Nordesthetics Lithuania Tummy Tuck Breast Implant review

I arrived in Lithuania on 24th Oct 2017 with my sister, we flew with Ryanair and came in half an hour early so I was happy with that, I hate flying! Luton to Kaunas - 3 hours.
We were met at the airport by one of the clinic drivers Victoria and after a short wait for another lady who'd flown in from London we were off to the clinic.
The first thing that struck me about the clinic was that it wasn't called Nordesthetics, it is called Grozio Chirurgija, they have 3 clinics in Kaunas and I think Nordesthetics is just an umbrella name.
The plastic surgery clinic is very nice inside, clean and modern.

I had my bloods taken promptly and then my consultation with Dr. Sakalauskas. The consultation was very thorough, each operation was explained to me in depth including possible complications and expected outcomes. I had intended to have fat transfer to my breasts as we have a family history of breast cancer and I was worried about implants. On examination the Dr said I didn't actually have enough fat to make this worthwhile, this was a surprise as my own Dr had told me I was centrally obese. We discussed implants and he reassured me they would be safe placed behind the muscle and would not interfere with future breast screening. We tried some sizes and agreed that a 2 size increase was about right. I have always had very small breasts and didn't want them to be big, I just wanted to look female in my clothing. 

I was given a bra to put on to put the breast shaped silicone boob into and a vest top to put on over it which gave a better idea what I'd look like in clothing.  

After sorting the payment and paperwork we were taken to our hotel. 

We stayed at the kaunas hotel in the main tourist area. The room was a good size and clean and comfortable.

We walked up and down the strip outside the hotel looking for somewhere to eat and eventually found a nice Italian just round the corner. 

My surgery was booked for 9am the next day so I was picked up at 8.30am. On arrival I was taken to a private room and asked to put on my operating gown, I was getting nervous now! The anaethetist came to speak to me and then I went down to be drawn on by Dr Sakalauskas, this was my only complaint about the whole experience as this was done downstairs in the original consultation room which meant I had to walk past a few people waiting in reception in my gown and dressing gown which felt awkward. 

Once I was marked up it was back to the room to wait for my drip feed to be put in.

 You can see the area for the liposuction on my back and the skin area to be cut away on my stomach, one breast was lower than the other so I have a larger mark under that one for him to try and match them up. 

I'm a total baby about needles but was so scared by this point I just wanted it to be over. The anaethetist came back to take me down to theatre, I have been walked into operating theatres before and it's always a bit unnerving seeing all the equipment but he told me to lie down then covered me over with a lovely quilt, black with multi coloured flowers 😊 it was such a lovely touch and made me feel like I was just going to have a lovely sleep not be butchered to death!

He let me know he was going to start and gave me an injection into my drip feed. I have had a fair few operations and sometimes being put to sleep has been awful with the room spinning and a feeling of pressure on my head but this was very gentle I just felt a tad drowsy and that was the last thing I remember. 

When I woke up I thought they obviously hadn't started then felt my boobs and realised I was done! I remember shaking at some point but I've had that before after general anaesthetic so I wasn't concerned and they gave me a big heater and it soon stopped. I wasn't in any pain and just slept on and off.

This is how I looked when I came round enough to talk to my sister, very glamorous! 

Dr Sakalauskas came to speak to me soon after and told me my muscles had been 11cm apart. I was gobsmacked, no wonder I hadn't been able to fix them with exercise! He also gave me a bit of paper saying how much skin and fat had been removed. 

They really like to feed you and the food was pretty good if only I'd been able to enjoy it! As soon as I tried to eat I was sweating and felt sick. The nurses were very attentive and consistent with pain killers, anti biotics, sleeping pills and anti sickness injections. 

By the second day I was staring to feel quite rough, I still couldn't eat and felt really sick and dizzy. The anaethetist quickly appeared and ordered a blood test to check my haemaglobin levels and 2 minutes later a nurse appeared to take it. It was the most relaxed I've ever been about a blood test I just didn't care by this point. My blood tests came back normal and the Dr explained he thought it was due to the sudden tightness and restriction to my stomach and lungs that I was feeling sick, it was hard to breathe but he had warned me that might happen when be closed the muscles. Today was the first massage, it wasn't enjoyable and my breasts made all sorts of noise from the air trapped in the cavity which is totally normal but was unnerving all the same. We were encouraged to try to walk and later in the day they removed the catheter so then i had to get up to use the toilet.  Trying to reach the underneath of your garment to do it back up everytime is no small feat! The nurse helped the first time I went. Weirdly I could breathe easier when sat on the loo! 

I enjoyed watching the lights in the next building in the evening it felt homely. 

I shared my room with another lady who'd had a tummy tuck, she was Swedish but spoke good English and it was nice to have company. We encouraged each other to get up and use the loo etc on the second day. She had quite a bit of discomfort from her drains, mine did not bother me at all. 

On the third day I had to have my dressings changed and drains out before leaving, this was a little uncomfortable but I was glad when they were out. They gave me all the extra dressings and antiseptic spray I needed to look after the stitches for the next 2 weeks as well as pain killers, anti biotics and instructions for taking it all. I had another massage in the morning. 

I didn't really feel ready to leave for the hotel, it seemed like it would be impossible to walk downstairs to the taxi and I was worried about being sick on the journey. It was about ten minutes back to the hotel and the driver was very careful to avoid pot holes and let me put the window down. 

It was hard work and I felt self conscious when we got to the hotel as I was bent over walking. We got back to the room and I was happy to be there and able to relax. The hotel is well situated for places to get coffee and snacks so my sister was able to pop out and get me a hot chocolate and cake when I felt better. 

