Plastic Surgery

Has anyone had plastic surgery?  I have a appt with Dr.  Bruce Topol on the 16th and I am just worried about getting denied for the surgery.

Hi there,

Hopefully Kathy reads this because she had plastic surgery.  She had to pay for some of it, but her ins. paid for some as well. 

Good luck.

Lisa

Oh good!  Thank you for the encouragement!  Its not even for the rashes or just the lovely way it hangs its creating major infections for my poor belly button.

I had plastics on 3/23/09 with Dr. Christopher Davidson at Tufts Medical Center in Boston.  I had my arms done and a lower body lift (all around as opposed to just a tummy tuck).  I am so happy with the results that I have another consult with him at the end of the month for inner thighs and a breast augmentation.  Then this journey to a new me that I began on 6/5/07 will be DONE!!!!

I also saw Dr. Topol and, frankly, would have wanted to have my surgery done by him here in Manchester where I live, but he would not do both the arms and lower body lift together, and I didn't really like the way he wanted to do the arms - the scars would be up the backs of my arms so that I would never see them.  My scars are up the inside of my arms.  If I raise my arms, I see the scars and so does everyone else, but with Dr. Topol's procedure, everyone would have always seen the scars even though I wouldn't.  I liked Dr. Topol very much, but we just didn't see eye to eye on the procedures.  In any event, Dr. Davidson is great, and the only drawback to having him was making the trips to Boston, which turned out to not be a big deal at all.

I had a rash under my stomach, so the panniculectomy (sp?) portion of the surgery was covered by my insurance.  The rest was self-pay.  I have no regrets whatsoever and would do it all again if I had to. 

If you have any other questions, just ask.

So far I am lucky with my arms they aren't bat wings.  I would love if my boobs would go back up to where they used to be being I am only 26--but I doubt Harvard Pilgrim is going to say Oh sure lift up her boobs while you are at it.  If they cover the the extra skin I will love them forever because the rashes and my belly button are just getting annoying. 

I am scheduled for August with Dr Davidson!   I did not know you were on this forum..thank you so much for your advice.   I have had my consultation and I cannot tell you how comfortable I was with him.   I won't even have to stay in the hospital overnight...in and out the same day for my lower body lift.    I am also having a breast lift a few days later..again in and out the same day as that will be a more minor procedure.  

I am so excited to be at this stage of my journey.  I want to just close the book and get on with my life...so I know exactly how you feel!

I am self pay as well..which is another reason that I love Dr Davidson.  The adminstrative costs are lower than NH (I have no idea why as the surgeons fee was comparable) and he talked to me about several different ways we could do it to keep the costs down so he was very sensitive to that.
I also found the credit company they use to be very good.  I have to finance a portion of it and they are doing programs with 0% interest.

Good for you, you sound so happy.  I just had the band done on June 15 and have already lost 25 + and am wondering what kind of documentation you had to do for inurance to pay for a portion of the PS.  How was the pain level and did you have to stay overnight? 

I told Dr. Davidson about a rash, which he put in the paperwork.  I didn't have it when I saw him, so there were no pics of it.  But I also had 4 prescriptions filled for creams for the rash that I got from my PCP.  I sent proof of the scripts to the insurance company and, along with Dr. Davidson's pictures of the hanging skin, they covered the panni portion only.  My insurance is GEHA, through the federal government. 

On Tuesday, I see Dr. D again for a consult on an inner thigh lift and breast augmentation.  None of that will be covered.

Thanks for the info, how was the pain level??  How long were you in the hospital?

You know, I can't really remember the pain very much - sort of like having a baby.  I know I spent the first 3 or 4 days sleeping on my sofa sitting up, but it wasn't bad.  I had an allergic reaction to the pain meds, but once I got that straightened out, it was smooth sailing from there.  I spent one night in the hospital.