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Big Butts No Lies Plastic Surgery Podcast
Big Butts No Lies is a plastic surgery podcast created to help women feel informed, confident, and prepared when navigating the world of cosmetic surgery.
Hosted by plastic surgery consultant and former patient coordinator Mavi Rodriguez, the show offers a rare behind-the-scenes perspective into how the plastic surgery industry really works. With more than 18 years of experience working inside top plastic surgery practices, Mavi understands how surgeons evaluate patients, how procedures are planned, and what recovery truly looks like after surgery.
Each episode features conversations with board certified plastic surgeons, recovery specialists and industry professionals who share their experiences with procedures such as breast augmentation, liposuction, BBL, tummy tuck and other aesthetic treatments.
Whether you are researching plastic surgery, preparing for a procedure, or want to understand the process better, Big Butts No Lies offers honest conversations, recovery guidance, and expert insight to help women make smarter and safer decisions.
Big Butts No Lies Plastic Surgery Podcast
When Can You Have S*X After Plastic Surgery ft. Teresa Parent & Tonya Spanglo
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In this episode of the best plastic surgery podcast "Big Butts No Lies," our host and plastic surgery consultant Mavi Rodriguez is joined by Tonya Spanglo and Teresa Parent. Teresa and Tonya share their monumental weight loss and upcoming plastic surgery journeys. In this episode, they can ask me ALL the questions they want to know, but might be too shy to ask:
- When can you have sex again after plastic surgery?
- Can you do oral after plastic surgery?
- The empowering experience and the significant physical and emotional transformations following weight loss surgery.
- Tonya and Teresa's personal journeys, detailing their initial weight loss through gastric sleeve and bypass surgeries, followed by their venture into plastic surgery to reclaim their bodies.
- An in-depth discussion on the mental, emotional, and physical aspects of undergoing plastic surgery after massive weight loss, emphasizing the importance of support systems, mental health, and proper preparation for surgery.
- When can I cuddle my pets after having plastic surgery?
Mavi, Tonya, and Teresa dive into the nitty-gritty of preparing for surgery, managing recovery, and the life-changing impact of their transformations. This episode is a beacon of hope and a source of invaluable information for anyone considering a similar journey.
Tune in for a deeply personal and insightful look into the world of plastic surgery post-weight loss, where bravery, support, and transformation lead the narrative.
📞 Want help planning your surgery?
Book a discovery call with Mavi Rodriguez.
🌐 Visit our website: www.bigbuttsnolies.com
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📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube
Hey, guys. My name is Mavi, and I've spent the last 14 years in the plastic surgery and beauty industry working alongside some of the best plastic surgeons in the country. Now I don't work for anybody, so I have unbiased opinions about 100 of surgeons from across the world, and I can help you achieve the body of your dream. Hey, guys. Do I have the show for you today? I've been getting myself into lots of things that I haven't really disclosed on the show. And one of those things is I have been helping other people in the community expand their voices. And one of those people is Tanya Spenglow. The other person is Teresa Bennett.
And you guys might remember Teresa from our episode where she told us about her transformation journey from moving from being £600 and losing how many? 400 and I've lost £460 now. £460, and how an amazing transformation that has been. And today, I'm so excited because I have them both on, and we are going to go into all of the details, all of their questions of having surgery plastic surgery after weight loss. You guys, thank you so much for being on the show with me. Thank you for having us. I'm sick. I'm sick. We're sad.
So the plan for the episode, I know my audience really loves whenever I go into the details of the questions that they might have, but they might be too shy to ask. They might be too shy to ask their surgeon. So I love these episodes where I allow or I really answer as many questions for you as I can. So let me first introduce Tanya and let her tell you a little bit about her story and what's to come for her in the next 2 weeks. Okay. I'm Tonya Spaylon. I'm down £250. I had gastric sleeve 4 years ago, and I'm about to go through my very first round of plastics.
I'm having a breast lift with a fat transfer. So they're gonna transfer the fat they take from my belly and my liposuction areas into my breast because I didn't want to get implants. I'm also having a Fleur de Lys, and I'm having a lower Volulist. I just wanna be super excited. How is it? I'm very excited. Mhmm. Okay. And then, Teresa, tell us a little bit about where you were, and you've already had one round of plastic.
So tell us a little bit about that and what time next. So my name is Teresa. I've lost £460. I had gastric bypass surgery almost 6 years ago. Last year, I had 47 pounds of skin removed from my abdomen. I had an abdominoplasty surgery with the fleur de lis with muscle repair and liposuction. Totally life changing. I'm getting ready in, I think it's 9 days, to have my 2nd round of plastic surgery.
I am having a full thigh lift, and they're also gonna do liposuction as well. And I am so excited, for Tanya as well because I know firsthand how transformative this surgery can be not just physically, but mentally and emotionally after losing a massive amount of weight, you are evolving into the next phase of your journey and it is so incredibly beautiful and powerful. I'm covered in chills. It's I'm so excited for both of us, but I am so excited for you because round 1 is unlike anything you're gonna go through ever. It's just it's amazing. I cannot wait. I'm I'm nervous, not for the surgery. I'm just nervous for the recovery.
The recovery usually is, the scariest part, and what you have to know is it's temporary. The pain, the discomfort, the inflammation, the swelling, all of it's temporary, and you just have to gung ho it, go through it. And, you know, on the other side of all of that discomfort is your brand new life, really. I would love for you, Teresa, to go into the details because I talk about this on the show all the time about the magical transformation that goes on inside of us after surgery. And I know over the weekend, we were together, and we talked about you were telling me about the 6 years of your journey and how the 1st years were losing the weight, but how much it has changed from the day of the skin removal? For me so, you know, if you followed my journey, you know, I had the £47 of hanging skin that went down to my knees. So it inhibited my life in a lot of ways, physically, emotionally, mentally. In so many ways, I felt like I was still carrying around the reminders and the part of me that I tried to let go of all the pain, all the things I had held on to. And so for me, going to sleep and waking up a few hours later and having that skin removed, I remember waking up and just sobbing because it was so powerful for me.
