Any experience with Dr. Rachel Sullivan in RI and question about staging surgeries

Hello All,

I have an appointment with Dr. Sullivan next month.  She was recommended by my bariatric surgeon, so I that is a plus, but I was wondering if anyone has had any experiences with her and would be willing to share.

I'm considering the following procedures:

1. Lower Body Lift / Extended Tummy Tuck with some Lipo - not sure exactly what would be best for me, I have minimal back fat, so the ETT with some lipo on my upper abs and back area might be enough
2. Medial thigh lift
3. Saddle bags - not sure how that would work if I get the ETT instead of the LBL
4. Breast Lift /No augmentation
5. Arm lift

I know I can't do these all at once, but I am looking to combine the surgeries where it makes sense.  Any have any experience with staging these procedures?

Thank you!

I didn't want 4 different surgeries and 4 recoveries.  That's why I went to Dr Sauceda in Monterrey Mexico.  I had everything done at one time.  I was off for 8 weeks and then back to work.   If you lipo your saddle bags, you may have more loose skin than the ETT can fix. 

That's a great question for your consults.  What results can I get with the ETT, or the LBL.

I've seen your posts about Dr Sauceda.  I've looked into a bit but doing surgery in Mexico does make me nervous.  How did you find Dr Sauceda? 

I was at my DS support group in San Francisco and one of the ladies had just returned from MTY and raved about her experience with Dr Sauceda and her new body.  She'd come down with her mom and sister from Ft Bragg a 5+ hr drive and was less than 3 weeks out from surgery.  She told me about his group page here on OH and the rest is history.  That was back in April 2010.  I met Dr S in San Francisco in Aug of 2010, had my first PS with him in Jan 2011 and my last Jan 2013.  Click on Dr Sauceda in my siggy line and it'll take you over to the group page.  There are currently two ladies in MTY now. 

Dr Sauceda will be in Orlando on June 28 and 29 and is available for consults if you want to meet him first.

The LBL is three procedures in one - tummy tuck with muscle tightening, outer thigh lift, butt lift.  I didn't think my back was bad either, until I saw the "before" pictures!  I was freaked over the idea of an incision all the way around, but the incision wasn't a problem at all.  The pain and recovery was all about the muscle tightening, which you'd get with the tummy tuck.

On staging, it depends on what your surgeon is willing to combine.  Mine won't do both upper and lower work in the same surgery - he wants at least half of you functional!  A lot of docs will do the tummy tuck/thigh lift at the same time.  Some will do the LBL/thigh lift at the same time.  All of the ones I've spoken to will do arms/breast at the same time.

Talk to a few surgeons before you settle on one.  Every one has a slightly different approach, and you need to find the one that works for you.