Plastic Surgery post WLS

Hello everyone!

I posted this in the North American Plastic Surgery Forum & I was encouraged to post it in our country & province.

I could not find a plastic surgery group on our site so I decided to post here!

Here we go!

I must admit that I have been a bit of a creeper on the plastic surgery site for some time.

I want to begin by saying that I am Canadian and perhaps this is directed at to all the Canadians on this site.

I have recently got my plastics referral.

I am most interested in abdominalplasty. I have an anbilical hernia that needs repairing. I understand that the Paniculectomy ($4000)is covered by OHIP.

The rest is of out of pocket. My question is what has been your out of pocket for the rest of the surgery?

I have the BAT wings, sagging boobies and I am not going to get into the inner thighs.

BUT honestly would only like to get my abdomen done. I am a widow with three young children. Plastic surgery really is not an essential but I am not happy with the excess skin sitting in my lap. In a perfect world it would all be covered by OHIP. (medical coverage .

I find it maddening that they would cover a sex change operation or safe injection sites for drug addict , but will not cover WLS success!

In a perfect world, I would win a lottery and get everything done.

What are your thoughts? Can any of you weigh in on this? Pardon the pun!

Thank you !

Sandra.

Mahalo.

100 % with you- I can't even get my insurance to cover the opti- stuff!

I can understand the Opti, but this is surgery to correct massive weight loss.

I

I can't understand any of it... sorry .. not fair all round

Skin removal and plastics doesnt correct massive weight loss. The actual procedure that assists in massive weight loss is covered by ohip. As others have mentioned you need to have a surgeon that will do the paperwork and is willing to take you on. If you dont have any skin issues such as rashes and such that are documented chances are you wont get approved by ohip. Youre still very early out - it is suggested that you wait at least 18 months post op to look into plastics as your body will continue to lose

The panni portion is not automatically covered. There is criteria to meet and then you have to find a surgeon who is willing to do the paperwork to get it covered. There are a few in the Toronto area that work with OHIP but many don't. The plastic surgeons know the criteria required for it to be covered so getting a consult once you are at a stable weight is the first step. I self paid as the surgeon that I wanted didn't work with OHIP. I would have met the criteria for the panni portion as I had lost over 200 lbs and my belly was sagging very far below my pubic area but I wanted my surgeon so paid the whole shot. I had mine done in 2008 and I paid $8500 for a full tummy tuck with lipo. There have been a few that upgraded from panni but I forget what their out of pocket was to upgrade. Many are also happy with just the panni removal so you could even go for that if you qualify. It's not as nice looking as the full TT but it's better than nothing.

More surgeries... Thank you for your info!

OMG TRACEY!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

That is amazing weight loss!

Thank you for responding to my message.

There are (2) doctors in Ottawa that do plastics following weight loss surgery.

They both do Panniculectomies but the waiting time is (2) years. They operate in Arnprior & Almonte.

When I mentioned that I was interested in having more work done? They had an apppiintment in September. Not sure what to expect... Definitely meet criteria X 3. Will this guy do the hernia repair? OHIP covers $4000 for Paniculectomy.

Time will tell...

Thanks again

I had a hernia repair done at the same time but the plastic surgeon didn't do it, he brought in a general surgeon to do the hernia repair at the same time. Not sure if all of them do this but mine did. As soon as you mention more work, they tend to find you a spot. I have never heard of it being $4000 but who knows. Each surgeon seems to have their own magic number. One that I did see said it was only about $850 that he received for a panni but no idea if that is right or not. I think the bottom line is go in and see what they say and they will not tell you what OHIP gives them but will tell you what your out of pocket is and truly that is all that matters in the end. I've heard of people paying $2k on top of the covered panni and others paying over $5k on top of it. I haven't seen too many post lately about PS but hopefully someone that had it done in the last year will chime in with their experience since mine was so long ago now.

Hi Mahalo,

I had plastic surgery done in Ottawa by Dr. Ronnie Borsuk. I had a hernia repair and upgraded the panni to a full tummy tuck. The panni was covered by OHIP as was the anesthesiologist (because of the panni and hernia repair). I think that particular surgery cost about $5,000 (three years ago). Dr. Borsuk organized for the general surgeon to do the hernia repair, as well as did all the paperwork to have the panni covered by OHIP. My experience with him was very positive.

The Ottawa Weight Management Clinic did my initial referral to Dr. Borsuk. He does surgery out of both the General as well as in Winchester. I opted to have this particular procedure done in Winchester with a general surgeon from there as well. It was a very good experience overall. Care was excellent, though it was a day procedure. He does require patients to be at the same stable weight for at least six months before he will schedule the surgery. Once I met that criteria, I was booked in within about three months.

A few months after the tummy tuck, Dr. Borsuk also did my arms and legs. The arms were great -- fantastic in fact. Legs were more challenging, but that's a whole other story. I was considering additional surgeries, but think I will leave it for the moment. I'm all "surgeried" out...if you know what I mean. And as far as I'm concerned, I've taken care of the major "problem" areas. By the way, arms and legs were each about $8,000. They were done together, but I have to admit that that was a lot of surgery at once. Not sure I would do that again. I was a little like the Micheline Man after that for a few weeks...!

Good luck!

DD