Sharing my brachioplasty and lbl experience

I had my surgeries on May 30th.  I went in at 198 pds.  I have pics posted on my profile.  I have pics pre-surgery, 1 and 1/2 wks out and 4 wks out.  They ended up cutting me high up on my back due to a lot of extra fat and skin on my lower back.    It still lifted my outer thighs and butt.  She used staples on my back to help save time as there was a lot to do.  My lower apron of skin on my stomach is gone but the upper part of my abdomen is still loose.  Very disappointed.  The doctor said that I was pulled tight on the table and is hoping that once all the swelling is down that it will shrink back???  Okay yeah maybe some but what is loose will still be loose in my eyes.  Everything else turned out great in that region.  I had a total of 4 drains.  2 in each side.  I had 2 drains and half of my staples removed at 2 wks.  The remaining drains and staples came out at 3 wks.  No drains in the arms.  Disappointed in my arms.  My right arm looks nice but the left still needs some help.  The doctor is disappointed as well.  I guess she had an expectation on her part and it didn't quite turn out that way.  She said that they could probably do a small tuck to make it a little more even, if I wanted.  They will wait 6 mths though.  This small tuck can probably be done in office she said but I'm unsure of what restrictions I will have, if any.  The surgery itself was very, very long.  Oddly, I was woke up in the OR.  Everything was done but I was still on the metal table.  They told me after wards that they ran out of time that they could safely keep me under anesthesia.  I will say that they made sure I was safe and didn't do anything to jeopardize my health.  They removed 4 pds off my back, 5 pds off my stomach and about a 1/2 pd on each arm.  A total of 10 pds gone.  I suspect I will need further surgeries on my stomach.  At least I was told in the beginning that I had alot to remove and that they would probably not get it all the first time around.  They told me that they will probably get halfway in between where I was pre surgery and where I would like to be.  I'm healing well and trying to be optimistic about how things will look a month or 2 down the road.  Although things are not exactly how I wanted them, they did remove a lot and it is about 50-75% better.   Comments or questions are welcomed! 

 I'm sorry you are going through that - it sounds pretty horrible.  I haven't had my surgeries yet - just consults.  All of the surgeons I talked to wouldn't do brach and LBL in the same surgery.  They were concerned about time on the table and healing.  

The way your post is written, it sounds to me as if your surgeon was more concerned about the speed of the surgery rather than the result.  I mean telling you that she used staples rather than suturing to save time?  That sounds like a load of crap to me.  How is that going to affect your scars?

Again, I'm sorry you are so disappointed in the result.  Hopefully she won't give you a hard time on getting the revisions done.

Rhearob.......The doctor was concerned about the length of time of the surgery but only because of keeping me under for so long.  My surgery was about 7 hours and that's a long time to be under anthesia.  I have no problem with her using the staples.  I was cut so high up on my back, nobody is going to see it anyways.  I do not have an issue with scars.  I was told to wait 6 mths for any revisions to be done. 

From what I've read, most PS will not keep a patient under for more than six hours unless twilight anesthesia like Dr.Sauceda in Mexico.
Staples on the back bay not be so bad but it sounds like you are not happy with your results. But it is very true that swelling appearance changes over the months and not just doctor-gobbly-talk to shut you up.
Skin and fat and hanging blubber do not show up in scale weight as much as we think. Bummer! Been there so I understand lots of how you feel.
You are in the tight place to vent and communicate your concerns!
Most PS seem to do a certain amount of revision up to a tear after and many are minor in-office procedures. I too am facing revision of TT scars when inhale my Breast Lift.
Talk more with your PS about your concerns to verify what can be done. Scars do take a long time to heal. Healing is a process of time. Hang in there.
Mikimi in Israel

I am not happy with my one arm and the doctor was disappointed too.  I'm still trying to figure out how it got to be so uneven and why there is so much still hanging there.  My right arm looks pretty good.  The loose skin is above my belly button.  She said I was pulled tight on the table.  You can tell from the pictures that a lot was removed but I still think there is room for improvement. 

 Hi Patricia,  I had a lot of work done by Dr. Sauceda in December. He was able to take 13 hours on my bodywork because of the epidural that he used.  I can tell you that after my LBL, I do have a bit of loose skin above the waist, but not very much.  I did have my surgery  at a lower weight of 15donut I don't know how tall you are, so do not know how close to goal you are.  I have heard that  surgeons caution about possible revisions if we are not at goal.

All of that said, I understand your disappointment and wanted to send you some major hugs. I have looked at lots of plastics pictures and have not seen pictures that looked as "ragged", for lack of a better word, as your arms do.  If I were in your situation, I would try to get the opinion of another surgeon.  I have not seen a LBL incision that looks like yours.  I think that my surgeon would have done a LBL followed by an upper body lift on a later day.  They are very difficult procedures to combine.

Did your insurance cover this surgery?  I'm sure you researched your surgeon and felt  that you were in competent hands. I'm so sorry that you are disappointed!

Lee,

I still have the loose skin above the belly button.  It is definitely better than it was before but still much to be removed.  When I had my RNY 6 years ago, the doctor never gave me a goal weight.  It was just whatever came off.  My highest weight was 339 so even at 198pds, I still lost a lot.  I have had 2 kids in 2 years and have also dealt with bouts of anorexia and bulimia.  For me, I am okay with where I am now.  I'm healthy and happy in my life so I'm not pushing it.  I have grown to accept the fact that I will still be on the "plus size" of things but it's okay.  I tried starving myself smaller and well that didn't work out good either.  I'm okay with still being overweight.  We did briefly talk about revisions and it was said that they would wait 6mths to do any more.  I was already warned prior to surgery that they probably would not be able to get it all in one shot.  It was a lot of surgery to do and a lot of skin to remove all in one shot.  I guess I still had higher expectations.    The only reason why she cut me high on my back was I had more to remove there than my butt.  She rmoved 4pds off my back so it was a lot.  My back is so smooth now.  She did a good job on that as well as removing the lower apron of skin on my belly.  My right arm looks good, I think, but my left needs help.  As I said before the doc was even disappointed on how it looked.  Not sure if I could call it "ragged" but I do have a huge amount of stretch marks all over and tends to give my skin a bumpier appearance.  The incisions themselves look good.  And we paid for my surgery out of pocket.  I went to the University of Maryland.  They have a resident clinic there.  Yes, I did have a "student" do my surgery but I felt very comfortable with her and the attending physician.  The attending physician is there all the time overseeing everything.  He is actually the one who marked me prior to going into surgery.  He backed everything that she said.  They were always in agreement.  I had no worries and did not think that my safety or results would be compromised.  I choose this route because I wanted it done but didn't have the finances to cover it elsewhere. 

 Hi Patricia!

Your should be very proud of maintaining your weight loss!  The only important thing is that you feel healthy and happy and you have accomplished both.  I would once torte on getting good nutrition I. The next months, then following up with the revisions.  They  are not uncommon for those of us that have lost a lot of weight.

Take good care of yourself and keep posting so that we can support you as you venture through the.

Honestly In all my years of researching plastic surgery, I have never seen a lbl incision like that. Did you know that's where it would be located before your surgery? Mine is extremely low, which was what I wanted. My highest weight was also 339, but my plastic surgery weight was 143. I'm sure your results will look better after the swelling goes down, but I still think the surgeon could have done a better job. Be sure to follow through with the revision.

No, I did not know it would be that high until the morning of surgery.  It was felt that since I had a lot to remove on my back that I would be cut there.  It doesn't bother me at all.  They removed the skin there and that's what I wanted.  My incision is low in the front though.