Cross post. Help me decide please!

Where to have my plastics... Insurance is paying so no issue there. I could go to any doctor in the world. I can have it done 10 minutes from my house or travel. The upside of having it done at home is obviously that its here and I don't have to travel. The downside is that the surgeon here would do a TT and not the LBL. And he would do a second surgery for the thighs later on. So a toss up between going to Dr Capella in NJ and doing the BL and LBL all in one and be done with it or staying at home and doing a TT and BL and then a few months later thighs. I have a place to stay in NY with good friends and I would travel back two weeks post op in principle. I have no idea what the recovery is like from this type of surgery and what travel would do. What would you do if you had the choice? I could also ask the surgeon here if he would do the LBL but he already said he didn't think I need it and they are pretty set in their ways here. And he has only done 100 LBLs so I don't want him to do anything out of his comfort zone. He does amazing boobs and tummies though. And I do think I need the LBL and Capella agrees (pictures). I don't sag too much in the butt but the whole bod could use a bit of sculpting and contouring...I am really leaning towards Capella but I do waver sometimes and especially when I see that plastics seems to require more follow up than the WLS did. I literally saw my surgeon once after the VSG and have never looked back. Not sure the same is feasible after plastics. Or is it?

I would go to the one closet to your home. If a surgeon says you do not need a LBL most likes the is correct. If you can get a good result without that scar, you should do it. Secondly some surgeons will do things you really do not need just for the payment, be weary of that type if thing. I have seen it happen a lot in the plastic surgery realm. Plastics can have complications bad being close to your surgeon is a plus. Some are fortunate and have no complications others like the woman who posts frequently here with her bad complication need to see the ps often. And if I am not mistaken he is the same surgeon you were considering. 

Yes, same surgeon indeed. I usually heal pretty well. If the VSG recovery is any indication I was good to go after a couple of days really. But I understand plastics is a whole other ball game. I am so torn...

Absent other compelling reasons, I'd always opt for someone close at home.  If the surgery is uncomplicated, travel isn't a problem.  But I prefer to have my surgical team close at hand in the event of complications.

On TT versus LBL, and extended TT might be all you need.  The only down side to doing the TT is the possibility of ending up with dogears where the incision ends on the hips.  I understand this is a common issue and can be addressed as a revision under local anesthesia. 

Recovery time from the LBL really depends on you - how well you heal - and how much muscle repair is done.  The more repair, the more painful.  I know it's not everyone's experience, but I definitely didn't bounce back fast from the LBL.  I was completely useless for 3 weeks, and pretty useless for 3 more.  Part of it was the drugs.  It took longer to get off of the pain meds because of the pain from the muscle repair.  The incision itself was nothing - totally numb.

Yes I heard about the dogears thing. Sounds horrible! I wish I could just know the answer....I don't have much of a panni so not sure how extended the tt would need to be. I was thinking that the LBL would just really address the whole contouring issue including the butt and outer thighs which may take away the need for any additional thigh work. 

The LBL won't necessarily take care of the thighs.  It lifts the outer thigh, but doesn't change a thing on the inner thigh.  At least, it didn't for me.  I'm doing an inner thigh reduction next month.

The butt part of the LBL from the least painful thing of the procedure.  Nothing but wound care for the incision, and, as I said, the incision itself is pretty numb.  Go back to your local surgeon and sweet talk him into the LBL if that's what you want.  It does make for a longer surgery though, and he may be uncomfortable with keeping you under that long.

I am writing him an email right now...let's see. I know, it doesn't take care of the inner thighs but I think that is the least of my issues. If the butt and outer thighs are lifted I can live with the inner. Or do that later. Squats would probably lift the butt as well as any LBL...I should try that too!

Oh, sure...throw the exercise card out there! 

I didn't think my butt was bad until I saw the photos the surgeon took.  They were like the reverse of photoshop - everything looked bad.  And I went back and forth between TT and LBL.  At the end of the day, I figured I might as well get the works if I was going to be under anyway.  And there was a really noticeable improvement in the butt.

If you can get away with just the outer thigh lift, more power to you!  All the excess skin in my thighs is inner.

I can honestly say the skin is not bad at all. It is all kind of giggly and a little flabby but still fleshy if you know what I mean. The skin is not wrinkly at all. Anyway I sent the email and hopefully he will answer soon and favourably. I would indeed much rather recover at home and not do a transatlantic light with drains and what not. But I do want the best possible results too. 

Not everyone gets the dogeared looked.  Many do not and they have excellent results with just a TT.  I would be very weary about having something done that one doctor clearly told you - you didn't need.  I would get a third opinion now that you have two different opinions.  As I mentioned previously money drives a lot of what Plastic surgeons suggest, it's unfortunate, but it's true. 

I had a friend who had gorgeous thighs.  She did several consults in the US and they all asked what she wanted done, she mentioned thighs and they said, "oh yea, we can do them."  She finally had a consult with a surgeon who was honest and with integrity and he told her that he would not touch her thighs, they were lovely and she didin't need an extra scar.  Many of her friends had already told her that.  Just be careful.  Another surgeon told her in the states, many ps will do anything they are asked even if a patient doesn't need it just because they are being paid.  Money talks.

Adding extra procedures when they aren't neccessary is not really always a good idea.  There are many who have just the TT and they have excellent results.  Risks increase when you have a LBL vs a TT.