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.

I called my mom right away and she's flying in from Atlanta on Nov 26 and will stay with me for about 10 days. Julie, if you are reading this, do you think 10 days is enough or should I ask my mom to stay longer? Also, do you have any advice on things to beware, things you didn't expect, or things you wish you had thought of before the surgery? I bought a pillow for under my knees because I figure I'll have to sleep on my back for at least 2 weeks. I'm a side sleeper, so that will be tough for me. Should I buy some shirts that button up the front or will I be able to pull shirts over my head without any problem? How did you do with the drains? Dr. Heller said that the drains could be in for 2 days or 2 weeks. Will I be able to hide the drains sufficiently with a cardigan sweater? Any advice would be appreciated.

10 days will be more than plenty. I'm only 10 days out now and I've been fully functional for 4 days, even with the leg surgery at the same time. I seriously think 4 days would be plenty, so you'll have a good visit wiht your Mom.

I'm a side sleeper too. I slept on my side for the first time last night. I had to sleep on my back until last night when I could finally make it work.

I wore a zip up sweatshirt home from the hospital. Once I was home I was comfortable stretching in and out of a sleeveless men's t-shirt (what I would call a "wife beater" -- I don't know what the real term for them is!).

I had pinrose drains that stayed in 2 days (or maybe it was 3). They were easily covered by a sweater -- they're under the bandages. If you have full drains (Jackson Pratt) -- which I don't think is done, but I'm not absolutely sure -- the wouldn't be covered in a sweater, you'd just have to wear something loose and deal with it until they're gone. They would have fit in a sweatshirt but not a sweater. I feel sure you'll have pinrose drains that will fit in a sweater and are no big deal at all.

The arms really don't hurt, in my experience. They sting if I stretch them in the wrong way, but they really don't hurt. As for the size, even with the bandages, they're smaller than they were with the skin, so all my clothes fit. Even my size 4P Ann Taylor jackets fit, bandages and all Nothing to worry about.

I predict it will go much easier than you fear. Are you having heavy sedation or full-blown general anesthesia? Dad does it under sedation if all he's doing is arms. That would make it an even easier recovery, if you're a candidate to avoid general!

Best of luck.

Yea enterprise!! I'm happy you got it!!!

Wishing you the best of luck and speedy recovery on your surgery!!

wombat

10 days will be more than plenty. I'm only 10 days out now and I've been fully functional for 4 days, even with the leg surgery at the same time. I seriously think 4 days would be plenty, so you'll have a good visit with your Mom.

Good, maybe we can get some shopping done while she's here. I don't get to see her often, so I'm hoping we'll have plenty of quality time.

I'm a side sleeper too. I slept on my side for the first time last night. I had to sleep on my back until last night when I could finally make it work.

This is going to be tough for me. sleeping on my back is also uncomfortable because it seems to invite my 4 cats to sleep on top of me. And the 20 lb cat almost crushes me when she sits on my chest. I need to get some Ambien.

....As for the size, even with the bandages, they're smaller than they were with the skin, so all my clothes fit. Even my size 4P Ann Taylor jackets fit, bandages and all Nothing to worry about.

That's what I was hoping. I'll have to go into the office within a couple of days and don't want everyone to notice.

I predict it will go much easier than you fear. Are you having heavy sedation or full-blown general anesthesia? Dad does it under sedation if all he's doing is arms. That would make it an even easier recovery, if you're a candidate to avoid general!

Best of luck.

I think they are planning on general anesthesia, but I'm going to ask about heavy sedation. I had lipo on my thighs and surgery on both feet done under a local without sedation and handled both of those procedures just fine. I think docs prefer the general because they're afraid patients will freak out if they hear what's going on.

I pre-registered at the hospital today and it took 5 hours! Five hours to register for a 2 hour procedure! Well, I won't complain since it's a free surgery. I still don't have a firm date and time and am starting to get anxious about it. Let's hope I hear something soon.

