60 Year Old Female, Lower Body Lift, Inner Thigh Lift, Outer Thigh Lipo After Gastric Bypass 9 Years Ago - Newport Beach, CA

I have tried to include information that I found the most helpful reading about from others before I had my surgery: Surgery was estimated to last 6 hours. My surgery ended up taking about 8 hours , rather than the planned 6 hours, because the doctor decided to do the thigh lift different than originally planned and because I had so much scar tissue in my abdomen – I guess from the two c-sections and the appendectomy – it took a lot more time to loosed the skin from the muscle so she could do the abdominal muscle tightening. Originally the plan for my inner thighs was to make an incision down my inner thigh about half way to my knees. She apparently decided that would not provide me with results I would be happy with so ended up making an incision from the middle of my buttocks/leg in front to the middle of my buttocks /leg in back – I think this is called a crescent thigh lift. I love that she made the decision to change to what would bring me the best results even though it wasn’t what was originally planned.
After surgery the Recovery Center picked me up and took me to the Recovery Center, which is actually a house not too far from the surgery center. A bonus for me was that, since an RN runs this place, I was able to have the catheter left in, and compression pumps on my lower leg for all the time I was there. This meant that I did not have to worry about getting up and out of bed for anything, other than the check-up I had with my doctor on day 2, and then when I went home. Considering that I was cut all the way around my body + my thighs, it was nice that I was able to just stay in one place. They were excellent and staying on top of my medications and bringing me anything I wanted to eat or drink.

I was also to stay bent at the waist at for one week. I had five drains: one on each hip, and 3 in the groin area. Since I had the fat transfer to the buttocks I was concerned about sitting on my bottom in the bed. My doctor had said 4-6 weeks at my original consultation, so that I what I planned on. . After I got home, they told me to lay or sit on pillows, since I had no choice but to lay on my backside given the body lift procedure. that I alternated all day between laying in the recliner and laying on the couch. I was not comfortable in any one location for more than a few hours. started feeling itchy about day 2, which I knew was a sign of healing. I was still at the Recovery Center at that time, so they gave me some Benadryl. I also needed to take it about 3 times during the first week or so at home. It worked great.

The six most helpful items I had for this surgery were:
recliner chair
toilet seat riser
walker
femine urinal – ordered on line. Since I was having the inner thigh surgery also, I had read that this was better to ensure that urine didn’t get on the incision. In addition to that, with the body lift, it meant that I didn’t have to sit down every time I used the bathroom. This was one less opportunity for any pain. I took it with me when I went anywhere until I was done wearing the garment, which was 6 weeks after surgery.
shower seat – I only ended up needing this twice, but it’s still worth it. The first night I was allowed to shower, I got very lightheaded just from having the compression garment and bandages removed. grabber

I must say, though, that this whole surgery was relatively pain free. During the first 6 weeks the only time I really felt any pain was getting in or out of the car during the first month. Shifting from sofa to chair and back again several times a day was uncomfortable due to the tightness and pull on the incisions, but it didn’t hurt.
My thighs became a little more uneven as the swelling went down by 7 weeks. At 8 weeks I could tell that I had one 4” area on one thigh that looked like it needed lipo again. It almost seemed as though some of the fat injected into by buttocks had moved to far into the thigh. By this time I had already started communicating with the doctor’s office about the next surgery (breasts) and would have her address this thigh area at that time.
Since this surgery included lipo to the outer thighs, and inner thigh lift, pants fit me so much better now! Previously I wouldn’t wear light colored pants because my inner thigh loose skin ripples showed, and some pants pulled too much across the hip/thigh area. No longer a problem!! I love this!! I bought some yoga pants and wore them as soon as was able to stop wearing the compression garment

Here are a couple photos taken the day I came home from the Recovery Center (3 days post-op) and then the rest of the photos taken 5 weeks post op. I tried to include close-ups of my incision lines so you can see how well they healed. Also, forgot to include my stats in original post. I am 5'8" tall. Weighed about 192-193 day of surgery, and was still at about that weight while these photos were taken. I had lots of water retention. This initial garment I had was mid calf length because she did lipo on my inner knees also. There were cut-outs for the buttocks, and the front comes up to just under the breasts. It was very, very tight. I was unable to fasten it myself, and had to lay down for my husband to do it. After about 2 weeks, due to the swelling that persisted - particularly in my ankles, despite elevating them, I was switched to an ankle length garment to see if the tightness around the calves was preventing the blood/fluid flow. That didn't help, so then I was changed to a knee length garment and allowed to take the garment off at night- that did the trick. So, a total of 3 different garments. They are expensive, but that's just the way it goes. I know that my body has a tendency to swell after surgery anyway - just my body's reaction to surgery. In my 3-day photos you can also see all the drains I had. I will post some more info later - I journaled my experience, but need to edit for brevity before I post.

It's been several months since my procedure but I still can't believe the amazing results I received from Dr. Bayati. She is the most incredible surgeon, as you can see by my before and after photos. I am a very private person and don't share information on the internet but because I received so much inspiration by all the brave women who have shared on this site, I am paying it back by sharing my photos and story -especially for us older women as there are fewer of us posting. I had so much saggy skin from carrying so much weight for so many years and then having gastric bypass surgery. After the weight loss surgery I addressed the parts of my body that showed in clothing first (upper arms, face, and neck). That was several years ago. Now that I am nearing retirement I want to look good naked too - so that I can feel better about my body and my hubby and I can really enjoy the free time we will have with kids gone and lots of leisure time ahead. So, the question became what to tackle first. I was realistic enough to know I was not 30 or even 40 years old so a lot of postings on this website from younger women were showing results I didn't think I could achieve. Boy, was I surprised!