If you’ve followed me for any length of time you probably know that I’ve struggled with my weight my entire life. A few years ago I was made aware that my health insurance company would help pay for weight loss surgery and thus began my journey towards approval for the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (VSG). I outline the majority of that surgery in a few of my previous posts (feel free to read here and here) so I’ll save you the recap.
Most individuals after losing mass amounts of weight have to deal with the side effect of loose skin. A few are blessed by the gods and don’t have any issues or don’t care about the skin, but I would say the vast majority seek out further surgeries to help correct this new issue. Even before having my VSG I figured that if I were to ever lose the weight that I would require at least a tummy tuck.
I won’t deny that I’ve always had a fascination with plastic surgery (call me a child of the 2000s) and even before losing the weight I was looking into getting a BBL (Brazilian Butt Lift). The doctor I was consulting with at the time let me know that they suggest you being close to your goal weight before having the BBL. Obviously everyone’s goal weight looks different, but I knew I was nowhere close to mine.
A tummy tuck can be done tons of different ways depending on the individual’s own issues and goals. It usually involves liposuction as well of the stomach area and then cutting off the loose skin that the person no longer wants to create a flat tummy. A lot of times muscle repair is also included especially for women who have had children since the muscles separate during pregnancy. I lost so much weight that my doctor said I could do either an Extended Tummy Tuck or a Fleur-de-Lis tummy tuck. I opted for the extended one since that is less cutting, thus fewer scars. The benefit of a Fleur-de-Lis is that if you have a lot of skin not only at the bottom of your tummy, but also at the top is that it cuts down the middle of the top of your stomach as well so the surgeon can pull that tighter as well. I was a borderline case so I opted for the extended tummy tuck and am still really happy with my decision.
A BBL, even though it’s called a lift, does not always actually include a lift; it is really more of an “augmentation”. Essentially the surgeon liposuctions fat from anywhere in the body (in my case, my stomach, back, and chin), preps the fat, then injects it into the butt/hips to create the shape that the individual desires. Some individuals get a 360 body lift w/ a BBL which in that case would really be a lift, but also still that body shaping with the fat that I previously mentioned.
Grossed out yet? No? Great because that’s nothing and this will eventually get more and more graphic in detail. You can handle it 😉
There are thousands of doctors all over the world willing to perform one or both of these operations. I live in Dallas, Texas which has no shortage of plastic and cosmetic surgeons, but I decided to go to Miami for my surgery. I did my research in Dallas, but could not find a surgeon who’s results matched the aesthetic that I was going for. I HIGHLY suggest looking at tons of before/after pictures when you are doing your research. Look for people who look like you and see what they look like after to get the best idea of what you would look like.
Most American plastic surgeons I looked at for tummy tucks just made the girls look like straight boards. It had that “tummy tuck” look, not a very natural or incredibly feminine look that I was going for. I was also looking for someone who could do the tummy tuck with curves and hips the way I wanted PLUS also be really amazing at BBLs, which were not as popular a procedure in Dallas. Miami had both. I found my doctor, surprisingly, on Instagram a few years ago. I followed the pictures over time as I was also researching other doctors and always just kept coming back to him. Dr Palladino has done an amazing job of creating an entire surgery experience for each individual to help create the best healing process possible and I am incredibly happy I chose to do it this way. I am going to recap the rest of that experience in another post, but wanted to highlight the pre-op portion here.
Once I decided that Dr Palladino was right for me I sent in my pictures for a quote on the surgeries I wanted. They got back to me within a few days with a list of what each charge would be and a total cost. Now there are different specials at different times so my prices may not be exactly what you pay, but I have been keeping track of everything for the surgery itself along with “hidden” costs of post-op care, travel, accessories, etc. In order to lock in the special price they were offering I had to put down $500 as deposit that went toward my surgery. That deposit locked in my price for an entire year, which gave me some time to not only save up, but to also work on getting qualified for a CareCredit card, which is a credit card that you can use at thousands of doctor’s offices around the country for medical uses (like normal office visits or botox).
