Pre-trip (Part 1- blood test)

I emailed the contact email provided on the elixirdevie website, and received a reply from Ms Jennifer Cotto within 12 hours. She sent a couple of emails with various different information, about flights to Medan, Dr's experience, risks and complications of liposuction, preventive steps, surgery costs (and what it includes and excludes), as well as information of the blood test required before I can even book the surgery date.

She requested for some of my details, as well as some medical history. I was also told to provide some photos for Dr and her to review and understand my concerns. I quickly reverted the email and sent the photos required. After sending the emails, it took a couple of days for Ms Jennifer to reply, as it could be because it was the weekend and that Dr. had to review my photos before she could let me know of any decisions on their side.

After 4 days of wait, I emailed her again to double confirm that she received my emails and asked if my photos were clear enough. She then replied to inform that Dr. Arthur has reviewed and accepted my case. She also mentioned about realistic expectations as I have thick and huge thighs, I should not expect model slim legs after just one session, as Dr. Arthur will try to remove as much as possible within the safety limit of 2-3L per session. She also said that if I am ready, I should let her know and she would send me the blood test form.

As I was a little worried about not being able to get enough money for the trip and to do the surgery, I asked if there is a time period, upon taking the blood test, within which I must get the surgery done. It turns out that they will accept blood test results up to one year, but it is best to get the surgery done as near as possible to the blood test (or vice versa), so that it will be a more accurate representation of your health.

Reading about the long periods of recovery and all the hassle, I want to start this journey as soon as possible.

Therefore, determined to get the surgery done ASAP, I asked for the blood test form and went for the blood test the day after.

For the blood test:

You must first print out the form that Ms Jennifer Cotto emailed, and remember to bring it when you go for your blood test.

The email that Ms Jennifer sent will have the blood test form as well as the instructions for you to take note.
You WILL have to fast from 10pm from the night before your blood test.
I read on a blog previously that you do not have to fast, so I was abit worried.
I then went through the list of tests that was ordered by the Dr. and saw that "fasting glucose" is required, therefore I fasted as per Ms Jennifer's instructions.

The day after, I made my way down to Paragon, in Orchard.
I am not very familiar with Orchard road to be honest, so I googled Paragon to look at the landmarks that I could rely on. It is apparently beside lucky plaza, which made it easy enough for me to find it. (:

I found the shopping mall but was then worried about the next thing, which lift lobby to go to?
Ms Jennifer was pretty clear in her instructions, as she mentioned that I should take the lift that is beside the Citibank Counter. (She also advise on the timing to avoid due to peak hours) However, there were 2 different lift lobbies opposite each other, and both were beside Citibank. But if you remember correctly, Ms Jennifer mentioned the counter, as the other Citibank was the branch. To make it easier, it is lift lobby F. (:
I noted it down so that it will be clearer for anyone who happens to read this blog hoping to prepare him/herself for this!

So, after going up to level 17, just walk down the corridor, you will walk past a cancer treatment centre and a plastic surgery clinic. Quest lab is on the left of the corridor (opposite the clinic).

Just pass the form and your I/C to the lady at the counter and get the queue number from her.
You can then go and sit down and wait for the lady to come and pass you back your I/C. Later the nurse will call you and you just have to go into the (only) room and have your blood drawn. (:

I am scared of needles to be honest, so I didnt dare to look, and the nurse was really nice and tried to distract me. So, I got my blood drawn without feeling much discomfort.

You then have to press on the "wound" and go back outside to sit down and wait for the receptionist to call you for payment. Just pay and you can go!

They will send the test results to Dr. and Ms Jennifer will then email you regarding your blood test results and suitability for liposuction.

*Liposuction is a major surgery, therefore blood test is required to ensure your safety and prevent complications.

Hello

Hello,

I started this blog to document and share my liposuction journey.

I am just a normal girl, facing problems that many of you are also facing.
A lack of self-confidence, good genes, and so on.

I have never been a skinny girl from young, I was just went from babyfats-chubby to a bit or very plump. My friends laughed at me, calling me names and teased me. I didn't like what they say, because I am sensitive and self-aware, and having them remind me about all my flaws just sucks.
I want to be slim and confident too, I want to strut down the street and not feel that people are looking at me cause I am fat and gross.

I thought about a lot of different things, I've spent money on different things like slimming programmes, gym memberships, diet pills and starved myself. I do workout too, as I enjoy marathons. Even when I was running a lot, my "elephant thighs" (as my friends call it) didn't become any less elephant. I might have been a little slimmer when I was going through a rough patch (that lasted a year or more) during my horrible relationship, but it was unhealthy weight loss due to emotional torture and starvation. Even though I was slimmer, I was not proportionate, and I still had huge bottoms.

Into the first year of busy worklife, it has been even harder to keep up with workouts and it is just tiring every single day. I like to run outdoors, so running was affected by rainy season, haze period, my own period, falling sick and so on. It is very hard to get back on track once you go back to square one, but I am trying to get back into it. However, knowing that even if I work hard at it, doing 20km and more, will not help with the problematic body parts just turns the motivation off.

After hearing more insults from supposed friends, I was depressed for a period, and started typing weird things in the search engine. That began my "research" on liposuction as I chanced upon it.
I read up a lot about the procedures (the new and old technologies and the traditional method), the different options, different countries, prices, doctors. I then emailed a couple of them to enquire about pricing and details, and I decided that I want to do it in Medan, with Dr Arthur Tjandra.

I want to use this blog to share the process so that anyone else thinking of going can use this to help ease some uneasiness and hopefully clear some doubts.

(This post is posted before I even go for the trip or even book my surgery date, I just don't want to lose the thoughts and wanted to start it and document as much as possible down, so that other people can read and not feel as clueless when they are going for it.)