Hi everyone - and questions...

Hi there!  I have been lurking on this board for awhile and reading up on the PS adventures many of you have taken.

Now its my turn to start considering it.  I want a TT and a LBL.  The 'GIRLS' are sad, but can wait for another day.  The LBL would require only the cut along the top of my thigh for the thigh lift - I don't need the cut down my leg, which I was happy to hear. 

I had my first PS consult on Saturday.  It was interesting... the surgeon and I didn't hit it off on the right foot initially, but came to terms.  He is highly recommended for his skills, so I can get by the personality issues we had. 

So - my question is - with the TT, do you think it made a difference in the pain level if you had your muscles tightened or not?  I was thinking I wouldn't do it, mainly because of the pain, and I don't think mine are really all that bad.  Dr thought otherwise.  If you can give me some feedback on that - I'd appreciate it.

Now - my insurance will pay for the panni (YEA) and I'll pick up the extra to upgrade to a full TT.  That isn't really an issue. 

I also would like to know (and know I've read it recently) about taking care of scars.  What products do you recommend to use to get the wound to heal quickly and for the scars to fade the quickest? 

I'm going to try tomorrow to get another consult with a Dr that is closer to me.  The 1st one is 4-5 hours away, and I'd have to stay with my daughter for a month.  This one is 1 1/2 hrs away and I can recuperate at home.  His qualifications look very good, as he is the head of surgery at the hospital and was a teaching Dr in PS at the mayo clinic in the past.  The only thing is - his before and after pics on his website didn't excite me a lot - so that is definitely something I'll need to ask him about.  Oh - and he takes my insurance....

What kind of questions should I have going into this 2nd consult.  I went into the first one somewhat unprepared and it showed. 

Thanks for your help!

Hi!
All the pain and uncomfortableness of the TT is from the muscle tightening.  Without touching the muscles it would just be skin removal which is not bad at all.
BUT I have to tell you the pain was no where near as bad as I expected it to be.  I do it if you can.
I have a bunch of tips and stuff regarding scars and recovery on my blog if you want to check out my profile you can read them....

FYI - You definitely learn more and more with each consultation.....
Here's a link to some good questions to ask and ways to prepare.
www.obesityhelp.com/forums/plasticsurgery/Plastic-Surgery-Co nsultation-What-to-Expect-and-How-to-Prepare.html

Best wishes!!
Ruth

WOW - that was a great link and very informative - thanks! 

Hi Jody,

I would still go w/ the muscle tightening. I had been working ou****rainer for 6 months prior to my LBL and my Dr. could tell that I had very good ab muscles just at the consult but said he was going to tighten them anyway since it would just make the results even better. That pain wasn't horrible, just feels like you did a million sit-ups but it does last for weeks but only when you really aggrevate them like a sneeze. I was back to working out and doing abs again at 7 weeks, didn't feel the same and had to take it easy for a while but it was doable.

Sonya

Thanks Sonya for the insight. I will probably do the muscle tightening.  The Dr I had a consult with didn't charge more for doing it....  I also posted to another post you replied to about Dr Livingston - are you very happy with him and your results?  I'm Dr shopping, and since he is a participant with my insurance I would like to find out more about him. 

How long after your consult did it take to finally have your PS done?  How many procedures did he do at 1 time for you?  Did you have insurance that covered a panni?

I had a sneezing fit one day a few days after my RNY - OMG I thought I was going to die!! I had NO idea why I was sneezing like I did and haven't done it since. 

I love Dr. Livingston and am very happy w/ my results. His office is very helpful. They submitted the panni to my insurance but of course they denied it (which I'm going to appeal). But they were very helpful in getting my short-term disability approved thru work.

I had my consult w/ him at the end of June and due to work schedule we wanted to have the surgery done in the summer and they were able to schedule me for July 15 so it was really only 3 weeks from the time of the consult to the surgery.

I think it depends on which procedures he is doing on how many he will do at the same time. He doesn't like to do the LBL & MTL at the same time since he believes it kind of pulls in opposite directions. He didn't want to do my BA/BL w/ my LBL because he thought it would be too long of a surgery so did the brachio instead and then did the BA/BL w/ my MTL. He is very conscience of the scars and goes on the conservative side to get the best look w/ the least amount of scarring.

Send me a friend request an you can see the results of his work he has done so far (I do need to update the MTL pics)

Ok - help me out here - what is a BA/BL and MTL (is that the medial thigh lift?)  I guess I thought the LBL incorporated the thigh lift - but I guess not...

I'll send a friends request - thanks!

BA/BL is a breast augmentation and Breast Lift, MTL is the medial thigh lift. The LBL incorporates the outer thighs but does very little for the inner thighs. I could see it lifted it just a little but I had so much excess skin that I needed to have it removed. The LBL does lipo on the outer thighs which loosens everyting up so when the two halves are pulled together the thighs get lifted (or that's how my surgeon explained it to me).