Hello All,

I am a 25 yr old lady, about 3 months post op from VSG. Although I am still a ways off from it, I am already hunting for a surgeon because have a lot of excess skin and generally poor skin laxity. I live in Chicago, but because it is a a major metropolitan area the prices here are really high. I know not to skimp on surgery, but I cannot realistically spend $35k-40k on plastics. I will be financing anyhow, and already have student loans. In a perfect world I would like to find someone local-ish so I can recover at home and easily attend follow-ups. Does anyone know of any decent surgeons in surrounding suburbs or even nearby cities/towns? Anyone with prices they have found? I am open. I am sure a 1ish hour car ride might be tolerable. Or if you know of someone in the city that isn't astronomical. I know there is David Shifrin, but dang his prices on realself are steep and his work is ok but doesn't resonate with me.

If I can't find anyone local, I will bite the bullet and travel. So far in my search I have come across Dr. Fisher, and loved his work and I have heard he has decent prices. Anyone else in the USA that wouldn't be more than a 4 hour plane ride? Mexico is out of the question. I want to have a lower body lift, breast lift (maybe extended or with implants depending on what is left at goal), and arm lift. How is recovery from these surgeries if you travel? Does a family member or friend come with you? How do follow ups happen? Would I have to fly back for follow ups, or did you have a local doctor to check out any complications or deal with wound care?

Thanks in advance.

There is this guy but his work is lack luster to me

http://www.thedoctorstv.com/videos/woman-who-lost-180-pounds-undergoes-skin-removal-surgery

I live in Illinois and I plan on traveling for plastics, either florida or out of the country. I want to recover at a recover house where I can have people take care of me, and those are in Florida and outside the US.

@@annagene12

I have an excellent plastic surgeon here in Pewaukee WI. Not far from you at all and she does incredible work and her rates are pretty great too. She has quite a few patients that travel here to see her.

Just to give you some idea, I had my arm lift in July and it cost 5950.00. In January I am having a full Abdominalplasty, and breast lift and augmentation and the total cost will be 17200.00 and that is with two nights in the hospital.

She would be worth the drive and stay over.

Her name is Dr. Maida Parkins/Quintessa Medical Spa in Delafield Wi

You can find her on real self or just google her. She provides a free consultation as well.

I am attaching my before and after Brachioplasty. I could not be happier with the outcome. They look fantastic! My after pics are from 3 weeks post op so I am even still swollen in these pics. they really do look great.

Before

After

Lawrence Zachary (in Chicago) is supposed to be great and specializes in patients who've had massive weight loss, but I've heard he's pretty expensive. I'm kind of in the same boat as you are - would prefer the Chicago area or southern Wisconsin.

Edited October 13, 20169 yr by catwoman7

P.S. if you decide to travel, I've also heard great things about Dr. Capella in New Jersey and Dr. Michaels in Maryland (DC area). But yes - Peter Fisher has a great reputation, too

Thanks all - keep the suggestions rolling in!@@OutsideMatchInside, I do like the idea of recovery houses, but know that with any complications an american doctor will not touch you with a ten foot pole if you go abroad. that is not an acceptable risk to me, alhtough i am sure plenty of people are successful and wish you the best of luck. it just isn't for me. i want to be in my home country for what will likely be the most major surgery i have.

I will definitely check out those recommended doctors. I am thinking now that maybe I do the breast lift in chicago separately, and then the brachioplasty/LBL. I think I want the extended brachioplasty b/c of loose skin under my armpits, and having all three of those procedures at once frightens me b/c i don't want to be under for 10 hours. even if a surgeon agrees to it, it seems like a lot to me.

Edited October 18, 20169 yr by annagene12

@@Djmohr, your arms look amazing!!! what was the recovery like with the brachioplasty solo? Did you have to take a lot of time off work?

@@annagene12

Thanks! I love them alot but for me it was very very painful. My surgeon did laser lipo first to remove residual fat and then removed the skin. That approach allows them to do more contouring.

As far as time off goes, they claim you can go back depending on what you do. For me that was not true.

I had alot of burning, searing and itching. This was likely caused by the adhesives that were used. We believe it was an allergy and nothing was helping. At 3 weeks post op, when we removed the mesh bandage off the would, that burning and itching stopped so we know it was an allergy.

