Batwing Surgery before you make goal???

Hi y'all Im 50lbs from my goal and sooooo done with these batwing arms! They plague me every season, and now with Fall/Winter coming and not being able to fit into long knit/sweater sleeves but the body of the garment fits Im frustrated as usual.

Im asking if anyone has had the surgery BEFORE goal, then gone on to lose more weight and did you need to go back and have your arms re done or are they ok?

Thanks for any help!

Gael

It's called a brachioplasty.

So here's the thing, no one can answer this because "okay" is different for everyone. Yes, if you do this before reaching goal your arm skin might experience additional laxity and stretch. However, if you do this after reaching your goal your skin might STILL experience additional laxity and stretch. There are no sure bets here. You're always taking a gamble. And whether or not the future potential changes will be "okay" are dependent upon what you view as "okay."

I'm having all of my reconstructive surgeries done before I have reached my ultimate goal. I know that I'm risking needing to have future fixes done depending on how much skin continues to change but, I'm also "young" which means my skin will continue to change anyway as I age regardless of whether I lose more weight or not. I might decide not to pursue further reconstruction, I might decide that I do want to pursue it. I can't predict this now, I can only make the best choices that I can make for the given moment and conditions.

Make the choice that's best for you, knowing that you can't know what the future holds. However, I will suggest that as a halfway measure, if you're concerned, you invest in compression sleeves and try those first instead of a brachioplasty. You might find that they give you enough benefit that you're able to put off the brachioplasty a little bit longer.

I had arms done after reaching goal. Year later I did a revision as left arm was still bigger than right. Best to go for a consult.

Normally I would say wait, but if it caused me a problem fitting into sweaters I would go ahead and get a consultation.

While I'm not at my "goal" (in quotes because my program never gave us goal weights, but for me goal is a weight I am happy to live my life at which I can maintain easily -- check) in terms of a normal BMI, I am having my plastics now. I had my arms done in May and will be having my lower body lift in just over a month. If I do lose more weight, I think that living with 20-30lbs worth of slightly excess skin is going to be a lot more manageable than living with 110lbs of excess skin. Like scars, that's part of the process I've considered an acceptable risk.

If you'll feel more comfortable/confident with your arms done, go do them. It's done amazing things for my self-confidence. I feel so much more at ease in public this summer. It's been liberating.

Is your ribbon up to date? I shows that you plan on losing more than 50 more pounds.

You can get a consult with a PS and see what a pro says. They would be able to say what the best plan for you would be.

Even if you started the process now, it will prob be sometime until you got an appt with at least 2 PS and made a decision and got all the pre-op stuff out of the way.

In my experience, I only wanted to do these PS operations once - they are longer and more diffifult to recover from than the WLS. My arm lift/breast lift was 8 hours long and I would only want to do that once. It is expensive enough that I would want to get the most benefit from it the first time.

Even though you want to rip that hanging skin off right now, you will still need chose your PS path carefully. (I know from what I speak, after a total of 20 hours of PS, in 3 surgeries)

Thanks Sharon, yes I need to update that ribbon! Also should edit my post to say that by the time I get a consult AND even get surgery id be WAY closer to goal by at least 25lbs.

Since I posted I actually found some cute "cover-ups" by Lula roe at 50% off called Lindsays. Theryre 3/4 length sleeved and Im talking myself into making it through more months! lol...

And yes, I do only want to do PS once as you say! :)

Some people wear these things called sleeveys that are like an arm compression garment.

http://www.sleeveywonders.com/

Just because You have more weight to lose doesn't mean there is still a lot of fat left in your arms. Losing more may make very little difference in that area. A Plastic Surgeon can give you that answer, they can see past the skin.

I would get several consults from Board-certified plastic surgeons who specialize in massive weight loss. Every one will say they do it, but make sure they show you pictures of someone who looks like you!

My surgeon does virtual consults and I traveled for him as well. I highly recommend him. Link in my signature.

P.S. Sharon, how do I change the ribbon? I can't figure it out :)

When you are logged in, click on the pink + sign on the top right of the page. You can then choose Log Weight to update your tracker.