Plastic Surgery - Houston

[Guest guest]

Hey guys,

Ok, here's the run-down on Dr. Freeman. I had an appointment

yesterday w/ Dr. Freeman. Having never been to a plastic surgeon

before, let me tell you it was quite an experience. First, his nurse

came in and talked to me, asked all kinds of questions - how much I

had lost, how long it had been since surgery, what type of surgery,

etc. Then I got to undress and put a robe on (which by the way was a

one size fits all - and it DID!) and wait for the doc.

He came in, explained different types of plastic surgery then started

examining me. Ok, so he measured every inch of me which is something

that I have not done in a long time. Guess what??? My waist is

33in! Who would have thunk it??

This guy does computer imaging, so I got to stand there in all my

glory w/ him taking pics w/ a digital camera. Now, here comes the

hard part..you know I look at myself everyday in the mirror, see

myself in the shower, etc. but seeing myself in a picture was seeing

myself from someone else's perception. It was mind blowing at the

least. I had no idea that this is what I really look like - not good

in fact, pretty scary. Then after about 10 different pics in a

variety of poses, he had me get dressed and we did the majic with the

computer that showed what I would look like after surgery. While he

couldn't do the computer imaging on the breasts, he showed me pics of

previous patients w/ breasts the same shape and size as mine. I

asked him if that was where your nipples were really supposed to

be....he was cracking up. I explained that mine had never been

there! (Terri I was thinking of you girl!) Let me tell you it was

all I could do to not break down in tears. I didn't know that I

could look like that let alone that it is a real possibility.

So, the plan of action from his perspective is to do the breast lift

and upper arms first since those are the areas that bother me the

most. That would be 1 surgery, take about 8 hours and is done out-

patient. He said that if I had it done on a Wed. I would be ready to

go back to work on Monday - which is great. Then the next thing

would be a combination of an adomnioplasty (tummy tuck) and lipo on

the hips and buttucks. The last would be the lower body lift. His

reasoning for doing a lower body lift seperate from the

abdomnioplasty is that your body changes and readjusts after that and

in his experience the lower body lift works better done after wards.

All in all, it was very good. I do plan on seeing at least 2 more

plastic surgeons and maybe more. He was very nice, spent over an

hour with me, answered every question that I had and was extreemly

professional in every aspect (which I appreciated). He has done alot

of work with people who have lost weight. The one thing that I

didn't like was that it appeared that while his office would file w/

your insurance company, they were not willing to fight for it for

you. There are lots of surgeons out there that are, so I think I'll

keep looking.

I have appointments scheduled w/ 2 other plastic surgeons w/in the

next month and will keep you posted. Amazing how just seeing what I

could look like changes my perspective so much on how I look now.

April

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/10/02 8:19:03 AM US Eastern Standard Time,

dbandas@... writes:

> . More importantly and secondly, if you

> have your arms and breasts done on a Wendesday and get back to work on

> Monday, it will be a major miracle. If I had that done on a Wednesday, I

> would *hope* for Monday ten days later barring no complications.

>

I had arms and breasts done separately. But in both cases I was back to work

in four days. I don't really think having them together would have extended

that much. Interesting how different we all are!

hugs,

Ann

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/10/02 8:19:03 AM US Eastern Standard Time,

dbandas@... writes:

> . More importantly and secondly, if you

> have your arms and breasts done on a Wendesday and get back to work on

> Monday, it will be a major miracle. If I had that done on a Wednesday, I

> would *hope* for Monday ten days later barring no complications.

>

I had arms and breasts done separately. But in both cases I was back to work

in four days. I don't really think having them together would have extended

that much. Interesting how different we all are!

hugs,

Ann

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/10/02 8:19:03 AM US Eastern Standard Time,

dbandas@... writes:

> . More importantly and secondly, if you

> have your arms and breasts done on a Wendesday and get back to work on

> Monday, it will be a major miracle. If I had that done on a Wednesday, I

> would *hope* for Monday ten days later barring no complications.

>

I had arms and breasts done separately. But in both cases I was back to work

in four days. I don't really think having them together would have extended

that much. Interesting how different we all are!

hugs,

Ann