My Body Plastics Story (long!)
I’ve been waiting to tell about my body plastics experience until I could sit upright and type comfortably—so this’ll be a long one, but I really like to hear peoples’ experiences and maybe mine’ll help someone, I dunno. If you have any questions, please ask—it’s how we learn here, right?
The specifics:
WHAT/WHEN/WHERE/WHO/WHY: I had an extended anchor-cut abdominoplasty, mastopexy (breast lift), massive brachioplasty, umbilical herniectomy, partial mons lift, and some thigh tightening. These were done by Dr. Ivor Kaplan in Norfolk, VA, who is an unbelievably thorough and knowledgable guy.
Surgery was at DePaul Hospital and lasted almost 12 hours in total. I stayed in the hospital for 48 hours.
ABDOMINOPLASTY: Rather than an LBL, I chose an anchor cut abdominoplasty. The LBLs I have seen ended up creating a squarish, boxy figure and I’m a big fan of wasp-waisted, hourglassy types. Because I already have a large ventral scar from my open bowel obstruction surgery, this was a good option for me. He used the same scar, so it’s a litte asymetrical, no biggie though.
The scar starts just behind my left hip, under the belly area, and goes around to the right hip. It’s a little longer so it can connect to the bottom/thigh life I will have at a later date. The vertical scar goes from my pubis to sternum. Incisions were made from between my breasts to each hip, in an upside down V, which then were joined in the middle. The muscle layer was sewn centrally like a corset and lots of skin was pulled centrally from around my back and up from my thigh and mons areas as well—so it’s very very taut.
I lost 9.5 pounds of flesh from my midsection—no fat, just skin. I have a small amount of drainage at the very end of the left hip scar if I move a lot and that’s it.
The good side of this technique is that the layers of fat, fascia and muscle were not separated, but connected intact. Because of this there’s very little sub-q fluid collecting that requires drainage. I had two JP drains on either side of my mons—which collected about 30 cc fluid the first day, and 10cc per day after—so they were removed 9 days later at my first post-op visit, which was a painless and a HUGE relief because the drains themselves were very painful. I wear a Velcro binder while awake. I have a custom girdle but it’ll have to wait until my ass swelling subsides a hair.
MASTOPEXY (breast lift): I was a 48H before losing weight and a 34D after, and it was largely skin. While an implant was suggested, I couldn’t bear the thought of replacing those ol’ heavy things, and opted instead just to go with whatever could be made of what I have left. Turns out that what’s left is a solid C cup, which looks proportionate and full with my narrower waistline.
My doctor doesn’t leave the lollipop-stick scar from the areola down. He cuts around each nipple, pops it inside, cuts a new circle several inches lower, and pulls ‘em back out and secures them in place. Extra skin is removed at the crease, and special stitching at the base (pedicle) and creative cutting and layering of surgical tape provides support while healing. I do have a custom made sleeved compression garment, but the underarm seams irritate me so I wear it every other day, and a sports bra when I am out.
Otherwise, the girls are goin’ commando until some swelling subsides. I have a target-like scar around each nipple (enclosed in tape) and a scar in the crease, and that’s it.
BRACHIOPLASTY (arm lift): I think my upper arms measured something like 17 inches, initially. He removed over 6 inches from each arm, so these muthas are tight. My lower arm is going to be a little larger and flabbier than my upper arm. The scar starts at the end of the breast lift, makes a zigzag in the armpit, and comes down the inside back of each arm, ending at the elbow, with a small horizonal position that helps make it able to bend a little easier.
I wrap and re-wrap them several times a day with ace bandages, so I can provide light and slightly changing pressure, which starts at the wrists and pushes fluids upward. I wear the arm compression garment when I can stand it, which is every other day. For the first five days my hands swelled and I couldn’t hold anything in my sausagy fingers but that’s subsided now.
HERNIECTOMY:
I had a hernia next to my navel. I now have no hernia—and no navel--- I didn’t want it in the first place so it was no great loss. Unsavable, in any case.