Once I put down my deposit I started to try to figure out my budget and see when would be a good time in the next year to have my surgery. Obviously during this entire time Covid was happening which created some pros and cons to my surgery plan.
- Pros:
- I knew I would be working from home the rest of the year so wouldn’t have to worry about going back into an office right away
- Due to covid, no other big life events were being celebrated in person so I wasn’t missing out on anything if I needed to lie low for a few weeks
- I would have time to recover before most things would reopen and life would get “back to normal”
- Cons:
- Traveling and having surgery during Covid is obviously more risky than normal and both are already risky
- Covid has brought up financial insecurity for most and I was committing to paying thousands of dollars. I totally realize my privilege in being able to not only be employed during this crazy time in our lives, but also being able to finance an elective surgery.
It ended up working out that sooner rather than later would be better for surgery since financing became an option so I looked for a free time within the next few months. They let me know that May 18th was available so I officially booked the date and started working on my pre-op activities. The doctor’s office sent over a timeline of events that needed to occur before I could be approved for surgery including getting bloodwork done, getting my surgery clearance from my normal doctor, and paying off my balance in full (with either normal payment or financing) two weeks before the surgery date. Getting all of those things accomplished actually took longer than I thought so it was good that I had booked the surgery several months out and started right away on getting all activities completed. If you do not have all activities completed in time then there was a $500 rescheduling fee to pay, which obviously I was not interested in doing.
Included in my specific package was a 7 day stay at the Sheraton Suites in Fort Lauderdale, a nurse to help me for the first 30-ish hours, a driver to and from the surgery center from the hotel, breakfast every day while I was in the hotel, a BBL pillow, a stage 1 faja and foams, 3 lymphatic massages in your room, and a post-op appointment.
It is highly encouraged to not travel outside of the Fort Lauderdale/Miami area until 7-10 days post op, which I totally agree with. I wasn’t interesting in really moving at all so I booked an AirBnB to stay in until June 19th once my stay in the hotel was over. I haven’t had many surgeries before, but based off the research that I had done I knew that the recovery was fairly intense so moving even at 10 days sounded like an absolute nightmare. It was also a requirement to bring along a companion to the hotel as well as have a vehicle to get to and from various appointments. Covid threw a big wrench into the rental car companies previous strategies as some of you may be aware, so I went with my trusty Turo app (like AirBnb for rental cars) to get an SUV for the majority of our stay. Did I need a rental car every single day for a month? No, but it ended up being more cost effective in the long run and made pre/post op activities significantly easier.
Prior to surgery I did tons of research from blogs, IG, youtube, and TikTok on items to get for post-op as well as tips and tricks. I will make another post later on with my top tips, because some were totally awesome and some things weren’t covered at all. Obviously everyone is different, no two surgeries are exactly the same, and even different packages can greatly affect your overall outcome. I can only speak for my experience, but I hope this is helpful if you are also searching for a similar journey.
I arrived in Miami on May 13th so we could have a few days of hanging out before the surgery and have time for my pre-op appointment. My pre-op was on Monday, May 17th at the hotel where we would be staying for the next week. The doctor has a satellite office in one of the ballrooms at the hotel which makes going to all of your appointments incredibly easy. The ladies in the office were super nice (shoutout Jordana!) and walked me through signing the forms, taking my pictures, and any questions I had. Once the appointment was over we were able to check into our suite (which was VERY nice) and then I ran all over town getting my meds from CVS, I had a list from my nurse of items I should get for the week, and I had my own list from items I had gathered from my youtube research. Costco and Walmart had everything I needed, got my meds right before the pharmacy closed for the night because I almost forgot, and made sure to have a “Last meal” before my 9pm cut off. I was able to drink water until midnight, but then nothing after that. I took a shower at night and washed my hair and then took another shower in the morning with this special wash they give you to kill the bacteria on your skin before surgery.
Stay tuned to see the day-of surgery recap as well as my first week, second week, and tips and tricks!
Happy Reading!
-Savvy
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