I had my arms literally packed in ice round the clock for 3 weeks straight. Then after the bandages came off, i used ice only when they swelled. I also wore compression until 10 weeks post op and used biocorneum silicone gel to help the scars flattened and turn lighter in color.

I could have gone to work at 3 weeks, before that not so much but we believe that my allergy is why things were so painful for me.

Lastly I would tell you to think about how you combine surgeries. You cannot use your arms at all to lift yourself out of bed out of a chair anything. In talking with a friend of mine, who had multiple procedures at the same time having your lower body and your arms done at the same time might prove very uncomfortable for mobility.

If you put undue pressure on your arms, you can cause more severe scar damage. My doctor who is conservative told me no lifting my arms or using them for leverage for 8 weeks.

Just food for thought.......alot of these doctors will do anything to get you in there. When you look at realself and listen to some of them you realize they sort of smooth over the reality a bit so as not to scare you.

Many of them performe surgeries a few weeks apart. That is not the best for your body. A good surgeon will wait a minimum of 12 weeks before the next surgery and they prefer 6 months.

@@Djmohr Thanks for the thorough information/ thorough response. Ouch, that sounds very painful. Three weeks is a long time! And I am totally thinking about how to break out surgeries...it is complicated, because I basically can't afford to take a month off from work for recovery twice. I was thinking at least splitting out the breast lift (which I have heard has the easiest recovery) would allow me to go right back to work after 5 or days for phase 1, and would be better than doing all three at once. I also have a desk job, and can potentially work from home for a week for recovery.

Whereas the arm lift and body lift will require much longer healing times, although I realize it will make the recovery much more difficult because of poor mobility but I will take a solid month from work. I wish I knew the best way. I have seen folks who do the arms & LBL at the same time, although I realize that isn't ideal, but in terms of timing is better. I haven't heard of anyone breezing through the arm lift and being able to go back to work in a few days. But if that *can* be the case, it might make more sense to do that first.

Edited October 18, 20169 yr by annagene12

Most surgeons will actually recommend which way to go given the expected recovery. Have you talked with someone yet?

For some they will do breasts and arms together and the LBL separately. You may have no pain issues at all with your arms and if you can work from home that is really great.

I am now working from home on a pretty major project. When i have my tummy and breasts done in January, I will take some time off just until i can comfortably function even at home and then i will be fine.

I am lucky that working from home isn't a big deal. I am guessing that they won't mind me doing it for 1-2 weeks. And I haven't talked to any surgeons yet, as I am still about 35-40lbs away from goal, so feel it is a bit premature to get looked at because I still have a decent amount of fat (although tons of excess skin) I am just thinking a lot about plastics because I know I want it as soon as I can basically, but I am guessing that will be in another 6 months.

Yeah I know. That is why I am looking at Florida, because they have recovery houses and I would rather stay at a recovery house than depend on my friends or family. I don't want to be a burden or be that familiar with anyone. I do think for my arms I am going to spring for Dr Capella because he is a true artist. There are just more options for post-op care on the east coast than in the Midwest.

Thanks all - keep the suggestions rolling in!@@OutsideMatchInside, I do like the idea of recovery houses, but know that with any complications an american doctor will not touch you with a ten foot pole if you go abroad. that is not an acceptable risk to me, alhtough i am sure plenty of people are successful and wish you the best of luck. it just isn't for me. i want to be in my home country for what will likely be the most major surgery i have.

Oh gotcha, I didn't realize that about Florida! What doctors are you thinking about?

Yeah I know. That is why I am looking at Florida, because they have recovery houses and I would rather stay at a recovery house than depend on my friends or family. I don't want to be a burden or be that familiar with anyone. I do think for my arms I am going to spring for Dr Capella because he is a true artist. There are just more options for post-op care on the east coast than in the Midwest.

Thanks all - keep the suggestions rolling in!@@OutsideMatchInside, I do like the idea of recovery houses, but know that with any complications an american doctor will not touch you with a ten foot pole if you go abroad. that is not an acceptable risk to me, alhtough i am sure plenty of people are successful and wish you the best of luck. it just isn't for me. i want to be in my home country for what will likely be the most major surgery i have.

@@annagene12

Right now I am thinking about Dr Timothy Fee. He has done some work on someone I know after massive weight loss and his work and technique are like nothing I have ever seen before.

http://www.coastalcosmetic.com/

Edited October 24, 20169 yr by OutsideMatchInside

Anyone know of any in Philadelphia??

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