FatboySkin

5 hours ago, kristieshannon said:

I had local consults and wasn’t thrilled with any of their results. Also, the cost was insane. My quotes in Seattle ranged from $30,000-$40,000. I paid $16,100 in Miami so even with travel costs I came out way ahead. I found a great doc there that I loved, and had lots of experience working with weight loss patients.

May I ask who your surgeon is?

9 hours ago, NicoleInVancouver said:

Sounds like you’re considering MY surgeon. Monterrey, Mexico?

Sounds like it. Dr. Sauceda is my current front runner. I'm still considering other surgeons, but I keep coming back to Dr. Sauceda for a few reasons. Were you happy with your results and your experience?

On 1/1/2021 at 9:21 PM, aiisen said:

Would you mind sharing the Dr that was willing to multiple surgeries at once?

The surgeon I'm looking at is Dr. Francisco Sauceda in Monterrey Mexico. He has a Facebook page you can join to read posts from other patients and post questions. There's also a massive archive of posts on ObesityHelp from his patients. From everything I've read he has a stellar reputation, but I have no personal experience with him OTHER than email correspondences. My impression from those exchanges are that he's incredibly responsive and very straight forward. He seems to be known for under promising and overdelivering on results, which I really respect.

I'm strongly leaning toward scheduling surgery with him, but I'm not having surgery until I'm vaccinated for COVID, so I'll use that time to keep researching...

On 10/9/2020 at 10:39 AM, 2Bsmaller18 said:

Just throwing this out there but if you decide to break the surgeries up have you asked if you can do one surgery with 2 procedures and 2-3 weeks later when you are able to physically over the big hurdle then do the next set of procedures? That way instead of surgeries months apart and going through the recovery twice you just have one extended recovery?

Most procedures after the first week you can physically do most things like get yourself dressed, basic meals etc but still restricted regarding lifting heavy things.

That's an interesting idea, but the surgeon I'm thinking about, told me that if I were to split things up he'd wait four months between surgeries. I do know if you do any facial work he'll do that as a separate surgery a few day after your body surgery. Another surgeon I'm looking at requires six months between procedures. I haven't done a consult yet, but with her I'd expect three surgeries. If I had the subsequent surgeries at exactly six month intervals, it'd probably be 15 months before I'm completely done and healed after the first surgery. I haven't made any decisions yet, but it's really hard to justify stretching things out that long unless I'm convinced the results or safety is a dramatic enough difference to justify it. My current impression is that it would be SLIGHTLY safer and the results would be SLIGHTLY better to spread it out, but I **think** both are small differences. Everyone I'm looking at has a great reputation and legions of adoring patients, so I'm fairly optimistic that things will work out pretty well no matter what I do.

@sillykitty your thought process is similar to my own. I've been corresponding with the surgeon I'll go with if I go down the road of a MASSIVE surgery and he's very honest that the absolute best results would be having a surgery for each procedure. If I got "the works" he doubts I'd even recognize where the compromises were, but he said he'd know and they'd be noticeable to HIM. So I think there IS a difference, but don't think it's a radical difference. If I were to spread things out then I think I'd probably wind up doing three surgeries over the course of a year and, in theory, that would provide the best results, but that is SO MUCH time when I can't exercise and I worry about losing progress that I've made and I worry about regain with that much down time. Let's be honest, I'd also like to get this behind me so I can get on with my life. That would probably wind up being 18 months of time that I spend doing some combination of preparing for surgery and recovering from surgery.

I'm not convinced that the risks involved in the massive surgery are much, if any greater than spreading things out once you do the math of comparing a lesser risk three times versus a greater risk one time. I crunched some numbers based on some figures I was given by a couple of surgeons and it looked like a wash to me (I have to take it on faith the numbers I was given are accurate).

I'm really torn, but I'm certainly leaning toward the massive surgery. The whole thing is a bit terrifying and I'll eventually have to make a decision and take a leap of faith. On the positive side, I think the surgeons I'm looking at are pretty terrific based on everything I've read. I'm hoping if I stick with one of them that there isn't a "wrong" decision.

