LBL BL/BA Questions!
Hi Everyone!
I had RNY gastric bypass on May 27 2010. Since then, I have lost 123 pounds (from 278 to 155).
I am so happy with my success, but, of course, I have excess skin. Luckily, I am fortunate enough to fix this issue with plastic surgery this March. I have decided to get a lower body lift along with a breast lift and silicone augmentation.
As always, the posts here are so helpful but I still have some lingering questions. Can anyone help with the following? Thanks!!
1. Real Recovery Time- I am a law student. I commute 3 hours (1 1/2 hrs each way) to school 3 times a week. I am also in the process of getting a divorce. That, and making sure I eat right, exercise, take care of myself and my family AND can handle the emotional journey of plastic surgery has me wondering if I should take a semester off. I know some people say they recovered fairly quickly (7-14 days) but if I will be dealing with limited physical ability and/or debilitating swelling etc. for 6-10 weeks, I am leaning toward taking it easy and removing school and my commute from my plate. Any suggestions?
2. Many people on this board have expressed a pre-ps or post-ps depression that I can relate to. Yes, it is wonderful to look and feel beautiful but, for me, there is something upsetting about the kind of reconstructive surgery we WLS patients need. The scars are large, recovery can be challenging. For me, it is sometimes a painful reminder of how far I "let myself go" and all the troubling issues that led me to overeat in the firt place. I've come a long way in accepting the perfectly imperfect me but it took some work to wrap my mind around the fact that I would be cutting into my body. And, what's more, is that I will likely also find it difficult to look in the mirror and see a sexier person looking back. Either way, I have to face some demons! Anyone want to share their experience with this?
3. Butts and Thighs- Do you reccomend getting a thigh lift or does a LBL take care of this issue for someone like me with mild/moderate inner thigh sagging. One PS suggested the lift but another said I'd be happy with the residual lift I got from the LBL. If I got a thigh lift it would be a mini lift with incisions only in the groin.
Also, for people who had LBL WITHOUT auto-augmentation or fat grafts etc. in the buttocks are you happy with the appearance of your behind or has it dissappeared?
2.
I had RNY gastric bypass on May 27 2010. Since then, I have lost 123 pounds (from 278 to 155).
I am so happy with my success, but, of course, I have excess skin. Luckily, I am fortunate enough to fix this issue with plastic surgery this March. I have decided to get a lower body lift along with a breast lift and silicone augmentation.
As always, the posts here are so helpful but I still have some lingering questions. Can anyone help with the following? Thanks!!
1. Real Recovery Time- I am a law student. I commute 3 hours (1 1/2 hrs each way) to school 3 times a week. I am also in the process of getting a divorce. That, and making sure I eat right, exercise, take care of myself and my family AND can handle the emotional journey of plastic surgery has me wondering if I should take a semester off. I know some people say they recovered fairly quickly (7-14 days) but if I will be dealing with limited physical ability and/or debilitating swelling etc. for 6-10 weeks, I am leaning toward taking it easy and removing school and my commute from my plate. Any suggestions?
2. Many people on this board have expressed a pre-ps or post-ps depression that I can relate to. Yes, it is wonderful to look and feel beautiful but, for me, there is something upsetting about the kind of reconstructive surgery we WLS patients need. The scars are large, recovery can be challenging. For me, it is sometimes a painful reminder of how far I "let myself go" and all the troubling issues that led me to overeat in the firt place. I've come a long way in accepting the perfectly imperfect me but it took some work to wrap my mind around the fact that I would be cutting into my body. And, what's more, is that I will likely also find it difficult to look in the mirror and see a sexier person looking back. Either way, I have to face some demons! Anyone want to share their experience with this?
3. Butts and Thighs- Do you reccomend getting a thigh lift or does a LBL take care of this issue for someone like me with mild/moderate inner thigh sagging. One PS suggested the lift but another said I'd be happy with the residual lift I got from the LBL. If I got a thigh lift it would be a mini lift with incisions only in the groin.
Also, for people who had LBL WITHOUT auto-augmentation or fat grafts etc. in the buttocks are you happy with the appearance of your behind or has it dissappeared?
2.
I am an enemy of vice because vices enslave and I am an enemy of slavery. 
I absolutely love your post because I can relate to many of the feelings you are having. By the way, CONGRATULATIONS on your success!
I got my lbl almost 7 weeks ago as well as lipo in the arms and then I'll be doing the brachioplasty and breast (possibly with augmentation in a few months).
1) I'm a senior in college right now and since we run on a strange schedule I was able to fly home and get my surgery during a month long break. A week and a half after my surgery I found out I had mild fat necrosis, which is rare and wasn't that terrible but was annoying to deal with because it slowed my recovery down a little. I had to fly back to school 3 weeks after surgery and I really wish I'd had more time to recover because I had so much stuff to do at school but no one to help and I found myself getting so fatigued. I'm still swollen but it's not too bad and every day I can see improvement. Recovery is different for everyone but I would say a 3-4 weeks off from responsibility would be ideal.
