Full Body Lift - Dr. Joseph Capella /Hackensack, NJ - A New Body!

Hi everyone,

I came across this site a while ago while I was looking up reviews of Dr. Capella’s surgeries. I absolutely loved all the support and feedback people give each other on here therefore decided to share my story.

My name is Cat and I am 48 years old. I was overweight most of my life but being 5 foot 10 inches tall I would always give myself the excuse that I was tall and “I could get away with it”. I have lost weight a lot of times and yes tried every diet in creation, only to gain it all back and then some. Food was always my friend, my comfort… it always made me feel better.

Not even cancer stopped me from losing weight. I had uterine cancer 11 years ago, lost my father to cancer 11 years ago and lost my mother to cancer 5 years ago. I took care of my parents the entire time but not myself.
My highest weight was 410 pounds. I was diabetic, had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, GURD and several other problems – all due to my weight. But that all changed about 2 years ago when I realized I wanted a life. I started my diet and stuck to it this time… it was life or death!

I am happy to say that as of today I have lost 217 pounds (so far) and I am now 193 pounds! I am discovering bones I never knew I had! Sometimes I feel a bone and think… “is that a tumor?” ?

I am scheduled to have my full body lift with Dr. Joseph Capella on Tuesday, April 8, 2014!!
I AM BEYOND EXCITED!! I was referred to him through a good friend of mine.
I researched him and think he is absolutely amazing!

My initial consultation was in November of 2013. He was the nicest man. Made me feel so comfortable and explained everything to me in detail. I originally planned my surgery for February 28, 2014 but had to postpone it because of some other problems I have.

I got MERSA and Pseudomonas infections after my cancer surgery and several other infections including a hernia repair. Needless to say I have to be very careful and take precautions before my surgery. I also have to have temporary mesh put in my lower abdomen as I have an infiltration of my fascia.. basically no lower abdominal wall because of all the years being overweight. It looks like a huge hernia. I would love to have permanent mesh put in so my lower abdomen would be flat but I am told it could get infected. If that happens it could be deadly.

I met with a infectious disease doctor at Hackensack Hospital – Dr. Bindu Balani. She will be at the hospital during my surgery. As they remove tissue from my body they will test it to see what type of bacteria (if any) the tissue contains and give me specific antibiotics … again if needed.

Dr. Roxana Kline will perform the surgery to fix the infiltration simultaneously as my body lift with Dr. Capella. Both doctors were referred to me by Dr. Capella.

After 3 months I will have the second part of my breast augmentation (implants) and if needed a medial thigh lift. Hopefully I won't need it as Dr. Capella wil lift up a lot of my skin with my initial body lift. I also want to get a chin or face lift as the skin under my chin is sagging. I always looked at least 10-15 years younger than my age but now the sagging skin under my chin is making me feel self-conscious. Anyhow, this is my story in a nutshell.

The countdown begins… 2 weeks from today my life will change forever … and I cannot wait!
I have a 100% faith in Dr. Capella!

I will post photos of myself in the next week or so. Until my next update! ?

Cat

I can't believe my surgery is only 6 days away! Had my pre-op appointment with Dr. Capella and Kimberly yesterday. Dr. Capella went through every part of my surgery with a tooth comb, explaining everything in detail and answering all my questions! He made me feel so comfortable. He said I would be in the hospital for 2 days instead of one day. Better safe than sorry considering my infection history. My 2 fears are 1) infection and 2) that they will not be able to fully fix my fascia which has the big infiltration. All my tests came back amazing (bloodwork etc) so super happy about that as well. I know I said I would post pre-surgery pictures... I will .. Just building up the courage because they are just horrible!! Dressed I look great.. without clothes... that's another story!
Anyhow, wanted to send a quick note to everyone... I am getting super nervous but very excited!

I still cannot believe I will finally have my full body lift with Dr. Capella on Tuesday. It is starting to become real! I worked so hard towards this. I wanted to be about 190 for the surgery and right now I am 192.5 pounds! My weight seems to go up a few pounds then back down .. pretty frustrating but at least it keeps going down. Dr. Capella told me that he would probably take off 10-15 pounds of skin... who knows maybe more. Guess we will see what happens. At 180 and 5 foot 10 I think I would look great. I got a call from Dr. Capella's office last night though that put me in a bit of a panic. Kimberly told me that the anesthesiologist said my liver enzymes were high and I needed to repeat them before the surgery. I was so happy when I saw my bloodwork since all my numbers looked perfect. I did see that my ALT and AST were a bit high. I contributed this to all the meds I stil take and I was taking a lot of Advil for body aches. Has anyone on here had to repeat these particular tests before their surgery? I am pretty worried since I don't want anything to delay my surgery. I got my blood drawn again this morning and Dr. Capella should have the results by Monday. Keeping fingers crossed! Would love to hear if any of you had this problem as well. Please let me know... ps. still debating whether or not to post pre-op pics. Until next update :-)