Congratulations on your weight loss. You are facing a problem that many patients who have lost weight wrestle with. Tummy tuck, arm lifts and buttocks lift are common procedures that are sought. In my San Francisco area practice these procedures would not be done at the same time.
There are always three things to consider in combining procedures.
1. Is it surgically safe?
Combining procedures increases post-operative complications - period. Now the increase may be very small and outweigh the risk of an additional anesthetic, recovery time etc., but in procedures that will take substantial time these risks can be significant.
2. Is it surgically feasible?
While many surgeons (myself included) would consider doing a brachioplasty (arm lift) and tummy tuck at the same time, many would not consider adding a brazilian butt lift. The reason why is many times abdominoplasty can require flexing the operative bed a bit to take tension off the closure - so you're bent a little bit at the waist. My lipotransfer buttock augmentations (brazilian butt lift) require the patient to be lying on her stomach, face down. This position would directly interfere with what I'm trying to do with the tummy tuck.
3. What would the general recovery be like?
Any surgeon wants a safe and quick recovery for their patient. Combining procedures can be a good way to minimize total down time but if too many things are done the recovery period can be particularly troublesome.
I hope this helps.
Steven Williams, MD
