Oh I totally would. In a New York minute.

I've contemplated a minor procedure for years...and just haven't had the gumption to do it.

To me though, all of that stuff is like "accessories". My fake blonde hair is an accessory. My makeup is an accessory. I'm not the one to pretend that I'm born looking like I do! I fully admit to having help, and I fully admit to looking *just* like Scott Baio if I was left in my natural state....

I never have, but would, if it were important to me. Especially when it's due to weight loss! When someone has worked so hard to lose wait, I think they should absolutely "finish the project" so they can reap the full rewards!

Would I? Yes, absolutely. I am trying to lose weight, and am pretty sure if (when!) I am successful that I will need a tummy tuck. The skin shrunk back when I was younger, but I don't think it will now. I would also like to have breast reduction. In fact, almost every doctor I go see tells me I should (you know it's bad when your allergist tells you to get it done!). But both of those are major surgeries, so it is nothing to sneeze at.

I believe I inherited my mother's eyelids - the top ones are heading south. If they get like hers they will eventually cover my eyelashes completely, partially obstructing my vision (this is what happened to her). So I would get that done, but that is 10 years or more away. But all that is sort of "restorative".

I used to sooooo against all of that stuff...and then my fiance said something so obvious it blew my mind away - you are only here once. If you are really unhappy with something, and it bothers you on a daily basis, and you can afford to do it safely and with a clear mind, why the hell wouldn't you???

Well....have done lipo once - on the pockets on my hips that wouldn't go away no matter how much I dieted or worked out (I was a fanatic for about 7 years...everything else looked great but that)...and I also had a boob lift...I had my grandma's DD that hung by my belly button. Not that attractive on a teenager or when I was in my 20s...had that done at 29. $14K. UGH. Due to some bad decisions on my dr's part, they still need work (they are a LOT better than before, just some, uh, positioning issues) so I am now trying to go the insurance route. Though the lift made them higher, they didn't really get smaller. The marks in my shoulders from the weight of them is painful, and I have to wear a sports bra every day. I still run, and it's not fun (or I'm sure, a pretty sight!)

Of course, no one should do anything that would cause them health issues, or start to get 'addicted'...but I would definitely consider doing lipo again if I was really unhappy. And you should SOOOO take care of your skin issues after losing weight - it's the final touch, and will make you feel amazing. You deserve that!!!

i'm going to have "something" done for my 50th BD (coming up sooner than later)
we are combining with another fire department in a few years and if i am going to be a candidate for the 'new department' i want to give that vision of 'well preserved' rather than 'waiting for retirement" sad but true...

Oh, yes, I would. I have considered a tummy tuck - though I didn't get "stretch marks," I got a case of twin skin after my last pg (which *was* twins, btw, and I was 47). My belly skin has a sort of wrinkly look to it if I bend over. If I grab it and yank it up under my boobs it looks good, but I believe it might look a little odd to walk around like that. My hesitation (besides the cost) is that I've read you get a big incision, and I don't really want a big incision unless they can hide it under my boobs.

Anyway, so far I have figured I'd leave it alone unless a big chunk of money drops into my lap :) I mean, I'm 50 and I have 5 kids. I have been lucky enough to be able to wear bikinis until now. What I'd really love to do is get my teeth whitened (professionally, with a laser or porcelain or something quick and costly) and my lips plumped. I tried the latter with Restylane injections and it was a disaster, so I suspect I will stick with whitening my teeth.

When I was 16 I had a nose job. It was covered by insurance because I couldn't breathe out of my nose, but I wanted it for the cosmetic reason of removing the hump at the bridge.

My sister is in the process of recuperating from her latest set of plastic surgeries. She had a breast enlargement and lift, butt lift, "wing" removal, and not sure what else this go-round. Last summer she had a face lift and a tummy tuck. She has also had her eyelids done and who knows what else. I have to admit that I am sort of sad that she feels she has to do so much "enhancement," because I always thought she was beautiful. I also wonder what she must think of how I look since I'm only 2 years younger!

