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.

The doctor thinks he'll need to make the incision down the arm because the loose skin goes almost all the way to the elbow. He's going to re-evaluate that when I go back on Nov. 9th and see if the 10 pound weight loss improves it any.

If we do the long incision and I'm not happy with the scars, I won't hesitate to do a scar revision a year or two down the road.

Yes, I understand about the tank tops. It's horribly hot and humid 10 months out of the year in Houston, and not being able to wear sleeveless tops makes it even worse. I can't wait until I can dress appropriately for the weather here.

Enterprise - you can do those last 5 pounds. How exciting. Is the liposuction sheduled for the same time?

I have my consult with Dr. Heller on Friday. What is his assistant like? Will I feel uncomfortable with her or him?

I haven't lost as much weight as you have and I'm afriad he will tell me to keep losing and come back in a year.

I would love to have a breast lift, and tummy tuck. Please tell me more about his office staff.

I'm so glad for you and know you will be getting the surgery on the house!

-wow- Congratulations, I know will be in order....

You will get that 10# gone NO PROB...right?

My weight drops more significantly, if I do any "lifting exercises" at all. Even with 3# to 5# weights! Sometimes/some exercises I use 8# weights! Do you do any lifting in addition to the walking?

Sorry to hear about the pain after the extra long walk. Good luck and great health to you.

Good luck with it!

Like my stomach, my upper arms survived pretty well, but they're just that bit flappy, enough for my kids to hold them up and bat them around, lol. But like my stomach, they're not bad enough to make the op a no brainer, its a LOT of money and some scarring for a very very minor problem kind of thing.

So I will live vicariously through all you glamour girls getting yourselves all perfect! You're going to look great!

Enterprise - you can do those last 5 pounds. How exciting. Is the liposuction sheduled for the same time?

I have my consult with Dr. Heller on Friday. What is his assistant like? Will I feel uncomfortable with her or him?

I haven't lost as much weight as you have and I'm afriad he will tell me to keep losing and come back in a year.

I would love to have a breast lift, and tummy tuck. Please tell me more about his office staff.

I'm so glad for you and know you will be getting the surgery on the house!

Yes, the lipo on the arms would be done at the same time.

Dr. Heller's medical assistant is Myra. She's fairly young, but very nice. She's the one that took the naked pictures of me for Dr. Heller's file. His office assistant is Inga, and she's as sweet as can be. She'll go over all the fees with you.

Dr. Heller gives a 25% discount on his fees to all Spivak patients, so that will save you some money right there. Although I need to lose 25 more to get to goal, he went ahead and gave me an estimate on a breast lift and tummy tuck. If he can do the lift without adding implants for firmness, it will be around $10,500 for both procedures. Implants add about $2,000 to the price.

If you can guarantee Dr. Heller that you'll be at your goal weight in another 2-3 months, he'll probably go ahead and schedule your surgery for then. The only thing I didn't like at his office was that I had to wait about 45 minutes to see him. I'm hoping that was a one time thing.

Let me know how your consultation goes.

Good luck with it! Like my stomach, my upper arms survived pretty well, but they're just that bit flappy, enough for my kids to hold them up and bat them around, lol. But like my stomach, they're not bad enough to make the op a no brainer, its a LOT of money and some scarring for a very very minor problem kind of thing. So I will live vicariously through all you glamour girls getting yourselves all perfect! You're going to look great!

Thanks, Jacqui. I know a lot of people are in worse shape than me, but the arms just really bother me. I'd rather have a bad scar than flabby bat wings. And the skin near my underarm is kind of discolored from the constant rubbing and it has that wrinkly scrotum-like appearance that Wheetsin and Losingjusme were talking about. My mom is giving me $10,000 toward plastic surgery, so if I have the arms, stomach, and breasts done, it will probably only be about $5,000 out-of-pocket for me.

I'm down another 1/2 pound today, so 4.5 lbs to go in 8 days. I did 70 minutes on the stationary bike last night, and now my butt is bruised. I'm going back to walking tonight. And I did not have a single piece of Halloween candy yesterday.

wooo hooo enterprise!!! :clap2:

WoW Enterpise - you're kickin butt!!!

ooh- good luck! I hope you are able to get the procedure for free!

I found your thread and will be watching it closely . . . This 'Spivak-er' is routing for you too !!!

As of this morning, I've lost 7 pounds in 7 days. I have 3 more pounds to lose in another 7 days, so I'm right on track. This is absolute torture, though. Last night after walking 6.5 miles in 106 minutes, I was too tired to eat. I've gone from a size 12 to a size 10 in my pants. Shirts are all fitting the same, so I don't think any of the weight has come off my arms. Even if Dr. Heller turns me down for the TV show, I'll be OK with it. After all, he's given me the impetus to exercise regularly and get that much closer to my goal.

good for you on the 7 lbs!!

You are amazing - this is a fun post to follow - good luck to you.

Let me know how your consultation goes.

My consult went well, and I was impressed with the staff. I saw Dr. Heller first, then had pictures taken by office manager, Jacqueline, and then his assistant Dina went over the fees with me. Maybe her name was Dina instead of Inga and I didn't hear it right.

There is a chance that I could get my insurance to pay for breast reduction which would require a night at hospital. If they approve paying for the breast reduction, then he would do the other procedures at the same time (breast lift, tummy tuck with body lift).

He did not mention the TV show to me at all. The cost is higher than I expected and even though I told him I was Dr. Spivak's patient he never mentioned a discount.

My first step is to find out if my insurance will pay for breast reduction and go from there.

Dr. Heller seemed concerned that my weight has not been stable for long enough, and he felt I have more losing to do.

Enterprise, I'm excited for you, to be able to lose as much as you have in such a short time frame is wonderful.

When will you find out for sure about the surgery?

Brachioplasty - DON'T!!!

Ladies, in 2004, after losing about 80 lbs, I had a TT. I was very pleased with it.

In 2006, I had a brachioplasty and a breast reduction. I am fairly pleased with the breasts but WISH so much I had not "done" my arms. The scars are more unsightly than the skin was....thick, ugly, pink scars.

AND, I had a scar revision!!!! The scars are even more ugly now.

I am horrified at what I look like naked....Frankenstein. The bad part is, the arm scars show even when I am NOT naked. If I could do one thing over again, it would be to pass on the brachioplasty. Seriously consider this: I am obviously "pro" PS, and yet I wish I hadn't done this.

My surgeon (I had lapband AFTER PS) told me he has NEVER seen a brachioplasty that looks good. He said it is just a waste of money.

Good luck to you, whatever your decision.