I went in for a consult with a plastic surgeon last week and we booked in an extended brachioplasty surgery for September. Yesterday I got a call saying there's a free spot next week on Thursday... so I was like, ok, cool, let's get it over with. I don't want to panic about it for months - this is a good opportunity. So now it's happening next week. I'm a bit worried that I'm unprepared. I'm hoping to have it as a day surgery so I can come home, if not, there's a room booked for me - I'll take an overnight bag just in case. I've taken leave from work. My mother and sister are around to look after me. If the drains gross me out, I can call a community nurse to do them (it's about $100 per day). There's a ton of food in the freezer I can eat. I was thinking of downloading audible so I could listen to some audio books (assuming it's too painful to hold my kindle). There's a ton of shows/movies I want to watch on Netflix etc. I've got some old bedding ready in case things are gross from the incisions, so I don't stain my nice sheets. I'm a non-smoker. I exercise every day so hopefully blood pressure will be OK (unlike when I had VSG). I don't have any scar stuff/compression garments but I think I will get that from surgeon. I have some hoodies that zip down the middle.

Anyone else have any ideas on how I can prepare? I'm sure that I'm missing something. Any hints or tips would be appreciated... particularly from those who have gone through it. My only previous surgeries are gallbladder and VSG, which were both laparoscopic so I'm pretty freaked out, but I really want this.

12 hours ago, Sophie7713 said:

Oh LaLaDee! Congratulations. How exciting. I'm so glad everything went famously and right on schedule. This is good news. I can already tell you will have beautiful svelte arms to wear any summer dress you desire when warm weather arrives in your parts. You have so much to look forward too... Happy healing, and a continued good week giving yourself lots of TLC. Posies + hugs.

Thanks @Sophie7713

I really appreciated what you said about not letting the anxiety take the joy out of this amazing opportunity. I have not worn anything sleeveless since I was a teenager!! I can’t wait!!! ?

Bum protein up to heal! Best of luck.

Thanks! Good tip. Just did a quick google and apparently we need heaps of protein after plastics.

4 minutes ago, LaLaDee said:

Thanks! Good tip. Just did a quick google and apparently we need heaps of Protein after plastics.

yes - I was told to ramp it up the week before and for several weeks after...

Just now, catwoman7 said:

yes - I was told to ramp it up the week before and for several weeks after...

Interesting! I'm going to make a big protein shake now. My plastic surgeon is great and I'm very happy with him but no one mentioned this to me!

I also found an article that suggested drinking wine in the 2-3 weeks following surgery as a diuretic for swelling! I find this hilarious for some reason. A good excuse to hang out in my compression garments and sip wine! ?

Hey, can I ask what your arms look like with the bandages off? I’m scared and nervous but looking into it. I had the lapband removed in 2018, sleeve in 2019 and lost 110lbs in a year. Well actually it was less than a year because I’ve remained the same for the past 8 months. My doctor said it’s not often that someone like me loses that much so easily (I worked hard!) ... but now all of this skin .... I weigh 165 at 5’4 and I’m still considered overweight. I am positive if I got rid of the skin I would lose at least 20lbs and be in the healthy range. Thanks for sharing your story.

1 hour ago, brittanyatwalsh said:

Hey, can I ask what your arms look like with the bandages off? I’m scared and nervous but looking into it. I had the lapband removed in 2018, sleeve in 2019 and lost 110lbs in a year. Well actually it was less than a year because I’ve remained the same for the past 8 months. My doctor said it’s not often that someone like me loses that much so easily (I worked hard!) ... but now all of this skin .... I weigh 165 at 5’4 and I’m still considered overweight. I am positive if I got rid of the skin I would lose at least 20lbs and be in the healthy range. Thanks for sharing your story.

Of course. I appreciate how scary the whole plastics business is, but it's actually been amazing for me so I'm willing to share some of my story. You might be able to see the baggy deposits under my arm pits in my "before" pictures earlier in the thread, they're the reason I needed the extended Brachioplasty. They used to chafe against my bra and made life generally uncomfortable, along with the saggy skin that dropped below my arms, it's all magically gone. The trade off is obviously the scars, but I'm amazed how my whole body looks thinner. Below are some pretty graphic photos (don't look if you're squeamish) at around 2 weeks post surgery. Apologies for my messy bathroom and strange angles.