3 hours ago, RickM said:

The main advice that I have seen, and my wife and I were given when going through this, is that things are a lot more difficult on the recovery side if you have both your upper body and lower body worked on at the same time. Think of trying to get out of a chair, or out of bed, with both your arms and legs (along with your abs) impaired. Usually, it is best to have one or the other fairly healthy and strong to help compensate for the other. They can all be done at once, and I know of people who have done that, but that really puts you down and makes you seriously dependent upon someone else to help during that recovery period. That, and you have that many more JP drains to fiddle with!

As with most things in life, there are compromises and trade offs. Getting it all done at once is appealing, but it does tend to put you that much farther down for a while, rather than being semi-functional for a longer overall recovery time.

This touches on one of my concerns. I'd stay locally for an extended period of time after the surgery and I'd have some nursing assistance, so I wouldn't be completely on my own. I think I can handle the extra misery, but I am concerned that I'm more likely to rip stitches or cause some other complication because of my inability to compensate with my legs or arms. I have thought about splitting the difference and having two surgeries.

I've looked at this every which way and I think you're exactly right about compromises. Decisions, decisions...

Thanks for your input!

4 hours ago, ms.sss said:

I had multiple procedures done in one shot...though not sure if its considered “the works”: had a Tummy Tuck, breast lift and arm lift this past December.

Recovery was a little on the rough side, but if I had to do it all over again, I’d do it the same way. A couple months of recovery was enough for me...i wouldn’t want to have to go through that multiple times. But that’s just me...there are others who also had multiple surgeries as well on here and probably didn’t complain half as much as i did.

Surgeons often have a time limit on how long they want their patients to be under. Mine didn’t want to go over 6 hours.

If that's not the works, it's pretty darn close. The surgeon I'm looking at for "the works" does marathon surgeries on a regular basis, but he uses an epidural and twilight anesthesia as opposed to general anesthesia. It's my understanding that allows for a much longer surgery without the risks you'd face if you were under general anesthesia.

8 hours ago, summerset said:

This would be my dream. But somehow I think the time on the table would be quite long, therefore increasing the risk of e. g. PE. Plus I guess recovery time would be quite long when having so much work done at once.

However, I'm going to get combination of two. Single surgery is out of the question for me.

I expect the recovery to be brutal, but I think I can handle one brutal recovery over three "normal" recoveries, but I may be fooling myself... Two surgeries would probably be fine, but I really dislike the idea of spreading out everything over three surgeries.

I'm still in the research phase, but I have a few surgeons I'm very interested in. One of the surgeons often does a lower body lift, a thigh lift, chest work and an arm lift in one procedure. This is equal parts exciting and scary. He has an excellent reputation for results and safety, but that is a LOT of trauma. I think the other surgeons I'm looking at would likely require three surgeries for the that amount of work. If each surgery is two or three months before you're back to normal, that's an ADDITIONAL four to six months of recovery time versus having everything done at once. The idea of getting past the stage of my life in one surgery is VERY appealing. At the moment I'm leaning toward getting "the works" done and doing absolutely everything in my power to ensure that the recovery is a smooth as possible, but I'd love to hear feedback from folks who have gone down this road.

Did anyone here have "the works" done and, if so, are you glad you did it?

Thanks!

3 hours ago, Stella S said:

First round - LBL, exterior thigh, bumb reconstruction with fat transfer, stomach muscle, and breast lift Round two arm lift round three inner thigh lift.
11 or 13 hours on the first surgery, then 4 and 6 or 7 respectively. Both hospitals he uses are top notch with extremely minimal infection rates. Finally in regards to aftercare - it was hell.
He is extremely good super responsive and I literally got in touch with him at all hours - also he can refer you to personal care nurses. In my final surgery this was super helpful and I wish I done it for all my surgeries. I would consider an Airbnb, with nurse support. They do this all the time so talk with the office staff. Honestly the aftercare part I was nervous about but feel pretty comfortable with. Round one and two went just fine. Inner thigh lift had complications - The complication rate is 50 to 75% and I knew this going into it. I also know that I can be a type a personality when it comes to medical procedures and I absolutely needed a response of staff and a doctor I could reach personally. Once I apologize for being a difficult patient- and he pointed out that is why he gets paid the really big box! Well his surgical skills are good and I like his bedside manner that hospital he practices at was a contributing factor - positive. I would highly recommend getting a consultation and seeing if he is a good fit for you chat with office staff as well. I think the times are right but it’s been a few years - The after care was smooth and even if I wasn’t local I would choose this doctor knowing what I know now. I would do it all over again too. As a note - he would not do the inner thigh left with the LBL as the skin pulls in different directions. The same is true of breast work with Arm lift.