2) I think I was the most depressed about everything once I had lost the weight and didn't know if plastics would be for me. My big flap of skin was a reminder of before and it made me look a lot heavier than I was. It it such a big decision and made me a little nervous but I realized that I would be uncomfortable with my body shape for the rest of my life if I didn't get the work done. I also faced the issue of altering my body in such a huge way... thinking about actually removing some of me freaked me out but now when I look in the mirror I really like what I see and in my mind I don't feel like I'm now missing part of my body. I've actually found it exciting to see how flat my tummy is and take any chance I get to walk around in my underwear and "accidentally" pass every mirror in my apartment just so I can look at myself from the side and get all excited again. It already makes me feel more confident and I don't have to wear longer and baggier shirts that hide that extra tummy.
3) My butt, bless its little heart, has always been the one part of my body that I've really really liked and thankfully it has maintained its shape throughout all my gains and losses. Even with the lift (and I was so terrified about this) it has stayed with me. At first it looked smaller and flatter but that's just because I was always lying down and it hadn't reshaped itself yet. My thighs, on the other hand, are another story. Those have always been big and muscular as well as cellulitey and after weight loss they got flabby. I can see where they were lifted and smoothed out by lipo but I have that inner/upper jiggle jiggle and can tell you with 100% certainty I want to get further work on them and have the mini lift.
Good luck with everything!!
I got my lbl almost 7 weeks ago as well as lipo in the arms and then I'll be doing the brachioplasty and breast (possibly with augmentation in a few months).
1) I'm a senior in college right now and since we run on a strange schedule I was able to fly home and get my surgery during a month long break. A week and a half after my surgery I found out I had mild fat necrosis, which is rare and wasn't that terrible but was annoying to deal with because it slowed my recovery down a little. I had to fly back to school 3 weeks after surgery and I really wish I'd had more time to recover because I had so much stuff to do at school but no one to help and I found myself getting so fatigued. I'm still swollen but it's not too bad and every day I can see improvement. Recovery is different for everyone but I would say a 3-4 weeks off from responsibility would be ideal.
2) I think I was the most depressed about everything once I had lost the weight and didn't know if plastics would be for me. My big flap of skin was a reminder of before and it made me look a lot heavier than I was. It it such a big decision and made me a little nervous but I realized that I would be uncomfortable with my body shape for the rest of my life if I didn't get the work done. I also faced the issue of altering my body in such a huge way... thinking about actually removing some of me freaked me out but now when I look in the mirror I really like what I see and in my mind I don't feel like I'm now missing part of my body. I've actually found it exciting to see how flat my tummy is and take any chance I get to walk around in my underwear and "accidentally" pass every mirror in my apartment just so I can look at myself from the side and get all excited again. It already makes me feel more confident and I don't have to wear longer and baggier shirts that hide that extra tummy.
3) My butt, bless its little heart, has always been the one part of my body that I've really really liked and thankfully it has maintained its shape throughout all my gains and losses. Even with the lift (and I was so terrified about this) it has stayed with me. At first it looked smaller and flatter but that's just because I was always lying down and it hadn't reshaped itself yet. My thighs, on the other hand, are another story. Those have always been big and muscular as well as cellulitey and after weight loss they got flabby. I can see where they were lifted and smoothed out by lipo but I have that inner/upper jiggle jiggle and can tell you with 100% certainty I want to get further work on them and have the mini lift.
Good luck with everything!!
Kate 
Congrats on your weight loss and the choice to start the PS journey.
Real Recovery Time
From reading these boards you already know that everyone is different. I had a LBL/BL almost 6 weeks ago with Dr. Lomonaco in Houston. I've lost around 200lbs from my highest weight and had alot of excess skin. I was in very good shape going into the surgery - both nutrionally and physically. I am recovering very slowly compared to many of the success stories here. I firmly believe my surgeon is one of the best around so I can't lay the blame at his door, I'm just a slowpoke for healing.
I have 2 open incision sites and a third wound opening. One is 2 inches long and 1/2 inch deep. I have multiple seromas. I have limited mobility still. I am exhausted most of the time and being out of the recliner chair for more than a few hours completely wipes me out. Sometimes I can't even raise my legs to get into my SUV (I still don't drive.) I don't have pain, but I have discomfort. There is no way that I could go back to work or back to school at this point.
Maybe you will be one of the super healers and be running and back to everything in 3 weeks time. Maybe you will be more like me. Just in case, I would recommend taking the semester off if you can. You don't want to rush this recovery and if you do heal super well, I'm sure you can find things to occupy your time (shopping for new clothes!!).
