 Hello, welcome back to my channel. This is my friend, Amy. You guys will remember her from us having our cosmetic surgery together almost a year ago. We are going to answer your questions all about our cosmetic surgery. We have questions for both of us. We have questions specifically for Amy. So I'll let Amy introduce herself, let have her tell you where she's from and a little bit about her before we jump into all the Q and A. Hi, I'm so excited to be here with one of my BFFs. My name is Amy. I live in upstate New York. Think wine country, not city. I'm a long ways away from the city. I'm not a city girl. I'm a country bumpkin. She is. I work in construction for a living. I totally love it. And I have currently lost approximately 100 pounds and maintained that weight loss and decided to have plastic surgery and the best thing I did was have it with my BFF. Highly recommend having a friend for life changes. Yes, yes, definitely. We have a ton of questions. I posted it on YouTube in the community tab in my Facebook group and on my Instagram. So we're just gonna read the question and then we'll each take a chance to answer. If it's specifically for Amy, I'll just allow her to answer. Quickly, our surgeries that we had, if you are new or if you missed my plastic surgery vlog, I had a back lift, an extended breast lift and implants. And I had a 360 tummy tuck with unexpected but wonderful fat transfer. Okay, so we had totally different procedures. So like I said, there are some questions specifically for Amy. So the first question is, what do you wish you had known before your surgery, like pain recovery time, et cetera? You can go first. Probably the first thing that pops in my mind is I wish I had realized how difficult the recovery would be. I completely underestimated the recovery. And then the flip side of that is I wish that I had known ahead of time before arriving in Mexico and like seeing my surgeon that I was gonna have a fat transfer because I literally went in blind. I had no idea what was gonna happen, what to expect, what was gonna happen down the road. That was more of a challenge than anything. Not right away. It's what happened six, eight, nine, 10 months later. Yep, and mine is similar recovery time for sure. Recovery was really hard for me. I feel like mine was even harder than Amy's and they thought Amy's was gonna be harder. And also the other thing that I found was challenging based on being in Mexico is the communication. Not so much in the hospital because everybody spoke English really well but in the recovery house, which if you missed my vlog, I actually vlogged mine and Amy's experience. I'll link it for you in the description box. You can see a little bit more what we're talking about but the communication was a little hard in the recovery house because they didn't speak English and we had to use a translation app which always didn't work out the best. So those were, I feel like the two, we kind of knew what we were getting into but you never know all the ins and outs of what to expect in any surgery. The next question is, can you talk about scar therapy, scar, way sheets, cream, bio oil, et cetera that has been helpful to you both to diminish your scars? And she says, I'm five months post-op from my classic surgery, tummy tuck and BL. BL, what's that? I'm not sure what it is. Breast lift, maybe breast lift and lipo and would like to know more from what you both have loved. So I started with a frankincense oil which was a recommendation from a friend of mine that had cosmetic surgery and it was fine, it smelled really bad. That was the only thing that we didn't like about it. So now I'm using a bio oil and I just have Troy put it on my back scar because I can't reach it and then I put it on my breast scars and I feel like our scars look really, really good when we're not even quite a year post-op yet. So Amy has more scarring than I do. So what did you? So I initially grabbed some of those synthetic sheets and I found them awful. It was uncomfortable, they would not stick or they would stick forever and it caused me a lot of discomfort to take them off. However, I also now use a bio oil every single day except when I'm traveling but that's a whole different conversation. And I think our scars healed really well. I mean, they're still a little bit red. There is some puckering, which is to be expected but overall I feel like that's the least of the problems. I was so excited to get here and jump in here and be like, Jen, look at my scar, it looks so good. Yeah, and I'll insert some pictures of our scars for you guys as well so you can see what they currently look like. The next question is how long after your BA? What's a BA? Breast augmentation. Could you work out again? Would you do it again? So Amy didn't have that. So I was allowed to walk after six weeks and the minute six weeks was up if you follow me on Instagram, you know I was out walking the minute that I could and then I went back to boot camp at that time as well but I just had to modify a lot of the exercises because there was still a lot of tenderness and discomfort in the breast area since the implant is under the muscle when you do an exercise, you feel it shift. Like men can make their pecs move, we can do that too because the implant is under the muscle and I would absolutely do it again. Oh, I would do my surgery again. Yeah, even though it sucks in the moment you forget how much sex this time goes on and you're like, oh, I'll do it again. I wouldn't have any more surgery. Nope, but I would do this surgery again, if that makes sense. It's almost like if you've had a child, you know, it hurts like crazy. Oh my gosh, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts and then you see your child and you forget how much it hurts. Exactly. Until you're in that stage again and have another child. Yes, the same situation. It's the PTSD wears off. I don't really forget about it. Yes, you forget how miserable it was. I thank you both for the surgery info. Oh, I'm going to save money to go there. She's talking about going to Mexico. So this one's this question for Amy. Do you still have