I managed to make it down for breakfast in the morning and met another lady walking up and down the hallway bent over, she'd had the same operation although she was a day ahead of me, it made me feel better to see someone else in the same boat. 

My sister got lunch from the supermarket across the way and I just basically sat in bed watching the English nature channel all day, many many episodes of Paul O'Grady for the love of dogs! 😄 

At dinner time we ordered food for room service which was only a €3 charge. I managed to find some plain chicken and rice and ate about half of it. 

Trying to sleep was a whole different ball game without the electric bed to help me get up and down and get me in a position that was comfortable. You are advised to sleep on your back, I cannot sleep on my back and this caused me the most problems. I tried lying on my side but that hurt the breast not resting on the bed, I discovered if I wedged a pillow between my breasts to try and support the top one that was fairly comfortable and I could get some sleep but it was not great sleep. 

The next few days went the same until the last full day when I decided I'd brave going to the shopping mall, by taxi of course, as I wanted to buy the kids little presents. It was hard work and we struggled to get help finding the taxis to go back to the hotel, they are sat at one end. 

Dressings were changed every other day and the elastic strap on the breast garment goes above the breast one day and below it the next. I was glad when I could have a shower although being out of the support garment felt worse than being in it. 

I didn't think the bruising was that bad, my stomach mostly felt numb and I wasn't really in any pain apart from when I lay on my side. 

We flew home 6 days after arriving, 5 days after the operation. Before the flight I had a final appointment with Dr Sakalauskas to check all was healing well and I was ok to go home. This was at one of their other clinics which wasn't particularly nice looking from the outside but the clinic itself was just as nice as the one where I'd had the surgery. 

I was terrified, terrified I wouldn't manage the walking at the airport, terrified someone would notice I was in pain and deem me unfit to fly. I just wanted to get home but didn't want to do the journey. 

For reference Ryanairs website says you can fly 5 days after simple abdominal surgery or 10 days after complicated abdominal surgery, I didn't feel like what I'd had done was simple but then it is fairly common. Anyway I got away with it, I was more or less straight when walking, I managed to pull my case and my sister lifted it up for scanning etc. The hardest part was queuing to board, it was so packed and I was trying not to get hit by someone and there was nowhere to sit so I tried to sit on my case but that required using your ab muscles so I just had to stand. It seemed a long walk to the aeroplane and I was glad to sit down. 

I'd been sitting all week but with my feet up, sitting properly in a chair was uncomfortable. I've had varicose veins in the past so I was worried about the flight, my sister kept making me get up and walk down the Isle, I felt like an idiot keep getting up and got stuck at one end when they started serving drinks and was hanging onto the wall to try to stand, people probably thought I was drunk! 

I was so glad to get home and my mum had come to the airport to meet me even though she was going straight back home on the bus as my husband and kids had come to get me. 

I have been doing a lot of resting since I came home, I've watched 7 seasons of once upon a time on Netflix in just 3 weeks! I went back to work last weekend at 3.5 weeks after surgery and that was tough. I work in a supermarket but because I haven't been on my feet for more than an hour, a 4 hour shift was pretty brutal. 

It's 4 weeks today since my surgery and I am just starting to feel a little stronger, I managed to tidy my sons bedroom yesterday, it took me 5 hours with a few breaks. 

It still hurts my boobs a bit to lie on my side, I'm still wedging a cushion in between them to support the top one. I'm still struggling to breathe deeply especially when walking. When I sit for more than ten minutes the top of my stomach seems to seize and then when I stand again it is quite sore, it feels like it's ripping. I try to stretch up a bit but I'm worried about tearing the internal stitches. I had the external stitches out at 2 weeks which they made a bit of a fuss about at the gp as they don't deal with things done privately but because I'd had it done abroad they decided they had a duty of care to do it.

These are at 2 weeks after the stitches came out. I have some swelling here but it's not bad. 

This is what my stomach looked like before I went. I was quoted £7500 for a tummy tuck with muscle tightening and lipo in the uk, in Lithuania it's just under £2000.

I would never have been able to afford to have it done here and certainly wouldn't have been able to have my breasts done as well. I've been depressed about having tiny boobs my entire adult life, I've been walking around for 5 years with this huge belly constantly being asked if I'm pregnant, not being able to find anything to wear that would hide it or I could feel comfortable in. It affected me so much I wouldn't leave the house unless I had to. I hated myself, I felt ugly and couldn't believe my husband could find me attractive so I'd hide from him, avoiding physical contact as much as possible. 

Am I a different person now? No and yes. 

I still have autism and all the personality challenges that come with that. I still have crooked teeth and a bump in my nose and persistent acne on one side of my face. I'm still mum to 6 crazy kids and 2 soon to be 3 grandchildren. 

But I don't hate what I see when I look in the mirror anymore. I'm not punishing myself for the failings of my body. I worked hard to try to fix myself with diet and exercise and it didn't work, it was never going to close that 11cm gap. I don't feel like I have to hide anymore or be ashamed. I'm not perfect but it's enough for me. 

I've still got recovering to do but would I do it again? Absolutely. Would I recommend the clinic? In a heartbeat. It was a risk going abroad for surgery but one I'm so glad I took.  

My advice to others would be don't spend years being unhappy, I wish I'd had this done 5 years ago. It is tough having 2 procedures done at once but if you have good support you'll be fine. It's not vanity when it affects your self esteem and there's nothing wrong with wanting to look nice anyway! I've been slim all my life and I finally feel like myself again and that is definitely worth the few weeks of discomfort. 

This is a link to the core programme I've been doing to fix my core function

https://laurenohayon.com/?rxf=60  Affiliate Link you can also get a $10 discount by adding my code af1060 at checkout