2 months until LBL + chest reduction plus surgeon selection (and the need of a butt!)

Howdy folks -

Getting excited!

Now that I've hit my goal, I've been preparing for plastic surgery.  I've actually been shopping around for a surgeon for a while, and have had consults with seven different surgeons in the Bay area here in California.  Here's a summary -

Surgeon 1 -Was uncomfortable with LBL, wanted to break into two separate surgeries.

Surgeon 2 - Was a complete jerk.  Was ready to operate before I hit goal weight, used techniques to make me feel ugly about myself, and asked about additional surgery that I didn't want done.

Surgeon 3 - Very awesome person, loved her and her staff, but she was just establishing her practice and lacked experience, and I didn't like the results of one of the three LBL photos she showed me (but boy, her price was the lowest!)

Surgeon 4 - Reputed to have very good skill and would have hired him, but there was a disconnect - surgeon said he did too many LBLs to count, while his office manager said he only does two or three a year.  Also, they were unable to show me a single photograph of an LBL.  Didn't feel like I could trust that, so moved on.

Surgeon 5 - Really clicked with this guy, but he also wanted to break the LBL into two surgeries.  He was cool though.

Surgeon 6 - My runner-up.  Pretty good pricing, he was nice, fairly good photographs and success stories. 

Surgeon 7 - My top choice!  This guy has a great reputation, and I have to say, his photographs are stunning.  I saw the results in very high definition on a 30" monitor, and they are beautiful.  He's an artist with skin, I have to say - blew away the results of all the other surgeon's work.  I'm glad I held out this long, because he's really talented!  I was also impressed that my safety was emphasized more so than with the other surgeons I saw.  He's very through and didn't treat me like "just another consult" like most other surgeons did.  Also they were cool about accomodating me as an out of town patient.

So, I'm scheduling a lower body lift with gynemastia removal at the beginning of June with Dr. Donald Brown out of San Francisco.  He said I was an "ideal" candidate since I weighted until reaching my goal (a few of them have told me that actually). 

I'm soooooo excited to be rid of this damn extra skin and wear pants at a real waist height!

Any suggestions, concerns, words of wisdoms from you experienced folks?

Oh, here's a miscellaneous thing.  I have no butt.  I don't mean that metaphorically, but literally - My butt extends out just as far from my body as my spine.  Like, no butt.  It's not there.  It was all fat and it's all gone.  In fact, three of the seven PSes I listed above remarked about it right away when I got naked!

So... I'm told there's not much to do.  One surgeon said "oh we can take your fat and inject it into your butt.  Others said "Not really, you don't have much fat to take plus the fat you do have is fiborous and won't work".  I asked if men really get butt implants, but one surgeon said they were so crappy he wouldn't ever use them.  

Here's the other weird thing... one surgeon said they'd take the extra skin tissue, remove the top layer, and fold it down under my skin to improve my butt thickness a little bit - better than nothing.  Said it was done all the time by him.  Another surgeon said he hated that technique because he worried about the folded-in tissue dying.  Anyone have this done?  Or know more about it?

Seriously - it's not that I have little butt, there's none there!  And it just makes it easier for pants to fall off my waist :(

Any and all thoughts welcome, sorry for my rambling!

Congratulations on having your surgery scheduled. It is a HUGE step.

The flat butt syndrome can be improved with weight training. The droopiness may still be there, but you can develop your gluteal muscles and it can make an improvement. When I had my first PS consult a year ago, the PS said that he could tell that I had been working out, because he could feel muscle and that I could very well end up with a "butt." Of course, he couldn't promise it, but I did and do have some muscle.

The gluteus is muscle and like any muscle, it can be developed with squats, lunges, leg presses, climbing hills, Stair Mill, Stair Master, etc. I don't have a flat butt any longer and pants fit me so better. The lower droopiness is present, but I think that when I have LBL, it will decrease the droopiness quite a bit.

JMHO and experience.

gail

P.S. Take a look at both women and men body builders. They all have a butt, which is all muscle.

Hey Gail -

Thanks for this info - very cool and helpful!  Good ol' muscle.  I can work on things like the stair master, etc.

The thing about doing squats with free weights - the posture seems so unnatural to me ... know what I mean?  It's an awkward exercise :(

Just start doing air squats, with no weights. You can use a chair to hold on to, lean against a wall, or any other assorted ways. Any exercise can be started with no weight and as you progress, the weight can increase. When I first started working with the trainer, she had me just using my body weight. The weights came later, after I had the form down. Also, lunges can be done stationary, walking, with and without weights. You can do them anywhere.

If you don't like squats and the positions, try using the leg press machine or other leg machines, like the hamstring curl, which also works the glutes.

When I first started working out, the trainer would ask me to squeeze my butt muscles, and I would say, "What muscles?" I didn't have any. I'll never forget the day, when she had me doing hamstring curls, and when I looked in the mirror, I could see a little glute popping up. Made my day. My pants also started to fit me better.

Working out on a treadmill, you can increase the incline, which will also help your legs and glutes. If you walk outside, climbing hills can help.

Also, there are many exercises for the glutes that can be done using one of those big balls.

gail

I agree with the weight training. Put muscle there, not fat. Fat's good for girls, not guys esthetically, IMO. My personal trainer has an amazing ass for a skinny blonde girl.. she is all muscle. You know it's muscle because she is lean every where else and relatively flat chested. It is totally muscle.

Congrats on your upcoming surgery!!!

I live in Sacramento and am starting my PS journey and starting to consult with Plastic Surgeons as well.  I'd be interested in hearing who you've consulted with....if you'd be willing to send me a PM with the names that match to your consult descriptions, that would be great!!  Might save me some unnecessary consults! 

Hey -

I'll do that! 

Also, feel free to come to one of my WLS support group meetings!  (link is in my signature).

Great news about find a PS that you can be happy with. 

Dr Sauceda does the piece of fat into the butt flap.  Mine have been in for 15mo and still give me a nice rounded upper butt.  Helps my jeans fit a bit better.  It came from my LBL in the back, it's like a 2x3 piece.   They were definitely tender for several months.

Dr Sauceda will be in Las Vegas for consults on June 1st and 2nd. 

I'm curious...can someone please explain why some doctors want to do the LBL in 2 procedures? Is it just a way to make more money, or is there another reason why they want to split it?

I think it's a combo of a few things -

- Could be surgeon is less comfortable doing the more complex, difficult surgery
- Could be a way to make more money
- It is easier on the patient, healing-wise.