numbness from your tummy tuck? I'm four months post-op and still have some numbness. Absolutely, and it's totally normal. Our surgeon's office, I've talked to them many times, they follow up, they're amazing. I still have a ton of numbness. Where they did the fat transfer, I have the most numbness. The butt, your butt, right? Yeah, but my butt, my total backside, I cannot feel anything. I do feel pressure, but not uncomfortable pressure. But there's a lot of times if you gently touch me, I don't even have a clue I'm being touched. And your tummy is numb, right? From my belly button down to my scar, total, same thing. And then with my muscle repair from my ribcage all the way down to my scar is still very tender, almost like a bruise, but it's not out of control. It doesn't hurt, it doesn't stop me from doing any of the exercises that I do. Yeah, so I still have numbness. It's totally normal, don't worry about it. Yeah, and it does get better as time goes on, but I think that you will always have a little bit of numbness, but it'll be less sensitive, less numb as you go on. And I mean, you being only four months post-op, you've got a long way to go. You've got a long way to go, girl. Just hang in there, hang in there. I like to take in, I rub mine a lot. I know from other surgeries to desensitize those nerves, you just rub it and rub it and rub it. So I just put my article oil on there and rub it still all the time. Yeah, and that will help it kind of get things moving to the nerves and the sensitivity. Did you have to buy new clothes to fit your new body dimensions? So I had to buy new bras because of having an extended breast lift. They removed the skin on the side right here. So my round is smaller, but not because my breasts are bigger because of the implant. So what I ended up having to do was get the same cup size, but a smaller around. And as far as like pants and shirts, mine didn't change, although my pants and shirts are looser because the skin on my back is gone, but it wasn't enough that I had to buy new wardrobe. It was mainly undergarments for me or swimsuit tops and things like that have to be a different size. So it's funny, this is a great question because Jen and I on our walk yesterday when I first got here, had this exact same conversation. One thing when the unexpected fat transfer, again, I didn't get to do any research and I am a total research girl. I have to know what's gonna happen and be in control. I realized that as I'm from upstate New York and we are 13 degrees in the morning, I have not worn any of my shorts and my capris. So I have been struggling when I went to get close to come to hot Arizona of, oh my goodness, my shorts are kind of tight in the butt, they're kind of tight and it made me mentally have a, oh my goodness, what did I do? Have I put on weight? It made me panic. In coming and having, this is why you need a BFF. Who's totally honest and not just snowballing you. I was able to just have conversation with Jen and have a third B session and just simply say, you know what? Of course my pants are gonna be tighter in the back because my butt is big, I have a butt again. I have a girl butt instead of a boy butt. I could not be happier and so thankful for the surgeon to say, oh wait a minute, we really need to do a fat transfer and Jen thankfully was with me and I didn't have that panic moment and I just was like, yup, if that's what, he's the expert, I'm so thankful, I didn't second guess it. So the answer is yes, I have to buy different pants and it's not for my legs, it's not for anything and it's not my stomach. The pants tend to be loose in my stomach. Cause your skin's gone. Yeah, but tight in my butt cheeks. Which can be a good thing. Yeah, however, it's exactly what I wanted. However, it is definitely a mental struggle and the only thing I can say is find your BFF, find your therapist, go have the conversation because the mental fatigue that I have caused myself the last three or four months has been pretty catastrophic. Definitely, I'm thankful we had that conversation and Jen just said to me, Amy, you just need to, you can't wear skinny jeans. You have to wear a jean, yeah, there's curvy and shows off that beautiful body. I didn't say a thing about her fat transfer. That's actually a good point. I'm glad that you said that because when you have plastic surgery in Mexico, you don't actually have your consultation until you arrive in Mexico. So we had our consult the day before we had surgery. So for me, I didn't know what size implants I was going to have nothing until we have the consult. Mola. Hi, babies. So during the consult, the surgeon said that he was going to do the fat transfer for Amy and Amy said, well, how much is it? Because you also have to prepay for your procedure. So we had prepaid for our procedure and he actually didn't charge her. He said, I'm not going to charge you. I'm going to be in there. I'm just going to move it around while I'm in there. So that was a good thing to know was that Lois playing that she didn't have to pay for that. So he did it for no charge. So that was a nice thing about going to Mexico. The surgeon had said he wanted to make sure that I went out in the best possible shape because it is his reputation on the line. He wants to stand behind his work and make sure not only was I happy but he was also happy with what my end result was. This is what they do. And Troy's not here to get him out of here. They're ridiculous. Hey, we have one more question on YouTube. It says, good morning, Jen and Amy. Is there going to be any more cosmetic surgeries for you in the future? So we kind of answer that. For me, no. I would have done it all at once. If I was going to have more, I just deal with my skin on my stomach and my thigh. So for me, it's a no. For me, it's also a no. I am happy with what I have. I mean, there's always, look, we're human. We are a worst-owned critic. We always will have things of, ooh, if I nip this or tuck this. But I gotta be honest, I love the body that I have. It's not perfect. I do not look like Cindy Crawford, unfortunately. Same. However, I love the fact that I do have those