PAIN/MEDS: Plenty of pain, but not how I expected. I was on Dilaudid (with Benadryl, I’m allergic) for 48 hours, which went a long way, but it was still excrutiating to get up to a seated position or hold up my head.
The second day I developed a keening headache that pierced my left eye and went back into my skull. It was THIS pain, not my body, that nearly killed me—it went on for the better part of a week. I went home on Tylenol 3 but stopped it 48 hours later because it was making the headaches worse. I have been on nothing more than regular Tylenol and Ambien to sleep for the last week.
The keening headache may be histamine related so I am going to use Benadryl if I use the Tylenol 3 again.
Body wise, the pain moves. Today I feel like I had a gunshot from the hernia excision—I exercised and overdid it. Otherwise, random *****ly pains as the nerves reconnect, and sore armpits when I wear a bra. Breasts are painless. The drains were probably the most painful as one would stab me with any movement, but they are history now, thank god.
COSTS: The whole schmegeggy ran about $18,800. BC/BS agreed to a panniculectomy, which chopped $3k off the deal—and because of the hernia, BC/BS agreed to pay the two nights in ths hospital. I ended up paying about $15k out of pocket. I had an UNBELIEVABLE and airtight file for BC BS, with years of documentation, intertrigo, rashes, creams, lotions, hydradenitis, tens of photos, skin degradation, letters from specialists----and am appealing for other skin removal.
The bottom line is this: don’t count on your insurance to come through. Your pannus may be covered, but arms and breasts, no matter how extreme, rarely are. I had more excess skin than most, “better" insurance than most, and a tighter case than most, and still was only very minimally covered.
ASSISTANCE: This is NOT something you can tough it out through and do alone. I literally required 24 hour care for the first 9 days ****il the drains came out.) You cannot initially feed yourself, and getting up from a seated position while using no belly and no arms is really difficult, if not impossible. If you choose to have multiple procedures, you need reliable nursing staff. You need people who can move you, change dressings, assist on the toilet, shower you, insert suppositories (oh yeah, that was a real bonding moment)—it’s pretty exhaustive. Thanks, Mom! J
SPECIAL NEEDS:
Greatest investments I have ever made:
A commode extender—new from Craigslist-- $25
A hospital bed with remote control—rented for $140 a month
Satiny nightshirts/pillowcases—help you slide (like castors) into positions and in bed
Shower chair—bought for my RNY for $30
Made protein bars in advance and froze them
Custom made compression garments—they were literally sewn to fit me—made locally
for $75—hopefully they will fit soon
Shoes that slide on
Dresses that button in front
A little velvet bag with a big safety pin for the JP drains
Flushable moist wipes
Plastic cups (glasses are really heavy)
A lap desk that I put over me in bed to hold remotes and a pillbox with night meds
(desk keeps Kitty off my gut)
Thick pillows to elevate arms to keep fingers un-sausag-y
THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT ANTICIPATE:
Anyway, that’s my story so far. I’ll visit the doc again at 18 days post op, then I will be headed back to NJ and return maybe one more time this summer, I hope.
Again, ask any questions that pop in your head. Hope this satisfies peoples’ curiosity!
The specifics:
WHAT/WHEN/WHERE/WHO/WHY: I had an extended anchor-cut abdominoplasty, mastopexy (breast lift), massive brachioplasty, umbilical herniectomy, partial mons lift, and some thigh tightening. These were done by Dr. Ivor Kaplan in Norfolk, VA, who is an unbelievably thorough and knowledgable guy.
Surgery was at DePaul Hospital and lasted almost 12 hours in total. I stayed in the hospital for 48 hours.
ABDOMINOPLASTY: Rather than an LBL, I chose an anchor cut abdominoplasty. The LBLs I have seen ended up creating a squarish, boxy figure and I’m a big fan of wasp-waisted, hourglassy types. Because I already have a large ventral scar from my open bowel obstruction surgery, this was a good option for me. He used the same scar, so it’s a litte asymetrical, no biggie though.
