Hernia Repair & Self Pay Tummy Tuck...

Has anyone had a tummy tuck after their weight loss surgery?  I had the DS, have lost over 140 pounds, and have a HUGE abdominal hernia. It extends from my sternum to my pelvis.  A few months ago, my surgeon and I discussed waiting until I reached goal to repair the hernia.  However, I am having a lot of pain and complications from the hernia.  I am going to have the hernia repaired soon (within the next month).  My new WLS surgeon has mentioned that his partner can do a tummy tuck during the same procedure. 

He also mentioned that the surgeon's fees  (for the tummy tuck portion) would be a self pay, but my insurance would pay for the hernia repair and the hospital fee, etc.  I am just wondering if anyone else has done this (before reaching goal or just in general) and how much did you pay in fees?  I simply want to know how much is reasonable for just the surgery fees for a tummy tuck.

Thanks,
S

 im going through same thing.... ive lost 199 lbs an am in alot of pain... an am working on getting it all taken care of im no where near goal but without this... i will never reach it either.. so.. its a nessacery means to get there...  heres a post i wrote a lil while ago... 
ok so..... i went for my consultation for panni removal and hernia repair... the doc did some digging in my medical records an come to find out my highest recorded weight was.............................. 510....and im down 220..lbs total... hows that for a fricken awesome find....anyhow... hes an amazing surgeon i have seen his seminars... im so excited... just waiting on approval from insurance.. but it said its near 99% approved.. but didnt want to give me a guarentee... and i will have a copay of around $3200 due in full 2 weeks pre-surgery... but omg it will be so worth it... he said he will be removing at least 25 lbs of excess skin from my tummy i just wanted to share with u all... it will be a double surgery with 2 surgeons.. one to repair my hernia an then the plastics... hes gona do a corset procedure... where they make an incision just under the breast area then straight down... where i already have a scare from my open RNY and then from hip to hip so a capital  I im not so concerned about the scar... i am concerned i could lose my belly button tho that has me a lil rattled... but i know it can happen an have known a few that it has happend to an they dont miss it at all...

heres my surgeons website... and a patients b4 and after simular to mine.. or i mean what mine should be... u know what i meant... the doc said very simular body share etc... well its 1am im off to bed.. check the link i think its an amazing transformation..

corsettrunkplasty.com/Patient__4.html

I did that 2 yrs ago... my insurance paid for the Dr's fee for the Hernia repair and PART of the Hospital bill... I had to self-pay the rest.... I paid about $4K for the TT part of it all....

Edited to add: I have what they call an anchor cut, like the poster above talks about, straight down the middle and then across the bottom with a little curve up at each end. And yes, I have no belly button now... but I love my slim trim hour glass figure....

WAIT!!!!!!!!!!

I had that very same EXACT procedure done and my insurance company paid for everything because it was considered a medical need......not for cosmetic reasons!

If you go to my profile and read my story, you will see more in depth of what I went through, but for now, here is a small tid-bit..........

I lost a little over 120 lbs and had a large over-hanging belly. I also had a small hernia near my belly button, but was causing great pain due to the belly pulling on it. I saw a hernia surgeon who wouldn't do the surgery because he said the hernia was too small to worry about and I was considered "high risk" due to my weight and I am on a blood thinner med. After more pains and complications and seeing doctor after doctor, I saw a WLS surgeon who not only repaired the hernia, she gave me a panniculectomy removal of 20 lbs (a major tummy tuck!) and my insurance company paid for everything because it was considered a medical need.........not cosmetic.

Have your surgeon look into it for you. You may need a different surgeon if he/she refuses. Or ask your insurance company your self and see what their qualifications are. Please try. You could save your self thousands!!!!$$$$$$$$$$$