I think it's great to do what you can to enhance yourself, but I hate to see people carry it to extremes and I personally hate to see people get breast augmentation except in rare cases. Nevertheless, I feel that if it makes the person happy (and that is the key, because I don't think some people are ever happy with themselves!) and improves the quality of life for them, then great.

I've always thought I would not do any of these kinds of things. So far I don't have anything that's much of a problem (in my opinion anyway) and I'm happy with myself the way I am. Hopefully I will continue to accept myself as I age. However if I had lost 110 pounds that could be a whole different story.

reno fan! you cracked me up... Scott Baio? LOL!!!!!!!!!!
But you are right, surgery is like an extreme version of makeup and hair colour really, unless it's for health reasons.

goldgirl- I guess that's where I am at... I get upset when after all the work I still look in the mirror and hate what I see. Plus the skin on my legs is an issue- jogging is actually uncomfortable.

lnersesian- were you happy with the lipo? has it kept the area wobble free? BTW- do we have the same grandma? LOL! Sometimes I feel like a Islander- thank god for Berli! Your fiance sounds like a well grounded person, he is right, we do only live once and each choice we make shapes the short lives we live.

sue... post some of those to me! hee hee hee Seriously though, the eyelids sound like a genuine potential issue. I wonder what the future will hold?

momcat- it is a sad day and age that way, sometimes I feel I am considered old at 35!

seekingadvice- man you are so lucky to avoid stretchmarks! My friend has twins- so I know the twin belly you mean. Your sister sounds like she has had alot of procedures- did she lose weight and need it? or were there other reasons?

gibby- you are lucky to be at peace with yourself. As to weight loss...well, yes... : ) I will tell you the funny bit- when I had a much larger hold on the earth (eg my own zipcode...) I saw bariatric surgery and thought "I need that!", but after research found out that most people who get it need nips and tucks for their skin as well- and being a 'tight wad' I decided I wouldn't pay for bariatric surgery AND nip/tuck surgery! Hence doing the weight loss myself! hee hee hee If only I could perform my own nip/tucks DIY!

I keep hoping that TV show 'extreme makeover' will come to Australia and choose me for some free surgery!

Em

My husband's jaw dropped a few years back when I told him all I wanted for Christmas was a new set of boobs and a big screen tv.

He said I was the "ultimate woman". LOL!!

We got the big screen, but so far not the boobs....

I've thought about this myself over the past year or so. I would love to get the injections that fill in the lines on either side of my mouth (from the nose to the mouth lines); teeth whitening; and (only recently started holding my eyelids up more in the mornings), I guess a lid lift.

reno fan! LOL ! your hubby sounds like mine- if I said I wanted a big screen TV I am sure the budget would find room!

kathypass- I find myself pushing the skin on my cheek (near my ear) up and looking at those same mouth to nose lines. If I smile they come back, but otherwise it makes me look heaps younger.

I read an article in one of those teeny bopper/fashion victim magazines while in a waiting room- it had an article about plastic surgery. The article said "if you can hold a pencil under your boobs then it's time to start considering a breast lift." I wondered what it meant if you could hold a whole packet of pencils under there! ; )

Em

Yep. Yep.

Feel free to email, and I'll share details.

Seeking, the incision is actually at the bikini line, not under the boobs, and if the doctor is good, it's not that visible...so they say.

hey, another topic I can chime in on! It makes me happy. I'm 45, VERY soon to be 46. A couple of years after my son was born in 1993, I had lipo done on my tummy & under my chin, and my eyes "done" all at the same time. Of course, I was 33, but it was all a breeze (except some bruising from my eyes). Both procedures made a huge difference, and though I've gained some weight since then, I know all of the above look tons better than they would have without. If I wasn't chicken I'd go get a face-lift, but am really thinking about going and getting the filler & botox shots to see what they do....kelley

Well, I am laughing my abundant hinie off. I have seen reno and she is the cutest thing west of the Mississippi. Chachi indeed! And I do remember seekingadvice's self-picture-post after her lips mated with the Michelin Man. Whoa!

