character) said that I looked terrific, but that I could be much more. He complimented my fit and trim body, given my advanced age, of course. And then … he had a cancellation. Could I come back in 5 days? Could I take three days off of work? It was now or never. When would I ever do this if not now? When I am over 60? If I decided No, then it was No, in this life anyway. I said “yes”.

Then, the beginning of a long internal conversation. I am nearly fifty-eight and I have been lucky enough to have kept myself in shape. I have long ago accepted my physical flaws and the aging of my skin. I now have arthritis, high cholesterol, and osteoporosis. I am also a proud grandma. My boyfriend of ten years says he likes my breasts just the way they are. And I still can’t afford this. This will add to my already burgeoning credit card. Now or never. Now or never. A young single mom, in her twenties, works at the surgeon’s as a secretary. She did it, for the same reason and she couldn’t afford it either. My own daughter, now a surgeon, had her breasts reduced when she was twenty and she just took out a loan. I have been conservative with money all my life.

I go for it. I am now one month post-surgery. It is surgery and it has been painful. I am over the initial pain and I now have the breasts that I once had, well as nearly as I can recall. One part of my body is not only unwrinkled, but is exceptionally beautiful. My boyfriend called me ‘luscious’ — now that’s a word I haven’t heard in along time. My sarcastic self calls them my ‘bionic boobs’ as they will surely survive me and my soon to get old body. My daughters will make fun of me and I am anxious about telling my daughter who has two children of her own that I have breasts that are perkier than hers. But I am back to a small 34-C, exactly what I asked for. I consider it a ‘reconstruction’ more than an enhancement. I got back what I lost. My surgeon is a miracle-maker.

I am just now beginning to buy some low cut blouses and show off my new-found youth. I am proud to have given myself this gift. It’s a new start, yet again.

By Gail Rae

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The difference between a breast implant and a breast lift

I talk to women everyday that are considering getting some type of breast augmentation. One question that comes up often is, “What’s the difference between an implant and a lift?”

In many cases of breast augmentation, more than an implant is required. This is especially true if the patient has had children, and even more so if they have breast-fed. Most women, when they breast-feed their children, the tissue of the breast becomes very soft and hangs too low for an implant alone to lift them up. Most patients are misinformed about this. While a larger implant can help to a degree, nipple placement is a big factor in how the breast looks after surgery.

The ideal placement of the nipple is above the breast fold. In other words, if you look in the mirror from the side, if the nipple is hanging below the fold of the breast, it will typically take a lift along with the implant to have the nipple align properly. If this is not done, the breast can tend to look like a bigger, saggy version of what was there prior to the surgery. We call this the “rock-in-sock” look. You can put 4 pencils under the breast and they won’t fall.

As far as scarring is concerned, with the advancements such as the Keller Funnel™, scarring is not as much as an issue if a patient wants to go with silicone implants. In a lift, there is an incision around the perimeter of the areola, and sometimes downwards to look like a lollipop. However, recovery and incision healing is typically faster with the integrated methods we use.

Do you understand the difference now? Do you have any questions?

If you’d like to see more on the Keller Funnel™, please click here to see the results. We also wrote a post about it in July that you can read here.

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