Had consultation with Dr. Capella...

Thanks AV! It is exciting....scary...and nerve-wracking all rolled up into one.

I am playing phone tag with his office. Get so worried about losing a date.... Talked to DCGirl about it today, and I think it is worth hearing Dr. Michaels.  I am saying this out loud to God and the Universe, I am making a decision this week!

I can't say enough great things about Dr. Capella, his PA Scott, and his staff. Have you look at all of the progress photos on my blog? If you are interested, the URL is in my signature and the password is capella2014 for all of the progress photos.

The pie crust incisions take about 6-8 weeks to flatten and they look much worse than they feel. I think it keep tension off of the incision to reduce the size of the scar, but I can't say for sure.

I'm thinking about taking a few new photos today!

I didn't decide on Dr. Capella, but I totally think he would have been a great choice.

Hey ladies, I haven't been on this forum in a long time. Congrats to all of you on plastic surgery after weight loss. I am so very glad that I did it in 2013. Dr. Capella did my body and Dr. Winslow did my face.

I will share that I have been having many problems with the brachioplasty. It was a combined surgery with several of the procedures that ladies here are considering. So, I would caution you to be very careful in recovery. Perhaps consider not combining the brachioplasty with the LBL. 

I say this because I had to go through months of orthopedic care and physical therapy and occupational therapy and chiropractic care for my right shoulder/arm and the surrounding chest area in 2014. And I am now in the same therapy for the left shoulder/arm. I have adhesions on the left arm all the way down to the forearm. Treatments are very painful and I am left bruised afterwards. The chronic pain in the arm and shoulder is even worse than the treatments, and I have very limited range of motion.

Arms are very tricky. Most plastic surgeons will tell you that. They are difficult to heal because of the tension that is placed there and because we use them so often. If you have an LBL, how are you going to lift yourself without adding stress to the brachioplasty? It is possible, I know one patient who had her surgeries combined with Dr. Capella and she said she used her arms for nothing during that whole six weeks and was OK. The other patients that I know had their axilla open, and that was very common. I and two other patients had quite a bit of trouble with the arms opening beyond the axilla and range of motion issues. One had gotten an upper body lift and the other had gotten a brachioplasty only. I cannot speak to the reasons these other two women had issues because I don't know their medical history. For example, did they have diabetes, did they smoke? Those things affect wound healing.

As for me, I had a contracted scar coming out of surgery that acted like a cast on my arm, but Dr. C said it would stretch. It didn't. Also the incision opened about half the length of my upper arm a week or two out from surgery. Several months later, Dr. Capella did a z-plasty to lengthen the contracted scar and that helped. However that z-plasty opened three times. Scott told me not to use the arm or do any upper body exercises with it. So, it was like having another cast. The arm then lost significant range of motion and hurt very badly. 

There were adhesions in the arm and shoulder and chest on the right side. And a year later it manifested in the left side. The way that all the doctors and therapists have explained it is that when the muscles and all that tightened on the right side, it pulled everything on the left side, too. Its like when you pull a flat sheet on the bed and the whole sheet gets pulled, not just the little bit that is in your hand.

I believe that what happened to me was quite unusual. The arm and axilla opening and the contracted scar aren't unusual, but what happened after that with the limited range of motion and the pain and all the treatments required are what's unusual. 

I do not want to scare you from getting your surgery. I am very glad that I went through with mine -- it took me 10 years after my gastric bypass to finally work up the courage to do so. I am just offering my experience as a word of caution. I wish you well.

Hey, stranger!! I'm sorry you have had such a difficult time since surgery. I hope you can find some relief. Thanks for sharing your story. People do need to know that problems can arise even with the best surgeons.

Hey Laura! It is good to hear from you! I should make it clear that the right arm was nearly fully recovered after all the treatments, so that gives me a good indication that the left arm will heal.

My life is so much better in so many ways since having the plastic surgeries. This setback is just one of many hurdles we face in our weight loss journey. As everyone here knows, it is not an easy path -- if it was, then everyone would do it. Challenges present us with opportunities to grow or to shrivel. I've learned a lot about myself and about people through this process. 

I am grateful for it all, and this precious experience we call life. xxx ooo

Thanks for sharing. I did decide to have 2 surgeries... realizing that when the lower body is recovering it is good to have your arms to rely on.......

Good for you!!!

Ladies Ladies Ladies   

Congratulations on your PS's   ..    Did insurance pay for these or were you self pay and if so how much did this cost.

rblain

Self pay... my body contouring was $25k for arm lift, breast lift, tummy tuck, butt lift, and inner thigh lift. That was inclusive of surgeon, OR, and anesthesia.