Skin Removal Questions. Please Help?
I'm really considering WLS and i'm just trying to think everything through. Now I am EXTREMELY obese and I have loose skin now as it is. I wanted to know that if medicade/care (I get confused -_-) covers the removal of the skin. Now my mom says that they have to cover it because by having as much skin as I'm going to have it is VERY unhydgenic which would lead to fungi infection. But I don't want to jump into the surgery and find out that I'm going to be stuck with all this skin. Can someone please tell me what the story is? And if you do have to pay for it yourself, how much it may cost? Please? I would really appreciate the info, this is something that keeps preventing me from actually going through with the surgery.
Decisions of elective surgery are difficult regardless of the situation. WLS and plastic surgery are both very much elective.
I knew prior to having any surgery that I would have a lot of loose skin. I also learned, since I was overweight since childhood, how to take care of my skin to prevent or cure infections in the folds. The infections you get in the folds of loose skin are the same as the infections you get now being obese. Infections are just one reason that some insurances cover plastic surgery and not the only reason.
Some insurances over the plastic surgery, some do not. If your insurance does cover plastic surgery then it might not cover everything you need. You won't know that answer until you get to that stage and start consults.
For the amount of work I'm having done, it's the cost of a very nice car. I'm 100% self pay even though I have insurance. You can budget yourself to save up for plastic surgery if that's something you truly know you're going to want. There are also a lot of good foundations products that will help hide your loose skin. And of course, there are good hygiene habits that will help minimize/prevent infections. Insurance of any kind doesn't "have" to cover anything.
If one of your key decision makers for WLS is whether or not you can get your plastic surgery covered, and not all of the health reasons, you might not be ready for WLS at this point.
Good luck.
I knew prior to having any surgery that I would have a lot of loose skin. I also learned, since I was overweight since childhood, how to take care of my skin to prevent or cure infections in the folds. The infections you get in the folds of loose skin are the same as the infections you get now being obese. Infections are just one reason that some insurances cover plastic surgery and not the only reason.
Some insurances over the plastic surgery, some do not. If your insurance does cover plastic surgery then it might not cover everything you need. You won't know that answer until you get to that stage and start consults.
For the amount of work I'm having done, it's the cost of a very nice car. I'm 100% self pay even though I have insurance. You can budget yourself to save up for plastic surgery if that's something you truly know you're going to want. There are also a lot of good foundations products that will help hide your loose skin. And of course, there are good hygiene habits that will help minimize/prevent infections. Insurance of any kind doesn't "have" to cover anything.
If one of your key decision makers for WLS is whether or not you can get your plastic surgery covered, and not all of the health reasons, you might not be ready for WLS at this point.
Good luck.
RNY: 10/11/2001 PS: May 28, 2010: Circumferential body lift with gluteal augmentation and brachioplasty & thoracoplasty June 25, 2010: Bilateral breast augmentation with mastopexy and medial thigh lift
Thank you for the information :), I really do appreciate you taking your time to help.
No, no, the plastic surgery is not my only reason. I've been heavey all my life and i'm 20 now. I'm just tired of feeling horrible. I can't run around with my siblings, I can't hangout with my friends like I use to, and I have future worries too. It just feels like if all of this was gone, everything would fall into place.
No, no, the plastic surgery is not my only reason. I've been heavey all my life and i'm 20 now. I'm just tired of feeling horrible. I can't run around with my siblings, I can't hangout with my friends like I use to, and I have future worries too. It just feels like if all of this was gone, everything would fall into place.
It it likely that the only PS that insurance will cover is the panniculectomy, which is the removal of excess skin only (no muscle tightening) and only skin below your belly button (which leaves some people with a "muffin top" of extra skin around their waist that would have to be addressed by an additional surgery). Some women also have a lot of extra skin in the pubic area... sometimes a surgeon will do a mons lift as part of a panniculectomy, but some will not.
My insurance paid for my panniculectomy, but then I paid for a mons lift ($1500 when combined with another procedure), tummy tuck ($6000), and brachioplasty (removal of the "batwings" of extra skin on the upper arms -- $3500) out of pocket. I paid slightly less for my surgeries because they were done at a surgical center rather than a (more expensive) full service hospital.
Sicne you categorize yourself as "extremely obese", it is likely that you will have issues with extra skin (but it depends on your age, your genes (how elastic your skin is in general), how much your skin has been strectched, and how long you have been obese. You will probably be better served in the long run if you assume that you will (and then be pleasantly surprised if you do not).
I don't want this to sound mean, because I truly do not intend it to, but if the excess skin is keeping your from having the WLS, you are probably not psychologically ready for the surgery. WLS is not a "get-out-of-obesity-jail free" card. Some of the damage to your body (excess skin and arthritis, for example) is permanent. I'm a professional counselor and have worked with a number of clients who have really struggled with life after surgery and the common denominator for them (whihc may or may not apply to you) is that they all had the surgery primarily for reasons of appearance rather than health reasons or did not have realistic expectations of how they would look once the weight came off. (One woman who was 39 and had been obese since college really expected that she would lose the weight and look the way she did when she was thin in High School.)
