Hi friends,

I was sleeved on Jan 11, 2012 and have lost 132lbs in total (including pre-op). Now, after almost 18 months, my breasts, arms, inner thighs and tummy are all saggy and droopy and need reconstructive surgery.

I was planning to get the brachioplasty, thighplasty and breat lift (no implants) done at the same time. It was first scheduled for Feb of this year, and then a tummy tuck after a couple of months. But the surgeon's visit to India was postponed (he is of Indian-origin, living in USA now). He is visiting India only in June - so my surgery will be on 4th of June.

I'm now seriously considering having the Tummy tuck done on the same day.I know this sounds crazy - but because the surgery was postponed a couple of times, I'm growing impatient and feel that getting it all done in one shot may be the best thing to do.

The main reason I want to do this all at one time is so that the pain from the first surgery doesnt put me off from getting the second done. Does this make any sense? And I really really need all these procedures. The next reason is the lack of recovery time due to my work. I already had to take time off from work because of the VSG surgery, then some time off due to some minor complications in recovery. Now I'm taking a month off for the reconstructive surgery. My boss has been very understanding, but we are short staffed and I feel bad having to ask for another time off for tummy tuck.

The next reason is that it may be months before my surgeon visits India again - I dont want to wait so long. I'm planning to get married this year and I dont want to have droopy tummy at that time

So what I'm trying to ask is - has anyone been crazy/brave enough to get more than 2 or 3 procedures done at the same time? How was the pain? Any complications during surgery/recovery? I would love to hear all your feedbacks (including strong advises against any of the procedures based on your experiences).

Thank you all in advance!

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EDIT:

I forgot to add that my mom and sister will be with me for 2 weeks to take care of me. I know mobility is an issue when we do both arms and thighs at the same time (like pulling up the compression garments and everything) - so I'll stay in the hospital for the first week, and then my mom and sis will take care ofme at home.

My gosh that sounds like a LOT to do in ONE surgery. I think there are probably people out there who have DONE multiple plastic surgeries in one day (there is some reality TV celebrity who did and I can't think of her name Heidi, Holly something or other, but she said she would never do it again...and I think they were along the lines of implants, nose, butt lift, etc.)

If it was me, I would just reverse the order. I would consider doing the TT and the lift in ONE surgery. And then wait until your Dr. can come back to do the thighs and arms. Thighs and arms can be more easily "covered" in your wedding dress.

I just can't imagine trying to recover from all of that at once, help or no help, that is A LOT!

Has your Dr offered to do all of those procedures at once, including the TT? Most won't do that many all at once.

My experience is that mexican surgeons will do these jumbo surgeries at once, but USA docs won't. i guess I have heard both sides of it and really don't know what to think. The USA surgeons are adament - because i am young and healthy, there is one local doc willing to do 3 things at once (lower body lift, breasts and arms) but most would only do 2 at once. No matter what, it wound up being 2 surgeries. There are lots of different theories about which ones are best paired together, but one surgeon wanted me to do it over 3 surgeries - 1. lower body lift+breasts, 2. thighs then 3. arms

One thing that I did hear consisently though was that you should start with your torso if it will be staged. In my case, i am getting a lower body lift/extended tummy tuck which will be done in advance of the thighs since it changes the thighs.

My experience is that mexican surgeons will do these jumbo surgeries at once' date=' but USA docs won't. i guess I have heard both sides of it and really don't know what to think. The USA surgeons are adament - because i am young and healthy, there is one local doc willing to do 3 things at once (lower body lift, breasts and arms) but most would only do 2 at once. No matter what, it wound up being 2 surgeries. There are lots of different theories about which ones are best paired together, but one surgeon wanted me to do it over 3 surgeries - 1. lower body lift+breasts, 2. thighs then 3. arms

One thing that I did hear consisently though was that you should start with your torso if it will be staged. In my case, i am getting a lower body lift/extended tummy tuck which will be done in advance of the thighs since it changes the thighs.[/quote']

You've had plastics in Mx? Who did you use? Was your all around experience good? Quality care? Happy with results? I had my VSG in Mx and if my insurance won't help with excess skin I will go back to Mx.

M2G, DEZ1975 and CowgirlJane:

Thank you all very much for your replies and advise. You are right - it is a LOT to cover in one surgery. I was just so frustrated with having the surgery postponed twice - I wasnt probably thinking straight. I guess I'll have to stick to my original plans and have 2 surgeries.

Can I ask one more Q : What is the approximate recovery time for a TT? How soon can you go back to work? I'm a Software Engineer, so I pretty much sit all day. Will it be too hard to go back to work in say 15 to 20 days?

M2G, DEZ1975 and CowgirlJane:

Thank you all very much for your replies and advise. You are right - it is a LOT to cover in one surgery. I was just so frustrated with having the surgery postponed twice - I wasnt probably thinking straight. I guess I'll have to stick to my original plans and have 2 surgeries.

Can I ask one more Q : What is the approximate recovery time for a TT? How soon can you go back to work? I'm a Software Engineer, so I pretty much sit all day. Will it be too hard to go back to work in say 15 to 20 days?

The surgeon I had the consult with said 2-3 weeks for initially recovery, but that depending on various factors (severity of TT, ex. my scar would extend hip to hip) to expect swelling to last anywhere from 3-9 months. I think I would go for at least 20 days off and tell them that after surgery depending on how you feel you may need more time.

When I had my tummy tuck I would say that you are safe to go back to work in three weeks. I was hunched over for about a week then was okay walking, I also wore my binder for over a month and this helped greatly with healing.

M2G & Amazon13:

Thank you both for the replies. I have asked for a time-off of 4 weeks initially. I'm hoping that I'll feel better by then and can go back to work without any issues.