It was it's very symbolic of your journey, of all the hard work you've put in to transform yourself from the inside out and to see all of your efforts, visually represented on your body is so incredibly powerful and moving. There's nothing like it that I've experienced. And the first several years of my journey were really hard, of course. I'm transforming my life. I'm trying to shake off old thought patterns and behavior patterns, but there's something to be said for this, like, last stretch of my journey this past year because the ways in which I view myself, the ways in which I move through the world, the ways in which I interact with others, the way that I I make eye contact with people, how people make eye contact with me. I have men opening doors for me, talking to me, smiling, and flirting with me, like, people complimenting me nonstop on you're so beautiful. You shine. Your body is this, that.
And it's not just about the the way that I look, but it's the fact that I hold my head up higher now. I can see my shape since I'm over a year. It took about, I wanna say for me, say, 8 probably 7 to 8 months before I really started to feel like I was looking fine. Like, I started, like, playing with fashion this year. Right? I started playing with my my clothes, which I something I never could do. I dress to cover my body and to be invisible. And now if you see me, my my outfits are popping. Like, I am I am intentionally putting a lot of effort into my physical appearance because I'm so happy on the inside.
And so now I can reflect those changes with my body and, being able to date for the first time. I haven't dated in over 20 years. I was not able to see my lady bits or my lap for over 20 25 years of my life. And now when I look down, I'm like, oh my god. I have a lap. I can see my vagina. I can see everything. Like, I can use all these parts, and there's something so freeing about it.
I don't care. I don't walk in every moment thinking about my stomach, hitting my legs, thinking about the fact that everyone looks at me and thinks, well, she lost all this weight. Why does she still have all that right there? Like, I'm free from carrying that around with me physically and emotionally, so it really has enabled me to be totally present in the moment and to be able to notice that people do treat me differently. And then more importantly, I treat myself differently. I feel differently. I think differently. I act differently. I'm a totally different person even today than I was a year ago.
And a lot of that is due to the freedom of having that skin removed. So it's it's life changing, and I can't wait for my bestie to experience this. I'm it makes me get super choked up because I know what she's about to go through, and I'm so glad that she has the support system that she does. You know, over the weekend and let me tell my girls, the who's listening. Over the weekend, I got to be in person with these 2 ladies, and I we were walking down the hallway of doctor Redmond's office, and I was we have just finished her consultation. And I was walking next to Teresa, and I was telling her, you know what? You're gonna have to pull Tanya off the table top after she has done with surgery.
Yep. You did.
And I said, yes. We will. Because I don't know. I can't talk, but, Yeah. You're gonna be so in love with who you are after surgery that you're gonna be doing things that you never thought you would be doing. Teresa has said it herself. Things that she never imagined she would be doing. Now she does so freely and openly without thinking about it, and that's gonna be you after surgery.
Yeah. I love how Teresa said that. Before, we used to cover our bodies up because that was so me. Like, I was in a 5 x and an n section before, and so faster has never in my entire life been important to me. Never. Like, I can look back at all the pictures. I'm dressed in black, or I'm dressed in the florals, the polyester pants that my grandmother wore, that I wore, and I was only in my twenties or thirties. Actually, it was never for me because I just thought no one wanted to look at me.
I didn't even wanna look at me. And so why would anybody else? But, when you said you dress to cover up your body and now you don't, I feel that. Like, I feel that now because, like, right now, I have my shirt knotted up to show off my waist a little bit. I've got all the cutest little fur like pants. And so I think after this surgery like, mommy, you're right. I'm gonna be like even my husband, when I was telling him, like, this is gonna be snacks, and these these are gonna be up. And he was like, what am I gonna do with you? And I was like, I don't know, but I'm matching something amazing. All the things.
Really good. All the things. Perfect salad. Yeah. I think it's gonna be for me, the skin removal is just like like we described this weekend. Like, listening to doctor Eric Smith talk about how body dysmorphia takes effect, and it's a real thing for everybody. And then doctor Redman coming on and saying, this is a gift that you give to yourself after losing all of the weight. For me, it's the weight is a symbol of the old me.
Like, it's it's just it's the old me that I think I'm secretly holding on to because she rears her head every once in a while, and she tries to bring back those old habits that I've tried so hard to hit. And she tries to bring my mindset back to a negative mindset of, oh, well, you're, you know, you're not skinny, and I didn't have weight loss surgery to be skinny. I had weight loss surgery to prolong the life. You know, I was on 2 blood pressure medications, and I was on 2 different cholesterol medications, and I was always borderline diabetic. I'm none of those things now. I have no prescription meds. Like, I only take vitamins out of and Previce. Like, that's basically it.
And it's still soft there. That's it. And so I really bettered my health when you think about it. And, like, it's never been about what the scale says. It's never been about what size jeans that I have on right now. It's been about how I look at myself and how happy I am because I can move freely, and I can both be out the grocery store without people looking at me in disgust and look on what's in my buggy.
And
I will not find that because, look, she's morbidly obese, and that's that's how her family eats. Or upstairs at a restaurant because I shouldn't be eating because for some reason, society thinks that if you're obese, you shouldn't be hungry, and I was hungry. And just the stares, and it's just all of the things all those things to mind that really weigh you down. I think that that's my skin. My skin is weighing me down. It's keeping me with one foot in the past and one foot in the present, keeping me the old me and the new me. And I think when I just get this skin removed, I think I'm just gonna realize, like, how amazing I am. Because, like, you guys tell me and my husband tells me and everyone tells me, and I do know that I'm amazing, but this skin every day holds me back.