The scar starts just behind my left hip, under the belly area, and goes around to the right hip. It’s a little longer so it can connect to the bottom/thigh life I will have at a later date. The vertical scar goes from my pubis to sternum. Incisions were made from between my breasts to each hip, in an upside down V, which then were joined in the middle. The muscle layer was sewn centrally like a corset and lots of skin was pulled centrally from around my back and up from my thigh and mons areas as well—so it’s very very taut.
I lost 9.5 pounds of flesh from my midsection—no fat, just skin. I have a small amount of drainage at the very end of the left hip scar if I move a lot and that’s it.
The good side of this technique is that the layers of fat, fascia and muscle were not separated, but connected intact. Because of this there’s very little sub-q fluid collecting that requires drainage. I had two JP drains on either side of my mons—which collected about 30 cc fluid the first day, and 10cc per day after—so they were removed 9 days later at my first post-op visit, which was a painless and a HUGE relief because the drains themselves were very painful. I wear a Velcro binder while awake. I have a custom girdle but it’ll have to wait until my ass swelling subsides a hair.
MASTOPEXY (breast lift): I was a 48H before losing weight and a 34D after, and it was largely skin. While an implant was suggested, I couldn’t bear the thought of replacing those ol’ heavy things, and opted instead just to go with whatever could be made of what I have left. Turns out that what’s left is a solid C cup, which looks proportionate and full with my narrower waistline.
My doctor doesn’t leave the lollipop-stick scar from the areola down. He cuts around each nipple, pops it inside, cuts a new circle several inches lower, and pulls ‘em back out and secures them in place. Extra skin is removed at the crease, and special stitching at the base (pedicle) and creative cutting and layering of surgical tape provides support while healing. I do have a custom made sleeved compression garment, but the underarm seams irritate me so I wear it every other day, and a sports bra when I am out.
Otherwise, the girls are goin’ commando until some swelling subsides. I have a target-like scar around each nipple (enclosed in tape) and a scar in the crease, and that’s it.
BRACHIOPLASTY (arm lift): I think my upper arms measured something like 17 inches, initially. He removed over 6 inches from each arm, so these muthas are tight. My lower arm is going to be a little larger and flabbier than my upper arm. The scar starts at the end of the breast lift, makes a zigzag in the armpit, and comes down the inside back of each arm, ending at the elbow, with a small horizonal position that helps make it able to bend a little easier.
I wrap and re-wrap them several times a day with ace bandages, so I can provide light and slightly changing pressure, which starts at the wrists and pushes fluids upward. I wear the arm compression garment when I can stand it, which is every other day. For the first five days my hands swelled and I couldn’t hold anything in my sausagy fingers but that’s subsided now.
HERNIECTOMY:
I had a hernia next to my navel. I now have no hernia—and no navel--- I didn’t want it in the first place so it was no great loss. Unsavable, in any case.
PAIN/MEDS: Plenty of pain, but not how I expected. I was on Dilaudid (with Benadryl, I’m allergic) for 48 hours, which went a long way, but it was still excrutiating to get up to a seated position or hold up my head.
The second day I developed a keening headache that pierced my left eye and went back into my skull. It was THIS pain, not my body, that nearly killed me—it went on for the better part of a week. I went home on Tylenol 3 but stopped it 48 hours later because it was making the headaches worse. I have been on nothing more than regular Tylenol and Ambien to sleep for the last week.
The keening headache may be histamine related so I am going to use Benadryl if I use the Tylenol 3 again.
Body wise, the pain moves. Today I feel like I had a gunshot from the hernia excision—I exercised and overdid it. Otherwise, random *****ly pains as the nerves reconnect, and sore armpits when I wear a bra. Breasts are painless. The drains were probably the most painful as one would stab me with any movement, but they are history now, thank god.