I'll be honest... I hated my thin, saggy body more than I hated my 330+ pound body. My sagging mons area forced me to continue to wear baggy pants and tunic length shirts to hide the "bulge" even after I lost over 175 pounds! I would cry most mornings when I was getting dressed trying to figure out how to hide it. I still hate my lumpy, wrinkly thighs (and can wear only below-the-knee shorts) and the boobs that hang to my waist (literally), but I already more than exhausted my plastic surgery funds (I will still be paying off my tummy tuc****il this time next year), BUT I feel SO much better not carrying around the 185 pounds that I lost that I do not regret the surgery for a single minute. The extra skin is the "penance" for a life of obesity. Now, if I should win the lottery, so would my plastic surgeon, LOL!
Lora
My insurance paid for my panniculectomy, but then I paid for a mons lift ($1500 when combined with another procedure), tummy tuck ($6000), and brachioplasty (removal of the "batwings" of extra skin on the upper arms -- $3500) out of pocket. I paid slightly less for my surgeries because they were done at a surgical center rather than a (more expensive) full service hospital.
Sicne you categorize yourself as "extremely obese", it is likely that you will have issues with extra skin (but it depends on your age, your genes (how elastic your skin is in general), how much your skin has been strectched, and how long you have been obese. You will probably be better served in the long run if you assume that you will (and then be pleasantly surprised if you do not).
I don't want this to sound mean, because I truly do not intend it to, but if the excess skin is keeping your from having the WLS, you are probably not psychologically ready for the surgery. WLS is not a "get-out-of-obesity-jail free" card. Some of the damage to your body (excess skin and arthritis, for example) is permanent. I'm a professional counselor and have worked with a number of clients who have really struggled with life after surgery and the common denominator for them (whihc may or may not apply to you) is that they all had the surgery primarily for reasons of appearance rather than health reasons or did not have realistic expectations of how they would look once the weight came off. (One woman who was 39 and had been obese since college really expected that she would lose the weight and look the way she did when she was thin in High School.)
I'll be honest... I hated my thin, saggy body more than I hated my 330+ pound body. My sagging mons area forced me to continue to wear baggy pants and tunic length shirts to hide the "bulge" even after I lost over 175 pounds! I would cry most mornings when I was getting dressed trying to figure out how to hide it. I still hate my lumpy, wrinkly thighs (and can wear only below-the-knee shorts) and the boobs that hang to my waist (literally), but I already more than exhausted my plastic surgery funds (I will still be paying off my tummy tuc****il this time next year), BUT I feel SO much better not carrying around the 185 pounds that I lost that I do not regret the surgery for a single minute. The extra skin is the "penance" for a life of obesity. Now, if I should win the lottery, so would my plastic surgeon, LOL!
Lora
14 years out; 190 pounds lost, 165 pound loss maintained
You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.
Thank you very much for the info and I really do appreciate your honesty.
I will admit, one reason I do want to do the surgery is the slim down, not get the stares and to just not feel so...disgusting. It's not the only reason though. I keep thinking about how this is effecting me now and my future. I want kids and I want to be around for them. I want to be able to take my brother, sister and mom everywhere, run around with my siblings, and (of course) not have to lug around this huge body of mine. I would estimate that i'm around 520 now and I'm 20 years old. It's horrible. I've been really big all my life....I just want it to stop.
I will admit, one reason I do want to do the surgery is the slim down, not get the stares and to just not feel so...disgusting. It's not the only reason though. I keep thinking about how this is effecting me now and my future. I want kids and I want to be around for them. I want to be able to take my brother, sister and mom everywhere, run around with my siblings, and (of course) not have to lug around this huge body of mine. I would estimate that i'm around 520 now and I'm 20 years old. It's horrible. I've been really big all my life....I just want it to stop.
There are differences between what Medicare (a federal program) and Medicaid (a state program) covers. Also because medicaid is a state program benefits vary from state to state.
In any case pretty much the only way anyone gets any insurance to cover plastic/reconstructive surgery is to document medical necessity. You do this by getting all of the issues the excess skin is causing you documented in your medical records. Never self treat a rash. In many cases it does not matter what is documented -- insurance will not cover plastics/recontructive surgery under any cir****tances.
But why in the world would you let the thought of loose skin prevent you from losing weight and getting healthy? Who knows how different your world may be by the time you would be ready for plastics. And many have worked (some people two and three jobs) in order to afford plastics. There are also plastic surgery resident training programs in some states that offer plastics at a lower cost.
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