a little bit around hips and the rounder butt and I'm okay with the bigger legs because as I'm doing my squats and all of the workouts, man, I love jacked up legs and it is what it is. We're all always going to have something that makes us unhappy, but life is about loving who you are in every stage of your weight loss, whether you're just starting in the middle at the end and we're not going to be perfect. When you're overweight, your whole life, your body just doesn't bounce back to if you would have never had a weight problem. So you just have to be okay with the body that you're in and just learn to make it the best body that you can with exercise or whatever works for you to give yourself the shape that you wanna have. But for me, it's a no for anymore. Yeah, it's a hell no. Yeah, it's a no. It's a no. No. We have quite a few on Facebook as well. Let's see. One says, would you have prepared, what would you have prepared for differently if given the chance? Like would you have packed anything? So I overpack, I'm an overpacker. Always an overpacker, yeah. That's an understatement. So I had a lot of stuff, which honestly, I was glad that I packed a few extra things clothing-wise and we brought a lot of comfortable clothing like loose pants, loose shirts. I don't know if I would have done anything differently to prepare. Actually yes, I would have downloaded a translation app because we didn't have one and we had to hurry up and download it when we got there. And I maybe would have brushed up on my Spanish a little, but other than that, I probably wouldn't have done anything different. As far as if I had done anything different, I think I mentioned it already. The only thing I would do different is if I had known I was gonna have a fat transfer. Mm-hmm. Girl, I would have definitely gotten the little fat transfer buffalo because my butt hurt so bad because you're gonna have to remember, I'm on the opposite coast and then I had a four-hour layover. It was a 10-hour flight. Yeah, 10 hours of flying. Four-hour layover. I was in misery. It was miserable. The ride home. My rear end hurt so bad. You couldn't have prepared for that though because you didn't know you were gonna have it. So they gave her a pillow at the recovery house which was helpful, but you can't take that with you when you leave and that was the issue on that. So tell them what you used on the plane. So you know how when you travel, you have those cute little neck pillows that are literally this big. I used that to sit on on the way home. And normally the pillow they give you, the one they let me use at the recovery house and I had Amazon ship home to meet me at home, is the big nursing pillow that goes, I think it's called a boppy or something. Boppy. Because all the way, I mean that thing compared to your little neck pillow so that you don't sleep crooked. It was tough. That was definitely something. If I had known I would have prepared for that the most, I was really happy because I took a lot of Moo Moo dresses and I was so thankful because let me tell you those first three days, you just cannot move. You are, it's not that you're in pain, you're so uncomfortable. There's no pain, it's okay. That's what we're talking about at the recovery house. I'm like, we're not in pain, we're uncomfortable and you're just constantly uncomfortable and you can't get comfortable. Even when I came home, I was uncomfortable. I slept on the couch for two months straight because I couldn't lay down. So I wouldn't say that it was painful, it was uncomfortable from the get-go straight out of the gate, uncomfortable. And for me, the best thing that I did purchase and I don't know if you may have this question, one of the best things I purchased for my recovery at home was a power lift chair. Oh yeah. Because I gotta be honest with you, I could not get myself out of the chair for nothing. I couldn't reach down and it just scratched on the middle of my leg. You are so limited, those first, I would even say the first month, I lift the power chair, used to lift power chair to help me get up for the first month. I think there is a question about you standing up straight if I remember that. It took a while. Yeah, well, I think that is one of these. It took a while. The next one is did either of you have any post-op complications once back to your homes and if so, how was it addressed? So I had no complications. The only thing that I had is that my breasts were uneven. They're still a little bit uneven, not as bad as they were, but we had constant communication with the surgery team in Mexico. We actually have to check in every week, send photos and send basically a check-in on how we're feeling if we have any questions and then the surgery team would get back to us with answering our question. So since I didn't have any complications, it was just the constant checking in every week. And now I check in with her every few months just to make sure everything looks normal if we have questions on how our scars are healing. But in the beginning, you have drains and everything. So you have a lot of questions about taking the drains out, when to take those out. We had to send in the amount of liquid that was in our drain and then you're not allowed to take it out until the liquid is a certain amount. So we had constant communication in the beginning, constant. Agreed. Yeah. And you didn't have complications. I had no complications. I was very thankful for that. The most, I did have drains when I came home and my PCP refused to touch them because I went out of the country for surgery. So the BA that I am, I literally snipped the stitch and pulled them out myself. She took her on her drain down. It was the coolest thing. I'm telling you, don't be anxious. Just do it. I said, what are you doing? Why are you saying? So I made my friend's husband who's a nurse come take mine out because I, well I was gonna have Troy do it. He's like, oh no, I'm not touching those things. And my drains, just for reference, if you have upper body procedures, my drains were on the side right here. So it was constantly rubbing and one of my drains was really sore. I