Thank you so much for the information. I knew thigh lifts were problematic, but I had no idea the complication rate is THAT high. Yikes. Do you recall how expensive the personal care nurses were? I'll eventually do consults with a few surgeons, some of which have after care built into their prices, so I feel like I need to tack that onto whatever quote I get from Dr. Michaels. I won't compromise my safety, but I'd be lying if I said price isn't a factor, even though it's behind safety and results.

59 minutes ago, Stella S said:

Joseph Michaels hands down. Get a consult. Plus pics of LBL of males have - hmm male considerations I trust him but definitely get a few consultations and go with who is right for you.

Dr. Michaels is probably the US surgeon I'm most interested in at the moment. I plan on doing a few consults, so all this is subject to change, but right now Dr. Cardenas, Dr. Sauceda and Dr. Michaels are my top three surgeons. I assume you had surgery with Dr. Michaels, do you mind sharing how many procedures you had done? I'm curious how many procedures he's willing to do in one surgery.

I plan on going alone and the lack of aftercare in the United States is a pretty big concern for me. What was your after care experience? In short, I'm VERY interested in anything you can share about Dr. Michaels. Thanks!

9 hours ago, ms.sss said:

Gonna chime in!

First off, did not have my PS done by neither Cardenas nor Sauceda (I had mine done locally here in Toronto).

My surgeon is one if the ones who have a time limit to how long he prefers his patients to be under: 5-6 hours. He did an arm lift, breast lift and Tummy Tuck in me in that time period last December.

While I was/am happy to get it all done in one shot, recovery was a b*tch. I think I probably would have had a better recovery time if I did less. HOWEVER: if I had to do it again, I’d still do it the same way as I think I prefer to have ONE longer-ish recovery period vs. multiple short-ish ones. But that’s just me.

Super excited for you though, plastics are a game changer.

Good Luck!

I hope I'm not fooling myself, but I keep telling myself that pain and misery I can handle. Complications, however, scare me quite a bit. No matter where I go I'll be flying, so at some point I'll return home and I want to do everything in my power to make sure I have no complications, particularly once I've returned home.

If I can get results similar to some of the results I've seen, it looks like a game changer. It's a bit like bariatric surgery all over again. It's a little terrifying, but even more exciting. Bariatric surgery was absolutely a game changer and I have high hopes for plastics.

Thanks for weighing in!

1 hour ago, HoosierGirl said:

What you are saying about the marathon surgeries is valid based on my research. I’m understanding that over 6-7 hours is considered ‘too long’ for elective surgery....so the surgeon has a time limit to complete the combined procedures.

Both Sauceda and Cardenas recommended a lower body lift, breast augmentation, and breast lift. Both indicated all procedures would be done in the same surgery. Sauceda said he could do a face lift a few days later if I wanted, but Cardenas said no, that is too much and I should wait at least 6 months.

I believe the other part of the equation is how much blood you might lose during these long procedures and risks of hemoglobin dropping too much. From what I understand, the higher your hemoglobin is before surgery, the better the healing.

If you are healthy and have the time to get everything done during one trip, I say go for it!

Cardenas recovery timeframe is 8 days and Sauceda 12 days.

There is so much to consider! But safety is not negotiable. Both Sauceda and Cardenas seem to feel the same.

That's good that Dr. Cardenas would do the lower body lift and the breast lift in the same day. There's other work I'd like done, but lower body lift and chest are easily my top two items. Thanks again for sharing and best of luck if you move forward with your surgery!

