Had consultation with Dr. Capella...

Well I drove over 2 bridges and through the Bronx to have my consult with Dr. Capella today. Light traffic! Lucky me.

I have to say I was excited when I left and I think he might be at the top of the list.

Love the idea of Dr. Katzen, and his price wasn't bad compared to some I've had, but the traveling to California from NY... have had a hard time putting my head around the logistics and cost.

Dr. Capella, is soft spoken and I liked that he explained everything really well. Not just what he is doing, but why he likes to make certain choices. I like knowing his thought process.

I also liked the surgeries he was willing to combine and the price. There is a long list of what could be done... in my dream world. But there is a shorter list of what is essential. I liked that he was willing to get my essentials done in one surgery.

My 'fat' thinking head, is always expecting them to say "You aren't ready for this... you need to lose more weight" Yet all the PS have said that I am a great candidate. You can see they are artists as they get excited about the thought of removing your skin and creating a new body.

So an interesting thing Dr. Capella said to me today...and my 'fat' thinking head was having a hard time processing this... was he didn't think I really needed muscle tightening. He said "once the skin is gone, you are actually very flat. It is not essential" He also said "I don't say this to everyone" .... it's flat under there?

So He is willing to do circumfrential body lift with the breast lift and brachioplasty(arms) at the same time, but suggesting if I do that, no muscle tightening. Although he is willing to do the muscle tightening if I want. or I can do body lift one surgery and arms and breasts another surgery. He suggests waiting on a thigh lift for several reasons  one being I might be satisfied with the amount of lift from the body lift. He showed me pics of people who only had body lifts and their thighs did show improvement. At this point I would like it don't consider it at the top of the list.

I also like that they have a contract with the Hospital and those prices are fairly well mapped out as well. They clearly explain as well what extras to expect. I like having a clear idea what I am getting myself into. SOme of the Docs were too sketchy in this department. They knew their fees but couldn't give you a clear idea of everything else.

Scheduling is tough, and I am really mentally ready to get this done. Plus I don't want to leave the hernia hanging for too long....The date they have is close to my nephew's wedding which involves a trip to Arizona.

Am supposed to have phone consult with Dr. Michaels (DC area) on Tuesday. Not sure if I've made my decision, or if I should listen to him too. Closer to home is easier....

Big decisions...

While I love Dr. Michaels and I chose him over Dr. Capella, they were both great. They did have some differences though so I say it's worth a listen for a simple phone consult, but I can tell you what the main differences were with my consults (they were the only 2 I consulted with for the same set of procedures.)

-Dr. Capella's price was a few thousand cheaper, like maybe 2.not because of the surgeon fees, cause Dr. M even dropped his price fo3 me a bit to try and close the gap. But the hospitals in dc just charge more.

-Dr. C does the pie crust stitching method and Dr. M doesn't. I've seen before and after pics for both so I honestly don't know that the technique difference matters in the long run, but I'm not a fan of having the pie crust look while waiting for it to flatten out.

-Dr. M does butt augmentation so the butt lift doesn' t flatten you out. It didn't seem like Dr. C does. So you can decide if that's worth a little extra cost. 

-Don't underestimate the benefit of a closer doc. That ended up being another major reason I was willing to pay more to stay in the DC area. It's good to know that if a question, complication, etc. arises that you can easily get back to see your doc.

So really it's up to you what is more important in terms of price, procedures, location, etc.  Best of luck with the ongoing doc search though!! 

Thanks for the feedback. One of the reasons I booked the consult with Dr. Michaels is because DCGirl had such awesome results and both of you seemed to have minimal pain. Did you have muscle tightening? One of the things I like about Capella was he was willing to do Body lift, breast lift, and arms together. Being those are at the top of my Hit Parade... that was exciting to me.

I did have muscle tightening but I think depending on how your muscles look it can be done to varying degrees. He told me that with my age and all my muscle tightening shouldn't need to be extensive. So while that part was a little painful/sore it was very manageable.

Dr. M doesn't like to do all 3 together, but depending on your situation would consider it. He did my 3 together because my breast lift wasn't extensive or complex. Even with that my surgery was 12 hours (he estimated 10 but said up front it could be 10 to 12 as he wanted to make sure he got the best results). I think his willingness to do all 3 depends on whether he thinks he won't have to keep you under too long. Plus, with not having your arms to help you sit up, you need to make sure you have ample help from family or someone afterwards. I live alone so I stayed with my mom for about 2 weeks since she was off work. I definitely wouldn't have wanted to be left alone during the day after all 3 procedures. 

Thanks again for the response. I was wondering about that, if their were 'degrees' to muscle tightening.... Yes I have friends and family willing to help me. I live alone, so have already considered that.

Heya :)

What help did you need after your LBL/arm lift? (I'm doing this too, as you know, and want to try to prepare the guys for what I'll need!)

Hi there,

I too was at Dr. Capella's office on 1/8/16--(maybe saw you there NYMom222 ?)-for my pre-surgery final consult. (I'm scheduled for brachioplasty, flankplasty, body lift and mastopexy on Jan 25.)

Just wanted to chime in on the butt part of the lift. I asked Dr. C about it, and my concern about coming out totally flat. He said that he has altered his technique now to use existing fat and create more "projection" instead of stripping off all the fat back there. I'm not explaining it well, (and he included a picture to help explain what he meant), but in your determination to choose the right doc., it's worth a call or visit for further clarification. Good luck!

That is so funny... My appointment was 9:30AM. What parts were you traveling from? For those of us who were so ashamed of our bodies MO...it is very interesting having to stand their naked and be examined. Never know where to look...LOL.

I think I went in after you. We came from nearby in New Jersey.

Congratulations on all your research and making your decision!

Good luck with all.

I just posted a "before" picture from today, and I made an "imagined after" for what I hope is realistic after surgery with Dr. Capella. Fingers crossed!!!

It feels weird to do that, but I'm excited and looking forward to this change. Also very distracted from work, and scared too.

This is so awesome to hear!  Those are my "big three" procedures as well, and I love that he can do them all together.  I'm super excited for you.