couldn't wait to get it out. And then Amy's were down in her stomach area. So depending on where your surgery is, your drains are in different areas. I had two drains. I had three drains. And she had three. So she took her own out. Took my own. And it was nothing. It was nothing. She also took her belly button stitches out. The belly button stitches, however, were a little more difficult because I couldn't bend forward. And so my drains came out after yours. Yes, after. Mine were, I'm gonna say, I was probably 16, 18, 20 days out. I had mine a long time. Me too. And at the same time, they were like, okay, take your belly button stitches out. But they didn't tell me how many stitches I had. So, and again, my belly button's so little and legitimately try and bend forward with a surgery and try and look in your belly button. It doesn't happen without surgery, let alone with surgery. So I set myself up with a bunch of mirrors and lights and I just kind of like kept pulling and pulling. That gave me discomfort the next day. I just had like a little bit of a tummy ache, I guess is how I would explain it. But I had no complications. I did have three or four of the stitches on my backside, right at the top of my right butt cheek that worked themselves out like four weeks out and they itched horribly. And I was so worried. Discomfort, yeah. Discomfort, lots of discomfort. I was so worried that my skin, my incision was gonna open up, but it never really did. It opened far enough to get the stitch. And as soon as I could see a piece of it, I just pulled on it with a pair of tweezers and it came right out and it closed right up. So it did not open. So no complications at all, zero, which is we were very lucky. The next question was, would we have more surgeries? But then it also says, if you were to have more surgeries, would you go back to Tijuana? And if you were to have surgery, what would you consider? So I would absolutely go back to Mexico. I would never pay five times the price here. There is a question about price, so we'll go into that too. If I had any other cosmetic surgeries, I would probably have a thigh lift because I have quite a bit of loose skin on my inner thighs and I would probably have a mini tummy tuck. So I don't need a full tummy tuck, but I do have quite a bit of loose skin in the middle. But neither one of those procedures are function related for me. They're more aesthetic and the procedures that I had were more function related so that I don't have skin bouncing around when I'm working out. So if I were to have them, that would be what I would have. And yes, I would go back to Mexico in my heartbeat. I would 1,000% go back and I would say to everyone listening, please, please, please, don't be afraid. We were safe. They were wonderful at the hospital. The food, the food was amazing. Our nurse, Mary, was amazing. Yes, Mary, I was. Don't you feel like we got better care at the hospital there than we do here? Like, not the recovery house, the hospital. No, it was amazing. They were there every second, almost too much. I mean, yeah. And we would sleep or we would go walk around and we'd come back and they would bring us these really good mango juices that were like smoothies. They gave us whatever we wanted to eat. They gave us nice, healthy food. We had chicken salad, we had soup. So I would say that care-wise, the hospital was exceptional. I agree. From start to finish. Totally agree. The doctor, wonderful, super personable. And I know we're gonna get asked, where'd we go? So we went to CER hospital and we had Dr. Suarez was our plastic surgeon. So he's who did our procedure and there's a team of surgeons. So we have a lady named Daniela, that's who we would check in with. And then if she couldn't answer our question, then she would find out from Dr. Suarez and would always get back to us. But yeah, I think Mexico was best decision ever. Agreed. To go, hands down. Let's see. Let me read. Okay, so this one says, why did you choose to go to Mexico? Funny you asked, because I was going to ask you that in a post. 100% price. Agreed. 100%. That was the reason. So I had a consultation in Tucson and I had a consultation in Phoenix for called the same procedures, they extend the breast lift implants back lift. And I was quoted anywhere from about 35 to 45,000 for all three procedures. I paid 8,500 in Mexico for all three procedures. And that included hospital stay, medication, pre-op testing, post-op testing, the surgery, everything. That was everything. However, the recovery house was not included. That was also your transportation. They pick you up in San Diego, take you over to the Tijuana border. They drive you everywhere you need to go. The recovery house is optional. And I think we have questions on that. That is an addition. So that was about another 1,000 or 1,200. But we were there for, I was there for five days. She was there for eight. So still really affordable. I mean, that's 24 hour care, nurses, food, everything. So price for me, big difference. And I know for you, yeah. Same thing. I had three consultations, again, anywhere's from 22,000, I think up to 37,000. And didn't you have people tell you they wouldn't do a 360 tummy tuck in the States? They would not do a 360 tummy tuck. They would do, and I'm not sure what it's called, the one from hip to hip. That's all they would do. Oh, is that a normal tummy tuck? I think, maybe. I'm not sure what they call that. 360 by the way, you guys, is all the way around. Literally all the way around. So completely 360 around her whole body is the cut. Rather than just in the hip to hip in the front. That's the difference. And the nice thing is, is the 360, where they place it on your body, like when I wear my underwear, or my swimsuit, you can't even see it. You don't even know it's there. I have not one time, and I sew a little content, a little background, I actually teach aquafit. I'm a group fitness trainer, is my fun job. So I am in and out of the water. I'm in a swimsuit. I'm in cycle shorts. I teach cycle. So I mean, I have a lot of opportunity. I'm not afraid now, for the first time in my life, at the gym in the