Hi Shellie, Thats a whole lot of money and surgery you are talking about. I guess each of us has to do what they feel is right for themselves .. but girl.. how much have you lost? .. If I were getting all that I wanted done, I would look to have the most minimal of scars.. that is what I am thinking. .. I think you are brave and I will be calling my insurance company to get a run down on what if anything they might cover.. thanks Shellie! peace mo

nani poo .. Haiku for u titties wilting pretty tummy soso sad lifts my spirit to have you near holding you in my heart my dear. fugggetaboutit!!!!!!! damn skippy you make me smile... peace baby mo

ok, 'bu? i LOVE yA!!! miss ya much. what's goin on in your life, kiddo?

hi there Pam.... YIKES!!! I know that sound so well the sound of your own skin flapping back at ya!!.. the first time I heard my boobs smack back at me like that I looked around and thought "what was that"?? .. took me a minute to figure out it was me!... well I am going to go ahead with plastics.. at some point I will be 'done'!! lol! peace mo

I'm just getting started as well, although I have had two consults already. One doc won't submit to my insurance (says its a waste of time - they won't pay). He quoted me about 13.5K for a circumferential torsoplasty, including muscle repair, and breast lift, including the surgery center and anesthesia fees. The other doc will submit to insurance and cooperate in fighting for coverage. He has developed a sort of menu of options that can be added to the standard panniculectomy, which is all that insurance typically covers. So he'll charge $1500 to add a vertical incision, which he can accomplish in the time allotted for the panniculectomy. Going all the way around costs $2500 and adds about 2-3 hours at about $1000/hr for the surgery facility and anesthesia. So if insurance covers a panniculectomy, turning it into a lower body lift with an anchor incision would cost $6000-$7000. But I forgot to ask about muscle repair. I need all the common trouble areas addressed, so even the second doc is probably out of reach financially if insurance will cover only a panniculectomy. My insurance states that it covers reconstructive surgery when illness or injury has a major effect on appearance, even though elsewhere in my policy it imposes all kinds of limitations and conditions on post-WLS plastics. I think that the special conditions HealthPartners imposes are medically unjustified and discriminatory, and should be declared legally invalid. So I'm going to fight my insurance company as best I can. Super-morbid obesity is a life-threatening disease that damaged or debilitated many of my body's organs, systems and functions. The treatment of RNY surgery allowed me to recover from obesity, and much of the damage was reversed. The damage that super-morbid obesity did to my skin, however, remains and cannot be reversed. The skin is overstreched, thinned, and scarred (stretch marks are scars). It overlaps in folds putting me at high risk for irritation, rashes and infection. In this era of treatment-resistant pathogens, that risk should be taken seriously. To a limited extent, the most severely damaged areas of skin can be excised, and a more normal appearance restored. The skin of people in the post-morbid obesity condition will never be completely normal, though; there are areas that surgery cannot address, and surgery itself will leave long scars. So my question is, how much more obvious can it be that this is reconstructive, not cosmetic, surgery? If my or your insurance policy covers reconstructive surgery (my state - MN - requires it) then we should be covered for all the post-WLS plastics we need, as long as we are moving from abnormal to normal (not from already normal to super hottie). I know this got long, but geez, insurance companies burn me up.