Full Abdominoplasty and Breast Augmentation With Lift

Stats:
Full Tummy Tuck w/anchor incision
Breast Lift w/Augmentation
May 22, 2002
Dr. Jerrold Laskin
St. Vincent Carmel Hospital, Carmel, Indiana
360cc McGhan smooth, round implants under the muscle
36B - 36DD
http://www.angelfire.com/in/blwed/wls.html

I think for me, the decision to have breast augmentation was an easy one. After weighing in the range of 300-320# for about 14 years, I had a procedure known as a Roux-En-Y Gastric Bypass. This is the same surgery that Carnie Wilson made famous. It is a surgery that can be done on morbidly obese patients (i.e., those who are 100# or more over their ideal weight) to help them lose weight. Before I had this surgery, I was all but confined to a wheelchair due to debilitating pain in my back, caused by degenerative disk disease. Standing for only a few seconds, or walking more than 10-15 steps would cause excruciating pain in my lower back, which could only be relieved by sitting down. I tried many things to lose weight, including medications such as Xenical, with no success. I went through painful epidural steroid injections into my spine in an attempt to relieve the pain, and it only gave me relief for about a week. I underwent weeks of physical therapy, but that didn't help either. The only thing that could help would be if I lost the weight. Having exhausted all other methods at my disposal, and in a total state of desperation, I elected to have this major surgical procedure done to my body that would reduce the size of my stomach from 34 oz. to 4 ounces and bypass a portion of my small intestine so that I would not absorb all the calories I took in. I was scared to death to have the surgery, but I was even more scared NOT to have it. At 36 years old, I was barely able to stand up long enough to say my vows when I married my wonderful husband on October 10, 1998. I also had trouble getting around while we were on our honeymoon. Even though we were in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, I was never once able to take a romantic walk in the mountain forest with my new husband. Instead, we rented a wheelchair and he got to push me around Dollywood.

I had the gastric bypass surgery on May 19, 2000. Two years later, almost to the day, I had lost about 165 lb. and was down to a size 8/10 from a size 34! Needless to say, I was left with an extraordinary amount of excess skin that was just going to HAVE to be removed. I am very lucky, in that my insurance agreed to pay for my tummy tuck and breast lift. The medical reasons cited were recurring rash (yeast infection) under the folds of skin, weakened abdominal muscles due to pregnancy, c-section and previous morbid obesity, and severe breast ptosis (droopiness). My plastic surgeon told me that I might want to consider implants, because once he did the breast lift, there would be no tissue left to work with! So, I decided it would be worth the $900 to pay the cost of the actual implants.

My surgery date was set for May 22, 2002. At my pre-op appointment with the surgeon, I "tried on" different sizes of implants - kind of like stuffing little balloons in your bra. I decided I liked the looks of a 360cc McGhan smooth, round implant and the surgeon told me it would be inserted under the muscle. The surgeon told me that he felt a 360cc implant was a little large for someone of my stature (I'm only 5'3), but if that's what I wanted he felt that I could carry it off. I got a prescription for one valium for the night before surgery, to help me sleep - because I KNEW that I would be a nervous wreck! I'm glad I did that. BIG THANK YOU to those girls on the BA board who suggested it! The day of surgery, I actually got to sleep a little! I didn't have to be at the hospital until 10:00 am. I woke up and took a very thorough shower, then tried to decide what to wear that would be loose enough to get on over all my drains and stitches on the way home! I decided on a nice comfy sweat outfit, and off we went to the hospital - my hubby, 15-year-old daughter, and I. My parents were meeting us at the hospital, as was my good friend Susan, who had undergone surgery with the same plastic surgeon several months before. The surgeon was right on time, and he came in and marked me up with his trusty little felt-tip. I looked like a road map to nowhere! I kissed and hugged all my family and friends who came to wish me luck, and rolled off to the surgery room under a nice, warm blanket.

Once in the surgery room, the nice warm blankie was GONE and all of a sudden things were happening. The anesthesiologist started a line in my arm and told me that he would put some medicine in to relax me, then when they were ready to start he would send me off to la-la land. OH - the surgeon's name was Dr. Payne, which I thought kind of humorous. *grins* He was a great guy. The nurses asked me to sit up so they could place some electrodes on my back, and that's the last I remember! I remember sitting up, but I do NOT remember lying back down. I was out cold!

The next thing I knew, I was coming to in the recovery room. They told me that my surgery was over and it all went well. It took about 5.5 to 6 hours. I was wheeled into a private room for the night, and my family filed in to see me. I was pretty sore, but the PCA machine was my best buddy. It took gooooood care of me. All I had to do was push that little button, and all was just fine. I was told that they found a hernia while they were doing my surgery, so they fixed that as well. My family went home, and I settled in for a nice night at the hospital - and it was as nice as an evening at the hospital gets. My nurses were outstanding! At one point, I was feeling nauseous from the anesthesia or pain meds or something, and I really thought I was going to vomit. One nurse held a cool washcloth to the back of my neck while the other one held a cool washcloth to my forehead, and someone was rubbing my back! That was really nice. They did get me up to move around a little bit during that night. They told me not to stand up straight! So I didn't. I could have - it wasn't painful to stand. I just felt very, very weak and shaky - so I just took tiny little steps while leaning on my IV machine, and the nurses each had hold of my arms. (Did I mention these nurses were GREAT?).

The next morning, I was ready to go home. A couple of girls from the office where I work stopped by to see me (we work in the same hospital where I had surgery). They were amazed that I was so "with it"! My husband helped me get dressed, and we headed home. I took off work for about 1.5 weeks, and went back with no problem. I think the pain level stayed quite bearable - even though it was worse than the bariatric surgery I had two years ago (which required me to be off work for 6 weeks!). I used Vicodin for pain, and Flexoril for muscle spasms. The tummy area wasn't a problem AT ALL, but the breasts like to drove me nuts! They were just so sore and felt so weird. I had tons of staples holding together all my incisions: one incision from hip to hip, one incision from the pubic area to the breast bone, an incision going underneath each breast entirely all the way into the armpit (they removed some fat from there) and the incision that looks like a lollypop, which goes around each nipple and down. As I write this today, I am about 2 months post-op, and thrilled with my results. I'm not perfect, but then - who is? I have a flat tummy and big, full, perky boobs, and I LOVE to run around bra-less on the weekends. Life is good! I would do this again in a heartbeat.