Preparing For Your Tummy Tuck Surgery

Although surgery preparation in the weeks before your tummy tuck surgery may seem overwhelming, if you plan your steps and create lists for supplies and tasks, this will significantly lower your stress levels.  Doing so helps you focus on relaxing and healing, not worrying, which can only enhance your recovery.  Plus, you are sure not to forget anything!  The last thing you need on your surgery day is having to stop at the pharmacy and wait in the car while your caretaker rushes around searching for a forgotten item.  These tips, along with your own surgeon’s instructions, should definitely help you avoid that inconvenience.

Belgian Woman Sells Twin Infants for Liposuction

When I first saw this article I was in shock.  I mean, really? Who does this? Who can decides to have children for financial gain, only to spend it on something so trivial as liposuction?  While I am not meaning to say plastic surgery is trivial, but to sell your kids for it??  Well, to sell your kids at all is disgusting, but it seems further degrading to sell them for surgery.

Sonia Ringoir, 31, was hard up for money and desperate to change her body. This desperation drove her to do something [hopefully] most of us couldn’t even fathom.  Surrogacy can be pretty lucrative; Ringoir knew this in advance and used the opportunity to make reportedly £9,000 with the intention of paying for her plastic surgery procedure. She held “sperm parties” with two childless couples (unbeknownst to one another) so that she could become a surrogate mother, taking fees for the numerous attempts until she got pregnant via impromptu artificial insemination.   She eventually became pregnant (father unknown), had the twin boys and then reportedly “gave” them to a friend who could not have children for free. Thereby leaving the four hopeful Dutch would-be parents high and dry.

Thanks to her estranged husband, Marc Poppe, Rignoir was caught.  Poppe alleges that Ringoir did in fact take money, enough for liposuction and more.  Ringoir’s new boyfriend said in defense of Ringoir that she was driven to such extreme measures by Poppe to reconstruct her body and lose weight.  Personally, there is no justification in selling your children–no even to buy food for your other children. Well, she has 5 other children so, in theory, her TummyTuck and Breast Implants are paid for if she had her way. 

The kicker? Apparently, Belgium has no law against selling children so she could not be arrested for the attempted sale. However, Ringoir was charged with the degrading Treatment of Children and fraud by one of the Dutch couples.  A pittance of legal repercussion for such unthinkable acts.  Shocking, but true.

To Tell or Not to Tell?

Every time someone asks my opinion on if they should tell a spouse, employer, friend, or child about their decision to have plastic surgery, my answer is always the same.   This is a very personal decision that must be made on your own. For some, it is a decision made with much thought; for others it is simply a matter of when to tell.  The question you have to ask yourself is what type of person are you?

Questions You Should Ask Yourself:

1. Are you the type of person who is easily hurt by the judgmental comments of others?
2. Are you afraid of the ramifications of your elective surgery and how they can affect your personal life if undesirables find out?
3. Are you afraid that the news of your surgery may affect your job?
4. Are you concerned that your significant other may be upset with you should you decide to have a cosmetic surgery procedure?
5. Are you “thin-skinned” and concerned what others may think of you should they find out you have had a cosmetic procedure?

If you have said yes to any of the above, careful consideration should be made in determining who you should confide in, or if you should at all.   However, I do not suggest going this alone.  I feel that one needs a support structure for optimal healing.   During the healing period, highs and lows are to be expected and without a support structure (even a solitary friend who can be there for you), the lows can dip right into the deep end. Of course depending upon what type of procedure you have can determine if you will be able to keep it a secret at all. If you have a total makeover or considerable facial plastic surgery—it may be obvious.  You are under no obligation to tell anyone about your plastic surgery procedures. 

As for keeping your surgery news from your significant other, I do not condone this, but this is also not my decision.  I feel that if you must keep major events such as these from a loved one, then you are indeed betraying their trust to a certain degree.   In the event that something should happen, your significant other will need to know where you are and what you have gone through to help you.  If they find out after the fact, they may be very upset.  I know many believe that asking forgiveness is easier than asking permission, but I assure you, it may not be that easy if it is a spouse!

Keeping the rumor mill quiet at your place of employment can be a real challenge.  Everyone knows their coworkers love good gossip, especially when it comes to cosmetic surgery.  If you can take off at least two weeks of vacation time, this can help immensely but like I said, significant changes in facial features are hard to disguise with a simple change of hair color or haircut. Be prepared to be asked questions, even inappropriate ones.  Just know that a peaceful, non-threatening and comfortable workplace is your right, as well as your right to retain personal privacy without the onslaught of harassment by anyone for any reason.  If you ever feel uncomfortable as several of our forum members have, you have every right to demand respect and privacy. Don’t let anyone bully you into talking, or harass you constantly about, “I know you’ve had [this or that] done. Admit it!”  This is your body, not someone’s gossip fodder. Take a stand.

If you choose to tell, do so without fear of judgment. Make a point to be proud and show no fear.  Those who are jealous often react and prey upon our fears, so give them a smile and keep your chin up.

