Enterprise01's Brachioplasty with Liposuction

enterprise01 · 10-30-2007, 02:17 PM

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.

losingjusme · 10-30-2007, 02:33 PM

wow! what an opportunity. i just scheduled a consult for my brachioplasty. i still have quite a bit to go, but hopefully he can tell me where i need to be to get it done...

i wish you luck and will be following your journey!

goodtimes · 10-30-2007, 03:54 PM

what is brachioplasty?

enterprise01 · 10-30-2007, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goodtimes

what is brachioplasty?

It's an arm lift. It gets rid of the bat wings.

Fort Bend Band · 10-30-2007, 05:05 PM

I have to say enterprise that you look pretty darn good in clothes! I used Spivak as well but have not lost as fast as you. What have you been doing?

enterprise01 · 10-30-2007, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fort Bend Band

I have to say enterprise that you look pretty darn good in clothes! I used Spivak as well but have not lost as fast as you. What have you been doing?

Thanks, Fort Bend. Most of the time, I eat Nutrisystem for breakfast and lunch and then eat a small amount of meat with some veggies for dinner. I did have a couple of months where I didn't feel like dieting, so I just ate whatever I wanted. I still managed to lose a little bit of weight during those months, which was fantastic since pre-band I would have gained 20 or 30 lbs doing that.

I just started exercising about 3 weeks ago. With this challenge of 10 lbs in 2 weeks, I've really had to up the exercise. Yuck.

I just ordered a new digital camera that should be delivered in about 5-7 days, so then I can post some good pictures of my naked arms. You'll see that the flab is not very attractive.

losingjusme · 10-30-2007, 05:43 PM

enterprise,
have you thought about REALLY low carbing in to try to get those 10 lbs off? (like less than 20 grams TOTAL a day)

enterprise01 · 10-30-2007, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by losingjusme

enterprise,
have you thought about REALLY low carbing in to try to get those 10 lbs off? (like less than 20 grams TOTAL a day)

I'm eating a protein bar for breakfast and then about 4 oz. of meat for dinner and that's it. You're right, the carbs have to be practically non-existent to get the weight off really fast.

losingjusme · 10-30-2007, 06:35 PM

gotcha ... i know when i stick to REALLY low carb the weight does practically melt off me ... unfortunately, i cant stay on it for longer than 2 weeks ... it then feels like a 'diet' and then i get REALLY bad cravings and give into them .. not a good thing.

TheGh0st · 10-31-2007, 10:00 AM

Enterprise - 10 pounds for $2,000? You can do it!!! We're all routing for you!

TracyinKS · 10-31-2007, 11:25 AM

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a chance! YOU CaN DO IT!

JulieNYC · 10-31-2007, 12:39 PM

You look gorgeous and I can't wait to see the results! Woohoo!

enterprise01 · 10-31-2007, 01:25 PM

Thanks, everyone. I'm now down to 143 lbs. Five more to go.

I walked 7 miles last night and this morning I was in so much pain, I had to take a Darvocet just to get up and get dressed. My legs are so sore that I can't even tolerate my cat sitting on my lap. Just gotta keep my eye on the prize.

JulieNYC and TheGhost, I'm glad you all found my thread about this. I feel like we're all plastic surgery sisters. And, Julie, I'm a litigation support manager for a very large law firm, so you and I have similar work related stress. Not to mention that trying to get time off is almost impossible. I'm the only lit support person for a firm of over 500 attorneys and I support all 6 of our U.S. offices. They are going to have a fit when I only give them 3 or 4 days notice that I'm taking a week off. Oh, well. That's their problem. I've been begging for help for 4 years now.

Wheetsin · 10-31-2007, 01:30 PM

I need this. My upper arms look like big, saggy, wrinkly... well... scrotum. I've talked to a PS about this procedure because it will probably be one of the first I pursue (if I ever lose more weight). I'm not comfortable in tank tops now, and that's one of the things I REALLY miss from my thin days. I was told there's a second method that doesn't have as much scarring issue because they make the incisions in your armpit area, versus down the arm. Have you gone deep enough to know which procedure you're looking at?

enterprise01 · 10-31-2007, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wheetsin

I need this. My upper arms look like big, saggy, wrinkly... well... scrotum. I've talked to a PS about this procedure because it will probably be one of the first I pursue (if I ever lose more weight). I'm not comfortable in tank tops now, and that's one of the things I REALLY miss from my thin days. I was told there's a second method that doesn't have as much scarring issue because they make the incisions in your armpit area, versus down the arm. Have you gone deep enough to know which procedure you're looking at?

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.