so I did a consult today with Dr. Daniel Krochmal in Northbrook, IL. He focuses mostly (but not exclusively) on body contouring, and he did his fellowship with Joseph Hunstad in Charlotte, NC, who is pretty well-regarded for body contouring for massive weight loss patients. Since I don't really want to travel too far from home for this (I just don't want to be away for 2-3 weeks), I think he might be a good option.

Really clicked with him - he's a very personable guy and very professional. His plan for me wasn't something that would have occurred to me, though. I was thinking LBL, BL, and arm lift. I was a very apple-shaped person - most of my weight was in my chest, arms, stomach, and back. Even at my heaviest, my hips and thighs were never a problem. He noticed this right away. He pointed out that almost all of my loose skin is in my arms, upper torso, abs, and back. He wants to do an extended TT with a fleur de lis cut (which I can totally see since I have a lot of loose skin high up on my torso, which would be hard to get to without doing a fleur de lis), but instead of doing an LBL, he thinks I'd be happier with a bra-line back lift. His rationale is my hips and butt don't need much of a lift, but I have a lot of loose skin on my back and sides that the bra-line back lift would hit. It would also give a slight lift to my hips and butt, which is really all I'd need there, if anything, because they really aren't bad.

he agreed with the BL and arm lift (he thinks I might want to consider implants since I have very little body fat to play around with, but he thought I should get the torso work and breast lift done first before deciding on implants, because I might be OK with everything after those are done and decide not to do implants (which I'm not sure I would want *anyway*, unless I look way out of proportion without them)

Anyway, I left there thinking "this is the guy", but I'd like to do a couple more consults to see what they say. Again, the bra-line backlift rather than a LBL kind of threw me - I totally get what he was saying, but I want to see if other surgeons suggest that as well....and what other kinds of ideas they come up with.

His fees were about what I expected. I was thinking that since he's in the Chicago area, it would be really expensive, but not really...

He doesn't like to have people under for more than six hours (plus that's sort of his own limit to boot), so he'd do the TT and backlift during the first surgery, and the BL and arm lift during a second surgery.

I think I might set up a consult with David Shifrin (also in Chicago and also did his fellowship under Hunstad) and someone in Minneapolis who's done a lot of these - and also the residency program at the Univ of Chicago (one of their faculty members, whom I'm assuming would be the supervising surgeon, specializes in contouring for massive weight loss patients - but of course, I'll ask!)

Ok - honestly at first I was mortified and totally freaked out. My "butt" was so high and started almost mid way down my back and my butt crack was spread wide open. When I saw it in the mirror I almost cried and was like "what the hell is this?!" I was assured it would drop and that it was swollen. They were right. My butt cheeks have come back together (thank god) and now my "bum" is almost in the right spot. It's super hard which is weird. My hubby loves it lol. I'm finding it odd to wear clothes - pants look great across my now flat tummy but barely fits the butt! I'm exaggerating it in my head I know but I didnt have a butt before so it feels so foreign to me. It's not kardashian at all and when I look in the mirror is a subtle curve outwards - looks quite natural actually - just feels so much bigger to me than it actually is!

It's honestly been the most uncomfortable/painful part - so weird to sit on and lie on and even in the car it feels weird like there's something stuffed between me and the seat lol. It's greatly improved and I can now tolerate it and am getting used to it but I wasn't expecting it at all.

The short answer is YES - now I like it and will probably love it as I continue to heal and get used to it.

Good luck with your new bootie too!

4 days before me! Congrats! A little scary though, right?

As some of you may know, I had LBL with muscle repair and fat transfer to bum on March 9th. I've been lucky with how easy my recovery has been compared to what I was expecting.

As a quick recap - my drain was removed at 2.5 weeks (heavenly day - FREEDOM!) and I've been back to work full time since the start of week 3 but was working part time starting at week 2. This is work outside the home - I didn't count working from home which I was able to do around day 3.

Things are continuing to progress. I still wear my binder and I like it tight! Just feels better - except when I'm sleeping. I need to have it loosed when I sleep or I find I get itchy.

That is my biggest focus right now - the itching! I use Benadryl (1/2 a pill) before bed because it seems that's when it's the worst.

My incision is closed except 2 areas that continue to weep a little on my left side/back. They look closed but I keep gauze and a bit of polysporin on them at all times because they weep a bit. Was told to do this by my PS to avoid scabbing which could impact scarring. It doesn't hurt and I change the gauze twice a day, cleaning with hydrogen peroxide and then applying fresh gauze with a thin coat of polysporin (all this as per my PS). The gauze, once removed, has a small/medium amount of yellowish discharge with a tiny bit of blood. Maybe pea sized amount on the gauze. Not sure how long it will take to close and stop weeping? I'll keep doing this and will reconnect with the PS next week if no improvement.

Still numb, especially around the sides and side butt cheeks. Hopefully that feeling comes back because it feels so weird.

Still avoiding lifting until my PS clears me, likely at my 6 week follow up appointment. Looking forward to resuming yoga!

Walking upright since week 2. Still tight (especially between the hips and groin) and my butt still hurts/feels weird to sit on.

Belly button is an outtie right now - I kinda like it lol but PS said it may just be swollen and might go down.

Swelling hasn't been too bad. There was a day when my legs were swollen but I increased my water and elevated my legs and they were back down the next day.

I shower daily independently but still need help to get my binder on. Boy do I miss my bath!

Sleeping in my bed (not the recliner anymore) and use pillows still along my sides - feels more comfortable.

I do find I get tired easily still and often have a nap after work or during the day on weekends.

Quick Facts:

Surgery date weight: 155lbs

Weight day after surgery: 150lbs (they removed 9lbs of skin/fat)

Current weight: 143lbs

I know when I was pre-op I enjoyed reading other people's experiences and post-op I would search for other posts to see what to expect. Hopefully this will be of some interest or assistance to someone.

Thanks for reading and good luck on your journey!

I waited until I was at my goal weight and that my weight was stable. I figured the surgeons would be able to give me the most accurate opinion and quote during my consults. My surgeon said it it important after the surgery to try and maintain right around the same weight, because a larger gain/loss does affect the results.