Breast Lift/Aug & "Goal" Weight Question

Question 1 - my breasts were really deflated...i went from a 38DDD to a 36C in a couple of months right when i got to where you are- just at the top of normal. It is a really hard decision. You have to expect to lose some volume with just a lift.

Question 2- I went for bodyfat testing - you can read about it on my blog...that really helped me see I was ready to move forward with plastics. Looking at my body it looked like I still had a lot to lose. LBL he took off 4 1/2 lbs of skin and with arms/ breasts he took off one pound. Skin doesnt weigh a lot, but as he put it, it was 'impressive in volume' ... I also lost a few pounds after each surgery. I went for follow up bodyfat testing and now am at about 20-21%.

I did 5 consults with plastic surgeons. I strongly suggest you go to someone who specializes in people with massive weight loss. We have unique challenges...

And of course I recommend Dr Michaels, he is a gem. So worth travelling to DC for.

Thank you! I definitely have a lot of body fat left around my pooch/tummy area that just won't go away. What was your fat percentage prior to the LBL? I guess in those cases, they have to do lipo?

I definitely want to go to someone who has experience mostly in weight loss patients and a great track record. I will check Dr. Michaels out! My only concern is with travel after having such a massive procedure, but it's something to consider as so many people do it without any issues.

I had a breast lift. I was a 34F before and now I am a 34DD. I do not have any upper pole fullness, but I am happy with my lift only. Good bras make them look fabulous. Originally I was going to go back after a few months to get the implants (my surgeon believes the 2 stage process keeps them up in place better in the long run) but I changed my mind. I still walk around neked in front of my SO and love my body "as-is"

Many surgeons want their patients to be at a stable weight for 6 months before they do plastics. The results can be changed dramatically with even a 10 pound loss or gain. I was maintaining for over 2 years before I had my lbl/bl.

Skin does not weigh very much. I had 5 pounds removed with my lbl and that was about 2 square feet of skin. If you have a lot of fat attached to the skin, it could be more, but for most of us, our weight when everything settles down remains about what it was pre-plastics. I do not see many people posting about huge losses to their weight. My weight stayed the same.

Get consults now. I started a few months before I reached goal. I wanted to know what the plastic surgeons had to say and then planned accordingly. Plastics is the fun part!! 

Thank you for the feedback! You look wonderful!

I think I will definitely focus on the LBL first and then see what happens with the breasts. Perhaps they'll also look better if my lower body looks smaller? ;)

I do feel that I have a lot of fat in my tummy area under the skin - that doesn't want to go away no matter what I do. Even when I was in high school I had a "pooch" tire under my bellybutton that made it impossible to wear anything like a pencil skirt or low-rise jeans. It doesn't look like just skin hanging off but a blob of skin and fat (so I assume lipo would be involved as well). I can't wait to be able to be rid of it!

I will definitely start looking around now. I have an appointment at my WLS clinic next week and they work closely with a few surgeons who would take my insurance so I will get a list of names and start my research on reviews, etc.

Plastics seems like the very VERY scary part to me! The idea of drains totally freaks me out and that recovery time! Eep! 

Sorry to necro this, but I'm reading through old posts to prepare and this was really reassuring for me to read. Doing the lift + augmentation in two stages makes sense to me since you might find, like you did, that you don't want the augmentation.

Very interesting.

I'm pretty deadset against augmentation, but it's nice to know that I -could- always augment later if desired.

You are so funny!! I read lots of old posts when I was waiting, too!!

Are you rather tall?

With the pani, you might lose a few pounds.  The people who lose lots are very heavy at the time of their surgery (on TV) and have lots of weight still to lose.  If your BMI is around 25, you may not have much fat to lose and would not lose much weight, but you will look tons better because you will look balanced.  MY BMI was about 25, but my body fat was 13%(I weight lift).  I lost nothing from my UBL.  What was lipoed out was put back for breast augmentation.  At 3.5 weeks my swelling is under control with compression garments, but if I take them off, I will swell.  Prob (hopefully) 6 weeks until swelling stays down without compression garments.

I have no idea of how a surgeon would give you perky 36Fs without implants - I was only looking for a B cup, so fat aug was an option for me.  You will prob want implants to make you happy with your outcome.

You can start getting consults now - I would think about what you want for 3 to 6 months from your first real consult - your ideas may evolve and you may avoid a mistake (even though right now you think that yesterday would not be soon enough). 

I am happy that I took awhile to consider my UBL options.   I was able to understand the options better and I went with an option where I have fewer scars than some plastic surgeons wanted to give me.

Thank you! Yep! I am 5'10" and I have a LOT of fat in my belly/tummy area. It's where I always gain first and have had a "pooch" pretty much all my life, no matter how much ab-focused exercise I do. So it doesn't really look like a "waterfall" of skin, but lumpy fat deposits. I definitely have a spare tire situation. My BMI is currently right around 25 but my body fat is pretty high.

Yeah. I think I have resigned myself to getting more comfortable with the idea of implants for the look I'd like. I didn't know if the fat aug was an option being that I didn't really want to drastically alter the size, just have more fullness. 

I got a few names of plastic surgeons from my bariatric clinic - so I'm going to start with one or two of those and go from there. I definitely want to explore all the different options and make sure I go about this the safest, and best way possible.