1 hour ago, catwoman7 said:

I know you didn't direct this question at me, but some surgeons have a limit as to how many hours they'll spend on a surgery. I know Dr. Zachary doesn't like to operate for more than about six hours - and some surgeons are good for more or less than that. So I had my procedures done in two separate surgeries. I was OK with that as I didn't want some tired guy with a knife cutting on me. But yes - some surgeons are willing to operate for several hours. Someone on this or another bariatric site said she was under the knife for eleven hours with Dr. Sauceda. But you're right - his safety record is good, so he's evidently good to go for that long.

btw: Dr. Sauceda was the only one of my consults who said he'd do everything in one day. Dr. Zachary and Dr. Shifrin both said they'd do my LBL in one surgery, and my breast lift and arm lift in a second surgery. I had one other consult in Chicago - the surgeon's name escapes me at the moment, but he was also going to split it into two surgeries (I think he was going to do them in different combinations and/or in a different order than the other two, but still - two surgeries)

I appreciate any information I can get, so thanks for chiming in. I've read that the epidural and twilight anesthesia that seems to be more popular in Mexico allows for longer surgeries. I've yet to read a big downside to that approach, so I don't really understand why it's not more popular in the United States.

I assume you live near Chicago? I'm also in the midwest, but not anywhere near a surgeon I'd trust with this kind of surgery. If I have to get on a plane, I don't care if I'm flying to LA, DC, Tijuana or Monterrey as long as I'm in good hands when I get there. If I had a great local option, I'd probably go with that. Thanks again!

3 hours ago, HoosierGirl said:

I am looking at surgeons as well....I live in Florida but want a surgeon who specializes I body lifts for weight loss surgery patients. For that reason, I am zeroed in on Dr Cardenas and Dr Sauceda.< br />
On Saturday, I had a Zoom consult with Dr Cardenas. She is extremely impressive. I feel like she focuses on safety and feminine outcomes. Big emphasis on pre and post op nutrition. All of which are important to me.

Dr Sauceda is a bit more direct. Send your photos, get a recommendation and cost. He does good work.

Both doctors recommended the same procedures for me - makes it easy to compare cost. The costs were significantly different, but I am leaning toward Dr Cardenas because her results are just beautiful.

Will be sure to post results if I go forward with surgery in December.

Hope to see your results as well!

If you don't mind me asking, are you thinking about anything other than a lower body lift ("royal" if Cardenas, I assume)? If you're getting a few procedures done, how many separate surgeries is each surgeon recommending? I get the impression that she's much more conservative than Dr. Sauceda in terms of the number of procedures she'll do in one surgery. I've seen Dr. Sauceda patients get a lower body lift, arm lift, thigh lift and breast lift all in one LONG surgery and then a neck lift a few days later. That sounds like A LOT, but I gather he has an excellent safety track record. I really like the idea of Dr. Cardenas' recovery house, but I also like the idea of getting EVERYTHING done in one shot. Getting that much work done at once is a little scary, but it seems like Dr. Sauceda does these type of massive marathon surgeries on a regular basis. As you can see, I'm pretty torn :).

I am certain I'm going to do consults with both these doctors, so I'm very interested in your experience. I'm also considering consults with some US surgeons, but the lack of aftercare is almost a deal breaker for me. I likely won't have surgery till next year, so I'm probably going to hold off on consults for at least a few more months. Between Cardenas and Sauceda I have no idea who'd give the better result. The sample size of male before and afters is pretty small for almost all surgeons, so it's really difficult to get a feel for how things might turn out. I try to tell myself that they're both great and I'll be happy no matter what, but it's hard to believe the results would be identical....

Thanks for all the info!!

9 hours ago, ChubRub said:

I'm having surgery in Miami, and the doctor does the look that I want. However, I look at the Florida surgeons (including my own), like a Ford assembly line specializing in Mommy Makeovers. Boobs (check), Tummy Tuck (check), BBL (check), etc. They get great results b/c they do the same surgery over and over and over again. I have zero hesitation going to Miami as a woman.

However, as a man, I would say the surgeons you have mentioned are the ones you want to go to. They all specialize in massive weight loss, and operate on both men and women.

Just my 2 cents!!! Good luck!!!

I'm so glad you chimed in. Your observations align exactly with mine. That's part of the reason why I made this post, just to make sure I'm not missing something. I've looked at numerous surgeons in Florida and I see some amazing work, but I'm not seeing the results and track record I'm looking for as a man seeking post weight loss reconstruction. Thanks for putting my mind at ease.