Butts and Thighs -
My doc advised me to postpone a thigh lift until after I heal and see the results from the first surgery. It also would have been a bit much to do with the BL/LBL. As it was I was in the OR for 7.5 hours. The lbl will pull up the skin on the outside of your thighs and some on the front and back. I have deflated balloons on the inside of my thighs and these remain and need to be fixed later with a 2nd stage surgery. My doc warned me that I would suffer from "flat butt" syndrome after the lift because of all the weight I lost. He suggested I consider the auto augmentation to plump up my behind. After thinking about it, I passed. My skinny mom and other female relatives all have a flat behind, I think thats just how our family looks. After having a butt that was far too large for far too long, I decided I didnt care if it was flat. I also decided that I dont really check myself out from the rear view very often and didn't care. When viewed straight on, my rear looks pretty damn good. No more sharpei look. When viewed in profile, the butt a reduced profile with a mild slope. It is ok with me, but you have to make your own choice.
Good luck!
Real Recovery Time
From reading these boards you already know that everyone is different. I had a LBL/BL almost 6 weeks ago with Dr. Lomonaco in Houston. I've lost around 200lbs from my highest weight and had alot of excess skin. I was in very good shape going into the surgery - both nutrionally and physically. I am recovering very slowly compared to many of the success stories here. I firmly believe my surgeon is one of the best around so I can't lay the blame at his door, I'm just a slowpoke for healing.
I have 2 open incision sites and a third wound opening. One is 2 inches long and 1/2 inch deep. I have multiple seromas. I have limited mobility still. I am exhausted most of the time and being out of the recliner chair for more than a few hours completely wipes me out. Sometimes I can't even raise my legs to get into my SUV (I still don't drive.) I don't have pain, but I have discomfort. There is no way that I could go back to work or back to school at this point.
Maybe you will be one of the super healers and be running and back to everything in 3 weeks time. Maybe you will be more like me. Just in case, I would recommend taking the semester off if you can. You don't want to rush this recovery and if you do heal super well, I'm sure you can find things to occupy your time (shopping for new clothes!!).
Butts and Thighs -
My doc advised me to postpone a thigh lift until after I heal and see the results from the first surgery. It also would have been a bit much to do with the BL/LBL. As it was I was in the OR for 7.5 hours. The lbl will pull up the skin on the outside of your thighs and some on the front and back. I have deflated balloons on the inside of my thighs and these remain and need to be fixed later with a 2nd stage surgery. My doc warned me that I would suffer from "flat butt" syndrome after the lift because of all the weight I lost. He suggested I consider the auto augmentation to plump up my behind. After thinking about it, I passed. My skinny mom and other female relatives all have a flat behind, I think thats just how our family looks. After having a butt that was far too large for far too long, I decided I didnt care if it was flat. I also decided that I dont really check myself out from the rear view very often and didn't care. When viewed straight on, my rear looks pretty damn good. No more sharpei look. When viewed in profile, the butt a reduced profile with a mild slope. It is ok with me, but you have to make your own choice.
Good luck!
Congratulations on all of your success!
I had major body work on dec 9th.
I had a full thigh lift and LBL as well as other procedures. Dr.Sauceda removed six pounds of skin and lipoed out two liters of fat from my thighs and saddlebags. He used the best of the fat to augment my butt. I wasn't planning on that but I love it. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
As far as recovery, we are all different. I had 13 hour surgery on the above as well as arms and breasts. Three days later I had a neck/face/eyelid surgery that took 6 hours on Monday. By Thursday, six days after body lift, I went out to lunch and to the movies. Baring any complications I will work from home next week, then begin home/ office combination on January 2nd.
I'm 61 and exercise regularly which I think recalls helps heal because my circulation is good and my core is strong from all the Pilates for the last eleven months.
Good luck with your decision!
I had major body work on dec 9th.
I had a full thigh lift and LBL as well as other procedures. Dr.Sauceda removed six pounds of skin and lipoed out two liters of fat from my thighs and saddlebags. He used the best of the fat to augment my butt. I wasn't planning on that but I love it. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
As far as recovery, we are all different. I had 13 hour surgery on the above as well as arms and breasts. Three days later I had a neck/face/eyelid surgery that took 6 hours on Monday. By Thursday, six days after body lift, I went out to lunch and to the movies. Baring any complications I will work from home next week, then begin home/ office combination on January 2nd.
I'm 61 and exercise regularly which I think recalls helps heal because my circulation is good and my core is strong from all the Pilates for the last eleven months.
Good luck with your decision!
HW: 249 SW: 229 GW: 149 Age: 63 - Body by Sauceda - 12/2011
Most Active
Recent Topics
