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*Treatment results may vary
In-Office Before/After photos at 3 months post-op
I think my doctor did an amazing job and I’m thrilled with the results. I will be going back for breast augmentation later this year. I still have some swelling at the end of each day but it gets better every week.
7 weeks post-op
I’m 7 weeks post-op today and the swelling is going down, slowly but surely. I’m excited! I’m starting to see my hip bones again! The swelling is still worse on the right, but getting better. I believe this is because my right anterior JP drain came out a few days after surgery (not sure what happened). I’m very happy about how my belly button is looking and my little lower back dehiscence looks completely closed/scarred over at this point. Arms look fantastic too!
Lower Body Lift and Brachioplasty After 180lb Weight Loss
My weight has been up and down my entire life. I was a fat kid. I got teased incessantly until I matured enough to make the connection between lifestyle and appearance (and to start buying my own food). I lost a bunch of weight as a teenager and joined the military, but then gained it all back and then some in college. I ultimately underwent weight loss surgery and lost nearly 180 lbs. I also beat kidney cancer that same year after it was incidentally discovered during a follow-up CT scan ordered by my GI surgeon.
The first plastic surgeon I saw told me that I was too high risk. He said that my history of cancer meant I was at increased risk for VTE and my weight loss surgery put me at risk of major healing problems. He also told me that a lower body lift wouldn’t work for me because of the extra skin under my ribs; Only a fleur-de-lis would do the trick.
He didn’t even perform the surgery I wanted, but the conversation had such a profound impact on me that I almost decided not to pursue surgery and didn’t set up another consultation for an entire year. Now I think he really just wasn’t interested in my case or that maybe he keeps his complication rate down by only accepting super low-risk patients.
When I finally decided I did want to proceed, I began researching doctors in my area that had before and after pictures of the procedure I wanted on their websites. It seemed that all of them have information about lower body lifts, belt lipectomies, circumferential abdominoplasty, etc. but not all actually do those more extensive procedures. I chose my surgeon because the pictures looked amazing and because he had done a lot of work with breast cancer survivors. While kidney cancer is obviously different, I figured he might know more about the true impact of cured stage 1 cancer on VTE risk.
I want to add that I was very aware of the associated risks before even talking to any surgeons and I definitely understood this was major surgery. I have followed a very high-protein, nutrient dense diet pre- and post-op to help with healing. All of my blood work was within normal limits. My protein was perfect. I wasn’t anemic.I got up and walked every few hours. I wore SCDs at home when in bed. I did everything I could to reduce the risk of complications.
I am now 5 weeks post-op from a lower body lift and brachioplasty. I stayed one night at the surgical center and had the best nursing care I’ve ever had anywhere. When I was 2 weeks post-op I experienced a sudden 1” x 0.5” wound dehiscence on my lower back. My surgeon said this was caused by a collection of old blood (hematoma?). I was hysterical but he calmed me down and got me in for an emergency appointment. That wound has been healing well and is almost flush with the skin on my back now.
My surgeon is an artist. Even with all the swelling, I’ve been able to tell since day 1 that he did an amazing job. Although I did have the dehiscence (which was my biggest fear), I feel like it was just a hiccup on my road to recovery. I did everything I could to prevent and I believe he did too, but it’s just one of those things.
I knew recovery was going to be tough, but I don’t feel like I was able to fully appreciate how tough until I was going through it. I am still tender everywhere. I still have to be very careful when rolling over in bed. I’m sore at the end of the day. The swelling is crazy. By the end of the day I look 5 months pregnant!
Despite everything, I definitely still feel like it was worth it. This is not something you do twice. More motivation to continue to maintain my weight for years to come! When viewing my pictures, keep in mind that I still have pretty significant swelling.
The first plastic surgeon I saw told me that I was too high risk. He said that my history of cancer meant I was at increased risk for VTE and my weight loss surgery put me at risk of major healing problems. He also told me that a lower body lift wouldn’t work for me because of the extra skin under my ribs; Only a fleur-de-lis would do the trick.
He didn’t even perform the surgery I wanted, but the conversation had such a profound impact on me that I almost decided not to pursue surgery and didn’t set up another consultation for an entire year. Now I think he really just wasn’t interested in my case or that maybe he keeps his complication rate down by only accepting super low-risk patients.
When I finally decided I did want to proceed, I began researching doctors in my area that had before and after pictures of the procedure I wanted on their websites. It seemed that all of them have information about lower body lifts, belt lipectomies, circumferential abdominoplasty, etc. but not all actually do those more extensive procedures. I chose my surgeon because the pictures looked amazing and because he had done a lot of work with breast cancer survivors. While kidney cancer is obviously different, I figured he might know more about the true impact of cured stage 1 cancer on VTE risk.
I want to add that I was very aware of the associated risks before even talking to any surgeons and I definitely understood this was major surgery. I have followed a very high-protein, nutrient dense diet pre- and post-op to help with healing. All of my blood work was within normal limits. My protein was perfect. I wasn’t anemic.I got up and walked every few hours. I wore SCDs at home when in bed. I did everything I could to reduce the risk of complications.
I am now 5 weeks post-op from a lower body lift and brachioplasty. I stayed one night at the surgical center and had the best nursing care I’ve ever had anywhere. When I was 2 weeks post-op I experienced a sudden 1” x 0.5” wound dehiscence on my lower back. My surgeon said this was caused by a collection of old blood (hematoma?). I was hysterical but he calmed me down and got me in for an emergency appointment. That wound has been healing well and is almost flush with the skin on my back now.
My surgeon is an artist. Even with all the swelling, I’ve been able to tell since day 1 that he did an amazing job. Although I did have the dehiscence (which was my biggest fear), I feel like it was just a hiccup on my road to recovery. I did everything I could to prevent and I believe he did too, but it’s just one of those things.
I knew recovery was going to be tough, but I don’t feel like I was able to fully appreciate how tough until I was going through it. I am still tender everywhere. I still have to be very careful when rolling over in bed. I’m sore at the end of the day. The swelling is crazy. By the end of the day I look 5 months pregnant!
Despite everything, I definitely still feel like it was worth it. This is not something you do twice. More motivation to continue to maintain my weight for years to come! When viewing my pictures, keep in mind that I still have pretty significant swelling.
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