Re: Plastic surgery consultation

[Guest guest]

Sue,

It sounds like you had a wonderful appt with the plastic surgeon! Im still

hunting for one that truly sees my case as a challenge, instead of a bother.

I too have more skin than most PS have ever dealt with, and need that extra

and special attention. I have found that some are not willing to do it, or

do not feel capable, because they want to merely do the " easy " in and out

procedures that they can predict more easily to have a good outcome.

Lets keep in touch!

mary in Phx

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 07/21/2000 9:40:18 AM Pacific Daylight Time,

mssdrama1@... writes:

> Sue,

> It sounds like you had a wonderful appt with the plastic surgeon! Im

still

> hunting for one that truly sees my case as a challenge, instead of a

bother.

>

> I too have more skin than most PS have ever dealt with, and need that

extra

> and special attention. I have found that some are not willing to do it,

or

> do not feel capable, because they want to merely do the " easy " in and out

> procedures that they can predict more easily to have a good outcome.

> Lets keep in touch!

> mary in Phx

the plastic surgeon I know in Phoenix is Dr. Holman. His office

was next to Good Samaritan. He did my breast reduction in 1982. If I

recall, he enjoys the reconstructive side of plastic surgery and he is board

certified, ect.

Vicki in CA

[Guest guest]

Congratulations Lyssa! And thanks for sharing your story with us. He sounds

like a great surgeon. Keep us posted on your progress.

Carol

Richmond, VA

>>> lyssais@... 07/20/00 09:33PM >>>

Well today I had my plastic surgery consultation. It was well worth the $ 75

as the surgeon took ALOT of time to answer all my questions and I left

feeling very well informed and hopeful .. although a bit down when I had the

bottle line price tag ..

Admittedly I was so nervous about standing naked again in front of stranger

even though I knew what had to be done yet amazingly once we started talking

I was completely at ease and able to talk to him about all my concerns with

my skin, etc and I was sure the thoughts would have flown right out of my

head the moment I disrobed so I'm proud of myself to look him in the eye and

talk lol while he was manipulating my boob! LOL (totally professional of

course with nurse in the room).

I'm glad now that I wrote O who had the mastopexy with implants and

what do you know my surgeon recommended the same thing! I hadn't really

given it much thought till the other day but he felt I would achieve the

best contouring and results with implants. Basically he confirmed that yes I

have alot of excess tissue in the breast area and I believe he said I was a

gr. 3 in terms of tsosis (droopiness). Now I have no clue where on that

grade a 3 is but let me tell you in my mind there is NOTHING left of my

breasts other than wrinkles and sag.

So that said he talked about what he could do, could not do and the scars,

recovery, drains, etc were all what I had thought. So his bottom line

definition was bilateral mastopexy with augmentation. We never talked about

a size .. but I said I wasn't looking so much for size rather than firmness,

perkiness .. and smaller nipple area.

Then we moved on to the abdominoplasty (tummy tuck). He immediately said a

mini tummy tuck was not best suited for me but rather a full - extended

tummy tuck where the incisions actually extend out past the hips and towards

the back into the thigh area. He said this would pick up my rear thigh and

buttocks a bit while removing the 2 " hang I have on the thighs that extends

from the tummy. He said I had zippo elasticity left in the stomach region

and didn't see it " snapping " back or improving any more than it already was

... again no surprise. The nice part was that he said he could remove roughly

90% of my massive stretch marks all except what is over my navel area. I'd

be given a new belly button.

So all in all he thought I was an excellent candidate given my health, non

smoking, drinking, age ..

We talked about whether or not I could have both procedures done at once.

Generally he does one and then the other but is not opposed to doing both. I

explained I wanted only to go through one more surgery and recovery period

vs. two of them. I wasn't sure if I'd do it again next year after recovering

which is pretty much how I felt after my rny too .. lol. I was just DONE.

His office staff and surgical nurse were super. He had a great personality.

I loved his before/after pics .. and he came back in a 3rd time to answer

some additional questions that came up that I had. He was very supportive

of the fact I had rny and had lost my weight and said he thought I looked

great (in clothes ha ha) and that I had come a long way and done a very

important thing for myself and he thought I'd be pleased with the results of

plastics.

So that all said I was very excited. So much so I called & found out I

could have a surgery date as soon as Aug 28th. However I only have

currently enough funds for either one or the other procedure. So what do I

do? I'm going to look into online financing and see what my options are

there. I want this done NOW more than ever .. lol!

Thanks for lending an ear.

Lyssa

open rny 6/22/99

preop 236

today 136

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[Guest guest]

Lyssa and group,

Wow! Seems like we went to see the same PS today. I went for my first

appraisal for my complete " overhaul " and it looks I could have saved $50 and

gone with you! My doctor told me the same things. But I must admit, it was

strange when he grabbed my breast, folded it in half and put it up on my

chest to show me where it and my nipples would live! He also said that I

would NEED implants as there was nothing left of my breasts but skin. Now

how to sell that one to DH!

