PS Recommendations
Thank you so much for all this information, and yes, talk about meant to be!!!
I just checked him out on youtube and he seems awesome. I see his profile on pennmedicine.org & tried looking him up on realself to see if he had any before & after pics but it doesn't look like he's on there.
Can I ask how you heard of him, was it word of mouth?
You found his rates reasonable? Reasonable for that area or in general compared to other PS you consulted with?
Thanks again!
I have the breast cancer gene - which is actually why had gastric bypass to begin with. So after I was about a year and a half out, I scheduled a prophylactic mastectomy with immediate diep reconstruction. I had already met the breast surgeon and she referred me to Dr. Serletti who is the chief of plastic surgery at penn. He did my reconstruction and afterwards we talked about other work. While doing my reconstruction he discovered a large hernia. Dr Kovach specializes in abdominal wall reconstruction, so he referred me to him. We got the hernia fixed and then moved on to other things. He did my thighs, arms, and face along with lipo. He really is a great surgeon and man. My work was spread out over a couple of years so I've had many visits with him and gotten to know him fairly well. So skilled yet so down to earth.
I figured that going through a hospital like Penn, the rates would be ridiculously high but they seemed reasonable compared to rates that I had seen both here and on real self. I did not bother to get other consults. When he saw the hernia that I had, his reaction was of such concern for my well being, that it sealed the deal for me that he was the one for me.
There used to be one item on real self a while ago from someone that had abdominal work - hernia repair, I think, done by him and she was not happy with her initial result. I had put a message on it asking how the followup went, if she did a revision, but never got a response. I know that as we moved through my work, we would go back and tweak previous items - perhaps fix a scar or a little more lipo.
He really doesn't have before and afters - that surprised me at first. But I took the chance based on our interaction and I would do it all over again.
If you want to do a consult with him, I believe that he does charge a fee for a consult which then will get applied to your surgery if you move forward with him. I believe that all in that practice do this to avoid folks just coming in for consults and then not moving forward if insurance isn't paying for it.
Let me know if you want any more information.
Wow, you've had quite a journey! Thank you so much for sharing and congratulations for finding someone who could help you through your transformation who you trust. He sounds great, definitely worth a consultation at the very least. :) I am hoping to have my TT, brachioplasty and breast lift done together and then have my thigh & rear addressed in a second surgery. Was he willing to combine any of your surgeries? I know it's less expensive as far as facility/anesthesia charges to have surgeries combined. Does he operate in the actual hospital or does plastic surgery have a separate facility for these types of surgeries?
Thanks again!
Yes it has been quite a journey. I finished my journey over a 10 year period from the day that I found out that I had the breast cancer gene. It was interesting when I got to what I considered the end to see that I was at my 10 year mark. It was a long journey with many steps that I took one step at a time.
Since I had the mastectomy and immediate breast reconstruction, I had work done on both my breast and stomach at the same time. My original plan after that was just my thighs but I had to postpone that to get the hernia repair. He did not want to do both the hernia and thighs at the same time - said it was too much to recover from at the same time. My hernia was quite large. I'm sure that the fact that some was covered by insurance and some would have been self pay would have also complicated things. Once I saw how good my thighs and hips looked, I decided to go with my arms. So it was really me that did each thing by itself along with a few tweaks to anything done prior. He and I never talked multiple procedures. He will not do anything that he does not think is safe to do.
There is a surgical center that is right across the street from the hospital - its in the same building as most of the doctors suites. Rates for the surgical center are more reasonable than the hospital and the docs love working out of there. The surgical center is used by all of the docs not only plastics. There are always lots of docs around and the hospital is right across a bridge between the two facilities should some emergency arise.
You must feel incredible! Did you have any overnight stays? I live alone so the longer I can stay and have help, the better. Since my procedures are all considered cosmetic, they will be self-pay. I'll need to factor in the cost for a week to 10 day stay at the hospital or some kind of nursing facility. Plus, I'm about a 4 hour drive away so would want to stay close in the beginning. Hopefully Dr. Kovach could provide some suggestions.
I had overnight stays for my mastectomy/reconstruction(5 days) and hernia repair(4 days). Those were all covered by insurance. The other procedures were all same day surgery as the surgery center closes at night. I would imagine that they might have some arrangements for people to stay close by but it is not something that I have looked into. I would think staying in the hospital for any length of time would be cost prohibitive but that is just my opinion. My biggest issues where I needed assistance were caring for my drains and getting into and out of my compression garments for the first several days. I could move around fairly easily although a little slow. I also liked having someone around when I showered just in case I needed help. I think my hubby helped with washing my hair in the sink a couple of times when the arm work was done. Perhaps a visiting nurse or some sort of home health aid?
I had my consult on my one year anniversary. I was not at goal when I had a tummy tuck. I was six pounds over at 142. A month after surgery, I was 128 and stayed at that weight for a year. My surgeon wants to operate when you are at a weight where you do not ever want to be more than 10 pounds above or below for life.
Gaining or losing more than 10 pounds will start to distort the surgery.
Real life begins where your comfort zone ends
