Eeeek- BL/BA with TT or LBL? Complication rate with LBL Freaking me out!

I had an abdominoplasty, breast lift, and massive brachioplasty in a procedure that lasted over 12 hours on the OR table.

The advantage of course is all the healing is done at once..but the disadvantage is that it's a LOT of stress on a body, and hard as hell to get around afterward.

The only complication so far is a lot of post operative swelling-- still continues 6 months later. I also have some buckling in the scar line that"s going to require a small revision. But all in all, getting it done in one shot saved me having to get up the guts to go under again, so in the end it's been okay.

Question for you Jupiter, did you have a hard time finding a PS that would do all three procedures at once?  I am still about 40 - 60 pounds from where I need to be before I can begin to see surgeons but I am concerned about having to have my procedures split into two separate surgeries.  I need a massive brachioplasty as well and I would want to have it done first but from what I've read on the boards it seems like its usually done after the lower body work is done.  My arms have always been extremely saggy and one arm is much larger than the other.  The amount of hanging arm skin that I have is so obnoxious.  They are like huge bags of wrinkly skin.

Knowing what you know now, would you do it the same way again?  Or was it just too hard all at once?   Thanks for your input.

I wasn't looking to have it all done at once, necessarily-- just to have it done well. My surgeon has a background in microsurgery, so long procedures don't faze him, apparently- he actually seems to enjoy the challenge.

Initially he'd offered to do my lower body circumferentially at the same time, but I couldn't afford the additional cost-- in the end we both were very glad we didn't, it would have easily been a 17-18 hour procedure.

All that having been said, I do not recommend having the arms and lower body done at once. I was lucky to have my mom (a retired nurse) for a couple weeks and she was young and able enough to move me, but otherwise I'd have been absolutely screwed. The long time on the OR table caused me serious reactions from the anesthesia ( a 2 week migraine and my straight hair is now inexplicably CURLY!) It was INTENSELY painful for at least a month.

Take heart about the arms-- if you find an excellent surgeon it can happen-- here's my results:

 Thank you so much for posting.  Your arms look soooo awesome and you look beautiful!  I appreciate the advice.  I won't really have much help so I'll probably end up having two surgeries.  I will be so elated when my arms are done and I won't have to feel deformed anymore.  Thanks again!

Just an FYI - I had my Arms done long before I had my LBL.....I had wanted my arms healed for the summer so the surgeon said no problem.  
Discuss it with your surgeon.....

Mahalo Jupiter- I actually tried to friend you after your last round of PS work since your sense of humor appeals to me so much! But you had so many requests you were culling the herd! Brave to do the arms as well- the nurse at the office said she told her PS to NOT combine arms and lower body work again since the patients were so limited afterwards- yours must have been challenging to get through! Continued great success, you are a hero to me! XOXOLori

Lori, quick qestion.  Why wouldn't you just split up front work and back work?  Is there evidence to suggest that the result may not be as good this way?  It looks like I will ned the same procedures as well and I'm darn scared to do it all together...mostly for the pain though.

Laura

Aloha Laura-

For me, the advantages were:

---only one trip under anesthetic with the incumbent healing time, assistance around the house and with driving, etc. I'll be in pain with any procedure, so why not combine them and shorten this timeframe. Also I HATE to ask for help from people- prefer to be  the independent  martyr-like type- so I wouldn;t have to go through all of that a second time.

---the reduced cost associated with one long procedure compared to 2-3 shorter procedures - also means off work for one time period instead of 2 so income not as affected. ( I have a personal issue going out on disability for elective procedures...I did not claim disability for my VSG either since it was elective).

I am going to ask this Friday about results by splitting them up - I was told that a CBL and breast work was OK together but not adding arms into the mix, for example, because you are so limited in your mobility afterwards.

Good to see you again- I've been off the boards for so long and have missed my buddies! XoLori

I had my LBL and BL/BA on November 16th (a Monday), no complications, stayed one night in the hospital.  The day after, once I was released, I had a 3 hour ride home, stopped to walk several times, of course, and was on my pain meds full-time still, through the next day (Wed.), so I don't remember a lot, I know I was in pain - but not the agony I had expected, really.

That Thurs & Fri (19th and 20th) I worked a few hours each day - I work from home or this would not have been possible, I certainly could not have gotten dressed and gotten myself out of the house, but I did feel good enough to do a few hours of catching up.  The week after, I still took it somewhat easy but did probably 3/4 of my work - so obviously I got along well. 

What surprised me the most was that overall, the pain related to the BL/BA was harder for me than the pain from the LBL.  Everything I had read suggested the opposite - goes to show we are all different.

Personally, I wanted to get the most I could done in one shot for a few reasons, the biggest of which are money (of course) and limited time off because I am self-employed.  I am just 4 weeks out and already down to a size 4, from a 10 pre-LBL (24 to 26 pre-WLS).  Needless to say, I am thrilled.

Good luck and I say if you think you can recover well, get what you want done - I knew from experience that I can bounce back, I had an internal hernia repaired in Sept. and really wasn't down for long at all, and same for my RNY and gallbladder....If you have a hard time recovering then maybe pare it down.

Neato, Julie! That's a great story- I guess as moms we are used to sucking it up and getting things done whether we feel great or not and you are a testimonial to that. I am going to ask Friday at my re-consult about what tactics are used to discourage thromboemboli, etc- that's my biggest fear, not pain or nausea, etc.  I tend to be a quick healer and often need to be told to slow down after surgeries- the hardest part for me will be not working out for 6 weeks- aaaaarrrrgh! XoLori