And I know people think it's a badge of honor, and you should wear it proudly. And I have to wear it proudly, but I don't have to do that anymore. Like, I have the opportunity to let it go, and I want to, and I'm going to. I want to, and I'm going to. You're gonna notice how your life just skyrockets. Not that you are stalled, but there's something magical that happens when all of this mental space that used to be, taken up with worried about what you're wearing, how you look, if people are looking at you, all of that is gonna be free. Free. And now you're gonna be like Like, know that it's gonna look good.
And you're gonna walk out and feel super confident in it and look and just feel amazing in your own skin. And I'm so excited for you, Tanya. I like I told you, I can't wait to be with you the whole journey just knowing that you're gonna be a completely different woman the next time you talk on the show in a year when you're 1 year post op and you've gone through the all of the surgery, gone through the recovery, gone through the inner transformation even more than you already have, I can't wait. I'm I always like to tell my girls, I can't wait to see what you get yourself into after surgery. I can't wait to see who you become and how your life changes because I know it's gonna happen. I know it's gonna change. I know something gonna something really amazing is gonna come from this. So I'm so hopeful and excited for you.
So for this episode, I want you guys to ask me the questions that you have been thinking about, googling on the online, thinking, what about this, what about that? I'm an open book, and ask me your questions. Whoever wants to go first, go first. I'll go first real quick.
Because I'm trying to
find the same thing I was gonna say because that's what you are. Probably. Okay, girls. So my biggest thing is I have been in a new relationship for the past 7 months. Okay? And like I told y'all, we smash twice a day. Okay? In some way, shape, or form, we are we are engaged we are engaged in adult activities constantly, and I I don't know how long we can both go without that. So what I'm wondering is, I went 20 years. Okay? So, like, I don't even I don't wanna kill any more time.
Like so I'm having the full thigh lift. Okay? So, like, okay. How long do I have to go before I can actually have actual, I wanna say, penetration straight up sex, but also any kind of stimulation down there. It's like, what? Give me all the details because I need to be able to tell my man too. I'm gonna give you my professional I'm gonna give you my professional opinion, and then I'm gonna give you my, okay, girl. If you're gonna do it, at least do it like this. Perfect. That's exactly what I need because that's probably option 2 will probably be a reality.
So my recommendation would be my professional recommendation is to stay away from sex for at least 6 to 8 weeks, especially in your thighs because you're, you know, you're gonna have those long incisions down your thigh. You're gonna be tender. You're gonna be sore. The thing with Thylus is that it's not really muscle pain. Like, you know, with your abdominoplasty, that pain was muscle pain. That that feeling of, like, you can't cough, you can't laugh, you can't sneeze because it hurts. With thighs, it's more of a skin surface pain. Stinging, burning, just sensitive sensations on the surface of your skin.
So So when you say no sex for every
6 to 8 weeks guys
when you said no sex Can you be very specific? Like, any activity I'm talking like down no stimulation, like, down there at all. Okay. Well, you're gonna be the judge of how comfortable are you in the different positions of your legs. You know? And how comfortable are you gonna be, like, to fold your legs? Is that gonna be uncomfortable to open your legs? Like, how are are you gonna feel a stretch? Like, you might see open your legs and feel stretching. And if you this is what I like to say. If it hurts, don't do it. If it's or if it feels if it feels like it's hurting or you're feeling tension or you're feeling pressure, don't do it. Okay.
Now my girl talk, like, if you're gonna do it, at least do it like this. There's Fajas that have the hole in the middle. You're gonna be wearing a Faja that a compression garment for those who don't call it Baja or you might call it Faja or whatever y'all call it. You're gonna be in a compression garment for your lower body. So most likely, that compression garment's gonna go below your knee up to your waist. So the compression garment that you pick, if you pick the one that has the opening the crotch opening, then you can have some sort of activity in your FAFHA, like, very, very carefully making sure that you're not feeling any pulling. Because what you don't want is for that incision at the midline of the inner thigh to be pulled because when when you're feeling pulling or stretching, you're pulling you really are pulling and stretching, and that's what makes your scars get wide. Okay.
So if you don't want wide scars, then we have to not pull on it or make any pressure. Because it's not like you're gonna pull it and it's all gonna unravel and you'll it'll be open. It'll you can have wider scars. Your scars might get raised, more inflammation, more swelling. So maybe you could have some sort of activity, some oral activity. Yeah. For sure. Yeah.
But Yeah. Here's the other thing. The inner thigh lift is one of those areas that sometimes has trouble because you're peeing, you're going number 2, and you have to keep it really, really clean. That all of that area has to stay really, really clean. And we've I've seen where a patient we talked about this in a previous episode where she was, like, 33 weeks or 4 weeks after her breast augmentation. Her husband was sucking on her nipples, and she got an infection in her implants. Oh, wow. So that makes me cautious to any activity while you're healing, while your incisions are healing that could cause some sort of an infection Okay.
In by accident, you know, something getting spreads, spit, saliva getting spread somewhere that could end up in your incision. So I would say stay away from any type of activity for at least 3 weeks. If you're gonna be doing something, stay in your and stay keep your incisions completely, completely clean, not not getting anything on them. Like, health and safety are obviously my first priority, but it's good to know because my doctor is male. He's amazing, but his perspective and his advice was different than what you just said. Follow your numbers. But Yes. I think if I remember, he told you less than what I'm telling you.
It was less than what you what you said. Yes. So, I, of course, will follow my surgeon's orders. But being cautious, I will air on the side of caution when engaging in any kind of sexual activity during my healing phase. Yeah. Just if you feel pulling, if you feel stretching, if it hurts, if you're turning like, I don't know, Don't do it. Tell him, hold on, baby. Wait for me.
Okay? Just give me a few more weeks. I'll be ready for you. And now I'm gonna I'm gonna spend it anyways. Yeah. That's I've been telling him that too, and he's so supportive. I he'll be fine with it. And there's other things you can do. You know? There's other things we can do to keep it fun.
