4 Procedures - which 2 would you put together and why? Advice Please

Hi - some advice please :

I plan to have the following procedures : Tummy Tuck, Breast Lift & Reduction, Inner Thigh Lift and Arm Lift.

I need to have this in 2 procedures and the surgeon said he could do them in any order I wanted.

What 2 would you put together? My initial thoughts are Tummy & Boobs first (since they would need the most recovery time) followed by arms and thighs maybe 4 weeks later.

I'm planning to be out of action (exercise wise) for about 8 weeks in total - how does this stack up with your experiences?

Any feedback much appreciated - will be having my surgery in Dubai where I currently live.

Many thanks

My thought would be arms and breasts first and the TT and thighs as the second procedure.
Reason being that you would group the upper body and lower body procedures together.  I relied a lot on my arms after my LBL and I think it would have been very difficult to have them done at the same time.

I had tummy tuck and breasts done together and 4 months later thighs and arms. I needed my legs to help me get up and down when I had the muscle tightening with the tummy tuck. When I had my arms and thighs done I was able to use my abs more in getting up and down. 4 weeks between procedures is not much time. I know several people have had it all done at once and some only allowing a few weeks in between but it's really tough on your body. I like the saying I have seen here that plastic surgery is not a race. There's no way I would have been in the gym after 8 weeks, but that's just me.

3 weeks ago I had a breast lift/reduction and brachioplasty together,\; March 3rd i will be doing a LBL.  I am also doing an inner thigh lift but my surgeon wants to do that seperate from everything else since he feels that will be the recovery with greatest risk for complication.  I recommend doing upper body together as opposed to with the TT because i really depended on my core muscles to get in and out of bed when my upper body was so sore.  I find myself now automatically engaging my core and using it to lift myself out of bed even though my arms are feeling pretty good. 

As far as exercise- in my case by the time I'm getting well enough to return to my regular routine I will be having another procedute so it will be several months until I'm back at it. 

If your surgeon doesnt have any preference for order of the procedures I would say just do whatever bothers you most first; that's what my Dr. told me. 

Best of luck!!

I had an LBL and brachio done together. Then 3 months later did the Thighs and BL/BA. My surgeon wouldn't do the thighs and tummy together as quite a few surgeons, something about pulling against each other. Also since I had an LBL the BL/BA would have been too long to do together in his opinion. I was happy to have my arms in full use when I had my thighs done since that was the most painful and where I needed the most use of my arms to help compensate.

I was off full working out for 6 weeks. My LBL it was actually 7 weeks b/c I still had a drain in my right hip at 6 weeks. I could have gone in for my 2nd round a little earlier but I wanted to have a few weeks to get back in the gym before I was off for another 6 weeks.  I think only being off 8 weeks in total is a little optiomistic. Most surgeons require you to be off exercise for at least 6 weeks and w/ 2 surgeries back to back you'd be looking at 10 weeks at the least.

I am having the same procedures done except I am having a breast lift & augmentation with implants. I am doing: tummy & boobs, then thighs & arms.

I had BL and arms done together and then LBL 2 weeks later.  Was 10 weeks from 2nd procedure before I went back to the gym due to some healing issues. 

I would do whatever you really want done first, especially if its so unpleasant you don't go back again.  Also I would never consider these big surgeries that close together, I would space them much further out so you give your body time to heal.  I had my extended tt with muscle tightening and a neck lift together and then over a year later had my arms and a revision to my neck.  I feel like I used up my easy recovery cards so no more surgery for me, I think I would be pushing my luck to try to do my legs.

Good Luck

Thanks for all of your feedback, I really appreciate it and it's given me some more 'food for thought'. I'll have another discussion with my surgeon and agree a final plan.

The reason for putting the surgeries close together is mainly that I'm not working at the moment so want to get surgery completed before I start a new job and taking time off here for surgery is not very easy to do as there is little if any protection for sickness absence/family leave etc.

Also I want to have surgery in the hottest months in Dubai (typically 50C plus) where it's not that unusual for people to hibernate inside and rest up.

Additionally I'm really getting into running so want to be able to be cleared for exercise Sept onwards if at all possible so that I can train for some races I want to do in Jan. My surgeon said I should be cleared for exercise 8 weeks after the TT and Breast lift and 4 after the others - but obviously will be guided by him and my body after surgery.

Much to think about and mull over.

Thanks again

I had all 4 done at once.  I'm doing one recovery.  It was a bit difficult getting out of the bed the first couple of days, but I managed.  I'm 4 weeks out today.  I'm healing nicely.  Still have a few spots that have scabs, but everything else is looking great.  I also a full facelift 4 days after my body work.  My thigh lift was only a small upper thigh into the groin, not down to the knee.

I was afraid if I did 2 then the other 2, that I might not do them due to the pain.  But, the pain really was minimal.