36 Yrs Old, TT, W/ Thigh Lift and Lipo to Outer Thighs and Knees - Mayfield Heights, OH

Hi, thanks for your thoughts! :)
It is not a cheap procedure, (quoted at $16,500, but I stayed in the hospital 3 days instead of 1 plus the dr. Took a little extra time in the OR so there were a little extra fees for the time, anesthesia and extra hospital stay = approx $18,000) but I think it's worth it because of the emotional pain I have gone through from a lifetime of being overweight, made fun of, struggling with the ups and downs of my weight, etc. I love the way I look and feel now more than I did when I was 26 and weighed less than this because even then I had sagging skin and was self-conscious. I wanted to initially get a body lift and an inner thigh lift. I didn't know that those were 2 separate procedures until my consultation! Lol. I thought the thigh lift was part of getting a body lift! No, both surgeries must be done separately because of how the Dr. has to pull the thigh skin to tighten it. He can't do that and a full circumferential body lift safely on the same visit, so I made the decision that the inner thigh skin sagging was more bothersome than getting the full body lift. I combined a tummy tuck plus some lipo at the knee area and outer thighs and waist. The reason my Dr. took a little extra time in the OR, he later explained to me and my husband, was because after he removed skin from my thighs, he looked at it and thought, "hm, no, I think she'd want a little more taken off..she wanted as much off as possible."..so he went back over his work and made my legs as tight as he safely could. I was grateful that he took the extra time to reconsider that. I'd hate to pay so much just to look at my legs and think, "man! Did he take anything off?" Lol. I'm happy with the outcome so far, but I do still feel unproportioned because I am very flat chested and I still have a lot of excess sagging skin on my outer thigh and butt. It is not in the best interest of our finances, but while the car is paid off and I am still healing from these scars, I am scheduling to get a breast aug. and finish the body lift by getting an outer thigh lift and butt lift and aug. My Dr. explained that after pulling up and tightening the skin on the buttocks, they tend to look flat, so he recommended a lift with augmentation. That surgery is expected to cost just under $16,500 for everything and have 1 night hospital stay and half the recovery time as my first operation...from what I've heard from his staff. I still have a consultation in a few weeks about all that. I'm very excited! I think unlike most people, I went into this with only excitement and enthusiasm..no fear. I've lived my life depressed and hating myself so I only expected positive things from my surgery. That's why it's SO important to get a good Dr. You can feel safe with (good bedside manner is important! He/she will be seeing you naked a lot!!) and trust. Read lots of reviews!! Do not rush into this with just any Dr. To save money or time! I was wanting to do my surgery immediately! I had to wait from November (consultation) till February (surgery)! It was Killing me! Lol..but so worth it in the end. I'm glad I took my time and didn't make any hasty decisions. Best of luck to you and anyone looking to get a similar procedure done!

Thank you so much for your information. I am so happy for you. You sound like this surgery has made a world of difference in your self esteem. I empathize with you as I have been overweight all my life and I am 55 years old. I had bariatric surgery almost four years ago and I have lost 141 pounds. My weight has been steady for the last two and a half years. Since the surgery, I do get rashes on the bikini line area bc of the extra yuck that s hanging there. I also have a huge skin tag that formed on my bikini line area. I became self conscious of my body when I has a hospital stay and the shower had a full length mirror. I broke down and cried bc I felt my body was soooooo ugly. Anyway, I live in Pennsylvania and I am researching a few doctors that d the surgery I am looking for. Again thank you so much for your honesty and willingness to share your experience and the cost of it all. But can you really put a price tag on finally being able to truly love yourself? Good luck with your next procedure and keep us posted? Have a wonderful weekend!

Thanks so much!
Congrats on your weightless and maintenance! It's very hard, I know! In high school I was 222 and lost 75 lbs. After high school it's been up and down with 40-60 lbs. every 2-5 yrs! I know what I have to do to maintain though. It's all about my portion control and doing at least a minimum of 3-5 days of yoga and cardio...
I'm so very sorry about your experience with the excess skin and the way it has effected you. I know for myself, this surgery way probably the only way I would accept myself. I have beat myself up for years, even though I have family and friends who accept me and love me. I am finally accepting and loving myself. I can't stop looking at myself in the mirror and touching my flat belly! I can't believe these are My legs! lol.
If you feel that you are up to driving to Ohio for the operation, I very highly recommend my Dr., Dr. Jason Leedy. He is the top Dr. in Ohio and does the most types of procedures, to the best of my knowledge. There are 2 different hospitals he works out of, (which he or his staff would discuss with you), but I had my surgery at Marymount, and I had a wonderful experience there. As I stated in my review, I was very comfortable with my Dr. and that's saying a lot, because I am not comfortable with most male Dr.'s and Dr. Leedy immediately has a calm manner about him and is very knowledgeable. I never once felt weird about having to show him my problem areas or letting him grab my loose skin, as strange as that may sound.
I wish you all the best on your journey with the surgery and recovery and hope you get the best possible Dr. for you. :)