Exactly. Exactly. So but for my girls out there who are getting they're having this trust me, every single patient asks this question. When can I have sex again? How soon? Can I have any type of activity? Can I have anything? And it's usually the the same question, like, okay. If I can't have size, can I have oral? If you have a tummy tuck, yeah, you're that's fine. But for a eyelid, you're so close to that area, I would stay away from oral too. At least until your incisions are completely closed. Closed, healed, The scar, there's no scabs.
It's closed, and you're good to go. Okay. She's like, dang. That's a long time. But you know what? I waited over 20 years. I know. Mavi, what are you doing to me, girl? No. But I waited so long to have sex.
Like, this is gonna go by in a blink of an eye, and it's gonna be that much better. Because even, like, now with the loose skin on my thighs, it's not that bad. My boyfriend's like, baby, you're fine. But, like, I know that, like, when we go to have sex, I'd have to lift up the thighs a little bit. Like, just to make me comfortable, like, get into position. You know what I mean? And I won't get you too graphic, but, like, you have to lift up the thighs a little bit, and I don't wanna have to do that. And so for me, this surgery is going to free me if that's gonna make me feel beautiful. It's gonna make me feel sexy.
It's gonna give me the thighs that I've always wanted and never had. So I will happily wait and follow, you know, follow the orders and just just play it safe. Play it safe. My recommendation is, like, with tummy tucks. They are ready. Right? They're ready. They still they don't feel like they did 2 weeks ago when they couldn't even walk. Now they're feeling more up to it.
They're starting to go back to work. But you can pop a stitch. You can like, on the inside, on your abdomen, you can pop a stitch on your thighs. You can pop you know, some something can come undone with a lot of activity and a lot of movement. And what you don't want is to take step back take steps backwards. You never know how to get an infection. That scares me a little bit. Yeah.
The inner thigh lifts are kind of one of those areas that are very prone to getting an infection in inadvertently just because you you're in your and if you stay in your and you keep your incisions covered with gauze or with ABD pads so they're protect double protected, you should be fine. And making sure you you can also use a urinal, the little funnels. Mhmm. I bought one of those. Yeah. I haven't practiced yet, but I'm going to. Someone told me that to because if you stand up while you urinate, not only it's gonna be easier for you, right, when you're getting up and down, you don't have to get up and off the toilet, but, like, it'll keep everything streamlined away from your body.
Mhmm. I
had a question about the vagina. So after so doctor Redmond explained it to me that when she does the lower body lift, she will lift it all up. And so I'm thinking the way that she described it, and we talked about it a little bit, but not that much. I have, like, a, I say it's like an awning. I have, like, a little awning above my vagina. It's I know that it's like and that's really what it is. Like, it's shaking. Don't take the sun off of it.
And so I think that, that that's gonna be lifted up. And so when that's lifted up, then my vagina's gonna be lifted up. It's like I was trying to explain this to my husband, and he what do you need? My your job is just gonna be, like, right there. And I was like, I'm not sober. And so is it or is it? Like, is it gonna be I'm gonna have to do, like, completely different positions. Like, is it gonna be up and out? Like, here I am. Look at me. Or what is it gonna be? I'm So how so am I.
I'm not gonna be. Not exact. Okay. So you know how, like, sure your whole like, the whole area kind of is pointing down. Right?
Mhmm.
Like, the skin above your lips, all of that. Right? So that gets lifted, that area. So imagine the skin above your lips pulled up
Mhmm.
To where close depending on how they do your incision, it'll be to cut up oh, to cut off a good chunk of skin to make it all look even without having, like, a transition. They also do a little bit of legosuction there to make sure that it's flat with your abdomen. So it's not like, I don't I'm sure you guys have seen it, and it's something that pisses me off every time I see it because it's like, that was a man who did that surgery. And I can tell because he if it was a woman, she would have liposuctioned that area.
Uh-huh.
Where sometimes women, not by their fault, by their surgeon's fault, will have a surgery, like a tummy tuck or a fleur de lis, and they won't liposuction or lift the mons. That area is called the mons, mons pubis. So they will leave it alone. They just don't bother with it. And what happens is the these women, it looks like they have a package. Mhmm. Because that all of that stuff Yeah. She said that she's lifting that.
Yeah. So doctor Regnum is going to probably debulk that. So may maybe do a little bit of liposuction or trim some of the fat and make that even with your body. So if you can imagine those if you wanna stand in the mirror and, like, look at yourself and pull that skin up towards your hips, like, towards your body. And until you feel your body, like, you're I'm doing it right now. I feel, like, my hip pulling it from the sides up. So it's I can feel my bones. Mhmm.
So that's how it's gonna be. But that's how it's gonna be? Yeah. So It is gonna be raised. It's gonna look a lot different, Tanya. You're gonna be like, oh, hello. I have not seen you like this before. Can't see it. You'll be able to see it.
You're gonna be able to look down and be like, hey, baby girl. I haven't seen it in years. I shaved there. You can see it now. Like, I I I can look right down and be like, oh my god. She's right here. I have never seen her before. Like, it's crazy, and she's right there.
That's why I was trying to explain to Bobby. He was like, what do you mean? Like, she's just gonna be front and center, and I was like, yes. Yep. I think she'll be ready. When you're a bigger girl, you kinda gotta, like, search for it because it's way down there, but now he doesn't have to search for it. It's right there presenting herself. Next, next to the spot, baby. Exactly.
You know what? Even though I didn't have weight loss surgery, I had pregnancies that I got I gained a lot of weight with my pregnancies, and with that weight came extra skin. And I remember after my mommy makeover, still, like, groggy and and, still halfway under anesthesia and going to sit on the toilet and looking down and be like, oh my god. I can see her. She's right here. Right? I don't even have to pull up or anything. It's right out there. The first time I saw it after my abdominoplasty, I was I swear to god, I sat there staring at her for, like, 30 minutes. I was like, I'm just, like, mouth wide open, like, hello there.
