I wanted a somewhat private place to ask this...

plastic surgery in one week. I really really need the lower body lift and breast work. I have been to many consultations and they all agree

i need arms and thighs too.

I am getting cold feet over the arms - and here is why.

SOME people get horrible scars from the arm procedure. The skin around the body heals up well and like my surgery scars aren't even noticable. i have seen lots of Tummy Tuck and lower body lift scars - a year out you can barely see them.

Arms... it is a bit more hit and miss.

I THINK it is worth the scarring for me to get the arms done, but i am having last minute doubts. I guess what i am asking is if you are the type that likes to dress nice, likes to dress in sleeveless things, is single and still young enough to want to be "attractive"...haha... would you do the arm surgery given my starting point? It is not about the money since I am doing it with the body work it is very little incremental cost - it is about the scars that leaves me with doubt.

I have been obsessing over planning my plastics since January so I think every detail is worked out. My ex is taking care of house, home and farm, and horses and dogs. He knows the routine since he does that when I go on business trips. I have a backup plan for the dogs (a friend who has a doggie daycare and can board them at her place) and TWO backup plans for the horses (two friends who will make room in their barns should I need it).

A dear friend is taking care of ME and she LOVES to nurse. She studied nursing but couldn't handle the harder classes so quit and wound up retiring young...lucky ducky. anyway, she is more excited then I am...haha.

After the first few weeks, I have a bunch of friends lined up to help me keep busy. We all worry I will go stir crazy not being able to exercise or ride horses for say... 6-8 + weeks post op!

Yes, I have a plan.... just wish it would hurry up and get here already!!! I am tired of being so focused on it.

... just think, by the new year you will be good (better!) as new!

CGJane, I think I'm almost as obsessed with your plastics as you are! I look forward to hearing every single detail or issue or new knowledge you post, as I am taking notes for my own (someday) plastics.

Defo get the arms done. I wish I could afford it 'cos I would have it done tomo and to hell with the scars!

Coops, been meaning to ask, it's been a few months now and I'm curious about your healing progress, post- plastics. Swelling, skin elasticity, scars, changes in body composition, I'm curious about it all!

Coops, been meaning to ask, it's been a few months now and I'm curious about your healing progress, post- plastics. Swelling, skin elasticity, scars, changes in body composition, I'm curious about it all!

Hey GT!

Been 7mths mow since my TT and BL - I don't wanna hijack this thread so I'll PM you x

coops, if you don't mind sharing, hijack this or start a new one - I would love to hear too.

BTW, i am still stitched and bandaged but I am so glad I did the arms. omg... omg... its all I can say. It will be months before i know the end results... but my friend actully cried with joy after the initial unveiling and a big part of it was the arms,

Jane I am so freaking excited to see pics!! Please please share every quotidian detail of the healing process! I'm especially interested to hear about scar care.

so frustrated... long post went poof into cyber space.

anyway, scar care is a subject like the body wraps.... all these believers but really little evidence. here is my conclusion

#1is genetics. some people ketoid or otherwise scar badly

#2 following after care instruction. scars can be widened by doing too much too soon. Dr Sauceda told me of a patient - 3 weeks post op having sex with her boyfriend on grass. the abrasion of the grassopened up her upper body lifft - 360 all around the chest and back area. she got a huge nasty infection and now has a scar that needs surgical repair. just an example... but people do lots of little things that widen and stretch the incision site - usually after the stitches are out but before it is fully stable

#3 surgical skill combined with patient request and patient condition can lead to really really tight incisions that just open up wide.. Dr S is less aggressive then some as far as pulling really tight. I felt that it was worth the tradeoffs - fewer complications, he can do more in one procedure versus 3 surgeries in trade for say slightly less tight results. i can talk more about that later but i cried with joy at what he did with my thighs... and no long scar down to the knee. i could have had much "better" results with an aggressive thigh lift but getting "good enough" and better then most 49 year old thighs and the scar hidden by a bikini just thrilled me. trade offs

Now, the rest of it gets kinda questionable. some swear by vitE other surgeons say it makes scars worse. The silicone sheets are the only proven method and Dr S recommends but most of hispatients find them way too much hassle. One surgeon I read was convinced that it wasn't even WHAT you but on them, it is the massaging that treats the scars. I am not far enough out yet to be doing scar treatment but I am telling you - it seems to beone of those voodoo subjects - lots of contradictory claims.

oh an body scars like from TT tend to heal GREAT. arms and thighs are very dicey.the skin is way different and the tension on it is different - the cuts are like the wrong way on a grain of wood if that makes sense

what i was also gonna say is i got scolded for posting "scary drain and a little blood on the garment" photos on the private FB page that this surgeon's fans run. I was scaring the preops...WTF??? You get fileted like a salmon and dont expect drains and a drop of blood. I decided that the woman who runs that fanclub is a bit of a loon. She had her plastics years ago and still posts many times a day... she also plays with premie dolls and other things i personally find bizarro. I appreicate the info, the little troupe she leads -totally unofficial, not surgeon sponsored - really helped me be ready for this adventure, but I am pretty sick of them. Many had surgery 2 years ago and give advice that is contradictory or outdated. They act like patient coordinators and truth is that many of the people that see him do NOT rely on them for info.

Anyway, I suspect that some people who used to weigh 500# still have serious emotional issues.... and I suspectmany of them find themselve long term OBSESSED with plastics or other miracles to fix their problems.

Just a note on the scar thing - my surgeon recommended that I use vaseline, box standard of the shelf stuff, once a day after showering. I started that about 3 weeks post op... my scar is ok, still quite dark in place but healed really well... I am sure that it will lighten with time.

I agree though, it is all hit and miss and genetics have a lot to do with it

After 3 weeks arm scars are great LBL still wicked looking. Ironic

Omg... that looks so painful! !. I'm so happy dor you and I so hope I snap back and don't need that. I hope you'll heal quickly

Omg... that looks so painful! !. I'm so happy dor you and I so hope I snap back and don't need that. I hope you'll heal quickly

Not painful but inconvenient and long recovery.

Nobody "snaps back" after losing as much as I did. I lost 180 from my lifetime highest weight.

Scars take a year to heal. I am pretty happy with the arms for only 3 weeks.