Multiple Procedures at the Same Time

I've had consults with three different doctors.  The first one said he'd do a lower body lift and small inner thigh lift together (at the time I wasn't interested in doing my breasts).

The second doc said he'd do a lower body lift, small inner thigh lift and breast lift/augmentation together.

The third doc said, "The best thing to do is not to have everything done at the same time. The operative time is very long and even if you are a young and healthy patient, we would be taking our chances. I prefer not to do a LBL and thighs at the same time, since the vectors of pull are opposite and the chances of not removing enough skin (because we don´t want the wound to pop open) is greater."

  I was curious as to what you all have heard or had done.  I hate to do the LBL without the TL.  (I can wait on breasts if I need to).   Thoughts?

I had my first consult last week with a doctor recommended by my WL surgeon and he told me the same thing you were told by the last physician.  I REALLY wanted to LBL with medial thigh lift and he said that the two surgeries pull in opposing directions and could compromise my results, and that I would be under anesthesia too long.  When I told him how I wanted to do them together to decrease total cost and time needed off work, he said that when he was training he saw a few surgeons do multiple surgeries simultaneously and patients would end up in ICU which thought was unacceptable for elective procedures.  I see that many people on here have had multiple procedures done without problems but now I am concerned that I may be taking a chance with my health and long term results if I go to someone who would combine them.  I'm unsure now because I know what I want but I'm afraid of the possible complications. I would like in the end to have LBL, TL, BL, and brachioplasty, he told me he would do arms and BL together but the other two separately :(

That's what I'm struggling with.  My friend just had the LBL, TL and BL/BA done a few weeks ago with the doctor I'm looking at and she's doing great.

I'm not as concerned about the multiple procedures.  If I could only choose 2, then I'd choose LBL and TL.  But if they are counterproductive to do them together, then that's a concern!

 

Why does this have to be so tough?

My doc wouldn't do the LBL and thighs together either for the same reasons - tensions pulling in opposite directions.  The other 2 docs I consulted had their own versions of what they would or wouldn't combine.  I will tell you that the LBL is a big surgery - really a combination of a full tummy tuck, mons lift, outer thigh lift and butt lift.  It's also a long surgery. 

So, you need to decide where your comfort level is with anesthesia, how many body parts you can have out of commission at the same time, how much of you can hurt at the same time.  I did all my surgeries separately, except for the breast lift with extended brachioplasty.  As much as I hated the multiple recoveries - and, yes, it cost more because of the additional operating suite fees - I could concentrate on recovering that one area of my body at a time. 

It's a personal call.  Best of luck in making your decision and in your surgery!

If so many doc's are adamant about doing the LBL and TL separately, it makes me wonder about the ones who will do them together.  Who knows what the results will look like 5-10 years down the road if we were to do them together?  I would really like to do it all at the same time, but I want the results to last a long time, especially considering the amount of money I'll be dishing out.  I think talking about this has helped me, because now I am seriously considering doing them separately. 

My doctor said the same thing as the third doctor you saw. I had the LBL first then in a second round had the TL and the BL together. I second what others have said above - the LBL is a big deal. I don't think I could have managed it with something else. Well.. maybe the BL would have been OK but not the thigh lift for sure. Too much stuff going on in the same general area makes moving a little difficult and recovery more of a pain.

My doctor said the same thing as your last doctor about not doing the inner thigh lift at the same time as the lower body lift.  He is willing to do the lBL/bl/arms done at the same time though.

I have a plastic surgeon that i have tremendous faith in, and respect for.  I had a LBL in January of 2014.  I wanted him to do additional procedures with it but he refused.  He stated that a LBL is an extremely long, tedious operation and despite my (relative) youth and good health, he didn't feel comfortable doing it.  I have respect for this.  

 

I would say don't do it all together. This winter I am clustering a breast lift/aug with an arm lift.  He won't do anything more than that at the same time, which I respect.  

 

My surgeon said the same thing about a lower body lift and inner thigh lift at the same time.

He is perfectly willing to do a lower body lift, tummy tuck, and chest reshaping (I'm male) at the same time.  Two weeks from today, in fact.  :)

Every plastic surgeon has his preferences as well as a lot depends on how much excess tissue there is, whether the patient spends a night in the hospital, has donated a unit of her own blood, nutritional state. Finally, the time that it takes individual plastic surgeons to do the procedure. The most important thing I consider is safety. I usually have a maximum operating time of about 5 hours. Then, I make sure that the patient is in excellent nutritional state. If then, I am able to do multiple procedures, which is usually possible, I discuss which ones can be combined, depending on the vectors that you mention but also positioning after surgery, bent over or not.

     If the patient decides on combining procedures, which I encourage based on above for it cuts down on their expenses, recovery, then we talk about either as an outpatient or overnight stay. Fortunately, we do have a special rate for the latter in our hospital here.

Finally, if I am combining procedures, we talk about them donating a unit of their own blood for me to give back at the end of surgery to help with the recovery and get them going as soon as possible. 

I hope this helps you decide.

Dr. Edward Jonas Domanskis is Certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery 1441 Avocado Avenue, Suite 307 Newport Beach, California 92660 949.640-6324/1.888.234-5080(Ca) Website: http://www.surgery-plastic.com Assistant Clinical Professor of SurgeryWOS-Plastic,University of California (Irvine) Orange County’s Physician of Excellence/America’s Top Physicians/Top Doctors Plastic Surgery- 2005/2006/2007/2008/2009/2012/2013 President,American Society of Bariatric Plastic Surgeons www.ASBPS.org

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