Best of luck to you with your upcoming surgery!

11 hours ago, catwoman7 said:

the ones you mentioned are all internationally known and specialize in plastic surgery for massive weight loss patients - they're very well-known in the bariatric community. Any of those choices would be great. I went to Lawrence Zachary in Chicago who also specializes in plastic surgery for massive weight loss patients. He used to be quite well-known in the bariatric community as well, but you don't hear his name much anymore - probably because there are more specialists in that subfield now (also, he's pretty pricey - he'd be more expensive than Cardenas, Sauceda, and Capella for sure - not sure about the other two). Peter Fisher in San Antonio used to always be on many people's short list, but I'm pretty sure he's retired now.

some of those plastic surgeons (maybe all?) do virtual consultations - and Dr. Sauceda does email ones (I did a consult with him), so get a few - maybe 3-5. You'll find different surgeons will have different ideas on how they'd approach it. I found my consultations very informative.

P.S. I'm not aware of any plastic surgeons in Florida who are in this category (internationally-known and specialize in bariatric plastic surgery), but supposedly the prices are more affordable there, and I'm sure there are some very good plastic surgeons there (I know some people on here have gone to them and been very happy with the results). You'll find affordable prices in Mexico, too. Sauceda and Cardenas are both extremely well-known.

Thank you very much for your response. I'm most likely going to wait till next year for surgery, so I'll probably delay the consults until I'm a little closer to determining a good time for me to put my life on hold for a month. I think the consults will be a big part of my decision making process.

I've seen Dr. Zachary mentioned a few times, but he has almost no reviews on RealSelf, so I wasn't sure what to make of that. I do wonder if a lot of the more well known surgeons are known not just for their surgical skills, but also because of their marketing ability. Some surgeons seem to make no effort to self promote and others do it A LOT. I have no problem with the marketing, I just hope I don't overlook a great surgeon simply because he/she doesn't have a website or social media presence. I feel like I'd be in good hands with any of the surgeons I'm considering, so all the time I'm spending trying to make the "perfect" decision is probably a complete waste, but I just can't help myself.

I've been researching plastic surgeons for several weeks and I have a few that I'm very interested in, but I'm constantly on the lookout for additional surgeons to consider. I've repeatedly seen Florida mentioned as a spot with top doctors at affordable prices. I've also seen folks referencing recovery centers in Florida that are more similar to the aftercare many Mexican surgeons offer, which is very appealing. I'm looking a surgeon with great reviews who has done A LOT of body lift surgeries and I'm simply not finding many who fit that billing. Every time I see a Florida surgeon recommended I look them up and I either can't find body lift review or I only find a couple.

If anyone can provide names of surgeons with extensive experience doing body lifts, I'd really appreciate it. It doesn't actually have to be Florida, but I constantly see Florida referenced and none of the surgeons I'm considering are in Florida. The surgeons I'm primarily considering are Dr. Cardenas, Dr. Sauceda, Dr. Joseph Michaels, Dr. Katzen & Dr. Capella. From my research these seem to be some of the top surgeons in the field of reconstruction after massive weight loss, but if anyone has any additional names that have the level of experience and expertise as these folks, I'd love to know so that I can check them out.

Thanks!

I've been researching plastic surgery for several weeks. I've built a list of surgeons that I'm interested in (Sauceda, Cardenas, Galvez, Katzen, Michaels, Agha, Capella), but I'm still looking around. One of the big problems I'm running into is a lack of male before and after photos from all surgeons. From what I gather, roughly 95% of skin removal surgeries are for women. I guess a lot of the guys don't care as much about their loose skin, but THIS guy does. A lot of women have INCREDIBLE results, but obviously I want my body to have a masculine shape. The photos of men are much harder to find and I've seen far fewer amazing male results.

Are there any surgeons that specialize in reconstruction after massive weight loss that have a reputation of doing incredible work on male patients? I think I'm pretty comfortable with all the surgeons I've listed, but I suspect I have several months to continue researching before I commit to anything and I might as well use them to find the best possible surgeon.

Thanks!