Tell Me What You Don't Like About Yourself: Plastic Surgery Consult

Ugh. What a great/horrible appointment that was. More later. But first, half-marathon pics! I have been cracking up looking at these. WHAT AM I LAUGHING ABOUT?? Mostly, I think those photographers just cracked me up. Here you are, running along, trying not to DIE, and then you've got a photographer crouching in front of you. So you have to try to look athletic, remember to suck in your gut, take a good picture, and oh yes, don't DIE ON FILM.

This picture is my favorite. :) It absolutely makes me laugh. I want you to use it at my funeral, should the need arise. Or at my mental-institution commitment hearing: I think I look very happy and completely insane. What mental illness is it an indication of when you laugh and smile in inappropriate situations??

People should be FORBIDDEN to walk in your action shots.
I was running like the wind, I promise. Darn tourists.

The start of the race was WAY CROWDED, and we were at the back of the pack. I will have to work on my race etiquette, though, because you can tell from this picture, I was jacking my jaws and taking my time. Looks like the girl in purple, behind me, was looking for a way around. That's Jen at Runner...Maybe? in the blue sparkle skirt in the foreground!

I'm in the hoodie and hat, not acknowledging the race had started, haha.

It's really fun to see these pictures. I think this one was toward the end. Here, I had ditched my sweatshirt at the start of a mile-long switchback, and I hadn't picked it back up yet. So that's mile 11-ish or so.

And here's one crossing the finish line. I was so happy. Finish lines are a beautiful thing. :)

Okay, now it's time for the good, the bad, and the fugly. I had my first plastic surgery consult today. It went about as I expected. What I did not expect, however, was the feeling of being emotionally shredded and elated at the same time. Well, I expected it...I just wasn't prepared for it. 

Plastic Surgery Consult De-Brief

Meh. We may have to do this one in a couple parts. It was kind of a downer appointment. And you know, I *expected* it to be. I used to watch Nip/Tuck, after all. But you can expect something and still not be prepared for it. :)

On the good side, this was the third doctor to tell me to stop losing weight. Yay! He's the one I choose to believe. I needed to hear from someone who is experienced with loose skin that I am "done." I told him I wasn't sure how much was still fat and how much was just skin. He said he's the first person to tell people when they have more work to do, because it affects the success of the procedure. He said lots of people will lose a significant amount of weight and think they are done, when, in fact, they have a ways to go. But I'm not one of those people. So I guess I'm at goal. *weak fanfare.* (It really was a rather distressing appointment, haha. I'll regroup shortly, I promise!)

He did not, however, tell me to eat a SBUX blueberry muffin for breakfast after the appointment. I did that part all by myself. :)

He recommends three procedures, all involving considerable time, pain and expense. I went in for a lower body lift and a breast lift. He recommended, in this order: a lower face lift, a tummy tuck and a breast lift. Sigh. I'd been thinking about a face lift, too. It's this darn turkey wattle. He says a lower face lift is your biggest wow factor following dramatic weight loss. Gets rid of the turkey neck, the jowly cheeks, the downturn at my mouth. Starts my aging clock all over again. Plus, my facial skin is a lot better than my abdominal skin. He said the lower face lift will knock years off my appearance, and I believe him. Price? $17K. Plus, with some of that removed fat, he can inject it into my super heavy-duty scowl lines between my eyes. Sigh. You know, it's not as if I don't know about my turkey neck, jowly cheeks, scowl lines, etc. but spending the morning talking about them? Not fun.

He doesn't do lower body lifts. Another time, I'll go into the reasons, which made sense. Basically it was a risk versus payoff thing. But my tummy tuck would be a big deal. I've got so much loose skin, I'd need a vertical incision from stem to stern (pubic bone to just below my xyphoid) so the skin can be taken horizontally and vertically. I had suspected this to be the case, so it wasn't a surprise. Price? $12K. No insurance accepted.

Breasts. Ah, my poor boobs. They served me well, breast feeding those babies. But now they are empty skin sacks. He recommended I buy some great bras. He said I'd get my least payoff here, because the skin is stretched and thin, and there's just lots of it. We sort of tabled the boob job discussion for now, because he can't do it at the same time as the tummy tuck, and I'm more interested in the tummy tuck. Price? $8800.

I'll have to go for some more consults. I need a doctor who can work with my insurance, so hopefully they'll pay for part of the tummy tuck. I really liked this doctor a lot, though. I wish that money and time were no object. :) Honestly, I would love a lower face lift - love it - but I think I have more emotional baggage tied to my loose belly skin and that would be my first surgery of choice. I dunno. 

But if I could, I'd have all three procedures done yesterday. :) I'm a little emotionally reeling today, but I'll get over it. There's some pain associated with undoing the damage you've done to yourself, and facing the realities that I just probably won't be able to address some things I'd like to change. I expect I'll find a way to  do the tummy tuck, anyway.