pool. If it's a day, and I have a lot of returning clients, I take my top off, and I go in my sports bra and my athletic shorts, and get in the pool with them. And I have, and nobody knows really, that I don't openly say I've had a 360 tummy tuck. And not one person has ever even been able to see a scar, or even question it. So, yeah. And what did you pay in Mexico? I don't remember what you paid. And this is tough. I wish we talked about this sooner, because I don't remember. I think it was 7,000. Yeah. So it's like a third, a quarter to a third of what you pay in the US. So to be honest, that's the only reason that we chose to go to Mexico, is the price. And we were recommended by my friend, Victoria, who had several procedures, same hospitals, same doctors, same recovery house. The one that's husband is the nurse that took my drains out, her. She had several procedures, so. And our doctor is also US board certified. So he's certified to be a surgeon in the US. He just works out of Mexico. So, basically we got US quality care in Tijuana, for a much less price. Another thing that set it aside for me, the reason that I decided to go to Mexico also was the actual care in the hospital. My, all of my consultations, you literally were in and out in less than 24 hours. And we were out in about 36, but we went to a recovery house. And in the United States, they do not give you a recovery house. You go home. And your support staff basically gets to just figure it out. I'm sure that you've had times in the past where you're sick here in the United States and you call this 800 number to your office and you get a call center and they eventually will call you back. Where there, if we had problems like you did in the middle of the night, the first night, they were right there. And they knew immediately what to give you, what to take, how to take care of you, what reposition, let's, they, it's their bread and butter. They know what they're doing. So that was a huge change of, huge reason of why I went to Mexico for care afterwards. And let me tell you, you need a lot of care. A lot, especially the first week or so. And actually this question is about that. Would you suggest hiring a personal nurse for after surgery to help with care while recovering? Also, could you get one from Mexico since you said you were pretty close to the border? So you can either go home, you have the option to go home. When you're released from the hospital, you can go home. I don't know if they have, I think if you went and stayed in a regular hotel, maybe you could hire a nurse. I don't know, but they have recovery houses in Mexico that are specifically designed for recovery post, mainly cosmetic surgery. And you can stay as long as you want and it's 24 hour care. Our house was on the water, was on the ocean and you have a nurse there. They provide all your food, they distribute your medication. They take care of all your medication. Everything. They chat with the doctor every single day. They take photos, remember they took photos for us. They help you shower. Yes, and do your hair. And for Amy, she couldn't sit up, so they would help her up. I had a pretty miserable first night and the nurse came in and rubbed my back with this gel stuff and they just, the point of the recovery house is after care, after surgery, because you can't stay in the hospital. Once you're healthy enough to leave the hospital, they need to make room for more patients. So if you have cosmetic surgery, even if you live close, I only had an hour flight, I would highly recommend a recovery house, at least for three, four days minimum, just so you can be more normal when you have to go home. And let's be honest, even though you have a support person, I don't care how wonderful they are, mom, brother, sister, spouse, whoever, yeah. Whatever, you don't understand, it is a job just to get out of bed and go to the bathroom, let alone shower. The first three showers I took, I couldn't lift my arms. I sat on a chair and they basically handed me the washcloth with soap on it and I would wash a part of my body and I'd have to wait and I'd wash a little more. And because that wasn't my support staff doing that, for me, I don't like people to take care of me. I'm a big girl, I'll take care of myself. And it allowed me to be vulnerable and for them to really take care of me. It was definitely a game changer. And it's so affordable. I mean, a thousand dollars for five nights and that's 24 hour care, I mean, you can't beat that at all. This question kind of ties in with that one. Did you fly back post-surgery and how soon? So again, you can go home immediately. We could have flown home the day we were released from the hospital. That's entirely up to you. They will let you, I mean, you can do what you want. You do have to, and maybe it's different if you don't stay in a recovery house, but our last day before we flew home, we had to go back to the hospital so that they could look us over and take the tape off of our scar. So we had a follow-up appointment. Yes. And I don't know if you went home the next day, if you just don't have that follow-up appointment, we stayed. So I'm not sure what that looks like. That would be a question I would ask whoever you choose to have for plastic surgery. And so I flew home on day eight. I don't wanna say that I waited too long, but I definitely didn't wanna go any sooner. That flight home for me, because I am across the country, was brutal. And it wasn't my tummy, it was my fat transfer. My backside burned so bad on that flight home. That was the piece. Now granted, I still couldn't stand up straight, so I was uncomfortable, but the butt, the fat transfer in my backside and my hips, it was no joke. That was tough. What happens if there are any complications upon your return and do you return to Mexico or is there a local doctor that will see you? So if you have any complications, post-surgery, once you're back in the United States, you have the option to go to your doctor. They told us if you have a major thing, go to the ER. They can't turn you away. They have to care for you in the ER. Now your primary care doctor, like