We discussed doing my arms as well. He said that normally this is not a

procedure that he does because it does leave a visible scar. The decision

is strictly mine....to decide which would be worse, a scar that could

sometimes be seen or batwings that flap, hang, sag and prevent my clothes

from fitting right.

He suggested 2 or possibly 3 procedures. The first would be my

abdominoplasty which would also reach around to the rolls (which I didn't

know where there!) on my back also giving me a little lift to my backside.

This would be done with my arms. While cleaning up my tummy, he would give

me back a belly button (removed during my panni) and give me a " crotch lift "

(probably not the medical term!) too! The second would be my thighs and the

breast reduction and implants. With the reduction he would grab that excess

skin that is under my arms (you know...what I try and stuff into a bra).

He explained that our tummys are very vascular because of the size we

were. There is blood supply to our panni and fat and that this makes

abdominal surgery complicated. Add that to the scar tissue from my RNY and

this could be a long procedure. That is why it may be 3 instead of 2.

He took naked pictures of me (I'm sure hubby would love to get his hands

on them!) and will do a morph program on his puter to show me what I could

expect. I can't wait to see them! He said doing this surgery on me is part

of what being a PS is all about and he would love to be able to see me

emerge from all this skin. He also feels that when it is all done, that I

will weigh in around 140. Ain't that something!

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

Sue in Las Vegas

Surgery 10/26/98

From 500 lbs to 181!

My goal is nearly reality )

http://suebee420.homestead.com/Suebee2.html

<>><><<><><>><<><><><><><>><<><>><><

" You are never given a wish without also being given

the power to make it true. "

~ Bach

> Well today I had my plastic surgery consultation. It was well worth the $

75

> as the surgeon took ALOT of time to answer all my questions and I left

> feeling very well informed and hopeful .. although a bit down when I had

the

> bottle line price tag ..

> Admittedly I was so nervous about standing naked again in front of

stranger

> even though I knew what had to be done yet amazingly once we started

talking

> I was completely at ease and able to talk to him about all my concerns

with

> my skin, etc and I was sure the thoughts would have flown right out of my

> head the moment I disrobed so I'm proud of myself to look him in the eye

and

> talk lol while he was manipulating my boob! LOL (totally professional of

> course with nurse in the room).

>

> I'm glad now that I wrote O who had the mastopexy with implants and

> what do you know my surgeon recommended the same thing! I hadn't really

> given it much thought till the other day but he felt I would achieve the

> best contouring and results with implants. Basically he confirmed that yes

I

> have alot of excess tissue in the breast area and I believe he said I was

a

> gr. 3 in terms of tsosis (droopiness). Now I have no clue where on that

> grade a 3 is but let me tell you in my mind there is NOTHING left of my

> breasts other than wrinkles and sag.

> So that said he talked about what he could do, could not do and the scars,

> recovery, drains, etc were all what I had thought. So his bottom line

> definition was bilateral mastopexy with augmentation. We never talked

about

> a size .. but I said I wasn't looking so much for size rather than

firmness,

> perkiness .. and smaller nipple area.

>

> Then we moved on to the abdominoplasty (tummy tuck). He immediately said

a

> mini tummy tuck was not best suited for me but rather a full - extended

> tummy tuck where the incisions actually extend out past the hips and

towards

> the back into the thigh area. He said this would pick up my rear thigh and

> buttocks a bit while removing the 2 " hang I have on the thighs that

extends

> from the tummy. He said I had zippo elasticity left in the stomach region

> and didn't see it " snapping " back or improving any more than it already

was

> .. again no surprise. The nice part was that he said he could remove

roughly

> 90% of my massive stretch marks all except what is over my navel area. I'd

> be given a new belly button.

> So all in all he thought I was an excellent candidate given my health, non

> smoking, drinking, age ..

> We talked about whether or not I could have both procedures done at once.

> Generally he does one and then the other but is not opposed to doing both.

I

> explained I wanted only to go through one more surgery and recovery period

> vs. two of them. I wasn't sure if I'd do it again next year after

recovering

> which is pretty much how I felt after my rny too .. lol. I was just DONE.

>

> His office staff and surgical nurse were super. He had a great

personality.

> I loved his before/after pics .. and he came back in a 3rd time to answer

> some additional questions that came up that I had. He was very supportive

> of the fact I had rny and had lost my weight and said he thought I looked

> great (in clothes ha ha) and that I had come a long way and done a very

> important thing for myself and he thought I'd be pleased with the results

of

> plastics.

>

> So that all said I was very excited. So much so I called & found out I

> could have a surgery date as soon as Aug 28th. However I only have

> currently enough funds for either one or the other procedure. So what do I

> do? I'm going to look into online financing and see what my options are

> there. I want this done NOW more than ever .. lol!

