2 questions- work and surgical combining

First off- I plan to have a LBL and a BL/BA.  Can these two procedures be done together?  That equals like an 8 hour surgery, by what Ive read...  Thats an awfully long time.  So, just wondering if any of you had these two done simultaneously?

Secondly- I work from home, most of the time.  I do office type work, and do not have to see people.   I can, technically, work from bed if I wanted to... The recovery for a LBL in my research has been about 10-14 days before you can return to work.  My surgeon has a 2 night stay in the hospital for it.  Is it completely unrealistic of me to think Id be able to to work after I am discharged from the hospital?

Also- are you supposed to avoid stairs after this procedure?  how long?

Sorry for the rapid fire questions.  I just found out after looking into all of this for about 2 years (and writing it off because of finances) that I have funding, but due to schedules, NOW is the best time for me to move forward.  So, I'll be scheduled for surgery in April, I believe.  

I had an LBL and an arm lift at the same time so yeah I would think you could do the LBL and BL/BA at the same time.  Ask your surgeon. 

I have to say that I didn't start feeling half decent until about 2 weeks post op.  I'm a stay at home mom & didn't really feel like I could do much until then and even then it was light duty stuff.   You might feel pretty good but I still don't think you are going to want to put in 8 hours worth of work even if it is at home.  I always got tired very quickly.  

For me, I didn't have to avoid stairs which was a good thing because I live in a split level home.  I still avoided it as much as possible.  Hubby did the laundry, lol!

I hope things go smoothly for you.  My surgery overall went great but did not get the results I wanted.  My lbl did not completely take care of the skin above my belly button so I will need to go back and have an anchor cut done.  My arms need to be revised this May since they did not take off enough.  I went to a teaching hospital and had a resident do my surgery for a fraction of the cost.  Get what you pay for I guess.  The supervising surgeon believed the resident did what she was supposed to do though and believes she did what she could.  He said sometimes these surgeries do need to be done in 2 parts to get really good results.  Things often look different on the table.  Most people get GREAT results and some don't.  Was it the surgeon or was it the person's body type and skin quality?  For me, I just don't know.

I had an LBL & Brachio which was a long surgery but my surgeon refused to do the combo of LBL & BL/BA as he said that would be too long in surgery. I would think you could start working rather early as long as you can take time for naps and the pain meds aren't making your mind fuzzy. I didn't have to deal w/ stairs so much but wouldn't think you'd have a problem w/ them since that's your legs and the LBL doesn't really involve those other than some lipo that just feels like a bruise not nothing to prevent you from walking up or down steps.

My PS offered to do all my plastics at once (extended tummy tuck, arm life, neck lipo) but I opted to divide it into two surgeries.  He said the combined surgeries would take 8 hours and that would be a "long day" of surgery with more risks.  He seemed very glad that I was open to dividing them up.

The downside is that there are multiple recovery times... but I learned that they had a hard time keep me unconscious for the 5-6 hours it took to do my armlift and neck lipo.  Apparently I kept waking up (EEK!!!) and they were shocked at how much medication it took to keep me down.  So, in my case, a longer surgery would have been riskier - even  more medication and more risk of waking.  So I'm glad I divided it into two surgeries, but I never would have known the issues that I was going to have with anesthesia at the time.

I work at home part-time, but I'm mostly a stay-at-home parent.  So, for me, the main issues was/is getting childcare in place for my recovery.  I was fortunate to be able to line up childcare for the two recoveries.  It's hard to predict when you will feel ready to work again.  It's great that you have the ability to work from home, and hopefully that also means you can ease yourself back into it gradually - just working part time at first.  Just don't make any promises to anyone about deadlines and whatnot soon after your surgery because it is impossible to predict how your recovery will go.  I would assume that you'll be pretty well useless for a month (at least).    If you can get back to work sooner - great!  But don't plan on it! 

Congrats on preparing for plastics!  It's a very exciting time.  :)   Hopefully your PS can give you some insights in what would be best in your situation.

You can combine if your surgeon will let you combine, and it's safest not to go over 6 hours for surgery.  My surgeon won't combine lower and upper body work.  He wants at least half of you fully functional!  But it really varies from surgeon to surgeon.

When I had the LBL, my plan was to start teleworking at week 2.  Didn't happen.  I was still on pain meds, sitting up for any extended period was hard, and, most important, I was still extremely fuzzy from the anesthesia.  By week 3, I could manage around 4 hours a day.  Everyone's recovery is different, so you may be functional sooner - just don't count on it.

I don't have stairs so I never asked the question.

Thanks for the feedback!  Surgeon booked the OR for long enough to do both, but will have to see how Im doing during the LBL as to whether he will be able to do both at once.  Im OK with that answer.  Safety first!

As for work- I guess Ill play it day by day it sounds.  I bounced back very quickly after my appendix, also my gall bladder and then finally my DS, but then had some complications post-DS that derailed me for a bit.  I know these are totally different surgeries though, but as far as anesthesia fog- that is super short lived for me, Im usually fine by the end of the next day.  Pain meds I have only ever needed for sleep some nights, although Im sure I will need them more often after this!  Since I can work from bed, Ill plan to do that as soon as I can stay awake at all and that way I can doze as needed.  

Surgery is scheduled for April 23, so Im in the pre-op rush to get everything done and all my clearances and labs and such.  Im also starting the freak out, LOL!  I guess its normal.  

I had the LBL, BL, arms and sm thigh lift (12 hrs), 4 days later a full face lift.  I was off 8 weeks, but I took off 8 weeks for my DS too.  Dr Sauceda uses an epidural and twilight sedation so that you can be under longer.  I wanted one recovery time.  The PS was so much easier than my DS.  I was lucky with no complications from my DS or both of my trips to his OR for PS.  I just got back in Jan from having my UBL and a revision to my left arm.    Dr S is amazing.

I was on my PC daily while I was recovering and could have done some work from home.  I was taking naps daily.

Different states have laws regarding how long PS can operate for, so you will get all sorts of answers... also I believe they may change inpatient vs outpatient. 8 hours is a really long time for surgery... my surgeon wouldnt perform certain procedures together nor would operate more than 6 hours, I just had a consult with another PS who has a 6 hour max as well (outpatient surgical suites).

I had an extended TT and for the first week was exhausted... mostly slept especially with the pain meds... I was not in pain  just more uncomfortable than anything... Id say dont pu**** and give yourself time to heal... you dont want to over do it and end up exhausting yourself further. I had my procedure on a tuesday and was back to work the following wednesday (with surgeons ok) taking that week to rest really helped.