Things seem to be healing pretty nicely, I'm wearing silicon tape and hoping for the best long term outcome but as my surgeon warned me multiple times, it's tough to predict how arm lift scars will heal. Even if the scars don't improve much, my clothes fit so much better. It's amazing!

I'm in a similar position to you, in that my BMI is still in the "unhealthy" range, but I definitely dropped a few pounds/kilos from the skin removal (noting that I did have some lipo). I hold most of my weight in my stomach, so that's where my loose skin really bothers me and where there may be a bigger difference in terms of weight loss following removal. I'm pretty keen to get the tummy tuck. I think I would easily go down 2 sizes in jeans if I had a tummy tuck. I also think it would motivate me to maintain weight loss and possibly even lose more. I'm still undecided at this stage if I want to drop anymore weight before more plastics or just go for it. However, I feel so amazing after my Brachioplasty. And I think I look better now than following my surgery a few years back when I was 20lbs lighter. The shape of my body just feels more feminine without my giant arms. I think our happiness with our new bodies/lives is about more than just a number on the scale. Plastics has been so great for my self esteem, but some people seem to lose weight without the loose skin and don't need it. I think it's a really personal decision, dependent on your bodies goals, self esteem and finances.

That's amazing! I can tell that the scars will be virtually invisible! They look great already! Congratulations on putting this behind you!!!

That looks fantastic. Looks very thin and well placed. Making me reconsider if I should get mine done while I have this quarantined time to heal. ?

On ‎7‎/‎28‎/‎2020 at 3:42 PM, LaLaDee said:

my pale sensitive skin

I've been following this post, your results are amazing! I have very pale, sensitive skin too so the plastics scars have always worried me. Yours look so great in such a short time though, I've decided to just go for it... when I'm at goal... eventually. I really can't wait already! Thank you for sharing, so helpful.

18 minutes ago, Sassafras1 said:

I've been following this post, your results are amazing! I have very pale, sensitive skin too so the plastics scars have always worried me. Yours look so great in such a short time though, I've decided to just go for it... when I'm at goal... eventually. I really can't wait already! Thank you for sharing, so helpful.

Oh, you're so sweet. I really struggled to find helpful information online about brachioplasty, so I'm glad I could help someone else a little bit. Hopefully, I will remember to post photos at 3months and 1 year. I'm only 4 weeks out, so I can't wait to see what they will look like in a few years.

According to my plastic surgeon, scars usually fade to white, so people with lighter skin can have more luck with scars and can generally expect good outcomes. Unfortunately, scars can be more visible on darker skin tones. I had assumed the opposite, that the red marks would look worse or more noticeable on pale skin, so this was a huge surprise to me. I've always wanted to be more tanned and less worried about sunburn so it was nice to finally get a benefit from my vampire-like paleness.

In terms of sensitivity, I did have some horizontal lines from where the bandages were the first few days, so I'm treating them with vitamin E cream. On the advice of my team, I also introduced silicon tape gradually, building up so that my skin didn't freak out. It's sensitive, I have allergies and psoriasis but so far, I've been OK. A bit of dryness, but it's been OK.

Best of luck with your journey!

2 hours ago, LaLaDee said:

Oh, you're so sweet. I really struggled to find helpful information online about brachioplasty, so I'm glad I could help someone else a little bit. Hopefully, I will remember to post photos at 3months and 1 year. I'm only 4 weeks out, so I can't wait to see what they will look like in a few years.

According to my plastic surgeon, scars usually fade to white, so people with lighter skin can have more luck with scars and can generally expect good outcomes. Unfortunately, scars can be more visible on darker skin tones. I had assumed the opposite, that the red marks would look worse or more noticeable on pale skin, so this was a huge surprise to me. I've always wanted to be more tanned and less worried about sunburn so it was nice to finally get a benefit from my vampire-like paleness.

In terms of sensitivity, I did have some horizontal lines from where the bandages were the first few days, so I'm treating them with Vitamin E cream. On the advice of my team, I also introduced silicon tape gradually, building up so that my skin didn't freak out. It's sensitive, I have allergies and psoriasis but so far, I've been OK. A bit of dryness, but it's been OK.

Best of luck with your journey!

That's great news about the pale skin and fading scars! Finally a perk!! Thank you.