I will do Thermage on my face and around my eyes when the procedure is perfected and when someone very wealthy dies and leaves me their fortune. (I'm up for adoption, all!) I am very wary of cutting around the eyes. I know too many people who just don't look 'right' after the procedure.

i had my teeth whitened about 8 years ago, uppers only. the dentist made a mold of my upper teeth and supplied a whitening gel. after the initial cost, i now use over the counter whitening gels. it was about $250, probably cheeper today but i think it was a good investment since i received many nice comments about my smile.

Pecan said "I am very wary of cutting around the eyes. I know too many people who just don't look 'right' after the procedure."

I'm afraid of that too. I don't know if the folks I know who've had it done had overeager doctors or something, but it seems they all have that very creepy looking startled/plastic/cat look.

Em - the lipo area has definitely remained jiggle free! And hey - put me in the club for holding those packs of pencils!

My cousin's ex-GF had these nice B's....she and I always used to banter - "I'll take yours any day of the week" !! Guess the grass is always greener!

Had I a barrel of cash, I'd let the surgeons loose on my entire body, below the neck. Knees, legs, bottom, belly, boobs (just a lift though), and arms. As for above the neck, I don't know. I already am getting the dark circls and bags that run on both sides of my family, my upper eye lids are getting droopy, and with each of my pregnancies my nose has gottn not wider, but thicker (if that makes sense). But, all in all, I like my face and wouldn't want to not look like myself.
Re the gastric bypass- That is exactly my attitude. Our insurance wouldn't cover the surgery so I figured if we had to spend 40K, I'd rather do it on "mop-up" plastic surgery. So far I've lost 60 lbs. My sis had GBS last week.

Of course, if you've seen Priscilla Presley lately..... it makes me wonder about doing anything to my face.

Yikes. Yes, I have seen recent photos. Both she and Victoria Principle were so attractive in my opinion, and now they just look odd.

I don't want to look like a 20 year old, just the best version of whatever my age is!

I was a health editor for a while so I've read/researched a lot on plastic surgery.

First of all, anyone who looks like a freak (movie stars included) didn't have a good doc IMO. Some go for what's called an "operated look" which is the Joan Rivers cat-eye thing and those who have too much look carved up. The lip injected ladies are pathetic looking IMO, again it's that Hollywood plump thing and very fake.

The best work cannot be detected, or not easily. A friend of mine recently had quite a bit done. She's 58, her nose had been done when she was a teen and the bridge was too scooped out and she'd had a chin implant that had created a little ball around it. Also, she needed her neck done badly.

She's a big gal and lost 35 pounds. She went to an excellent doc in NYC (NY Times named only 2 for face in the survey the did in the beauty issue last fall and she used one of those.) He did a facelift, fixed her nose, redid the chin implant, did her eyes and her neck.

And get this: she goes home and her OWN MOTHER (okay she's 89 but still) doesn't know anything was done, just tells her she looks great. Friends knew something was different and anyone not clued in (including my DD who saw her at the gym and said "Wow, you look fabulous you lost a lot of weight) think it's weight loss.

I want to tell you she looks beautiful and she was never a woman one would have called beautiful. The neck made a gigantic difference -- that alone makes her look like she lost 30 or 40 pounds. She looks exactly the same but smoothed out and no longer tired or angry (which happens to some when the face begins to "descend".)

It wasn't a pleasant surgery but she's a great healer and didn't have a difficult time. She feels it's one of the best things she ever did for herself and it's hard for a reasonable person to disagree.

Injectable fillables such as restalyne are relatively safe and if done well provide a good result. But lifting and filling are two different things.