I'm so excited for you. This has got to be one of your best Thanksgivings ever.

It's only 8 hours until my brachioplasty. I'm absolutely panicked trying to get caught up on work. I have to get up at 4:30 a.m. and I usually go to bed around 2 or 3 a.m., so that's going to be rough for me. At least I can go back to sleep really soon after that.

I'll try to post on Thursday to give you all an update and hopefully some pictures, too. Thanks to everyone for the support. I feel very lucky to have so many friends wishing me well.

It's only 8 hours until my brachioplasty. I'm absolutely panicked trying to get caught up on work. I have to get up at 4:30 a.m. and I usually go to bed around 2 or 3 a.m., so that's going to be rough for me. At least I can go back to sleep really soon after that.

I'll try to post on Thursday to give you all an update and hopefully some pictures, too. Thanks to everyone for the support. I feel very lucky to have so many friends wishing me well.

Enterprise, didn't know your surgery was this soon! I'll be thinking of you and looking for news from you. Try your best to get some sleep, and let us know how you are doing.

The outcome will be well worth it!

I hope you are in bed by now and trying to get at least a couple hours sleep before your surgery. I'll be saying a prayer for you. Bring us updates as soon as your up to it.

best of luck to you today. i know you'll fly thru with flying colors!

How very exciting! I'm sending you all the positive energy I can. Wish you the best! Keep us posted.

I can't wait to hear all about it, Enterprise! Feel better soon and I'm so glad "mom" is coming to take care of you....

Best of luck to you Enterprise, I wish you a speedy recovery!

Just checking in today to see how you're doing . . .

Lynn

Good luck to you enterprise!!!!

Hugs and prayers for a successful operation and a speedy recovery

wombat

Thoughts and prayers for your speedy recovery. Hoping to hear that everything went fine very soon.

Hi, everyone. Thanks for all the positive thoughts. It's been a bit rough. I'm bandaged from my shoulders to my wrists and cannot bend my arms. My poor mother has had to do everything for me. I can't even take a drink of water without her help. I go back to the doctor tomorrow at 12:30 and I'm hoping he'll take the bandages off and put me in a more comfortable compression garment. I've gained 5 pounds from fluid retention. Ugh. My fingers looked like sausages this morning, but the swelling is slowly improving.

The surgical procedure itself wasn't that bad. We got to the hospital at 6:00 a.m. yesterday and I was fully dressed with makeup on for the TV show. The camera crew was late, so they didn't actually film me until around 9:00 or so. They did a brief interview with me and asked me about my weight loss, the lap-band, and why I wanted plastic surgery and what other procedures I might have done in the future. Then they filmed me in the hospital gown with Dr. Heller explaining what he was going to do and marking my arms with a magic marker for the procedure. Then the camera crew went to wait in the hallway and filmed me as they were taking me to the OR. I believe they filmed part of the actual surgery, too. The anesthesiologist I had was the absolute best. Anesthesia is usually very hard on me, so I told him about the problems I've had in the past. Well, this time I woke up as if I had been taking a nap. I was fully awake and alert, without nausea, within 30 minutes after the procedure. In the past, it has taken me as long as 8 hours to come out of anesthesia. This was definitely a much better experience.

The surgery ended up taking 3 hours, which is an hour longer than expected. At first Dr. Heller was going to keep me in the hospital overnight, but I told him I was feeling well enough to go home, so he let me go. I think he knew I would need a lot of help and thought I'd be better off in the hospital. Thank god my mom is here. I have a drain coming out of each underarm. We're emptying the receptacles twice a day. Each time they've only had about 10 ccs of bloody fluid in them. Let's hope those drains come out tomorrow. They are a bit of a nuisance, but otherwise not a big deal at all.

Here are the latest pictures of me. I haven't bathed in 2 days, my hair is greasy, and I had a cyst removed from my face today, so I'm completely gross. And I look like I'm auditioning for a zombie movie.