It's gonna
be. Like, I said, I thought it was easier to, like, tame yourself or whatever you say. Yeah. And it's gonna be so much easier. I'm not. I've never had that ever. I've always had skin out there. So when you look in your mirror and you can't see it, it's hovered.
And so for her to just be front and center and some of you, that's gonna blow my mind, I think. It will. I think you're gonna be mind blown with the whole thing. You're I was watching your live this morning, and I saw where you were like, so none of this is gonna be here. And you're, like, pulling all your skin in, and you're like, look. I have a curve. And you're gonna be able to stand in front of the mirror and see all of that curve, all of that. It's already there.
Your foundation, like I was telling you over the weekend, your foundation is beautiful. And after this surgery, you're really gonna be able to see it because all of that extra skin that hides it, it's not gonna be there anymore. No. No. I've never been able to see it. So I think that's why it's gonna be so shocking to me because I've always been overweight. And so I've like my mom, everyone was always like, oh, you look just like your mom in the face, and you have your mom's dark hair. Well, my mom had a tiny little lace and a big old brie and hips.
And so neither one of us girls, my sister or myself, got we were like, well, we got moms. I got home, space, and hair, and Tiffany suck looks like mom a little bit. But, honestly, I literally did get my mom's waist and hips. I just didn't know it because I was so obese that you couldn't see it. And now I can see it. So every time I look at my waist and I like, right now, I have my hands around my waist. That's my mom's little b waist that I've had this whole time, and I just didn't know it. So that's special to me.
You know? So what questions? What are questions usually you have? I have a question about nutrition. Because you were telling me over the weekend about my protein, and they mentioned that this morning on my consult with doctor Redham's office. They mentioned protein afterwards. How sometimes you might not have an appetite, but it's super, super important what you eat after surgery. So can you tell me a little bit about, like, more in-depth about that? Bariatric patients already notoriously are prone to having wound delays, issues with theirs with their incisions closing. And, also, I want you to know that this doesn't happen at the beginning. It doesn't happen in the 1st week or the 2nd week. It usually happens in, like, week 3 4.
Once you start to think, oh, I'm doing good. My incisions are closing. Everything's great. I can go back to my old way of eating, or I'm not really hungry. My my stomach is too tight. My abdomen wall is just too tight. I feel full. Because you might already feel that now, but after surgery, when you have abdominal wall repair and it's tight, like an inner corset, you know, in there, you might feel you might feel even tighter, and you might feel like, I can't eat.
But what you have to know is that it's very, very, very important for you to maintain your protein intake and keep your calorie intake above maintenance level for at least the first 3 months. So, like, we hang up. Did not do that, Tanya. I struggled. I at week 3, I stopped eating and drinking because it was hard for me. I was they were trying to force me to drink my shakes, to eat my protein. I couldn't do it, and I wound up in the hospital with a pulmonary embolism in my lung and almost died from it. So I can literally personally attest to the fact that it can save your life.
You have got to eat and drink and make sure you're hydrating, getting your protein. It literally almost killed me. And it wasn't because I was trying to be difficult. I didn't feel good. My stomach felt full. It was really hard for me. And as a bariatric patient, I struggled even more to be able to because we can't consume large amounts of food at one time. So it I I agree, mommy.
It is so, so important to be able to to hydrate and get your protein in. But just eat the same amount of protein grams, like, a day, or should I up it? I think you should up it. Okay. So with your POP recovery system, your nutritionist is going to give you your goal, calorie intake, your goal protein intake for surgery recovery. So she already has that ready for you. She'll have that ready for you so you can know, am I meeting my requirements? Am I getting there? And as you utilities are, like, professionals at this, Now that you know ahead of time, you can come up with a plan of, like, okay. I can at least for example, those treats that you love that you know you can eat no matter what, like that cottage cheese blueberry grape thing that you were showing me. Giving yourself, like, okay.
I know I have to eat, and I will eat this even if I'm not hungry or if I don't feel like it or I don't want to. One of the things that I like to tell my girls is you have to think about it. Really plan for the future. Plan for success because you will not want to. You're gonna have to force yourself to. And I noticed with my girls during the recovery they get, your body is healing. So a lot of your energy and those calories your body is taking them to heal your incisions, to heal your body, and you get so tired. You feel like, I have so much energy.
Oh, no. I don't.
No. I got it. Yeah.
A couple hours later, that's it. You get you can get so tired that even chewing is like, I have to chew. Like, oh my god. I don't wanna chew if I I was just gonna say that it felt like a task, but you know what? One thing I will say, when I went through my abdominoplasty last year, while I had support from and my medical team, it's not the same. Like, now that I've been going through this the POP program, I literally know that I have a game plan for exactly how much I'm supposed to eat. I'm not trying to Google it and figure it out. It's like that Melanie is helping me figure it out for my body, my protein, my fluids, do telling me things that I should cut out, telling me things that I should add in. Like, I wish that I had had that when I went through my abdominoplasty surgery because I feel like maybe it wouldn't have almost killed me.
Maybe I wouldn't have gone into the hospital. You know what I mean? Like, I would have known exactly how much I was supposed to eat of my protein and to hydrate. So this time around, I feel a lot more confident that I'm gonna be able to tackle my recovery and go through it successfully without complications. Mhmm. I don't have my I'll have my nutritionist appointment. I think that's tomorrow. And then the same thing, my mental health. And then the concierge, They did my Airbnb, and so I've gotta get all the confirmation on that.
