Question:
Is this too much PS to have done at once
Hello All, I love you all and am here to still learn and support and now, I need your help. I have been approved and am scheduled for post op 3 yrs plus to have surgery once again. My doctor wants and is scheduled to do a TT, hernia repair, abdominal tightening and breast lift. Mind you, tricare prime but, by a civilian doctor in a military hospital and he wants to do it all at once. I am excited and nervous all at the same time. Any input would be apprecciated. I am scheduled the 18th of October and am wondering what my recovering time will be and any helpful hints would be greatly appreciated. I — ncgal (posted on September 28, 2004)
September 27, 2004
As far as having them both together... I didnt.. My PS would NOT do them
together; each surgery the TT and the breast lift were apx 4 hour surgeries
'EACH'. Could I have survive having them both done... Im sure... the
Breast lift was the least of the two as far as pain/recover. The breast
lift took less than 2 weeks off work; the TT and hernia repair required 4
weeks off work.
— star .
September 28, 2004
It does seem like quite a bit to be doing to your body at once, but I am no
expert on plastic surgery. I'm really impressed that Tricare is covering
this for you - way to go! You look great! :)
— French Q.
September 28, 2004
Hi Michelle, My doc makes decisions like that on a case by case basis. I
was at goal, and very healthy in great cardio shape, so she did a lower
body lift and breast lift at the same time. It was expected to take 7
hours, but took a bit longer. I did wonderfully. I know some surgeons are
more cautious, but for me, it worked out well as I couldn't afford two
surgeries. My best advice is to take your pain pills ON TIME the first
week whether you think you need them or not. Don't be a martyr :) It
makes recovery much easier. My second, and as important piece of advice is
that all those pain pills make you constipated, so guard against that every
way you can.. colace, benefiber, etc. That was the worst part of my
recovery as you DON'T want to strain when you've just had a TT!!!! Sorry
so graphic, but I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy, so be careful :)
— mom2jtx3
September 28, 2004
I would steer clear of a doctor that did any PS that goes for longer than
5-6 hours. That is about the top length of time that you should be in
surgery for this type of operation.
— ChristineB
September 28, 2004
I had a tummy tuck, breast lift w/augmentation and a thigh lift all at the
same time AND went home the same day. It can be done. I had zero
problems/complications and I have no complaints. Like the previous poster
said, take your pain meds on schedule and you'll be fine.
— Angie M.
September 28, 2004
I know all goctors vary , but I had a lower body lift , muscle repairs, and
arm lift and it all took aproximately 3 hours. I have excellent results and
am glad I did it all and will go back to the same doctor for my breasts and
thighs. My friend had all you had except no hernia and did fine. Good luck
& email me if you want more details.
— **willow**
September 28, 2004
See my profile at the bottom... I had it ALL done in 2 seperate surgeries
and did just fine and went home the same day for both of them. I had a
breast lift with aug, arm lift and TT in one surgery, then a butt lift,
thigh lift (cut from groin to 3" below the knee) and a back roll
removal (cutting me from armpit to armpit across my back) and only had
minor complications. Good luck...
— SMG I.
September 28, 2004
I just barly survived my 7 hour lower body lift two weeks ago and I was in
perfect shape pre operativly. I am young and healthy but that is a lot of
surgery at once and I am concerned as to why it all needs to be done now???
Plus I would be worried about blood loss and needing a transfusion
afterward. I have a ton of info on my profile if you want to know about my
experience......my word of caution is beauty does not come overnight or
without some unpleasant outcomes sometimes. Bearing that in mind if you
feel comfortable go for it. Good luck!!!!!! Wendi LBL on 9/13/04 23 hour
hospital stay...7 hour surgery....11lbs of skin removed.
