Tummy tuck and brest lift

I went to a plastic surgureon. HE looked at the situation and said he could not do the tt and bl at the same time. I have lost 160 lbs. I just wanted to know if that was normal ? or if i needed a 2nd opinon?? All of my weight was in my stomach and abdomianl area. My leggs and arms are fine. I have alot alot of extra skin in the abdonial area. The doctor also said that the insurence porbably would not pay for the bl. THat kind of suprized me. any info would be helpful!

If you have only gone to one plastic surgeon i would suggest you go to another or another until you get the gut feeling he is the right one.

The first one i went to was telling me i needed breast inplants, that the tummy (panni part) was not covered by ohip and that i should get to my total goal weight before surgery. I walked away from my first experience thinking i needed another opinion. I also felt the first guy rushed me and that he only answered the questions i asked and nothing more.  I am green at this shouldn't he be giving me advice?

The second guy i went to said he didn't feel i needed implants (I never told him what the first guy said until after he gave his opinion) i didn't need lipo suction, ohip WILL pay for the panni but the tummy tuck part was my responsibility,in fact he wanted me to put on a few pounds for him to work with when he sculptured my breasts using my own tissue. He is doing the tummy tuck hip to hip then from pubic to under the breasts for the muffin top part above the belly button and also a breast lift all at the same time. He wouldn't do my arms at the same time because he said that sugery is to long to add on and me under that long.  so i am going back in september for that.

Its a hard and fine line to get opinions to get what you want but smart enough to listen to the right person who is doing it for your own good and not their pocket book.

Good Luck with your decission

Wendy

I agree with Wendy.  I would get at least a couple more opinions.  You'll know the minute you talk to the PS if he's the "one for you".  I saw a couple of docs before I went to see the PS that evenutally ended up being my doc.  I had a TT with a BL/BA  on January 16th.  For me personally, I wanted implants as I wanted to have round, perky boobies and that's the only way I could get them.  My PS told me he could give me the perky part without implants but if I wanted round I needed small implants to that's what I choose to do. 

I just had to have a revision on the left one on May 8th due to a serious scar tissue problem my body naturally creates so now I'm all good, for the most part.  The whole point is that my PS has answered every and all questions I've had, has never rushed me and has seen me just to comfort me when I was worried about something.

I can't address the insurance issue, as I wasn't even a candidate to have insurance pay because, eventhough I lost 130lbs, my panni didn't cause me any problems cuz I worked out the whole time I was losing so there wasn't a lot hanging down.  He did remove 3.5lbs though.

Good luck in your search and get recommendations from other people who have had plastics.

Franci

Hi there!  I feel your pain - I lost 200lbs and needed MAJOR work in the tummy area.  Don't know how you're configured but I ended up having the lower part, or apron part of my stomach removed last year and am now going back for a anchor cut TT and breast lift.  I had done a couple consults myself and was told the TT and BL together would be tricky since so much time had to be taken on my stomach area.

I agree with the others - you should get at least 3 consults - I have stuck to that rule with all my surgeries - it will help you make an informed decision.

Good luck to you!!!! 

My surgeon will only do one procedure at a time. I had an anchor TT with muscle repair on 1-7-09 and believe me that was quite enough to go through on it's own. I'm having my BL on 5-27-09 and then the implants 6-8 weeks later. Any procedure is a lot for your body to handle. I personally would do one procedure at a time but I  know a lot of people on here that have had multiple procedures done at once and seem to be happy. I think for some it's a cost issue so they don't have to pay anesthesia and hospital fees again. Some just want to get it over with at once. I don't think your surgeon is bad for wanting to perform them separate. I'm not surprised that the insurance won't pay for a breast lift. Usually they will only pay for breast reconstruction after breast cancer. Any plastic surgery due to weight loss is still considered cosmetic. I'm always amazed that some people on here get their insurance to pay for anything. I wish I could get mine to.

Did he say why?  It could be the length of the surgery or other reasons.  Ask.

I'm leary of multiple procedures.  Yeah, there are pills for pain, but months of uncomfortableness & swelling due to major trauma to your body are no fun. 

Insurance often covers br not bl.

THanks ladies,
    I do have a hernia the size of 2 softballs. THat is one reason he said he would only do one surgury at a time. THe other is all of the skin that is there also. Thanks for the advise. I will seek a 2nd and 3rd opionion. I felt rushed in my first visit!

I have lost close to 200lbs an I had my BL, abdominoplasty and umbilibla hernia repair all at once. I did have two surgeons who worked on me at the same time, one general surgwon did hernia and a plastic surgeon did the rest. My insurance paid for panni part of TT and hernia repair, I paid  for the rest.

 I found the recovery was very doable, was more uncomfortable from TT than BL.

Sher

I had both done at the same time and didn't have any trouble with the recovery. The TT was with the anchor. Good luck.
Pat

My surgeon says he does not like to do the TT and BL at the same time because he is pulling the skin in two different directions.  He says he gets better results when they are done separately.

Red