Amy's wouldn't remove her drains. I don't have a primary care doctor in Arizona. So it would be depending on if your primary care doctor would service your needs post out of the country. What I was told is that if you have to go to the hospital, doctor, ER, urgent care post-surgery, just don't tell them you were out of the country. Just go in and say, I'm having a complication post-plastic surgery. This is what it is. And as far as going back to Mexico, you can go back whenever you want. They actually recommend when you're six months post-op, they would like for you to come back and see the surgery team again and have everything looked over. We didn't go back. Amy's too far and I didn't feel like it was necessary because again, we check in with her regularly. And if there was an issue that needed corrected, like the breast not being in the same sheet, they were willing to correct it, no charge. You come back, they'll fix it for you. So they will follow through with any revisions, no charge to you. But I don't see us, I'm not gonna go back. I'm not gonna go back. I'm happy. Yeah, we're fine. Now at the six month mark, I contemplated possibly going back. One of my scars on the left side, if you measure from the scar to the floor, it's six months, was three quarters of an inch higher than the other side. However, they offered to fix it. No problem, come on in. We'll take great care of it. Day surgery, you can actually fly home the next day. No problem, we'll take care of you. We will support and follow up. And I said, thank you, but I'm just gonna be patient and see what happens. And I'm so thankful because at this point, I have less than, maybe just a little over a quarter of an inch difference. You can't even tell. And you don't tell. And you guys will see it in the photos that we post, the scar photos. If you look at her, you can't tell. And it's under your underwear line. It is. So the only person that's gonna see it is you, when you're not in clothing. But in clothing, you would never know. But they were really great about if you aren't happy in any fashion, come back and we'll correct it, no charge. Free of charge. Free of charge. Completely free of charge, just show up. All you gotta do is get there. And then we have a question for Amy. It says, Amy, how was your recovery? How painful was it? How long before you could stand up fully? I knew there was a question about that. I have excess stomach skin and would love to have a tummy tuck. So first was, how was your recovery? Which we talked about. Yeah, recovery was uncomfortable. After day three, I didn't even take any pain meds. Yeah, so then it says how painful. So not, right? It was discomfort. Yeah, and I only took the pain meds the first three days because that's what they recommended. Yes. And I finally was like, okay, I don't have pain. Can we go without it? And the recovery house is, well, absolutely we can. So I took Tylenol for a couple more days and then I was like, yeah, because I had no pain. I was uncomfortable, but I had zero pain. And then how long before you could stand up? Oh, fully? Yeah, fully, like where you were back to normal essentially standing up. I would say four weeks, a full four weeks. Luckily, the job that I have, I do get to work from home part of the week. And I just reached out to my management and said, hey, look, I'm having a procedure. I didn't tell them what it is, it's not their concern. I'm having a procedure and I really need to, I want to work, but I need to recover from home. And they said absolutely no problem. So after four weeks and one day, I went back to the office and I was standing upright. I was very gentle because it just feels like it's pulling not in a hurtful or harmful way. The skin is just so tight, which is exactly what I'm paying for, yeah. So that, and I still to this day have that feeling, especially when I get up first thing in the morning, I just have that tight sensation, which is perfect. Again, that's what we pay for. Yeah. So I would say I couldn't stand up for four weeks. So plan on at least a month before, I mean, you could move around. Yes. How long before you could get yourself out of bed? Cause like when you were in the recovery house, you weren't getting out of bed without me or a nurse. So how long before you didn't need any assistance or your power chair? I would say six weeks. So yeah, I mean, it's a long recovery. Because with that muscle repair, it feels like I got kicked in the stomach by a mule. Again, it doesn't hurt. It's just uncomfortable. Think about if you have done nine million burpees or nine million sit-ups and it's just so tender. It doesn't hurt, it's just tender. And I still have some of that tenderness even today and it has gotten better over time. But yeah, it was. It's long. Yeah, you're not gonna be living your best life for a little bit after your. Again, that is why you need a great support person and you need to be vulnerable and allow yourself to have help. Because if you don't, you are going to have a complication. You're going to have, and also something to think about, you will end up with more scar tissue around those incisions if you go too fast, too hard, too quick. Yep, and that was part of checking in with the surgeon to be released to exercise again. And I mean, I wanted to go way before six weeks. I was like, I have to sit here for one more time and I'll just lose my mind. But I listened to her and I'm glad that I did because my first walk was pretty exhausting. Because you're still recovering and so that's a lot for your body. So listen to your doctor, whether it's U.S. or not, and don't push it because you don't wanna open incisions, have any issues. And that's probably why we had no complications because we did what we were told to do. Straight out of the gate. What they told us to do, we did it. One of the questions is, Jen, did the skin removal surgery on your back help with making your stomach flatter? So no, because the back doesn't impact the stomach. However, I will say, and I asked him this in our consultation, I said, well, when you do the breast lift and implants, will that flatten my stomach out at