— lovemonterey
September 29, 2004
A TT usually includes tightening of abdominal muscles which would repair
and abdominal hernias. Lots of surgeons will do breast lift with another
procedure. A breast lift involves totally external work. I had breast lift
and arms done together. It was a 3 hr surgery and I went home that day.I
returned to work 7 days later. Minimal pain. I had LBL and that was a 6 hr
surgery with 2 surgeons working together.I was supposed to go home the next
day but had bleeding problems and had to get blood. The pain wasn't too
bad. I only took 8 pain pills. I went back to work at a desk job in 3
weeks.
— dianne E.
September 29, 2004
It comes down to how much you need removed. When I had my LBL the surgery
took 10.75 hours, so there was no way he was going to do anything else. He
had originally planned on 8-9 hours, but I was a challenge. Fortunately I
did extremely well under anesthesia for that long. I did however lose
almost 5 units of blood. They transfused the unit I had donated at the end
of surgery and then they had to give me two more units of donor blood the
next morning. It took 4 weeks before I felt "normal" again. I
did got back to work after about 2 weeks, but started out part time and
worked my way back to full time.
<p>My 2nd PS was 8.5 hours and that was to do the equivalent of an
upper torso lift (roll above the navel that went all the way around),
lipo'd 4 liters of fat out of my upper legs in preparation for the skin
removal in Nov, and revised my belly button and area above the pubic bone.
I had originally tried to push him to do the breast lift/augmentation and
arm skin removal along with the upper torso work, before he decided to do
the lipo. He said it would be too long a surgery but more importantly the
two things would work against each other. Since he was pulling my skin up
and cutting it off and anchoring it below the breasts the last thing he
needed was any tension on the breasts and surrounding tissue. My hope is
to be able to do arms and breasts next year and at the same time probably a
revision on the LBL to do one final pull up of the leg skin and butt, since
all the excess skin will be gone by then. Because I had such heavy legs,
over time that weight has pulled some of the tight skin down in the saddle
bags area and also my butt. In hindsight it would have made sense to do my
legs first and get all that weight gone before doing the LBL. However, I
had insurance coverage for the full extended abdominoplasty, done in two
stages, and I wasn't about to let that slip by. Besides we really did not
realize the legs would end up causing some of the issues they have. It's a
learning process for everyone involved. Each patient presents with it's
own set of unique issues for the PS and they try to figure out what is best
for each situation. The huge blobs I had in the back were not something
very common. He had only done one other woman with something similar and
he does a bunch of bariatric patients who've lost a lot.
<p>If you don't have tons of skin to remove in the TT then I would
think doing all of this at once would be okay. If you have over 15 lbs to
remove then that surgery alone will be very extensive and it may be too
much to do at once. Most people only have 5-10 lbs removed in a TT. I had
19 and I know of some former SMO who have had 20-40 removed. That is a
done of tissue to be removed and associated blood loss. If the blood loss
appears to be minimal with what you are having done and you are healthy
otherwise and have had no issues with previous anesthesia, then go for it.
I assume the PS is comfortable with doing this much or he would not have
suggested it. My next surgery is estimated at 7 hours, which means it will
probably be 9 hours based on past history. I have a perfectionist for a PS
and he tends to take longer than most because he wil redo things in the OR
if he doesn't like how they look as soon as he finishes sewing it.
Unfortunately from this point forward I am paying the total bill, but I'm
not willing to change PS just so it can be done faster. They guy has done
right by me so far and has stood behind his work. The comfort level of
working with him is work a couple more hours of hospital and anesthesia
bills is needed.
— zoedogcbr
October 2, 2004
No problem combining procedures provided you are in a good facility for
recovery and monitoring for at least a day or so. If you're health is good,
and you are not too anemic (i.e. Hb less than 10) and do not have a huge
amount of tissue to remove, then the combined approach is safe. Remember,
almost nobody has problems "on the table" It's the after care
that counts. (i.e. managing fluids, diagnosing infection, bleeding, or
blood clots...these are the main reasons for complications and death after
plastic surgery.) I choose a facility that has good nurses, an ICU if I
need it, a lab that gets my results fast, X-ray, and an inpatient pharmacy.
This prevents little problems from becoming big complications.
— DrL
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