Free Lipo Should Not Be This Complicated

Free Lipo Should Not Be This Complicated

🌼 Date: Thursday, August 27, 2026

⚡ Energy: Plastic surgery decisions and too many what-ifs

💖 Status: No more fills

🤔 Outlook: Apparently even free lipo comes with a decision tree

Today I had an appointment with my plastic surgeon.

We talked about expectations for my exchange surgery.

And I finally got some good news.

She thinks I have enough skin for her to do what I want.

Which means…

No more fills.

No.

More.

Fills.

My tissue expanders have officially done their job.

The medical chest rocks have stretched what needed to be stretched, tortured what needed to be tortured, and made themselves useful in the most uncomfortable way possible.

Thank you for your service.

You may now prepare for eviction.

The plan is still to exchange these expanders for implants, also known in my very professional medical terminology as gummy bears.

But today I learned there is an extra little bonus I did not know about.

Fat grafting.

Apparently, during the exchange surgery, my plastic surgeon will also do some fat grafting to help make the top of my boobs look more natural.

Because without it, the implant can create a ledge.

Or a step.

And let me just say, after everything I have been through, I am not trying to end up with a built-in shelf on my chest.

I have lost so much weight that there is not much fat left on my chest.

It is basically skin.

Just skin.

Skin and vibes.

And because the implants are round, they are the same height as they are wide. Without a little fat at the top to smooth things out, the shape may look less natural.

More step.

Less boob.

More architectural feature.

Less reconstruction.

So the fat grafting helps soften that transition and make things look more like actual breasts instead of something designed by a tired contractor on a Friday afternoon.

Now guess where the fat is going to come from.

No, seriously.

Guess.

And no, I cannot accept donations.

I am sorry.

I know some of you would generously offer.

“Take mine!”

“I have extra!”

“I’ll donate to the cause!”

And while I appreciate the community support, apparently breast reconstruction is not a potluck.

Very rude.

The fat has to come from me.

Which leads us to the next part of today’s appointment.

The part where free lipo suddenly becomes complicated.

Because I have to think about what I want to do if this exchange surgery does not work.

What if my body does not tolerate the implants?

What if I get an infection?

What if something happens and, for any reason, they have to take the implants out?

Then what?

Do I still want the option of DIEP flap surgery later?

And here is where my brain started doing that thing where it opens seventeen tabs at once and all of them are labeled, “What fresh hell is this?”

DIEP flap surgery is an advanced type of breast reconstruction that uses skin, fat, and blood vessels from your lower belly to rebuild a more natural-looking breast.

The surgeon takes tissue from your lower abdomen, kind of like a tummy tuck area, and uses microsurgery to reconnect the tiny blood vessels to your chest wall.

Unlike older flap surgeries, DIEP flap surgery leaves the core abdominal muscles intact, which lowers the risk of abdominal weakness or hernias.

It can sometimes be done at the same time as a mastectomy, or it can be done months or even years later.

So basically, it is a backup reconstruction option.

A very involved, very advanced, very “please let someone else explain the tiny blood vessel part because my brain has already left the room” kind of option.

But there is a catch.

Of course there is.

If I want to keep DIEP flap surgery as a future option, my plastic surgeon cannot use fat from a rectangular area around my belly button on my abdomen during the fat grafting.

That area has to be preserved.

Reserved.

Saved for later.

Like a weird little real estate investment on my stomach.

The next place they usually look for fat is the love handles.

But here is the problem.

I have lost so much weight that I do not really have much in the love handle department anymore.

I know.

This is a strange problem to have.

Tiny Tina has apparently become too tiny for convenient fat harvesting.

Breast cancer reconstruction: where losing weight can somehow become a planning complication.

Make it make sense.

So now I have to make some decisions.

Do I let her use fat from the belly area and accept that I may be giving up the DIEP option later?

Do I preserve that area just in case?

Do I have enough fat somewhere else?

How much fat do they even need?

What happens if the implant exchange goes perfectly?

What happens if it does not?

How many backup plans does one chest need?

This is the part of cancer reconstruction people do not always talk about.

It is not just “take out the old boobs and put in new ones.”

It is decisions.

Layers of decisions.

Medical decisions.

Body decisions.

Future decisions.

Risk decisions.

Appearance decisions.

Backup-plan decisions.

Decisions you did not even know existed until someone says the words “rectangular area around your belly button” and suddenly your stomach has entered the chat.

You would think deciding where to get some free lipo would be easy.

Free lipo?

Sign me up.

Take it from wherever.

Make it snatched.

Thank you and goodnight.

But no.

Because nothing in Cancerland is ever that simple.

Even the bonus fat removal comes with a flow chart, a future reconstruction discussion, and emotional homework.

Because this is not cosmetic in the fun way.

This is reconstruction.

This is “I lost my breasts to cancer and now we are trying to rebuild something that feels like mine again.”

This is “what do I want my body to look like after surviving something that already took so much?”

This is “how much do I plan for the worst while still hoping for the best?”

That is a lot to carry.

Especially when I am already tired.

Especially when I just went back to work.

Especially when I am still adjusting to being Tina 2.0.

Especially when part of me just wants the exchange surgery done so these hard expanders can move out and the gummy bears can move in.

But apparently, before the gummy bears arrive, I have to decide which fat is allowed to relocate and which fat needs to stay in its original neighborhood for possible future use.

This journey just continues to amaze me.

And by amaze, I mean occasionally make me stare into space while my brain quietly buffers.

I have another pre-op appointment with my plastic surgeon on October 22, so I will be able to ask more questions then.

She also told me I can change my mind up until the morning of surgery.

Which is helpful.

And also mildly terrifying.

Because apparently I can be standing there on surgery morning like, “Actually, let’s revisit the fat map.”

This is my life now.

A calendar full of appointments.

A chest full of expanders.

A future involving gummy bears.

A possible backup plan involving belly tissue and tiny blood vessels.

And a surgeon trying to figure out where she can borrow a little fat from a body that has been through hell and lost fifty pounds along the way.

No more fills, though.

I am holding on to that part.

No more fills.

The next big step is the exchange.

The medical chest rocks are on notice.

The gummy bears are coming.

And apparently, somewhere on this body, a small amount of fat is about to get reassigned.

No donations accepted.

But your emotional support is always welcome.

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💗 Tina –
One Badass Day at a Time