Appt with Dr. Barnthouse in KC

I'm getting excited for my consultation with Dr. Barnthouse in Kansas City on April 20th.  Although I have saved up to have this procedure (and another one) done in Mexico, this KC doctor requires an overnight stay in a skilled nursing facility to the tune of $4000 - whoa!   His fee is approx. $11,500 and the anesthesiologist fee is $2000 for the 8-hour procedure.  

Now, I understand that an overnight stay is probably warranted since he says it's an 8-hour surgery.  My husband will feel better if I'm somewhere overnight with 24-hour nursing care.  But it puts the price of it out of reach for this year.  I may have to wait until next year.  

One of the reasons that I'm going to him is because of a poster on this site who raved about him.  Also, he trained under Dr. Lockwood who pioneered the LBL.  Patient before-and-afters are amazing and his realself.com reviews are stellar.  And he's only 2-1/2 hours away from my house, which saves me the airfare $$$.  

Of course there's another part of me that says "You can go to Tijuana this year and get it done!".     We'll see how I feel after meeting him.  

So excited for you. Keep us posted! 

Tracy - $4,000 for an overnight at a skilled nursing unit?!!!   That more than a month's cost at a skilled care facility for elders!  Are you sure you heard that right?  It's not like they really do anything for you other than help you up and down.  You're sleeping the rest of the time. You're not on IVs or anything like that.  I stayed at the recovery suite that's connected with my doc's surgery suite.  It was $800 a night, which I thought was high.

I remember mine being around 800, too.

You make a great point!  I'm going to call them again today and make sure I heard it right. 

OK - I called their office today and was right about the price.  But what I didn't understand from my initial phone call was that the doctor does this surgery at an actual hospital and the $4100 is the hospital's fee for using the OR and the overnight stay.  The office manager said the price is set by the facility.  Knowing that now...well the price makes sense.  But it still puts it out of reach for me to actually get it done this year.  

That makes better sense.  I had my work done at the surgical center which was significantly less expensive than the hospital.  But different docs and patients have different preferences.  It sucks that it means a delay in your surgery.  Once you have the consult and you're comfortable with the doc, you're going to be ready to go.  Waiting is HARD! 

For sure!  And it makes me really want to reconsider Dr. Gutierrez in Tijuana because I could get it donw NOW!  If I'd go anywhere in MX it would be to him.  But my husband really wants me to stay in the US.  

Tracy-what all are you having done? Just the LBL? That takes 8 hrs!

-jen

Yes, Jen - the LBL will include the butt lift, abdominalplasty, outer high and mons lift.  I'll get better information from him personally when I'm down there -- the 8 hr. time frame was what his office quoted.  

I know that the doctor in Mexico I was considering takes a long time for a LBL too but a lot of his time is spent in the very careful layers of stitches he does with the end result being steri-strips on the skin rather than visible stitches.  And the fast healing of those scars appears phenomenal.  If this KC doctor spends that kind of time and care in stitching, then I can see why it would take 8 hours.  Again, more questions to ask when I see him in person!