Hi, Thanks for your comment and kind words. I am on disability and I do not work outside of the house..yet..I am trying to find work now to help pay for this and my next surgeries though. I will explain how long it was before I could do certain activities though.
Everyone will have different results depending on weight, age, genetics, skin elasticity, your surgeon, how much you rest and exercise and your nutrition. That is ALL very important to take into consideration when listening to peoples comments and looking at peoples photos.
I am only 5'2" and I weighed 152 before surgery. I lost around 10-12 lbs from surgery ( give or take a lb or 2 from fluid retention! lol...you will be swollen for a couple months and won't know your true size till about month 3, so don't get depressed if your clothes seem to fit like they did before the surgery for a while! ;) I did let it get to me about month 2, but I got over that a few weeks later.)
Wear the Compression garments at All times unless showering for a few months..It helps with swelling and the pressure you'll feel on the incision sites while you're out of bed. When I started exercising and doing yoga again..I got some high-waisted compression pants at Old Navy because the zippers on the the sides of the medical compression pants hurt when I was trying to do pilates on the floor. They are pretty good, but some of them don't cover my new belly button and that hurts still when I lay on my stomach or stretch my belly.
I, personally had trouble healing between my legs at the top of the incision sites on my right and left thighs right wear my underwear sits..right at the very top couple inches. It made it hard for me to go to the bathroom or wear underwear for about 2 months. My Dr. said this can happen to some people, but it doesn't normally. It was painful and I have really bad IBS w/constipation, so I was in the bathroom a lot..which made it worse. Everything else healed very well, just not that area. I still have wide scars there, and my Dr. said after a year has passed we can do a scar revision if it doesn't get better.
I'm not trying to say anything negative, just giving my experience, so that you know all the possibilities..and yes, I'd still do it all over again..in fact, I am..I'm getting the outer thighs done this winter.
As far as when I got back to normal activities. Because of those incisions not staying closed at the top of my thighs, I was not comfortable getting back to my normal cleaning and exercise when the Dr. wanted me to..He said 6 weeks..I waited 7 before I started cooking and walking a little on my Treadclimber, 8 before I did yoga and tried cleaning the bathroom or doing anything on my hands and knees. I had a lot of sweeping in my knees still at 8 weeks because of the lipo and the thigh lift, so it took a few more weeks before I could totally kneel or sit on my knees. 3 months is really the magic number. Everything seems to start running normally after that. By the 4th month you look totally amazing in your clothes and almost feel like you didn't have surgery. I still have some numbness on my belly, but he says thats normal. And my belly button and TT scar hurts when I lay on it sometimes, but I attribute that to my IBS and the bloating, not my surgery. I think that if you do not have any IBS or bloating issues, if you are younger or have good elasticity in your skin, depending on what your Dr. recommends, 3-4 weeks, you may be ready to go back to work. Like I said, you will be at your Best after a few months though. Best of luck! And congratulations on making this step!

Thank you so much for your advice. We are quite similar in size i am 5 ft 3 and 158 pounds. I dont think i came across any reviews where there wasnt some problem with the thigh lift wound healing so i am very nervous about that but i will plough on anyway and hopefully it will all be worth it in the end. Ill just be miserable for a while but hopefully it will all be worth it.

