26 Feb 10 CANCELED: Nick/Tuck
If you follow me on Twitter (as you all should of course), you may have read yesterday where my surgeon canceled my upcoming, and when I say upcoming I mean the surgery was literally happening within 288 hours, surgery.
My medical Doctor here in San Francisco gave me a pre-surgery physical as my surgeon wanted. As I stated before on here, I have a health issue which ultimately will be the death of me. Its because I am not doing well based on my labs, that my Doctor decided to write a letter to the surgeon saying that while nothing may go wrong, my risk for infection could be greater, but may not be.
It’s because of this letter that the surgeon called me up expressing his concern with proceeding and said that I come back within 3-6 months if I am doing better at that time.
HERE’S HOW THIS COULD HAD GONE DIFFERENTLY:
My surgeon wanted to do the physical, but since I was having the procedure done in Florida, it was easier for me to have the physical in San Francisco. I will now be looking for a surgeon either within the San Francisco area, or go with my second, and more expensive choice, in Florida, but have them do the physical.
EVERY SINGLE DOCTOR I SPOKE WITH…and I believe I had 6 consultations with various Doctors said that my condition wouldn’t be an issue in performing the surgery, or recovery. It’s because of one gray-ly worded letter from my medical Doctor that this entire thing has been put on the shelf. BTW, I have already called my rep at Kaiser and asked for a change in Doctors. I never want to see the face of the man who made 7 months of sleeping on the streets all a waste.
I am not sure how I will proceed. I might look for an apartment, and just continue saving and hope in 3-6 months I am ‘better’ and able to have the surgery, but more likely I will continue living on the streets in order to save up the extra ~$3000-5,000 needed to have the surgery done with a different surgeon, keeping my medical Doctor out of the loop.
I WILL HAVE THIS SURGERY WITHIN THE NEXT 196 DAYS…I DON’T CARE IF I HAVE TO CUT MYSELF OPEN IN ORDER TO HAVE IT DONE, IT WILL BE DONE!
Tags: abdomenplasty, fat, lipo, Nick Tuck, surgery, tummy tuck, weight, weight loss, weightloss
12 Aug 09 It’s NOT Lipo
I am sick and tired of people commenting online and in person that I have gone homeless for liposuction…I am not fat (anymore) like a majority of Americans. I lost 100lbs and have kept it off for over a year now. 
Because I grew up heavy and my entire life until I decided to diet and exercise I was overweight, I have excess skin from a lifetime of being fat. I’ve had consultations with a few different plastic surgeons, who ALL agree that the proper procedure for me is an abdominoplasty, aka tummy tuck.
So don’t lump me in with these fat gross messes who choose not to the weight on their own…I FUCKING DID! I just want to complete the process, and finally feel good about how I look with my shirt off.
Tags: abdomenplasty, abdominoplasty, fat, liposuction, surgery, tuck, tummy tuck, weightloss
29 Jul 09 Nick Tuck Article
The other day I was contacted by Donna Sue Talarico about my weight loss story and specifically the steps I am taking to get the surgery I need after such dramatic weight loss. The article which she wrote featured a good few paragraphs about my story and what is in store. Here is an exceprt of my portion, but check out the entire article here.
Nick Starr, 28, of San Francisco, weighed more than 250 pounds last year. Through diet and exercise, he shed more than 100 pounds, but he’s left with sagging skin and desperately wants plastic surgery to fix it. Always overweight, he’d wanted plastic surgery as long as he could remember but originally thought liposuction was the answer.
“I realized a tummy tuck was the better procedure for me now, since I have excess skin and fat which won’t go away, no matter how much I’ve worked out in the past year,” he said, adding that his consulting surgeon also suggested love-handle lipo and a breast reduction.
Starr admitted he’s never been good at managing money, so he’s taking an extreme measure to raise $8,000 for his abdominoplasty: becoming homeless.
“I had to change something. I was homeless, living in my car once before,” he explained, adding that now he doesn’t have wheels. “I figure I can do it without the car with a few months while I save up money for the tuck.”
Starr dubbed his journey Nick/Tuck and is chronicling his progress and accepting donations on his blog at www.nickstarr.com.
Like so many others, Starr feels plastic surgery is the solution to finally being happy inside out. Yaremchuk believes strongly that plastic surgery can be life-changing by improving appearance and boosting self-esteem, but he cautions patients that it’s not always the answer to “solve all life’s problems.”
Tags: abdomenplasty, Nick Tuck, plastic surgery, surgery, tuck, weight, weightloss
29 Jun 09 “It’s A Good Thing You Did It While You Are Young”
Those are the words I heard the plastic surgeon said Friday when I went for my consult. I explained that I had lost 100lbs starting January 2008 and got to 160 by Pride (end of June) last year, and have maintained a weight in the 150-140s ever since then. He explained that it was a good thing that I lost the weight when my body is still young enough to heal and not be so stretched out.
If I would of let myself go and not lost the weight when I did, I might be left with more extreme measures, but as it turns out my procedure won’t even be THAT major. Now any time you go under the knife it is a big and life threatening experience, but I don’t need a a belt lipectomy, I just need a simple tummy tuck. The surgeon will remove an amount of skin from the top of my belly button down to my public hair from hip bone to hip bone. The skin from my chest will then be pulled down and reattached to the lower part, thus making a flatter, tighter toroso.
Sounds sort of painful, but it is something that I’ve wanted for years.
I explained where I work and what I wanted out of the procedure. He even tried to explain to me that if I got lipo on my sides and chest that the results would be less than desirable and I would end up with flappy areas of skin. I was shocked that he wasn’t trying to “upsell” me, but rather turned me away with good reason on certain procedures.
The cost for this surgery will be signifigantly less than the full lower body lift I had origionally thought of. He is going to mail me a full quote, and I am going to see another few doctors for other opinions, but he extimated his fee at $5,000, the hospital fee of $1,300 plus $300/hour, and the anesthesiologist fee of $150/hour. I am thinking the cost will be around $7,000-$9,000 (which seems to be the average on most local doctor’s sites I’ve seen).
I still don’t have the funds for the surgery, and with my paycheck as it is this week, and with all the Pride activities, iPhone 3GS purchase, etc I won’t be able to afford my rent this month, so my plans of moving out are unchanged. In order to save up the needed $7,000 minimum, I estimate 3 1/2 months if I didn’t spend a single dime, but more likely 5-6 months living without an apartment. 
Any help that you can provide will be appreciated. I will have donation buttons on the site soon, and if you have a sleeping bag, pillow, side project, part time job, an Atkins friendly meal, or place to let me crash for a night or two it would be GREATLY appreciated. It is going to be a long ~6 months, but I hope to make the best of it, and can’t wait to see the results of my dedication and efforts. The doctor took before shots, and I will see about taking some myself and posting the progress.
I also will be working out quite a bit more, and concentrating on my upper chest to get that in a presentable condition so that by the time I have my surgery I will feel comfortable with my shirt off at the beach, pool, or at some circuit party. I’ve ALWAYS wanted to go to Gus Presents Underworld party (I have a huge underwear fettish), but been too scared to with my current looks. Underworld will be the first event I go to post surgery healing with my new toroso. I am so excited and can’t wait for what the future has in store.
P.S. The picture of the before/after is not me, but a picture from the surgeon I saw today’s site.
Tags: abdomenplasty, lipo, plastic surgery, surgery, tummy tuck, weightloss
