2 weeks post-op LBL, BL, Arms

[SouthernSleever 228]

Hello hello! I am home from my plastics operation and let me tell you a little about it. I was very curious, and still am, about other's journeys so I'll tell you what I can.

I will be 3 years post op October 8th. My starting weight was 282 and the day of vsg surgery I was 141. I quit smoking a few weeks before PS surgery. I chose Dr Joesph Capella in NJ even though I'm Tennessee. My insurance, BCBS of TN covered the Tummy Tuck portion because my stomach hung down further than my pelvic bone. I have not been reimbursed as of yet for the surgeons portion however Dr Capella's staff did file my insurance and they paid for my anesthesia, operating room, and hospital stay. I had to cover all the surgeons fees, to stay an extra week (stayed 10 days) past surgery date, flights to and from for my mom and I, hotel, food, rental car. I also had to pay for a mammogram, ekg, chest xray, physical, blood work and put down 2k for the surgeon's office to be filed. I had prepared for insurance not to cover me and my quote w/o all the extras was 19k. I had only planned on having the LBL portion until insurance came through and i knew it was the only chance i had to get everything with insurance paying a big bulk of hospital expenses. If you would like a quote from Dr Capella call his office and send in pics. They are great to work with. That is about all I have to say about the cost of it. Each person is different so telling you exactly what I paid wouldn't help.

So I flew in on a Monday morning,had my preop appointment where Dr Capella went over everything in detail. He's a very warm man with TONS of experience. He pulled up bodies that look like mine, told me what to expect, and what the complications might be for each part. How to take care of it and showed me what I would look like. I took photos and signed paper work. Then that night went out with a friend to NYC. The next morning went to the hospital Hackensack, which was AMAZING in everyway. I got marked up, weighed, bp, all that good stuff. Wiped down with iodine and then I fell asleep from too hard of partying on the surgery table before they even pumped me full of stuff. Woke up bandaged in a room with leg compression on. Slept a lot, liquid diet, drugs, sleep, drugs, sleep. The next day I had an ultrasound on my legs to check for clots, cath out, walking time. I was VERY hunched over and it was hard to walk at first. I was transfered to an after care place which is basically a nursing home later that day. Dr Capella came in and took all my bandages off. I had 4 drains in. Said no more binder/bra needed. That place wasn't bad wasn't great. The next day my Mom flew in and we checked out of there and went to the hotel. Over the next week I slept a lot, walked, was babied and even went shopping a few times. Did blood thinners starting 3 days post op for 7 days.

1 week check up had two drains out and said my good byes. Stayed in the hotel 3 more days. Was told when the drains were less than 30 ccs/24 hours I could take them out. Removed one of my drains the day we left. Flew home. The drive from Nash to Knox was a pita. I had wheelchair assistance from the layover but the whole day exausted and drained me. Got home and the next day one drain site where it went in my body was putting out yellow puss. Called the Dr on July 4th, he called back, sent pics,he said to pull it. He's very responsive which I love.

So here I am. I love my little cupcake boobies. I'm probably an A/B now which means no more shoulder pain, no more rashes. My tummy is swollen but I haven't had lower back pain and my arms have been a breeze. My Mons was lifted (bye bye rashes there too) He cut off 7lbs lipoed (on arms) 2lbs. I'm still at 141 from the swelling but I expect to be at 135 and to maintain it.

I can't start dancing, working out, or having sex until the 6 week mark. I'm so ready to start ab work and get my thighs built up since they are the only saggy thing left. Even the lbl helped pull those up on the outsides and a tiny bit on the insides too.

I haven't started scar therapy yet but I hope to start silicone treatment soon. I'm broke broke broke after some extra expenses in NJ so clothes/scar treatment will have to wait for a while. I really was down to the penny (seriously, no exaggeration) to get this done but I'm so happy with the results thus far. I know about now is when people have sutures that start popping open so I'm just hoping that's not me. My appetite isn't all the way back but i'm trying to eat healthy.

In the future I might go back and get a small implant but I have a lot of saving to do and dental work plus expenses to pay back before I can consider that. Dr Capella will put my implants in without charging me a surgeon's fee as he does breastlift/implants in two stages and any revision work w/o a fee but i pay hospital fees/anesthesia fees/cost of implant. If you do contact him tell him I sent ya. I do not get any money for posting this or promoting him but maybe if enough ppl are sent his way he will cut me some money off the implants (one can dream huh?) http://www.capellaplasticsurgery.net/

I cannot wait to be able to save enough to buy a bra from victoria's secret. I've never been able to own a matching set from there. That was one of my goals pre-weight loss that i couldn't fill even after losing my weight because my boobies were just skin and wouldn't sit right in those bras. That is my final goal that I had before starting my journey and I can't wait to complete it! Other than that I don't HAVE to wear a bra anymore... how freeeeeeeing!

If you have any questions ask away!!

[pottergirl 261]

Thanks for posting...glad you are happy with results and having a good recovery

[pottergirl 261]

And how painful was the whole process

[barrbdoll 287]

I'm with Pottergirl...... how was the pain???

[SouthernSleever 228]

I've had a ankle surgery, csection, and VSG. This is more painful than the ankle surgery which was my most painful but it was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. With the pain meds it has been super easy to control. The breast have been a total nonissue, at night the arms in the armpit area feel like they have been burnt so that hurts some, and really my back from walking hunched over hurts more than the incision. The drains were slightly painful. My surgeon does a pie crust so he actually puckers up the skin around the cut so healthy skin takes the pressure off the actual line. Just tonight my sutures in the back started laying flat so hopefully that incision doesn't open up.