all? And he showed me, he's like, well, if I pull up on your saggy boobs, then it'll like kind of pull up on your stomach. I will tell you though that there's really no difference. I don't see any visible difference in my stomach skin after my procedure. In order to get rid of skin on your stomach, you have to have a tummy tuck. Whether it's a mini, a full or a 360, that is the only way skin doesn't just go away. It has to be removed. So I would say that I noticed really no difference in my skin on my stomach. I was hoping, but- We can all wish. We can all wish, just didn't happen. I agree though. Yeah, and then someone said, where did you go? So we went to Tijuana, Mexico, and then we have one more question. And this is, are your breasts even? I had mine done six months ago and one is still higher in fuller. So I was told from multiple people, Victoria, my friend included that it, and my neighbor, my actual neighbor had implants as well. It can take up to a year for them to fluff and go into place. And I will say that mine, I'll be a year in May and it's February, so we're like eight months. Mine are still a little bit uneven. This one is higher than this one, but I just try to massage the implant down into place. And again, if I'm not happy at the end of the year, and I told the surgeon, I said, well, let me wait a year because if they're gonna continue to fall into place, then I'm just gonna leave it alone because I don't wanna go back. I don't wanna have another surgery. But if I am unhappy at the year point, then that's when I would think about, do I want to go back? But kinda like your scarf, nobody notices. I mean, my husband takes my pictures for me and he's like, I don't even think they look uneven. So it's more us. But if you're not happy, then have it corrected because you have to live in your body. But at this point, I don't see myself having a revision. I'm just gonna deal with it. One wonderful thing from our surgeon, when I had mentioned earlier about the one scar being so much higher than the other, and you only really can see it from the back. You can't even see it from the front. So when I talked to Daniella, she said to me, hey look, we'll fix it, come on down, blah, blah, blah. And I told her, I'm like, well, I'm not gonna do that right now. However, tell me, is there a timeframe? Do I have only a certain amount of time? No. She says, no. Forever. Forever. If you're unhappy in two years, call us up. We'll take care of it. Yeah, that's a really good thing because I don't know if the States do that. I feel like once you leave, they're like, bye. But in Mexico, she told me the same thing. She goes, I don't care if you're 10 years post-op and you're like, listen, this is not, I can't even handle it, then come back and they'll correct it. And I don't know if they'll pay for your airfare. I don't know what they, I don't know if it's just the procedure, which I'm imagining it's just the procedure and the transportation. And I would assume if you didn't fly home, you would be responsible to pay for the aftercare. But she told me the same thing. It's a day surgery. You would go home the same day. I do believe though, I think, and I could be wrong, that the recovery house, because we've been there once, maybe they would let us come back. If we go again, they give us a discount. Yeah, and that could be. They give us a discount if we are returning to the recovery house. So I mean, if you're not happy, they'll correct it. But I know several people that have been to you want even different surgeons than I've had that have the same happy results. And so I would say if you're nervous about it, don't be completely safe. We were never by ourselves, actually the first day that we got there, there was a Mexican place, remember that, across the street and they were gonna have a mirachi band. And I'm like, let's go, let's go. And they were like, no. Once you check into the hospital, you're not leaving. So they made sure that we were safe. And they had DoorDash, Mexico DoorDash. So if you wanted something, you could have it DoorDash. I mean, I don't feel, we never once felt unsafe in the recovery house. It was in a neighborhood. It was actually gated and it was in a neighborhood. And so you never felt unsafe there. And we weren't like rooting around outside. I mean, we were on the deck outside, but I never once felt unsafe from start to finish, not once. Agreed. So I would say if you're nervous, just if you're on a budget and you don't wanna pay 40,000, at least look into it. And if you get there and you decide it's not for you, you can go home. You can go home because you don't pay until you get there. So if you show up and you decide, you chicken out and you don't wanna do it, you can go home, but I would recommend it for sure. One thing that I did love about Dr. Suarez is I never felt rushed. No, he was lovely. Yeah, amazing bedside manner, amazing bedside manner. Yeah. In all of my consultations, I felt rushed. I felt like a piece of cattle being pushed through, free up, come on, time is money. He spent so much time with us that night before and it was like seven o'clock. Yeah, it was late. It wasn't in normal business hours, but he was so wonderful and just... He answered all our questions, made us look joked around with us because I tried to get a fat transfer and he told me no. So I mean, he joked around with us. He kept saying, do you have any more questions? And we had two surgeons in our consult and we had another woman who I'm assuming was like maybe a surgery nurse, but they were wonderful. And they literally did not rush us. They answered all our questions. Even the day of our surgery, they didn't rush us. They took, and what I appreciated is they walked us through everything that was happening. I'm going to give you this pill that's going to start the anesthesia. Okay, here's the anesthesia. And I remember when you, you don't remember a lot, but I remember going in the surgery and laying on the table and there were all these lights and there was this lovely Mexican woman and she was the anesthesiologist and she put her hand on my shoulder and she said, okay, I'm going