It will definitely be worth it! Just take it easy scooting your legs over the side of the bed in the hospital and at home. When you get home, put a flat sheet folded in half a couple times under your butt so whoever is helping take care of you can pull the sheet to scoot you to the edge of the bed, like they do in the hospital..that helped me and my husband a lot!
As much as I loved my nursing staff, I was in pain, and I know they had to use a little bit off effort to get me out of the bed to use the bathroom. Like I said, I was in the hospital 3 days, instead of the 1 day overnight normal stay. I was just in pain and didn't want to go deal with it at a hotel alone with my husband. Percocet didn't do much for me, and I'm one of the rare people that Morphine doesn't work on, do they had to give me Percocet every 6 hrs and something called Dilaudid (which I guess is 10x stronger than Morphine, if I remember correctly?), in between taking the Percocets.
I did not want them to remove my catheter because I didn't want to have to walk to the bathroom, but by day 2, my Dr. said he wanted me walking around a little and to try using the bathroom for a few reasons. They had these devices on my calves that helped circulated the blood so that no blood clots formed, but, walking would help this also. Plus, after being in bed for a length of time after surgery you can get mucus and fluid in your lungs, which, I think could lead to pneumonia..so, they want you to walk around and be upright for just a little bit so you have a chance to cough some stuff up. This was stuff I didn't even consider until I was in the situation. But hey, you learn something new all the time. lol.
I don't know if it was when I was gotten out of bed, or if it was from sitting on the toilet too long, but, sometime the right incision started to open a little. It got worse when I was home. And to take pressure off of it, I tried to lean to the left when using the toilet. Eventually the left incision opened also. I just think it was from sitting too long on the toilet and my thighs being really tight with fluid and swelling. Nothing was wrong, per se.
DO ask your surgeon for some laxatives and stool softener prescriptions! Narcotics and Pain Meds constipate you and if you happen to already have a history of constipation, this can cause problems. I also have been drinking Smooth Move Tea and Peppermint tea together and making a probiotic drink in my Vitamix blender with water, Apple Cider Vinegar with some ginger, lemon and honey lately. (There are some other remedies I have found online if the taste of those bothers you.) It helps a lot if you have IBS or gas and bloating..which kinda puts pressure on the tummy incisions. I know its not pleasant to talk about, but, man, I wish someone else had offered these tips to me back then! lol.
The only concern I would have for you, and that I would ask your Dr. is, will sitting at a desk effect your incisions at all? How long can you sit before its too much pressure on your legs or they need elevated? He may suggest you only return to work part time if possible for the first few weeks, or he may say you're totally fine to go back full time after 3-4 weeks. I don't really know. The more questions you have to present to your Dr. the better, and if you are not happy with his answers because they are not thorough or he seems to brush off the issues that you are taking very seriously, get a 2nd opinion or another Dr.!
This surgery is literally like buying a new car, and it's an investment in yourself. One that you can't take lightly and say, "Oh well, that was a bad investment, I'll just try again next time." You can't wipe the slate clean and you can't get that money back..It's your body, so be happy with your choice of Dr.'s and confident in your investment! I am! I wasn't expecting some of the things that happened to me, but I didn't educate myself on what could go wrong in detail or how to prevent it. But I am still very happy with my choice of Dr's and my results, and I am happy that now I have an experience to share with others so that I can possibly be of help to them in the future.
I know I go on a bit, but let me know if you need anything else. I'll help if I can! Have a great night! Best of luck to you, and do not get discouraged! You'll be so happy when this is completed!

Hi,
Thanks for your comment.
Sitting, like on the edge of the bed or on the toilet hurt at first, because the wounds at the top of my thigh lift opened up. I could sit up in bed with the wedge they gave me at the hospital, for short amounts of time, but laying on my back was best for several weeks. It was probably 8 weeks or so before I was more comfortably going to the bathroom, because the wounds that opened at the top of the thighs were very stubborn to close. I wouldn't think this would be the case for everyone though. My Dr. seemed surprised at how long they were taking to close up. He did make my thigh skin very tight during the lift though, which I asked him to do as tight as possible. It was just a lot of pressure on my thighs, especially, as I have said before, I have very bad IBS with constipation, Plus taking pain meds made it worse, so I was in the bathroom for a long time, which made things worse for my legs.
As far as sex, about 2 months I think, but I wasn't really desiring it. It was more because I was feeling bad for making my husband wait so long, and it was still painful on my thigh incisions.
Please don't take everything I say as how Your experience will be. I may be an exception and have taken longer than normal for several things to heal. Listen to your Dr.'s recommendations and expectations for you. They will be a better judge of how you will heal based on your age, skin elasticity, the amount of skin they are removing, exercise you intend to get, etc.
They will probably tell you to try to stretch the skin out after it heals. I like to do yoga and pilates. It helps a lot after being in bed and getting stiff and weaker as well as having the skin tightened like that. You will be able to firm up your core muscles and stretch out your stomach, back, thighs, calves, everything..and feel so much better.
Thanks for your questions. Let me know if I can help any further.

Thanks so much for your detailed response! I am thinking about a thigh lift but not for a few years at least. I am a stay-at-home Mom with and extremely active and rambunctious 2 year old. I constantly need to bend to pick him up, get down on the floor with him, sprint after him, etc. He also can accidentally kick at my thighs when I pick him up or grab at my legs when he wants my attention. I think given the length of recovery time I might have to wait until he was about 4...