Consultation and Questions/Opinions/Input welcome

Mine includes the thighs, which is why it is longer (the medial thighs). As far as being scared, I know Dr. Capella and I am scared. It is a long surgery. I have never been unr for more than 2-hrs. How much were you quoted as far as cost?

i don't know if you mean Dr. Capella is not a known entity to you, or that he is not known in his field. If the latter, I just want to put you at ease. He is very well-renown in his field, having the most experience with MWL patients than any other plastic surgeon. If you make a new post with his name in the title, eg Any patients here of Dr. Capella, then you will find his patients on this forum. I think there are about 8 active at this time. They all speak very highly of him. You also can find patients of his on RealSelf. 

And if you go to YouTube and search JenniferHammond88 then you will find her video with Dr. Capella of her one week post op after her surgery.

if you send me a friend request then you will be able to see my before and afters photo album of my tummy tuck. It is locked with the password "Capella."

No I meant that I don't know him. I know my doctor from other procedures but he's VERY pricey. Dr. Capella quoted me 12K and some change. It comes out to about 13K with the extras at the hospital such as testing, etc. I did notice there's a line that said the hospital may charge more for unanticipated charges. So it may be a bit more but compared to 26K, that's pretty dang good. Especially given the number of these surgeries that he has done. I did research him quite extensively and he's clearly not a rookie, just starting out. He's done a lot of these and seems to focus on keeping the overhead down. He also said he'd prefer NOT to do my face at the same time. He said it would be a really long surgery and he would get tired and it's better to do them in phases. No one else has really explained it like that. It makes perfect sense.

I was going to ask them why he doesn't have his own surgery center. He explained about possible blood transfusions but do you know if he ever has had a center and changed his mind? My only concern with the hospital approach is exposure to anything floating around the hospital. Typically surgery centers offer less exposure to crud you pick up in hospitals. That's a minor concern however, at this point, given all the other variables.

Yes, he used to have an OR right in the office when he and his dad were in practice together. His dad is a retired baraitric surgeon. So for $12k are you getting the LBL combo abdominoplasty, butt lift, and outer thigh lift, then the UBL combo arm lift, flankplasty, and breast lift? What about augmentation? And these are the same procedures tht your surgeon wanted $26k for or did he propose something a little different?

The center for plastic surgery is in a separate building from the hospital. I don't know if that makes it have less crud. You can ask him what his infection rate is (percent). They have everything they need right there in the OR such as the ability to give transfusions. I also like that they do not wheel you down to the OR on a gurney. You get to walk. Then you stand for your Betadine wash and then you seat yourself on the OR table with his help. For me, this was much better than the traditional OR experience which I find so scary. Being able to participate in some of my experience was good for me. I wrote all about my tummy tuck experience here 

http://www.healthcentral.com/obesity/c/276918/160586/bariatric-abdominoplasty-ch/

Going under scares the sh*t out of me. 

What procedures did you already have with your plastic surgeon?

I'm just doing an arm lift. I had a breast lift and implants 4 years ago. I also had a rhinoplasty and a revision back then. The LBL combo is as you described, the upper is just arms, not flank or breast.

I'd love to know about your breast lift and aug. I will be doing mine two stage, which is how Dr. Capella does it - and he does not charge more for doing the two stage versus one stage. Are you happy with your results? Anything you would have done differently? Any advice? 

How did you come to decide on saline versus silicone? How are your scars? Thanks!

will you be traveling alone? I am. There is a Homewood Suites by Sheraton in Mahwah that I had considered. It offers an efficiency apartment, fully equipped, hot breakfast daily, dinner Mon-Thursday, and shuttle to anywhere within 5-miles, all complimentary. Dr. Capella's office is within 2.5 miles. Oh, they also offer free grocery delivery. It sounds ideal. I am staying at the Crowne Plaza on Suffern because it is beautiful/luxury and because I got a good deal on it. There is a train in Suffern that runs to the Ramsey Rt. 17 station right by Dr. Capella's office. So it is pretty convenient. I really wanted to stay someplace scenic if I am going to be cooped up for so long. I am really hoping that I am well enough to get outside. The town is very charming.

I had my lift and nose done first by a doctor who did NOT do what I asked for. My breasts and areolas were different sizes. My breasts were a full cup size different after the lift. I was really upset. I went to a different doctor about a year later and had implants and my nose redone. The second doctor was excellent. He put 860CC's in one breast and 840 in the other to balance them out. The areolas are still different sizes but I didn't want a revision because they have to cut you again. I decided to just leave it. My initial lift, I had numbness in my breast but excessive sensitivity in the nipples. After the implants, I had no sensation in the nipples. My right one came back a little but my left is still pretty numb. It wasn't nerve damage as they respond to cold but the sensation isn't the same. I recovered quickly, only needed pain meds the first day. I was extremely happy. I had small boobs my whole life and a big butt. Since I've lost so much weight, my back does hurt and now I have 36G's so I suspect at some point, I'll get smaller bags. (I started out 44C). I went saline because if they leak, you know immediately. If I were to do it over, I'd pick the gel high profile silicone.

*edit: Different from each other. One breast was a full C and one was a B.

Thank you... I was to.d that my breasts would be 20-30% smaller after the lift. Yikes! I do not think I will like small boobs. I was a 38 DD but after losing 25lbs I am probably a D. So I don't know what I will be after the lift... I hope no smaller than a C but I think I will end up a B. dislike. 

I like big boobs but I do not want to look matronly or like a puta so I a, glad that Dr. Capella uses the sizers from Mentor rather than just giving you the implants to stick n your bra. I will want to see what a full DD looks like and then go from there. Where do you get bras from that are 36G? I get everything from Victoria Secret and they only go to DD.

why would you get the high profile silicone? 

I order them from Fredericks or other places online. I can wear some VS 38DDD. As the band sizes go down, he cup sizes do, too. If I want a snug band, I need a 36. A 36DDD is not even close to working.

The saline sloshes a bit and I can feel the bag on the bottom of my breast where there isn't much breast tissue. The high profile "gummi bears" look the best on my friends who got them. They feel more like natural breasts. There's a doctor in Houston who now sews the implant in place, meaning he sews down the side of the breast so that when you lay down, your boob doesn't fall into your armpit. If i got them redone, I'd probably go to him.

Are you saying that both the saline and silicon fall into your arm pit when you lay down?

Yes. It varies person to person but natural boobs do this, as well. So when they create the pocket to put the implant in, the same thing can occur when you lay down. The worst is the boobs with the HUGE gap in between. From what I understand, that is a result of the size of the woman's ribcage and torso and has nothing to do with the surgeon. I told my doctor that I wanted my boobs to have cleavage and touch each other. He said that would depend on many things but he would do a revision, if that happened, and try to move the pockets closer together.

If you lay down now, depending on your body, without a bra, you will notice your boobs shift to the side of your ribcage near your armpit. It's the same premise. The bags don't actually move to the armpit, the whole boob does.