7 days left

Oh my goodness.... This time next week I will be at the airport waiting for my flight to the DR. I have come so far and just have a few loose ends to tie up. I have a few items in the mail to add to my suitcase. I need to check with my cell phone provider to insure no surprise bills. I need to send payment to my Doctor and possibly my RH. I am still on the fence in terms of getting my teeth whitened while I am there.

Expenses

What I spent so far (updated 4/25/2015)
175 Passport
  10 Vitamins
325 Surgery Deposit
100 Recovery House Deposit
  25 Visit with PCP and bloodwork & EKG (2/20)
 20 Snacks & more vitamins (2/27)
 40 clothes for post op and beyond (2/28)
 25 Visit with PCP and bloodwork (3/26)
135 R/T Plane Ticket (I had a $500 voucher-4/22)
  50 CBC @ anylabtest

Total:  $905

What I left to spend/buy

• PCP visit and blood work-had 2 visit and need some follow up visits (estimated $50-$75)
• Recovery House (Balance $800)
• Surgery (Balance $4650)
• Surgery Supplies -Faja ($150-$200)
• Massages Post-op ($250)
• Transportation (estimated $100)
• Post-op Gifts (estimated $75)

Outstanding Total: $6150

Disclaimer: I like numbers that end in either 5 or 0. So I will round up.  

S.T.E.P. Enrollment

I made a move in the direction of my dream. LOL. I registered with the US Embassy and the STEP. 

Smart

Traveller

Enrollment 

Program

So they know that I am traveling to Santo Domingo for medical tourism. I also made my last 2 doctors appointments before my surgery. Super excited. Praying for good news in terms of my hemo as it was only 11.7. I have been diligent in taking my Integra (prescription). So I am hopeful. 

 iron) and other vitamins.

Tracking my body changes

So many thoughts go through my mind and I am so glad that I am blogging and can update, add, and subtract info out there about myself and this journey.

I want  to get to at least 170# before my surgery. This accountability will keep me on track.

Update 3/14/15
I scale is moving down, now I need to keep being consistent. I am training for Climb Atlanta, which is in 1 month. I also bought a groupon for 1 month of unlimited CrossFit classes. I feel like I am making the right moves. Time will tell.

mid-February Check in

My oh my... I have made great progress in my journey. My deposit has been sent to my doctor and my recovery house. I also went to my primary care physician(PCP) and had an EKG and a complete blood work up. My PCP is not fully supportive of my trip to the Dominican Republic(DR) for surgery(sx). However, she is not refusing to help me prepare for the journey.

I got my blood work back and it is not where I want it to be. I need to be above 13 and it is currently at 9.3.

My Dr. has suggested an iron supplementation and I am open to taking it. I am also going to take my multi-vitamin, folic acid, and b12.




This diagnosis has opened my eyes to why I feel the way I do.  I read an article from Women's Health magazine.

The symptoms they listed in the 

10 Signs You Have an Iron Deficiency

article include:

• Fatigue
• Difficulty focusing
• Apathy
• Breathlessness
• Pale skin
• TRouble doing your workout
• Crazy sore muscles
• Brittle nails
• Frequent infections
• Pink or red urine

I can easily identify with 8 of 10 of these. The most surprising symptom was apathy. It has to do with the nuerotransmitters... Crazy right.

My weight loss isn't happening and it is my own fault. I have to be so much more diligent when it comes to what and how i eat. I also need to amp up my physical fitness.

Pre-op Guidelines

Yay for me.

I have sent my deposit and it has been received. My surgery is scheduled with Dr. Fernandez-Goico on June 12th. I am beyond excited. I am now going to secure a recovery house and shop for my tickets. So excited.


I got my email confirmation of my surgery date, my account summery, and  a medical history form. I love how professional his office is.

Update on 2/08/2015
I have sent my deposit to Serenity RH. I am excited to have the behind me. I feel great about choosing them They have been very easy to reach and the reviews I have read on RS and FB have been very promising. They also come recommended by Dr. FG.


Next update: I took a trip out of town for work. They overbooked the flight so I volunteered to take a later flight in exchange for a flight voucher. So now I have $500 flight cash. That makes my roundtrip ticket range from $50-80. How cool is that...?

2/16/2015
I am currently taking a daily vitamin, Vitamin C, an Iron pill, with a stool softener. I go to my PCP on Thursday and I plan on getting blood work to get a baseline on my numbers.

Choices Choices

I came into this just looking at going to Almonte and Yily. Yet now I have quotes from:

~Almonte
~Duran
~Fisher
~Goico
~Robles
~Yily
and I just sent pics to Cabral.

And I am still unsure... If I had to rank them in order in terms of my surgeon preference I would list them.

1st -Duran: Her bodies seem almost perfect. She is hard to reach though. In addition, her prices are the highest and include the least.

2nd-Yily/Robles: They work is comparable in my opinion. Yily is a waist snatcher and Robles make great assess. Neither have a solid track record in terms of breast lifts however.

3rd-Goico- He is super personable but a very conservative surgeon. I want a more tiny, snatched waist than he usually does. In addition, he requires a 14 days stay. My hubby is not too keen on me being gone for that long of a time period. However, his breast lifts look magical.

4th-Almonte: She does good bodies overall, but she unwilling to do all of my procedures at the same time.

5th-Fisher: I don't think that US doctors have the skillset or legality to snatch and suck the way the dominican doctors can and do.

On a brighter note... I am finally under 180 for more than 1 day. I am excited that cutting back on the carbs and working out has re-ignited my weight loss.

By the way... here are some wish pics...

Who We Are

We have been friends for over a decade. Laughing... sharing and supporting each other  through good and bad times. Now we are taking time for ourselves to get our sexy back. LOL.

"Unique"

"Vivid"