>

> Thanks for lending an ear.

> Lyssa

> open rny 6/22/99

> preop 236

> today 136

[Guest guest]

Sue!!! Yes sounds like we had the same day I asked my ps about the arms

and he said the same thing one trade off for another for now I'll live with

my arms. He tugged at the hanging skin and said with emphasis unless someone

is hanging off of you lol it isn't that bad hee hee ..

My guy did the same thing. Was hmm'ing and hmph'ing while folding and

manipulating my breast trying to figure out which procedure and what size

implant going on .. you could see the wheels turning in his head and I'm

talking to him thinking meanwhile 'there is a strange man bending my breast

in half " lol. He told me the same thing there is just skin left not much

breast at all and if he only did the reduction/lift I likely would end up

with a less than acceptable looking result without the implant. I told my

husband about it and he didn't know what to think. I meant to ask what sort

of implant ie gel, saline .. or whats the difference .. and dh said as long

as I feel " natural " . I said " natural " to what empty sacks with rocks

twirling in them cuz honey I'm sure they are going to be a WHOLE lot nicer

than that. Besides these are my breasts lol not his but I know what you

mean.

I laughed a bit that you can relate on the lifting of the buttocks and

removal of side rolls. He pulled on them to show me the effect of what it

would be like without them and I couldn't help thinking where did these come

from? Guess I don't look at my own backside too often.

He didn't take any pics yet. Guess he wanted me to think if I was even going

to do it. He did send me home with all sorts of risk sheets, information

etc. Since I have now paid my deposit to do it .. I will go back & pictures

will be taken. Do you think they'd give us copies?

Wow thats great about the " guesstimate " on your weight loss after the

surgery. I meant to ask but forgot. Anyway its reassuring to hear sort of

the same " report " and how its up to us to make decisions on what we think

will turn out best for us. So congrats! Any ideas on when you will have

surgery?

Lyssa

open rny 6/22/99

Dr. Bruce Thayer Newton Wellesley Hospital

preop 236 lbs

today 136 lbs

bilateral mastopexy with augmentation & full abdominoplasty 8/28/00

w/Dr. Chatson, Holy Family Hospital, Methuen, MA

Re: Plastic surgery consultation

Lyssa and group,

Wow! Seems like we went to see the same PS today. I went for my first

appraisal for my complete " overhaul " and it looks I could have saved $50 and

gone with you! My doctor told me the same things. But I must admit, it was

strange when he grabbed my breast, folded it in half and put it up on my

chest to show me where it and my nipples would live! He also said that I

would NEED implants as there was nothing left of my breasts but skin. Now

how to sell that one to DH!

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 7/21/00 11:14:20 AM US Eastern Standard Time,

njtomato@... writes:

<< We discussed doing my arms as well. He said that normally this is not a

procedure that he does because it does leave a visible scar. The decision

is strictly mine....to decide which would be worse, a scar that could

sometimes be seen or batwings that flap, hang, sag and prevent my clothes

from fitting right. >>

Sue,

I had my arms done and I have been really happy with the results. The scar is

thin and can be covered with Dermablend (a coverup makeup) until it fades --

it is still pink as my surgery was just this past March. It has made a big

difference in how my clothes fit and in what I can wear. I'm very happy that

I did it.

You can see my arms (and the rest of me) here. <A

HREF= " http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/profile.phtml?N=Alan928718346 " >

http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/profile.phtml?N=Alan928718346</A>

:::::::::::Going back to lurking til 6 weeks from now when I'm a real

graduate::::::

blessings,

Ann

[Guest guest]

Ann

I visited your site. YOU LOOK WONDERFUL!! Matter of fact, you look like your

own daughter (certainly not 50!). The arm job looks great!! Need to ask....

how long a recovery period did you need after having that type of surgery? Was

there a lot of pain and is the surgery expensive?

Carol

Richmond, VA

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 7/24/00 8:31:12 AM US Eastern Standard Time,

civory@... writes:

<< YOU LOOK WONDERFUL!! Matter of fact, you look like your own daughter

(certainly not 50!).>>

Wow! Thanks for the wonderful compliment. That is a great vote of confidence!

<< The arm job looks great!! Need to ask.... how long a recovery period did

you need after having that type of surgery? Was there a lot of pain and is

the surgery expensive? >>

I had the brachioplasty on a Tuesday and I drove myself to a meeting on

Friday. The surgeon saw me on Thursday to take off the bandages and put on

some compression sleeves that I was to wear for another week or so. (I

actually wore them longer than that because they are said to minimize

scarring.)

The first two days were painful. After that it was just some moderate

discomfort. It was expensive, I thought -- $4100 for surgeon,

anesthesiologist and operating room. But worth it to me!

Thanks again.

Blessings,

Ann

<A

HREF= " http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/profile.phtml?N=Alan928718346 " >

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