I have a surgery date

[umop ap!sdn]

Absolutely, do whatever is necessary to attain the best results you can possibly get. Congrats in any case!

<----- Would like to be #3 this year but the odds are against that because of finances and other factors.

[Melissa]

Thanks Julie.  Odds are stacked a bit against me as well, but it's become of matter of saving money as well as figuring out other ways to make the money.  In the worst case, the date can always be pushed back (if you give it enough lead time).  But by setting a date, it makes this more realistic and you fight harder to get to that.  I constantly amaze myself with what I'm able to accomplish.  At this point in time, I'm so much closer to this than I thought I could be, yet there's so far to go.

Melissa

[melissa90299]

Well, I now have a surgery date scheduled in December with Dr. Reed.  I feel so good. 

Melissa

Harry Reed in Miami? You might want to do your due diligence before your final decision to go with him.

I am leaning toward Kunaporn in Phuket.

[Suzy]

What's the latest, Melissa?

Kristi

[Melissa]

Oh, I'm not going to go to Dr. Reed.  I DID do my due dilligence and ended up being quite scared of him.  The new surgeon on my list is Dr. Chettawut.  I have been doing loads of reasearch on him, I have talked to a bunch of people who went to him, and I have seen a result in person.  Not only does he seem to be having great results, he's affordable too.  Currently the plan is to have SRS by next March.

Melissa

[Lucy]

Hope all goes well, mel. Good luck

[Melissa]

Thanks Lucy.  It's entirely still possible I may be able to have it by the end of the year, but waiting 3 more months will put my finances in better order.

Melissa

[cindianna_jones]

It is wise to keep your finances in order.  Three months is noise compared to the rest of your life. Digging yourself out of a financial hole is one of the most difficult things one can do.  And it is especially difficult to couple that with the extra problems we tend to carry with us.  Good luck to you doll.

Cindi

[Suzy]

I agree with Cindi.  (I keep saying that for some reason. )  Three months is a short time to go through to have a lot less stress in your life from finances.  I would think that your recovery would benefit by having that much less to worry about.

Congrats, hot chick!

Kristi

[Melissa]

Thanks Cindi and Kristi.  My finances are manageable at this point, but I know I would be out of work for at least a month.  I will have *some* vacation time, and hopefully my short term disability insurance will pick up the rest, but I may have to eat the remainder of when I'm out.

Melissa

[Steph]

Thanks Cindi and Kristi.  My finances are manageable at this point, but I know I would be out of work for at least a month.  I will have *some* vacation time, and hopefully my short term disability insurance will pick up the rest, but I may have to eat the remainder of when I'm out.

Melissa

You may want to plan on being away from work for about 6 weeks hon.  I'm in great shape and top notch health and I thought that I would be able to return to work in a month, but it wasn't to be I ended up being away from Dec 11 2006 to Jan 22 2007.   Also your initial dilation routine may not permit you to return to work.

Just some points to ponder

Steph

[Jonie]

Melissa,

Congradulations, I'm so happy for you!

[KarenLyn]

Congrats Melissa. I wish you all the best. I'm going with Marcie Bowers myself. I talked to her office and I can schedule when as soon as I'm ready. I'm planning for the spring/summer of 09. It will take that long to save 6 weeks worth of sick time. Besides, after being out for 6 weeks this year for back surgery hasn't made my manager very happy. I'm on light duty and half days for at least 2 more months. Wooohooooo. More time at home with my sweetie!

Karen Lyn      

[Melissa]

Thanks Jonie.

You may want to plan on being away from work for about 6 weeks hon.  I'm in great shape and top notch health and I thought that I would be able to return to work in a month, but it wasn't to be I ended up being away from Dec 11 2006 to Jan 22 2007.   Also your initial dilation routine may not permit you to return to work.

Just some points to ponder

Steph

Thanks Steph.  That's why I said at least a month.  I will plan on 6 weeks then.  Basically I just need to save up enough money to pay rent/utilities/food/child support during that time.  Additionally, I could probably set it up so I could work from home initially, then work part days at home/work once I've recoved enough to do so.  It's a good thing I'm a programmer.   I just need to strike a good balance between taking it easy enough to heal and getting as much work done as possible.

Thanks Karen, depending on your income, you could also put enough into savings so that you can take unpaid leave and still have enough money for expenditures.  That's what I'm planning on doing.

Melissa

[KarenLyn]

Thanks Karen, depending on your income, you could also put enough into savings so that you can take unpaid leave and still have enough money for expenditures.  That's what I'm planning on doing.

Melissa

That's what I did for my back surgery. I only went one week unpaid but I had saved enough to go 3 months without so I was in good shape.

Karen Lyn

[tinkerbell]

Melissa, and what about state disability insurance?  some states do offer it for SRS and some cosmetic procedures related to GID.  You may want to look up into that as well.

No Dr. Reed?  what happened?  you seemed so happy the last time we talked about this, but again it is your body and believe me, I understand.   Dr. Chettawut, eh?  excellent choice!

tink

[Melissa]

Melissa, and what about state disability insurance?  some states do offer it for SRS and some cosmetic procedures related to GID.  You may want to look up into that as well.

I'll look into that.  I did signup for short term disability on my benefits at work just for SRS, so I'll look into that first.

No Dr. Reed?  what happened?  you seemed so happy the last time we talked about this, but again it is your body and believe me, I understand.   Dr. Chettawut, eh?  excellent choice!

If you look, you had posted in this thread about how you thought Dr. Reed was a good choice and here was my response:

Thank you.  I haven't put a deposit down yet and before I do so, I'm just inquiring with a few more surgeons first.  After I announced this I received some surprising information and now I'm not so happy with my decision.  Either way I'm determined to keep a date around this time, so that still stands.  I'll keep you updated.  Sorry to sound like a flake, but it IS my body.

So, all I did was what I said I would do.

Melissa

[Suzy]

Melissa, I think you're doing great.  This is too big of a decision to make without exploring all of the options.  From what I have seen, Dr. Chettawut is a great choice.  But I'm glad you are happy with your decision.  Great job!

Kristi