COSTS: The whole schmegeggy ran about $18,800. BC/BS agreed to a panniculectomy, which chopped $3k off the deal—and because of the hernia, BC/BS agreed to pay the two nights in ths hospital. I ended up paying about $15k out of pocket. I had an UNBELIEVABLE and airtight file for BC BS, with years of documentation, intertrigo, rashes, creams, lotions, hydradenitis, tens of photos, skin degradation, letters from specialists----and am appealing for other skin removal.
The bottom line is this: don’t count on your insurance to come through. Your pannus may be covered, but arms and breasts, no matter how extreme, rarely are. I had more excess skin than most, “better" insurance than most, and a tighter case than most, and still was only very minimally covered.
ASSISTANCE: This is NOT something you can tough it out through and do alone. I literally required 24 hour care for the first 9 days ****il the drains came out.) You cannot initially feed yourself, and getting up from a seated position while using no belly and no arms is really difficult, if not impossible. If you choose to have multiple procedures, you need reliable nursing staff. You need people who can move you, change dressings, assist on the toilet, shower you, insert suppositories (oh yeah, that was a real bonding moment)—it’s pretty exhaustive. Thanks, Mom! J
SPECIAL NEEDS:
Greatest investments I have ever made:
A commode extender—new from Craigslist-- $25
A hospital bed with remote control—rented for $140 a month
Satiny nightshirts/pillowcases—help you slide (like castors) into positions and in bed
Shower chair—bought for my RNY for $30
Made protein bars in advance and froze them
Custom made compression garments—they were literally sewn to fit me—made locally
for $75—hopefully they will fit soon
Shoes that slide on
Dresses that button in front
A little velvet bag with a big safety pin for the JP drains
Flushable moist wipes
Plastic cups (glasses are really heavy)
A lap desk that I put over me in bed to hold remotes and a pillbox with night meds
(desk keeps Kitty off my gut)
Thick pillows to elevate arms to keep fingers un-sausag-y
THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT ANTICIPATE:
- It’s really hard to use a phone. Sig Ot’s been sending letters via snail mail, which has been really nice.
- Skin weighs less than you think. I had yards of it, and all told lost under 11 pounds.
- Pain isn’t where you think it might be.
- Sleeping in a regular bed probably just ain’t happening for a long while. Recliners are hard to get out of alone, but better than a flat bed.
- Insurance isn’t reliable, and it doesn’t matter how bogged down with skin or how thoroughly you document it: it covers what it covers (although I plan to appeal ad infinitum)
- Pooping’s almost impossible. For me, with Amitiza, tea, fiber and not taking my calcium a few days, I’ve been able to go (and it’s RIDICULOUSLY huge poopin’) but it sometimes requires a suppository or camping out over an hour, and even then it’s every other day. You really can’t push, so you have to go through contortions to keep it loose and moving, especially if you take narcotics or have a history of bowel issues.
- Weight loss ain’t a foregone conclusion—you will see crazy fluctuations—up to 5 pounds in a day, as you gain/lose water in swell hell. I was 154 the day of surgery—147.5 this morning, 151 tonight--- none of it means a damn thing
- If you awaken in the recovery room and the nurse tells you Michael Jackson died while you were under, it doesn’t necessarily mean they think YOU did it (I was feeling a little nervous there for a bit)
- If like me, you like to eat, you’ll still like to eat. I’m keeping the calories around 1400—which is my RMR—but keeping the protein around 130g. Keep the food comin’--- while you are less active, you’re also healing and your cells need it.
- Most people who think they are allergic to surgical tape are not. My doc meticulously cut little grooves in my tape every inch or so, to relieve surface tension. He believes it’s the tension that causes blistering, and not an allergy, and damn, I think he’s right! (I also have no steri strips and no external stitching to be removed. I am almost completely held together with waterproof surgical tape)
Anyway, that’s my story so far. I’ll visit the doc again at 18 days post op, then I will be headed back to NJ and return maybe one more time this summer, I hope.
