Plastic Surgery Question...

Hey all. I was just wondering if anyone had had Dr. Halmi's "vest" procedure on their belly. I had surgery in Sept 04 and have lost about 130#. He said it is a 3 hour procedure, which scares me a bit (my WLS was only about an hour!) Thanks for the info if you've got it!

Wow, Hon, my WLS surgery was 5 hours long!!!!!! You will be fine...never had Dr. Halmi's "vest" but sounds interesting...maybe in another year of so. You are doing great. Hugs, Betsy

not sure what the vest procedure is ... but from what I've been reading about plastics... 3 hours for any plastics procedure isn't bad at all...it seems the avg is about 4 hours and then some. There was a doc on TV last week that did 7-8 hours of lower body lifts...that was scarry!!!! Let me know what you find out...sounds interesting. wanda

Hello Robin - Ive been through several plastic surgeries now (tummy, arms, breasts and neck) but the doctor(s) I used were local to VaBeach. Dr. Merrell and Dr. Galumbeck. Ive never heard of the "VEST" proceedure, but I'm really curious about it. Can you give us more details on what it entails? I'll also try to do a GOOGLE on it, in case you don't have time to respond - you've piqued my curiosity though. Good luck to you ~ Lei

Lei et all- First of all, let me apologize for totally getting the name of the procedure wrong it is a "Tightening Jacket" Abdominoplasty. I told you I got freaked when I heard about the surgery time! Dr. Halmi told me that they basically go in the same spot where my original scar is and kind of pull in towards the middle, as opposed to down like a "normal" tummy tuck. I have done a bit of peeking online but haven't found much about his particular procedure. I believe that it is something he has been developing specifically for WLS patients. I know that he has presented his research at a few conferences in the not too distant past. And while I've got your ear...how was the arm work? Dr. Halmi told me that those can basically be outpatient surgery but that his procedure would be a several night hospital stay... Robin

Hi Robin, I was going to use Dr. Halmi for my abdominal surgery, but I then learned that he does the anchor cut. This was last year, at my appointment when we discussed this anchor cut. I recently went to a doctor that was referred by his office and discussed the same surgery. They will be doing the bikini cut, which is my preference. I think if you call the office they may give you contact information for patients that have had the surgery done by him. Or you can post the question on his message board, they are very helpful there and provide you with great answers. Have you been to any of his support meetings. Sometimes there are patients there that have also had the surgery, which they don't mind showing you the end results. Hope this will help just a bit. JanetN