Get a loan. Payments would not be any more than a car payment. If your credit score sucks, work on fixing that and then get a loan.

Many of us have had to self-pay. Get less expensive housing, get rid of cable, get a less expensive car. Get a second job. There are many things we can do to save money. Make a plan and do it.

What if someone came to your class and said that they really, really want to lose weight, but can't afford fitness classes and asked you to instruct them for free? I mean they'd be advancing their health, so what would you say to them?

Why would a specialized medical professional perform this intensive surgery for free?

I mean.. maybe you can find a plastic surgeon who specializes in reconstructive surgery after weight loss who is also a zumba aficionado and barter free zumba lessons for life?

Yes! I believe he quoted me 11 1/2 hours and did it in about 10 hours. I had a BL (fat transfer, no augmentation) and LBL.

I had a laparoscopic hysterectomy a year and a half ago, 6 months after getting sleeved. It was not planned and not fun. I had fleur de lis abdominoplasty three weeks ago. Planned, but still not fun. I have to agree with almost everything said: hysterectomy first, then probably 6 months to get over the severe swelly belly and really heal up before going another round. My laparo hyst was super easy (compared to my c-sections) and I healed up really well, but at 6 months post sleeve, I felt like I had barely healed from the last round. I cannot even imagine trying to fly somewhere 2 weeks after my hysterectomy, not to mention major surgery. (As an aside, my plastic surgeon won't even do a body lift the same time as abdominoplasty, due to the spike in complications and blood transfusions after the 6 hr mark. (http://www.obesityhelp.com/articles/body-contouring-after-ma ssive-weight-loss-can-procedures-be-combined). I'm kind of shocked your plastics guy is so non-chalant about it. Is this just way, way outside of his expertise?)

The incisions on a laparo hyst look super small, but there's about a millionty little stitches in there. They have to take out a major structural support part that's attached all over the place and completely seal everything off. That kind of thing takes a long time to completely heal up from and you really don't want to mess with parts where your insides and outsides meet. Not to mention losing your uterus is quite a shock to the system; I kept my ovaries (apparently fallopian tubes are now considered the bad part?) and they still freaked out for a few months. Definite hormone roller coaster until it finally settled out about three months later.

It sounds like you already have a lot planned on the plastic surgery front. I would listen to the GYN surgeon; she's the one who knows how long you really need to wait before another surgery. (Also, if you have *any* problems post hysterectomy, find a good pelvic floor PT.)