I don't personally agree with botox and would never do it. Folks who have deep furrows will and one of the nurses who took care of my friend after her surgery was in her 30s and uses botox regularly. Gotta tell you, her forehead looked frozen to me and I don't believe there are longterm studies on botox. But it's huge and those who do it love it.

If I had the money, I'd do it in a millisecond.

My sister had her huge breasts reduced about two years ago and feels like a new woman. She looks 20 pounds thinner, has perky breasts and can actually buy "normal" clothes now. She hasn't had one second of regret. I would love to have this done as well.

All of the women in my family get a saggy area under the chin as we age including me and my sister. I would definitely get that taken care of--in a heartbeat.

rococogurl,

To me, that is the right type of "work" - where you look better, but like "you. A woman I work with had her lower eyes done. She is very thin, but had these puffy bags under each eye. She had them removed and NONE of the guys at work noticed. The bags are gone, and she looks less tired, but she still looks like her. I see a huge improvement, but I knew she was having it done. She is very happy with the results.

Now, that said, I realize there are people who want to look different, maybe they have a really big nose or small chin or something. But I think it is still best to get the "best version" of you, rather than look like someone else. I know someone that got a nose job that is totally not suited for her ethnicity. After we met for the first time, I asked DH (who had known her for years), "when did she get the nose job". He was shocked I knew. I'm no doctor, but people of her ethicity do not have narrow noses. It screams "nose job".

Here is my head to toe wish list:
1) higher hair line (I've been told celebrities get elctrolysis to get a higher and more squared off forehead).
2) Upper eye lift
3) Cheek fat removal. Maybe implants (but those scare me).
4) Slight tweak to the nose (it dips down when I smile, I'd like a small scoop in it).
5) Lipo for double chin
6) Teeth bleached and one or too slightly crooked ones fixed
7) Breast reduction
8) Tummy Tuck and corresponding hip lipo

There are other things I would like changed that I don't think can be fixed with surgery: I have a "Betty Boop" mouth with full, but narrow lips. The outer corner of the lips are supposed to align with the iris, mine do not. I wish my mouth was wider. I also wish I had wider shoulders.

My husband thinks I'm nuts, by the way. :) But he would get his pug nose done in a heart beat.

My friend told me she always knew she'd want to have something done down the line and set up a savings fund for that purpose. It's one strategy.

We were out to dinner recently with another friend who'd had her face done and her DH. He said flat out at the table that he thought she looked better before. He's a very sweet guy so I was a bit surprised by that but when you love someone you don't always notice the "flaws" we see in ourselves.

I hate to pick on anyone--but look at Hunter Tylo (I think that is her name).

That was one beautiful woman and now she just looks strange.

I had my eyes "done" 13 years ago. Big fat bags under the eyes run in my family. I also had one very droopy upper lid. There was no "lifting" done so the difference was probably only noticeable to me.

I look at my brothers' eyes now and know it was the best money I every spent

I just had my *second* eye job. I inherited the big fat bags and loose skin under my eyes from my dad, and the drooping uppers from my mom. They actually rested on top of my lashes. I always looked tired and looked older. I wore glasses all the time to disguise the bags underneath. I had the first done at 32. Doc told me it would last anywhere from 8 - 12 years. He was right. I'm turning 48 next month and got my second job in June. I don't look 'plastic' at all. I still have small bags under my eyes, but they are minimal and make my eyes look natural for my age. I don't regret either surgery for a second...I hated the way my eyes looked so I fixed them!

For anyone seriously thinking about getting surgery, try to talk to people who have had it done. If you like the way they turned out, get their doctor's name. The docs show you before and after pictures of people they've done, but obviously they only put the best results in their sample book! Also discuss your expectations vs what can actually be done with your doctor. ie, a tummy tuck will definitely improve your overall look, but don't expect the washboard tummy of a 20 year old :)

Finally, if you smoke, you must quit! At minimum, 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after the surgery. People who smoke are not only at higher risk during anesthesia, but they do NOT heal as quickly or as well.