So I haven't had my appointments yet. That's probably why I don't know. Those appointments as well. They gave me a list of things I have to get off Amazon. I wanna ask you guys because for my listeners, you guys know that I've been collaborating with the POP Recovery Systems. And over the last year, I helped develop the concierge wellness program where we I took all of my experience as a patient coordinator, as a medical assistant, as helping everything that had to do with patient care during their recoveries. And I helped develop a program to help patients through the their their preparation and recovery. And so the I really wanna hear from you guys.
What do y'all think so far, going through the program and everything that Laura and I have been working with it together? Oh, I love it. Teresa, do you wanna say something too? I love it. I feel like it is a best friend, like, holding my hand through the entire process. I I didn't have this with my weight loss surgery because it wasn't around yet. I wish I would have because I really feel like I would have been successful sooner. Like, I'm 4 years out. I think I could have gone through these stages like sooner. The pop the pop system, they've mentioned things to me and answered questions, like, I didn't even know that I that I that I had.
Yeah. For me so talking with Chrissy, she's the concierge wellness girl that I've been dealing with with Pop Recovery, and it's been amazing, every aspect of it. But what I love is that she's asking me questions. Like, the last time when I had my abdominoplasty surgery, I stayed at the Hilton. Well, that was hard for me having to maneuver going through the check-in, to the checkout, my family having to go through the lobby, all those things. And so she's like, what about an Airbnb? She's gone so far as to ask me, okay. Well, your boyfriend is 3. So, like, we need to make sure that you guys have, like, beds that are fit that you guys, are you gonna have twin beds? Are you gonna share a bed? Like, what kind of flooring is in your home? Do you have rugs? Do you have dogs? Which we all know I have an arc.
Like, do you have railings in your bathroom to grab onto? My boyfriend built our bed for the size of a giant. So I'm like, how am I gonna get in my bed out after recovery? Right? Like, she's like, okay. You're gonna need some kind of a step ladder. You're gonna need assistance. You're gonna need to either have a care plan for your animals, or you're gonna have to have barriers to keep them safe from you because you don't want them jumping on you. I would not have thought about all of these things. She's talking about, okay. Does your boyfriend know what to expect with this during your care? Like, who's gonna be getting your medication for you? Like, what about your meal prep? Like, literally, she's asking me all of these things.
I feel so supported and informed. Like, now I'm like, to my boyfriend, my baby, you got how many days you need to block off the bed? You need to block off the door because those dogs are not coming near me. So, like, we have a game plan now whereas going into it, we're not gonna be dealing it with it while I'm recovering, which would stress me out and him out. Everything will be be prepared ahead of time, which makes me go into this surgery feeling empowered and prepared so that we can just both focus all of our energy and efforts on knee healing and not having to deal with problems like that as they arise. So game changer, literal game changer for me. Like, my stress relief is is, like, exponential with this. Like, seriously so much, especially with the dogs. I'm, like, thinking about the dogs alone jumping on me and, like, with my incisions.
Oh my god. That terrified me when she said that. I was like, oh my gosh. You will will handle it. Now I know. Like, now I know. Yeah. The stress relief is what I was gonna say.
Like, the stress relief of it, they were asking me things. Like, she rented an Airbnb, and so she needed the exact address of where it got to. So it's, like, as close as possible. And so that's already, like, taken care of. I don't have to worry about all that. And then the Amazon list of things like a raised toilet seat that then is your toilet round or is your toilet oval. Like, all the little details that I never would have thought of about my recliner because I have a sectional. So the recliner is on the end of our sectional where I need one that, like, rocks me up.
I don't have that option. And so they're gonna do they told me about how you can get a huge cushion that fits in the recliner, and it's hard in the middle. So it feels like you have that rocker recliner. So many things like that, like the compression socks that I need afterwards, all kinds of things that I would not have thought of. And so for me, it's making the transition phase from bariatrics to plastics. It's making that transition so much easier than I thought I was gonna be. Little decisions, they're holding my hand through, asking me so many questions. Stacy asking me like, she sent me a text message yesterday.
She's messaged me this morning. That's the mental health that I'm, going through the process with. And she's like, I know how you're feeling right now, and we're gonna talk about it. Like, you can do this. You're strong. You're a warrior. Telling me all the things that I know, but she's just making me feel really good. And mental health is a huge part of it for me because saying like, having a positive mindset and keeping a positive mindset through surgery and just talking to you, mommy, and you saying, like, you're not gonna want to, but fix yourself and make sure you're making me have a plan, my my decision is we're gonna visit tomorrow, but they've already talked about having a plan.
Like, what you're saying, Theresa, like, go into it with a plan, and then you won't have to worry about all these things while you're recovering because you already have the plan. And so it's gonna make the recovery process so much easier. I'm super thankful for pot recovery. Yeah. What Mavi was saying about not having the life energy to deal with those things, like, literally, chewing is hard after surgery. So, like, having to deal with all those other things makes it so hard. And I think what you were saying about, like, the mental health too, like, the the getting your plate your mindset in a place, that is supportive of healing is so important. And they started me on that weeks ago helping me to manage my anxiety with all the transitions that I've been going through my life the past 6 months.
But in order to get me to a place where I'm present in the moment where I'm focused on positivity and possibilities and the fact that my healing journey that I am capable of having a positive experience through this surgery. And I would not be in that mindset if I if it had not been for Stacy and for who work with the mental health and pop recovery. Literally, like, it's helped me through more than just, like, more than just that, honestly. It's helped me through moving through, resigning from my job, like, and all of that leading up to my surgery, I feel like could have been weighing me down a lot, but it's not now. Now I feel I'm looking at it all as being empowered. I've made all these decisions. I'm moving forward with the next round of plastics, and I'm ready. And I'm not doing it alone.