All in all I would put it, at it's worst, at a 5. I also medicate whenever I feel pain but today I forgot to even take anything until the kids gave me a headache

[barrbdoll 287]

Good to know!!! Thanks for sharing!! Best of luck on your continued success!!!

[Kris 78]

Southern Sleever, thank you for sharing! It sounds like everything is going great, yay! I am sure you will love your new body once you are all healed up! Congrats on your transformation!

[Sweet Pee 349]

Southern Sleever, sounds like you are recovering well. I am 5 week out from my lower body lift, breast lift, and butt lift. I have not experienced much pain like you have, but I take it very slow! 6 weeks is not enough time for me. How are you feeling now? Do you think you will be ready to become more active at that magical 6 weeks post-op date?

Congratulations on your surgery!

[SouthernSleever 228]

Southern Sleever, sounds like you are recovering well. I am 5 week out from my lower body lift, breast lift, and butt lift. I have not experienced much pain like you have, but I take it very slow! 6 weeks is not enough time for me. How are you feeling now? Do you think you will be ready to become more active at that magical 6 weeks post-op date?

Congratulations on your surgery!

Im 3 weeks out today and i'm in more pain now that my meds are out. Most of the pain is in my neck/back probably from sleeping on the couch or being hunched over. I'm thinking i'll be ready by 6 weeks. I know it will hurt but I'm so ready to move, dance, workout. I want someone to bend me backwards to stretch out my spine! How are your scars sweetpee?

[Sweet Pee 349]

Im 3 weeks out today and i'm in more pain now that my meds are out. Most of the pain is in my neck/back probably from sleeping on the couch or being hunched over. I'm thinking i'll be ready by 6 weeks. I know it will hurt but I'm so ready to move' date=' dance, workout. I want someone to bend me backwards to stretch out my spine! How are your scars sweetpee?[/quote']

Hi Southern Sleever,

My scars are Very Straight THIN and FLAT!! . I am very surprised and happy about this because my scars usually become thick and raised. I can only attribute this to my plastic surgeon Dr Víctor Gutierrez. He did a magnificent job. In some places my scars are barely visible.

I am amazed everyday at how my body is shaping up as my swelling goes down. Yes, I am ready to get up, exercise, and do my spring cleaning, but I am going listen to my body and take things slowly.

I bought Tony Little's micropedics body pillow, jumbo pillow and neck pillow. These have kept me very comfortable while in bed recovering. Without these, I know my neck and shoulders would be hurting too.

[Sweet Pee 349]

Southern Sleever

I want to get my arm done too. How are your arm scars?

[SouthernSleever 228]

Southern Sleever

I want to get my arm done too. How are your arm scars?

Dr Capella does a pie crust incision where he actually puckers the skin around the scar line so it doesn't pull on the line and make the scar worse. So far they are beautiful. I'd be willing to text you a pic if you would like, just inbox me your number. My arms have been a piece of cake so far. I love them!

[coops 1,790]

Hey SS - long time now see...

COngrats on getting your surgeries - I remember you wanting it done a long time ago!

I'm 4mths post TT and BL (got the green envy for the arms here, I just couldn't afford it!). I know you are in the early stages of healing, but I can't stress how these surgeries have made a huge difference to my mental state of mind!

Let us know how you are doing! x

[Sweet Pee 349]

Yes I am curious too. How are you?

Last night I was filing my nails, and my arms was shaking, wiggling and giggling so bad, I was horrified. At this point I do not even care about the scar any more.

Take care,

Sweetpee

[SouthernSleever 228]

Hi all! I'm 6 weeks out as of yesterday! I am healing beautifully. I just took a belly dancing class the other day to Celebrate my 6 weeks out. I only did what didn't hurt but I still opened up two spots on my right hip and one on my rib cage that was part of the arms/breast. Two of these have scabbed back over since last night so I'm not too worried but I'm going to wait another week or two before doing that again. My posture is good, finally. That was a huge pain in the neck! I'm down to 132lbs which makes my total loss since my vsg 150lbs. WOOHOO!

I'm still loving my body. My pie crust incisions are starting to lay down and the stress of the skin pull on them is making them more red/purple but they are nice and flat. I'm hoping to start some sort of scar therapy soon. I cannot wait to take a bath once everything is closed up too! My breast are all closed up I just have 1 place where the last drain came out, I had to pick the scab off and pull out a black string that I missed when I removed my last drain. 2 places on hips from belly dancing. 1 on ribs from the same and then right above my butt crack which is just eraser sized which has been slow to close. I can do almost anything right now. My arm scars are still piecrust in most places and thats' fine. The longer they dont put stress on the line the better. Overall I'm feeling back to my old self and doing housework and homeschooling. I do get dizzy now and then but I did before surgery too.

My swelling is mostly all located in my lower back, where two fat pads were removed, and sometimes right above my mons. It looks like I'm hiding an softball in my belly. Still can't reach all the way above my head yet either. So that's that. I'm super glad I had all my surgeries and if I ever get the money I'd probably like to get very small implants just to fill out the upper part of my breast. I love going braless at this point and love the way everything looks.