to give you your anesthesia. I want you to count down from five. That's literally all I remember. But I mean, they walked you through every single step and they never left you alone. Like Amy said, they were like in your business. The whole time, making sure you were happy and healthy and they walk you down to the transportation. They took us to the recovery house, no fee. Dropped us off, brought all our luggage in for us, did everything for us. So definitely recommend. They offered to unpack our clothes, like everything. We're like, no, no, just put our pants here. Yeah, and much more affordable. So one other thing that I loved about the hospital, I normally, I've had four or five procedures here in the United States and every single time I have problems with anesthesia. They knock me out, no problem, but I don't wake up. My brain wakes up, my body doesn't and I'm in a panic and I am that way for hours. Day procedures, I end up spending the night into the next day and then eventually I get sick to my stomach and then I'm all better and that was my only fear. So I reached out ahead of time, talked to the team about it and then I also talked to the anesthesiologist that day. She was so sweet. She was lovely. I hardly remember her. Yeah. I remember her, Amy doesn't remember much. She's a little loopy before the surgery. She has some good meds there. So I had expressed her, hey, look, I always have this problem. It's never not happened. I'm really concerned. Please be aware, do what you can, help me. And I have to tell you it was the first time I've ever had a procedure that didn't happen. I did not get sick. No. I had no groggy, the recovery from the anesthesia was amazing. Now that said, they really gave me something good because I remember being in the pre-op room and talking to the anesthesiologist. She was such a lovely lady. Amy doesn't remember anything. But I remember nothing else. She remembers stuff. You don't remember the chicken salad? No. And you were like, oh, this is so good. She doesn't remember the chicken salad. I remember everything. And one other thing about you that was different than me is you had a catheter. I did. So what was the reason that you, so I did not have a catheter, but do you know what the reason? I don't know. So she had that. So keep that in mind if you have the 360. We have a catheter. And we don't know why. Do we know why? I'm not sure, but I have to be honest with you. A sweet little nurse, Mary. Mary, we love Mary. If you get married, get married. We love Mary. She says to me, I said, I think I need to get up and go to the bathroom. She says, oh honey, you're a catheter. I'm like, what? I didn't, I have a catheter. And she's like, yeah, you have a catheter. I'm like, oh, okay. So she says to me, you know, well, we can take it out on it as long as you, I had, I had a spinal. That's why I had a catheter. That's why I had a, I had a catheter. That's right. Because they gave me a spinal. Yes. They gave me a spinal. That's right. I couldn't remember. And again, I've never had one of those before. Zero problems. I don't remember any of it. It was amazing. I don't remember anything. I'm telling you, she remembers nothing until like hours after the. I know. Yeah. So then Mary says to me, she's like, well, if you, if you feel okay, this is the next morning, we'll take your catheter out. I'm like, oh, okay. I'm like, does it hurt? And she's like, oh no, no, it's fine. I'm panicking. I've never had a catheter. She was panicking. Oh, I was so worried. And so Mary says, okay, count to three. She goes one, rep. Yep. Don't even remember. Didn't hurt at all. Didn't hurt at all. Yeah. So if you have one, don't panic. No. I was very worried that it was going to hurt. And she did say that a few times. Oh, one other thing I will say, and this has been both of our experiences. When you get your IV put in, in Mexico, they're not very good at it. And I've actually heard that from multiple people that have had different procedures in any part of Mexico, whether it's to you on it or not, ask for someone that specializes in IV. So we ended up being, I ended up being poked twice. They could, and my veins stick out like crazy. So they ended up bringing in a gentleman who was specialized in IVs. So save yourself the headache. Amy also had a terrible experience. Save yourself the headache and just ask for somebody. Say, before you put my IV and don't let it be just the random nurse on duty, ask for the specialist of IVs because we both had a not good experience. And like I said, I've heard that from multiple people from multiple different surgeries in Mexico that they're just not the best. And they even have the little device and they still couldn't get. They could find the vein. They couldn't get it in the vein. Right. And it's very painful. The device was cool. The device was so cool. But if they called the specialist, they got it in like that. No pain. Like I don't even remember that. I remember the first person. So save yourself the trouble and just straight up ask for the specialist for IVs. Say, I don't want the nurse on duty. I want the person who does the IVs, who trains the nurses to do the IVs. I would dare say that was the worst part. That was the worst part. It was horrible. You were in, hers was very, very painful. Mine was pretty painful, but she said that was the most pain she's ever had in an IV until we got a specialist. Then it was fine. Then it was in. And mine ended up being in my hand. Mine as well. And we wanted them in our arms. We specifically asked and they said, no. And they tried my left hand, couldn't get it in, ended up in my right hand, which I was like, well, that's the hand I use for everything. It's like, you'll be fine. And it was fine. And the IV came out before we left the hospital and you're not really getting up and moving around anyways, but I will say, get the specialist for the IV. If you have any other questions for us, leave them in the comments. I'll definitely answer them. But if that was everything that we got, so hopefully I answered some questions for you guys. And yeah, thank you for watching and we will see you next time.