I have an entire team of strong people who are empowering me and uplifting me every single day, day. So I'm here for it. I am so happy to hear all of that because you guys let me tell y'all that years ago 2 years ago, this did not exist. 2 years ago, having a support system, a whole team to help you along your surgical journey did not exist. And it was, at the same time, so needed. And it wasn't until, really, Laura and I are are missions aligned and our passion aligned to help women have a successful, peaceful transformation journey that we were able to come up with everything that you guys just mentioned. The plan when I was training Christy, yeah, I was telling Ruby, we want to think about the things before they think about it so that they don't have to think about it because we already took care of it. It's done.
They don't don't worry about it. We want them to feel as relieved from stress as possible. All we have to focus on is healing, is eating, is sleeping, resting, watching whatever they wanna watch, reading whatever they wanna read, and making sure that they feel really comfortable during their recovery. So to hear it from you ladies that it's it's working, it makes me feel so, so, so empowered and so happy. I feel like I really I really help the community. Yeah. It's like And this is just the beginning. Right? Yeah.
Sorry, Tanya. Beginning. No. This is just the beginning. You know, over the weekend, I was telling you guys about how when I had the pulmonary embolism and I had to call for 911 and they came to the house to help me, which they're all amazing first responders, but they were all men. And they treated me like I was having a panic attack because I was in a FAHA, and they were like, you're just having a panic attack. You're female hysterical. If you can't, you're not handling it right.
I wish that I had had this team because I could have called one of you guys. You would have supported me through it, and they would have been able to tell them, look. No. She's not hysterical because she has a on. She's hysterical because she probably has something medically going on and she can't breathe. Just like going through the airport, I was on my way home. I have my on. I was pulled from TSA pre check-in and made to wait and go through a full body search because I had a FHA on.
Had I had somebody on my team who I could you know what I mean? Like, things like that where people don't think of women or men going through these kinds of things, dealing with situations like that, I felt helpless. I felt scared. And, knowing that you have a whole team there to support you, like, it's everything. So I know this time around, if something goes wrong, exactly who I'm calling. You are Right. That's so funny. Bring me down. Yep.
Molly. I love you. Yeah. Speed down. Speed down. So okay. The question was about eating after surgery. Right? Very important for you to eat above maintenance calorie intake of your protein.
I've had I read a lot of surgeons pre and post instructions when I go over them with my girls in our 1 on ones where I read, surgeon recommendations of adding an extra protein shake every day for 3 months being additional on top of everything that you're eating, adding the protein shake. I think that is a really good tip. The other thing I wanna talk about is your pets. So I did a whole episode on the importance of maintaining your recovery area clean while you're in recovery. Especially let me tell you, I had a case, nearly, like, 12 years ago of a patient who had an infected tummy tuck incision, and we couldn't figure out why was she infected. Where did it come from? And it wasn't until the doctor swabbed it, sent it off to to check what is what is this bacteria, and it was bird feces. And it was the patient had a bird that flew around that flew around during her recovery. I know.
I hear smokey. That's why I'm telling you. I know. I hear smokey, baby. That nasty little heifer flies all over the house. My boyfriend lets him sit on the couch with us. Like, every the places where I will be recovering, like, he brings so my we have to have a phone call with my boyfriend, so he knows not to put the bird everywhere. Oh my god.
You're gonna have to maybe have, like, a specific room in the house that is your recovery area. A clean Okay. With a door. This is what I like to tell my girls. A place with a door that your pets can't come in, that it's just for you, just for your recovery, keeping it super clean, wiping off the the door handle, anything that you could touch and then touch yourself, keep it clean. So how so my dogs sleep in our bed with us. They sleep okay. I'm not kidding when I tell you one butt one butt cheek has a dog here, the the butt crack here.
Like, my dogs, literally, my boyfriend's up on one side. The dogs are up against me on the other. So how long, do they need to remain out of the bedroom until I'm totally completely healed and everything is all all good? Okay. I would say at least stay away from your dogs until your incisions are completely clean. And, I mean, completely clean. And keep them clean. I've had patients cancel surgery because they're like, I can't I can't not sleep with my dogs. And I'm like, okay.
Well, you you're you can't sleep with your dog while you're in recovery. And they're like, okay. Well, I won't have surgery. Okay. Then don't have surgery because it's you're gonna have the surgery and you're risking an infection, a massive infection that could change change the trajectory of your recovery with this. That's so good to know because, I I mean, obviously, I knew about the jumping on me and stuff, but, like, having I I need to make sure that my bedroom is the sacred healing space, the place for me to rejuvenate and heal. And my life is just the way that I am as my animals are a massive part of my life. They're my babies and, so, yeah, I think that is that helps me so much.
Now I know I can prepare for that too. Keep just I like to say a recovery room area with the bathroom, a walk bathroom that you can easily walk to, is the best. If if you have up and downstairs, make it downstairs so you're not going up and downstairs. Or if you are upstairs, make it to where you have the bathroom upstairs so you don't you only have to come down to eat or something like that. Okay. It's very, very important in those first 6 weeks to make sure that your incisions stay clean and healthy and free of bacteria. And just always remember, like, wash your hands after I'm touching things. And, like, if you leave your recovery room and you go out and you're walking around the house and you're touching things, wash your hands, hand sanitizer, making sure that when you go back to your recovery area, you're not wearing this the socks that you were wearing out there and then getting in your bag with those same socks.
With all the dog hair all over me like I do. Things that you don't even think about. Like, I never thought about any of these things. I don't have pets, but I would never think about all of that. That's such great info, Mavi. Like, it's so it's so helpful. Do you see my face? I'm like I don't even I total hour time. Yeah.
I'm like, oh my goodness because I'm covered in dog hair every time I walk out of my room. I've just this morning, I was telling you girls how I went to feed the dogs. You know, I want a snout brand against my stockings that I had stuff on. So, yeah, that is something that I have to do. If you have somewhere that they can live for, like, 3 weeks so you can keep them away from you because it's hard with dogs. They don't they're not they don't they listen, but they're not gonna listen, listen. They don't understand. They don't.