Telling children can be a different matter entirely.  They are going to notice eventually, don’t ever think a child is unobservant, they notice everything eventually even if they don’t come out and say it. It is obviously your choice to tell your child, but being matter of fact can be a good way to handle the situation.  Making it a huge deal with invoke curiosity and chatter, being nonchalant about it may not trigger much interest. So the amount of interest you wish you invoke is largely dependent upon the child’s age and personality.   You know your child best, you will figure it out.  Perhaps join the ladies on the Tummy Tuck forum , as they have had a lot of experience confiding in their children about their procedure.

If you have any great stories (or not so great stories) about how you let everyone know, or not know, or if you were “outed” by a friend, please post!

Body Hair: How to Deal with It

There are people who appreciate body hair and there are people who do not.  I am definitely on Team No Hair.  I don’t like it on my own body and I don’t like chest hair, beards or back hair on my man.  Although I do admit I find 1 to 3 day stubble on my man sexy.  Too Hottt!

But this article isn’t about my facial hair preferences on men, it is about what to do with body hair if you don’t prefer it on yourself—regardless if you are a man or a woman.  What options really work?  How much do they cost, and for goodness’ sake, does it hurt??  Permanent hair removal is a long road to success, so let’s start gathering the basics in what you can do to achieve hairlessness fast.

• Tweezing:  You may be wondering why I would even bring this up when relating it to body hair.  Before a cruise, I had toyed with the idea of tweezing a few errant bikini hairs while in the tub and wound up ripping every hair out that I could find.  Then over the course of 3 days, I removed every leg hair individually with a pair of tweezers. Psychotic I know, but you tend to get numb to the pain.  Not really.  But I couldn’t stop once I started because I would have been patchy.  Even the little black dots remain visible unless you pluck the hair completely out. Which is worse, enduring pain or looking as though you have the mange? 
  Average Cost: $9. – $22.50 for Tweezerman Tweezers, BTW I consider Epilady type machines the same thing as tweezing,it only hurts more.
• Hair Buffers:  I bought one of these before, the The Conair Hair Removal System HB1.  It uses a rotating mildly abrasive disk that you apply to your leg and the hairs are for lack of a better word, ground down.  Well it works and it doesn’t work.   It works in some areas, but others you have to apply more pressure to get the hair to completely disappear, however this causes your skin to become raw as well. This has its benefits as well if you can learn the right amount of pressure to use.  It exfoliates your legs and removes hair.   I got lazy with the learning curve and gave up although I may try to use it again for the exfoliating properties alone. 
  Average Cost: $73.00
• Waxing: It may work for some, but I would rather be skinned alive and eaten by cannibals.  I have distinct memories of my Mom heating up those little yellowish squares in a coffee cup in the microwave.  These were the best, but you must have enough hair grown out for it to ‘catch’ the follicle. Waxing to me, in general, is such a pain to wait until your hair grows out 4 feet simply so the wax can grip the hairshaft. I have also tried sugaring, and feel it is far less efficient. I found sugar wax even more ineffective and painful.  Nad’s is the worst nightmare I have ever had and I still need therapy because of it.  I have had road-rash from motorcycle accidents which were less painful.  I couldn’t even imagine a Brazilian wax.
  Average Cost: Nad’s Sugar Wax 6 oz. for $17.00; GiGi Hard Wax $19. for 14 oz plus the applicators, add the warming unit for 24.95 (I might get this)
• Chemical Hair Removal: I remember back in the day that after using Nair Body Hair Remover, my skin would feel very strange.  So strange, in fact, that I cannot describe it.  Granted Nair has been reformulated over the years so the weird-this-is-not-my-leg-feeling when you touch it are not as pronounced.  I have used it, but I still think that shaving takes less time and is just as effective.  Although the bottle says it can work in less than 3 minutes, I beg to differ. I truly do not notice anything special after using Nair, not only does it irritate my pores and leave red spots on my legs, it doesn’t remove my hair even after having kept it on for the maximum allowed time.  No hair removal creams work well enough for me to even bother with anymore.
  Average Cost: $6.95 for a 9 oz bottle of Nair Hair Remover Lotion with Aloe Vera.
• Laser Hair Removal: You will more than likely need about 8 treatments, at about 1 treatment per month, resulting in only 75% (on average) permanent hair removal.  Maintenance treatments may be necessary a few times a year as well. Shaving doesn’t look so bad anymore, does it?
  Cost: $400-$900 per treatment, depending upon the size of the area to be treated. 

Removing The Short & Curlies

Interestingly, I had this conversation with my girlfriend the other night.  We were talking about shaving the nether regions and she said she doesn’t know anyone who does—men or women.  I told her I don’t know anyone who doesn’t except for her and I proceeded to tell her to get off of my couch.   Many people today hold the belief that pubic hair removal is neater and cleaner and make it a normal part of their showering routine. I agree.  Even men trim their pubic hairs these days.  In fact, my tattoo artist recently commented on how next he’ll be expected to shave his legs.

Just be careful what you use to remove it with.  Nair is a no-no. You don’t want that caustic stuff anywhere near your hoo hoo!  Nad’s will hurt so badly you’ll want to throw yourself under a bus. Shaving, trimming, a hard waxing seems to be the only way to go unless you want to spend the money on bikini line laser removal. And keep the Conair System away from there!!