I also did the teeth whitening thing. $200 for the tray and gel. I only did my upper teeth because my lower teeth don't show, even when I smile. Made a huge difference, and I can do a 'tune up' if needed in the future.

Otherwise, I would like a neck lift - getting pretty crepey there - but it's not terrible, so I'll leave that be :)

Hi Weed! I had my eyes done, too -- uppers and lowers. It's one of the best things I ever did for myslef. I love it. The procedure wasn't bad at all. Took two weeks for it to heal entirely.

I whiten my teeth, too. I have to re-do them periodically. I'm thinking about doing the Zoom brightening so I don't have to sleep with that gucky tray.

Next I will do my neck area, but I would like to lose weight first. I'd do more if I had the money and the time off from work!

Here's a web site with real-life info. There are messgae boards that I used a lot before and after.

Pam

Here is a link that might be useful: Make Me Heal

Pam, I do seem to remember you mentioning that before. Some thought I was crazy to get it done, but my eyes bothered me so much it was depressing. I have no regrets! For this second one I had conscious sedation - definitely the way to go. Less risky, no anesthesia fee, and no 'anesthesia recovery'.

I looked at some of the pics overdone celebrities -- geez some of them do look very odd.

I found an entertaining (if sad) website, Awful Plastic Surgery Really too bad when someone doesn't know when to stop, or simply gets a bad job.

I've lost 37 pounds this year & have noticed the wrinkles that weren't there before. But with my needle/knife phobia, I'd probably have a heart attack on the way to the operating table! So will go the Tina Turner route: nutrition & exercise to look the best I can. Besides, my DH is the most wonderful husband in the world -- if he thought I was beautiful at 206 pounds, he'll probably think I'm beautiful at a wrinkly 135, bless his heart. Love IS blind...

Weed, I only had shots of a local anesthetic. I couldn't feel much of anything, but I was awake throughout the whole procedure. I had no sedatives. It really wasn't bad, in fact it was interesting. I did see a few things that might bother a squeamish person, such as the fat being removed, but I was fine with it.

I looked like a raccoon for a week. My brother had an entire face lift and he called me to say his head had turned into a pumpkin. He looks fantastic now.

Bad plastic surgery = Kenny Rogers. Did anyone see him on American Idol (Answer -- yes, millions of people)? If they hadn't said who it was, I wouldn't have known. Mary Tyler Moore is another P.S. disaster.

awm - Congrats on the weight loss, and congrats on the sweet husband :)

I don't watch Idol, but I've seen Kenny's disasterous surgery. I feel sorry for him! (he doesn't like it either.) Supposedly he's going to have it fixed, but I don't know how - it's not like they can easily put skin back in. He really is not recognizable as himself at all.

MTM - I agree, she doesn't look so good either. There are many others that have just gone too far. And what's up with the lip collagen???!!! I can't believe how many stars do it, and how stupid (sometimes horrible) it looks.

Looking at the pics on the link I posted made me appreciate my doc more. He didn't do me too 'perfect' - he was a tad conservative so I didn't look, well, like them!

I went to the link you provided too. I'm kinda glad I didn't know about it before -- a lot of the posters had bad experiences. I might not have done mine had I read all of that first! I realize the happy people are less apt to post though.

A friend of mine lost 60 lbs and then when to a spa in South Africa and had everything nipped, tucked and sucked. She had just finalized her divorce, turned 60yo and went for it. I always thought she looked great anyways and she dresses gorgeously and has always been a 'head turner' but when she returned.....WOW! And over the past 2 yrs she has been know to date 35 yo males....LOL! I LOVE HER and am so happy she is my friend!

The July issue of Town & Country magazine has a complete handbook update of plastic surgery and cosmetic dermatology procedures. Talks about all the latest procedures and the pros and cons etc. Also some very interesting notes on womens health by decade. Definitely a keeper IMO.