My little pit bull is a talker, and so she will be, I won't do it on here, but she will be yelling and crying because she has slept against mommy since she was 8 weeks old. So she's going to be very vocal, and it's heartbreaking when you hear her she's not gonna take it well. Aw. Well, maybe you can start to, like, lean her. You have a concern, like, 8 days out. Right? That's starting right now. Today. Now.
Like, when like, right lean her, like, tonight. Start it. Yes. Yeah. Mhmm. But that makes sure you have lost everything. Bed. Make sure you have the information, that's exactly what I'm going to do.
I'm gonna use it. Right. Wash your sheets, pillowcases, clean your floors, wipe off all the counters, every all the doorknobs, everything in your recovery room in that area where you're gonna be recovering. The shower, get the cap get the shower cleaned, make sure it's, like, good because you just wanna make sure be overprotective. Not over then under because then you might you don't know where a bacteria can come from, an infection can come from. And what we want is just for you to heal peacefully and with no infections, no issues. Thank you, mom. Dog hair can get everywhere.
You guys know dog hair can get everywhere. So time before before we go, you ladies, do you have any other There's a dog busted in the room right now. I was like, yeah. Did she push feet on the door. She pushed
the door open. She heard me talking about her. Push the door open.
Me out of the bed. Oh, no. That door was shut tight. She just heard it and pushed it open. He literally
It'll be okay, girl.
Not. We thought we thought we wanted it. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. The only other thing that I was wondering about was, comfort wise when I'm when I'm recovering in my bed. Like, do I do I need to get, like, the pregnancy pillow? Because I know every surgery is different. For my abdominoplasty, I've recovered in a recliner.
But for this one, I'm not living in the same place. I don't have that recliner. So, like, what's gonna be the best thing for me as far as being comfortable during recovery? I think, for stylist, it's not you don't have to be, like, bent how you are for a tummy tuck or for an abdominoplasty surgery. I'm smoking in the background. So making sure that you're comfortable. It's an area that's comfortable and that you don't have to like, for example, you said your bed is high. Like, you might not be comfortable for you to have to fold your knee to get up on the bed. You know what I mean? Yeah.
You know how you when you go Yes. On the bed, you have to fold your knee and kinda dig on your knees to get it on there. That might not be very comfortable for you because that might feel tight or it might feel pressure. The same thing as I was telling you earlier, if it hurts, don't do it. You can try, maybe a lower place, a lower sleeping area until you feel, like, comfortable enough to get up there. Okay. Thank you. That helps.
I know you're like, dang. We got a high bed. We do. That's the only place I have to sleep because keeping the dogs quarantined is gonna be in the living room area, which is where the couch is. And that that's the my bed is the only alternative that I that's that's it. So I'm gonna have to figure out a way to to make everything work. So this is why yeah. This is why all the information is so important.
This is why talking to someone like you who has all this knowledge is important so that I can be prepared and not be freaking out coming home from surgery and not having a place to sleep and having the dogs laying up in my bed and then crawling up into the same bed when the dogs have been in there with their dirty paws. Like, this is eye opening for me. I'm literally going to, like, strip everything and, like, isolate the dogs starting today. Yeah. Like, you know, it's sad for some of my pet owners because they're like, what? I can't sleep with my dogs, but it's for your for your benefit. It's to keep you safe, to keep you from having any infections. And the other thing is dogs lick. Right? They lick on things without sometimes you're like, wait.
Quit licking me. Stop. So that's another thing to think about when you are around your dogs, letting them lick you, like, if they lick your hands. Make sure you wash your hands before you touch anything on you. And just stay away from them for, like, the first I would say at least the first 3 weeks. Okay. Thank you, Mavi. So your incisions are closed.
Once you see that your incisions are closed, you're good. Okay. I'm good. Okay. But if there's still fresh oak, like, they're still healing, they're still you can still see blood, you can still see red, then stay away from them. So about how long does it take for your ascendants to close? They start closing. By 2 weeks, you see, like, they're they're closing. They're healing.
By 6 weeks, they should be completely completely closed. Okay. So it depends on how you heal, how much protein are you taking, are you are you doing a good job with your calorie intake? That's what kinda determines how fast your incisions close. So Okay. Good information. Yes. Right? It's really good. It's I love to talk to someone who knows so much about something I'm about to go through.
Like, I I love that. Thank you so much. Take your time too. Stay safe. I love you guys. I'm so happy to be a part of your journey, and to be a part of your podcast and launching your pod helping you launch your podcast has been such an amazing journey for me because it helps me expand and help other people raise their voices and help a big community, an even bigger community. And that just makes me feel so happy that I'm even able to do this. I started with, I have a mission.
There's ladies out there that need me. How can I find them? How can I what can I do for them to find me? And that was my mission. Like, okay. How do I find them? How can I make it so they can find me and so that they can find the good information that they need so they're not on Google? They're not, you know, googling something, and Google's telling telling them they're about to die. How can I help them find the information that they need that's actually good information? And that was my mission. I that's why I left the gate thinking I need for them to find me, and I need to find them. And slowly, we built this community of women who just empower each other and do nothing but encourage and support each other. And over the weekend, we talked about how amazing it is to sit at a table with women who are in love with personal growth, in love with helping other people, in love with being part of a larger community and wanting to feel normal.
Like, this is okay. And being a part of all of this has been just so amazing for me, and I'm so happy that I get to do it. Me too. And thank you so much
for your patience.
Yeah. Thank you so much for all that you've done for us. I really appreciate it. And you're right. Like, us 3 women right here, we're committed to personal growth. At the same time, we're committed to helping as many people as we possibly can. Like, that is the goal. Keep results, inspire, and inspire others.
Exactly. So, ladies, I won't take up any more of your time. We have had a full day of recording today, so I'm sure you're ready to relax. Let's take your headbands off and chill. Head banging. So I will see you guys next week. Thank you for coming on.
