emily'smommymakeover

As part of my research, I felt it only made sense to talk to other women who had had plastic surgery. I know a few women who have had breast augmentations, but none really who had done the whole "mommy makeover". However, my husband had a friend that had. She agreed to allow me to interview her for my blog. Here's the funny part – when I asked her who her doctor was, it turned out to be Dr. Hynes, the very doctor I'm working with! A very cool coincidence, or a sign that I chose well?

E) Cindy, thanks so much for agreeing to be interviewed for my blog.

C) Not a problem. I think that it's wonderful that you are documenting the experience this way. There are a lot of women who are probably searching for answers, and I'm guessing they'll find your blog a great source of knowledge. And I think it's great that you're willing to do this all so publicly.

E) Thank you. So Cindy, let's start by establishing what plastic surgery you've had done, and by what doctor.

C) I had a tummy tuck and a breast lift... which included implants. The tummy tuck included sewing up the muscles in the abdomen as they had been stretched from kids. The doctor I worked with was Dr. Michael F. Hynes.

E) How did you choose Dr. Hynes?

C) I started by thinking about wanting to have it done. I'm totally obsessed with Dr. 90210 so I have been thinking about it for awhile. Then I went on line and looked up plastic surgeons in KC. I also I saw Dr. Hynes' ad in a mother's magazine here in Kansas City. The article was talking about getting back to feeling good about yourself. He was featured as one of the top plastic surgeons in KC. I then talked with two of my neighbors who had had breast augmentation and they gave me the names of their doctors. I interviewed all three doctors. I narrowed it down to Dr. Hynes and another doctor. I ruled out the third doctor immediately because he did not perform the surgery at a hospital and I was afraid that there would not be any help if something would happen. After a couple of interviews with both of the remaining doctors, I just felt the most comfortable with Dr. Hynes, so I chose him.

E) Tell me about the pain and the recovery.

C) I had had a c-section so in my mind I thought that it would be like that. It was very minimal compared to the c-section. The most pain was from the suturing of the muscles. Dr. Hynes uses a pain pump, which is fabulous, so I don't remember the pain really being an issue. I wore compression garments around my waist for a little while, it was kind of my security blanket. I remember walking up the stairs when I got home, expecting it to be painful when it really wasn't. It was just awkward because I had to walk hunched over. But really, overall, I don't consider pain to be a big part of the experience.

E) What about recovery time?

C) Let's see, about ten days. I had the surgery on a Thursday, took the next week to recover and was back to work the following Monday. So ya, that's ten days. That was enough time for me. Like I said, the pain was nothing like I expected. The C-section had really gotten me thinking it would be one thing and it was nothing like that.

E) Were there any side effects or surprises?

C) No, there weren't any real surprises. Dr. Hynes had done a very good job of telling me what to expect. Wait. I take that back. Even though he had told me what to expect I was really surprised by the shape of my breasts when he removed the bandages. There was a lot of swelling and they were oddly shaped. I knew that would be the case because I had seen it so many times on TV, but it's one thing to see it on TV and it's another thing to be looking at yourself in the mirror thinking 'What have I done?' But just like the doctor had said, the swelling went down in time and everything looks great now.

E) What has been the response from your husband, kids and friends?

C) My husband was by my side the whole time. He even helped me with my drainage stints – now that's love! But overall, he's been really supportive and he's happy that I'm happy. My kids are teenagers, and my son teased me a little but honestly we really didn't talk about it that much. My daughter had a lot of questions. As for friends, I only told a handful of close friends, and the response from all of them was very positive.

E) Are you happy with your results? C) Oh yes. Absolutely.

E) What advice would you give to other women considering plastic surgery?

C) I would say, the biggest thing is to take your time. Take the time to choose a surgeon that you're comfortable with. Look around, talk to other women who have had the surgery you're considering. I love that you're doing this blog. I think the women that find it online and are reading it are really taking the right steps in their decision making process. I would also say to take time for yourself to recover. I don't have small children, so I didn't have anyone else to take care of, but my girlfriend started feeling a little guilty after her surgery and probably tried to do too much too soon. I would say that you really should set aside the time you need to do this for yourself. I was reading your blog and it made me think about why I didn't just put myself out there like that. The tummy tuck is one thing, I have no problem telling anyone about that. But I have to admit that I've seen the way that women look at other women who have had a breast augmentation, and I've heard some of the comments. I just didn't want people to look at me like that, so that's probably why I've only told a few of my close friends. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that it's probably just jealousy. I think every woman wants to look young and beautiful and there's not a thing wrong with having plastic surgery.