I have to have a ton of work done....does anyone talk prices on the forums? Other questions...

Well, I'm down about 180 lbs now and have a lot of extra stuff.  First, I'm not sure if it is skin or fat.  It seems like fat at my legs but my ribs are sticking out on the top half.  It's like everything sunk to my butt and legs.

I saw my first plastic surgeon and she quoted me ~$27 K for a lower body lift (I think that was stomach and butt), a thigh lift, and an arm lift.  This didn't include bust.  Is this reasonable? She was saying this would be overnight in the hospital.  I think this is very expensive.

Questions: is the extra stuff at my legs and butt fat or skin?  Is it reasonable to have all these done at once. I, of course, would like it because it is mostly done.  But I'm a little nervous about that much from a health standpoint.

Bust...mine are REALLY flat/saggy.  When in a bra I measure a 'c' because I roll them up and stick them in the cups. Kidding obviously but the question is, if I have a bust lift do they come out as a 'c' or does it not work that way?

Anyone had any experience with surgery outside of the US?  I'm not sure about this?

 

I live in Israel nut have been reading this Board long enough to read about Dr.Sauceda in Mexico and his wondrous work and his prices change (lower) with the more procedures done at same time. I'm sure Chris or Lee or IamwiththeBand will chime in soon enough.
Your quoted price sounds good to me but in Israel we have socialized medicine (one can go private if they choose) so I have to go thru hoops in the system to get approved by my HMO.
Check your medical insurance policy as to what is included. Look for Reconstructive Surgery to return ones body to normalcy -not cosmetic.
Best of luck on this new part of your journey to an even better and healthier you.
Mikimi in Israel

Come on over to Dr Sauceda's forum. He is the best! 

http://www.obesityhelp.com/group/Dr_Sauceda_Patients/discussion/

I didn't have a full LBL but I had an abdominoplasty with muscle tightening and lipo and it was 16k. It didn't require a hospital stay. but I can imagine that with all those additional procedures it would be that expensive.

As far as the skin/fat distinction.... I would ask a surgeon. My guess is its probably skin if you've lost that much and its lower and flabby... sounds like skin to me.

I still have to pour my tired deflated breasts into my bras, and my arms are still flabby. but my surgeon said I needed to hold off for at least 6 months I think... and I told him my budget was gonna keep me away from the knife for a long time, if not forever. I'm glad I didn't wait until I could get "everything" because my stomach folded over itself and that was the part that I was really uncomfortable with. my arms, my upper back fat, my breasts... I can live with those, and fix them later if I want to.

Thanks everyone...appreciate the input.

Some of the reasons that I went to Dr Sauceda:

1.  All inclusive if your cost is over 7k, your hotel, clinic, 2 sets of garments and a $600 airfare credit, you do buy your own food at the hotel, if you are hungry after their huge breakfast

2.  You can get most everything done while you are down there.  I had the LBL, BL, arms and groin thigh lift and 4 days later a full neck & face lift.   I liked being about to have everything done and only 1 recovery period.

3.  Care in the clinic is 24/7 with the nursing staff, and Dr Sauceda comes by daily

4.  Care in the hotel - his nurse, Paty, comes by daily to help you shower then apply ointment and gauze and help you into your garments, plus Dr Sauceda comes by daily.

5.  You have his cell phone number to call if you have any problems at all.

6.  Dr Sauceda is really an artist and most of his work is done on previously MO patients.  He understands our skin & body issues.  He can't give you a guarantee to have a model like body, but he'll do his best, which is pretty great.

7.  Price, I couldn't have afforded to have all the work done in the states.

8.  I didn't want an LBL and then be sent home to take care of myself.  I had great care in Mexico and will be back in mid-Jan for an UBL, should have done it 2 yrs ago, but didn't think it'd bother me, and it does, so all that extra skin on my back will be gone on the 21st.

I know you are saying going to Mexico is cheap but sometimes cheap isnt always better. that is an enormous amount of work to be done in a few days.  I have read alot about plastic surgery in the past few days and everything I have read says that the less you do at a time the better off you are.  You are less likely to have post op infections if you have only one area worked on or even 2 but if you have your entire body worked on you are basically putting your entire body open to risk of infection and a huge stress on the body. it is also very dangerous to be under anestesia for more than a certain period time and only your surgeon can decide this  Then 4 days after you basically take apart and put yourself back together - you then do it to your face and neck.  I cant possibly imagine the amount of pain that is involved with this much surgery.

Then, with all this work = how long do you have to stay in Mexico before it is safe to get into a plane that is full of germs when you are so suseptible to infection and that is a huge amount of travel when you are post op.  You must have to stay for quite a while to make sure you are healing properly, to take out whatever drains or if there are any stitches or whatever they use.  I know there are always post op follow up appointments but when you dont live in the same country, that is kind of difficult.

I have heard people say that once they get home if there are complications, they have trouble finding doctors or surgeons that are willing to treat them.

People have to weigh the pros and cons of going out of the country - it may be cheap but there may be other disadvantages that may not be great. consider all sides

I had an LBL, and brachio done and then a BL/BA and thighs and the total for all of that was 23k I think. This does include my insurance covering the panni portion of the LBL so the hospital was covered. Prices really are dependent on where in the US you live. East coast and West coast and very large cities will be much higher priced. Lucky for me I live in the mid-west but in a city that has excellent hospitals and Dr.'s so I don't think I compromised on quality for better price. I just lucked out that where I live prices are much lower.

In my area, that price is extremely high, but the costs vary greatly around the country.  (that is almost double what I paid for my LBL and BL)

Is the extra stuff on your legs and butt skin or fat?  Probably both.  There is often fat "stuck" to the skin that no amount of dieting will eliminate.  I had two particularly large pockets of fat/skin on my upper buttocks that only the LBL would remove.

Your surgeon will recommend how many procedures you can have done at one time.  It mostly comes down to the number of hours you will be under anesthesia, and how well you can care for yourself/heal with multiple procedures.

Hi. I'm down about 85 lbs., lost over this past year. Having been overweight all my life, and being almost 55, I have a huge amount of extra skin/tissue especially around my middle. I have consulted 2 dr.'s and have one more consultation this Friday. I plan to have surgery in March. One Dr. suggests an extended abdominalplasty (sp?) and the other an LBL. The cost for the extended was quoted at $11K and the LBL at $20K. Has anyone had these? Would I regret not having the LBL later, since it would leave my wrinkly butt behind (joke intended)? Does the extended take anything off the upper butt/back of hips?

Thank you.