Having been inspired by JulieNYC, Puddin, and TheGhost, I decided to start a thread to chronicle the brachioplasty I will hopefully be having soon. I started at 218 lbs and had my lap-band surgery on 1/17/07 by Dr. Spivak in Houston. As of today, I'm at 144 lbs. I still have 26 more to lose.

On Friday, Oct 26th, I went to see Dr. Lior Heller about having a brachioplasty (my weight was 148 on that day). My plan was to see him for the consultation and schedule the surgery for late December. I figured I'd be within 10-15 lbs of my goal weight by then. Well, Dr. Heller is doing a TV show for a local news channel and told me if I could lose 10 lbs in 2 weeks, he would waive his surgical fee and use me for the TV show. I've lost 3.5 lbs since last Friday. I'm eating between 400-500 calories and walking 4-6 miles every day. Keep your fingers crossed that I meet the goal.

If I don't make it on the TV show, the brachioplasty will cost me a little over $5,000. If I'm on the TV show, I only have to pay $3,000 for the OR and anesthesiologist. I'm also planning to have a breast lift, tummy tuck, and thigh lift next year, so I need to save as much money as I can. I planned to do the brachioplasty soon because I don't think much more fat will come off my arms. All the excess weight seems to be in my stomach, hips, and thighs now. Although I'm not at goal yet, I wanted to have the brachioplasty this winter in order to be healed enough to wear sleeveless tops in the summer. And in Houston, summer starts in March.

These are my most recent before and after pics. I take some pictures of my naked arms soon.

:OFF TOPIC:

Paulax, Enterprise I need your help - Please read and comment on my Rant over on the RNR board about my sis. Sorry to ask but I'm about to lose it here. Doesn't help I've had only 3 hours of sleep.

I had my follow-up with Dr. Heller this afternoon. Surgery was 3 weeks and 2 days ago and he thinks I'm healing a little ahead of schedule. The shooting pain persists in my upper left arm, but he assures me it will fade soon. The severe pain I've had in my forearms is from the compression garment. He wants me to wear it 12 hours a day instead of 24. He seemed a bit surprised that the pain is so bad that I cannot fully extend my arms. In another week, he wants me to start using Mederma or the silicone sheets to help minimize scar formation. The elbows are still looking a bit puffy, which is from the remaining fat, not from swelling. He thinks it will even out over time, but if it doesn't, we should be able to do some fairly minor liposuction to correct it. He mentioned that he made the decision not to extend the incision completely down to my elbow and the trade-off was having fatter elbows. I'm fine with that and do believe that it will eventually even out. I've already seen some improvement in the area.

Attached are photos I just took. Here I am in my shortest sleeved t-shirt. And there's also a close-up shot of the incision on the right arm. It still looks a little scary, but it's getting better every day.

Honey! Look at you !!! Awesome . . . :clap2:

wow! you look wonderful !!!

Your arms look wonderfully slim! When will they shot the after look and produce the TV show?

amazing. They look fantastic! You officially look like a skinny girl! The scar even looks great for 3 weeks out.

Thanks for sharing the photos! You look great and ready for a binkini! Your arms are so small, and I'm proud of you for going through with this. Was the pain worht the surgery. I would love to have those skinny arms that you have.

Terry

Your arms look wonderfully slim! When will they shot the after look and produce the TV show?

They still haven't called me to schedule the follow-up, so I don't know when the show is going to be aired. Dr. Heller said they have a few patients to follow-up with before they get to me.

Thanks for sharing the photos! You look great and ready for a binkini! Your arms are so small, and I'm proud of you for going through with this. Was the pain worht the surgery. I would love to have those skinny arms that you have.

Terry

Yes, the pain was worth it. I haven't lost any more weight since the surgery, but everyone has been telling me how much thinner I look. And that's from people who don't know about the surgery. I think the thinner arms have given my whole upper body a slimmer look. Even though the incisions still look fresh, I'm really surprised at how much their appearance doesn't bother me. The flab was much more unattractive.

<p>Enterprise, you look amazing and beautiful. I'm terrified about my arm lift/breast augmentation coming up next month, especially the arm lift. Youre arms look great, really nice. Thank you so much for posting your journey and especially your private pictures. I'll probably do the same after I get my surgery date.</p>

Congratulations! You look great, I have followed ths with great interest. I am also 5"0' tall and started at 216 pounds. I'm older and carry a lot of weight in my arsm and legs and they are already looking bad after 18 pounds gone ( I was as high as 230 a few years ago, so I had some sagging from that as a high point).

I hope you'll post a few more photos as the scars heal, so I can see. Like everyone else, I'm worried about the scarring, but just as worried about the "bat wings". Want to see what's in store for me.

Wow, I didn't think your arms looked bad before at all. Seening them after though the look awsome. I think I would trade the scars to have arms that looked like yours!

Hi enterprise01 ~

I just wanted to check on you . . . How are you doing? I am going to try to make it to the support group on Tuesday night, are you going?

I have an appointment with Dr. Heller this coming Friday for a tummy tuck consultation and I am terrifed at the thought of actually doing it . . . I hope I can get the nerve, but have tons of anxiety because of my kids very active lives - they require a taxi service almost all of the time so I am worried that after the surgery I won't be able to do what I need to do to keep my family on tract . . .

But, I want to do this for ME and know that my friends will help me get my kids to their next activity. My husband's job doesn't allow him much flexibility to help with that part of our lives, and he is not in favor of me having a TT anyway, so I'm not sure how much help he can or will be . . .

Lot's of questions - I just sent Wanda an email, hopefully she and I can visit and she'll be able to answer alot of my questions.

Let me know how your doing . . .