Again, ask any questions that pop in your head. Hope this satisfies peoples’ curiosity!
"Oh sweet and sour Jesus, that is GOOD!" - Stephen Colbert Lap RNY 7/07-- Lap Gallbladder 5/08--
Emergency Bowel Repair 6/08 -Dr. Meilahn, Temple U. Upper and Lower Bleph/Lower Face Lift 12/08
Fraxel Repair 2/09-- Lower Bleph Re-Do 5/09 -Dr. Pontell, Media PA Mastopexy/Massive
Brachioplasty/ Extended Abdominoplasty (plus Mons Lift and Upper Leg lift) / Hernia Repair
6/24/09 ---Butt Lift and Lateral Thighplasty Scheduled 7/6/10 - Dr. Ivor Kaplan VA Beach
Total Cost: $33,500 Start wt: 368 RNY wt: 300 Goal wt: 150 Current wt: 148.2 BMI: 24.7
This was SOOOOOOo awesome.. Thank you... My surgery is Tuesday and this put lots of things in perspective for me...
Hugs,
Lisa
Lisa... HW/ 314.7 SW/ 280 CW/ 180ish
RNY ~ 01/25/2008 Terrence Clarke (Ellis Hosptial Bariatric Center).... Lower Body Lift with butt lift and upper thigh lift ~ 07/14/2009 Sanjiv Kayastha (K Plastic Surgery) -- LOVE IT !!!!
Wow! Thank you so much for taking the time to write that! It was extremely helpful!
I am also glad to hear that you were not responsible for MJ's death! That would be too much to handle with your surgery too!
Your tummy and arms look great! Beautiful!
I am also glad to hear that you were not responsible for MJ's death! That would be too much to handle with your surgery too!
Your tummy and arms look great! Beautiful!
12/09 and 6/11, 9 skin removal procedures with Dr. Sauceda in Monterrey Mexico
Revised to the Sleeve after losing 271 lbs with the LapBand.
Amy Farrah Fowler
on 7/9/09 2:27 am, edited 7/9/09 2:27 am
on 7/9/09 2:27 am, edited 7/9/09 2:27 am
First of all, you look amazing.
Second, thank you so much for posting such thorough information. I've followed your procedures, as I hope to follow in your footsteps in the near future, and I have some of the same concerns as you, such as the boxy torso aversion from the lbl. I'm already so boy shaped with narrow hips that my pants fall off, and I think you showed me better alternative that may work for me as well.
I'm going to bookmark this post, for my "ps stuff" file. It's one of the most informative I've found, and I'm glad your on the mend.
ETA - I'm actually eating cold "Shari's Plantation Casserole" that you posted on the DS forum many months ago, as I type this, lol. That was another bookmarkable post from you.
Second, thank you so much for posting such thorough information. I've followed your procedures, as I hope to follow in your footsteps in the near future, and I have some of the same concerns as you, such as the boxy torso aversion from the lbl. I'm already so boy shaped with narrow hips that my pants fall off, and I think you showed me better alternative that may work for me as well.
I'm going to bookmark this post, for my "ps stuff" file. It's one of the most informative I've found, and I'm glad your on the mend.
ETA - I'm actually eating cold "Shari's Plantation Casserole" that you posted on the DS forum many months ago, as I type this, lol. That was another bookmarkable post from you.
I've been a lurker on the PS forum ever since I had my RNY. I just can't wait for plastics..(to be over)!!! Thank you so much for such a detailed and informative post. You were honest and open and it was extreamly helpful!
Your story is inspirational and I can't wait to have my plastics!
Thanks so much!
Kim J!
Your story is inspirational and I can't wait to have my plastics!
Thanks so much!
Kim J!
When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me." Erma Bombeck
19 lbs lost before surgery
9/3/09 Full TT, MR, BL, BA, Arm Reduction and Lipo 10-12 lbs skin/fat removed
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