Need advice: Is it really worth it?

WOW! Thanks for the info!!

You would think there would be more programs available.

When I was in my early 20's I didnt have health insurance. I was in desperate need of getting my wisdom teeth removed. I found a program at Washington Hospital Center to have them removed by students. I was also completely under full anesthesia. Cost me $90 for everything.  

Nik

Have you thought about taking a loan from your 401K? I think when I get to that point that's what I'm going to do (and I know my arms are going to be the issue for me as well). I'm not sure how other folks 401Ks work, but mine I can take a loan without giving any reason, and the payments are deducted from my paycheck and I pay myself back the loan amount plus interest.  It's much better than getting a personal loan from a bank, and often times you can get the payment terms to where you repay over 3-5 years which makes the payroll deduction almost effortless.  I've known a few people that did this for WL related surgery (some to pay copays and deductables, others for post surgery plastic surgery).  I dunno, its something to consider.

Thanks for all the advice.

To answer some questions YES we have a teaching hospital. A university hospital. I can check out what's there and see if that will help me out any. Also, I talked to this friend again and she actually apologized for not having time to go deeper into her thoughts but said that I had once mentioned to her wanting a breast reduction (and I do) so that might help cover some costs and that perhaps going to a surgeon, laying it all out there, at least I have the information I need to know how to move forward (how much/long I have to save, etc.).

Maybe. I'm not sure still. I don't like to highlight the "have not's" in my life. All things considered, I'm pretty richly blessed and thinking about what I can't have may taint that. And that value, that thought process, is something I hold very dear.

I gotta think on all this.

Now breast REDUCTIONS are usually covered by insurance at your regular copay rate if they remove over a certain weight of tissue from each breast (and yes we do measure and document it in the record!).  So if you go in for that - the insurance will pay for the OR room, the anesthesia, etc... and the rest would be billed at a secondary procedure rate.  Those are MUCH less considering the overhead will already be covered through the reduction and insurance.

If the consult is not ridiculously expensive then it might be worth an exploration, but I would go into it with real expectations and not expecting a miracle.

Ok it sounds like you work in this area so I have a question....

I always thought reductions were for women with very large breasts that were experiencing back pain and other issues related to the volume of breast tissue.  I'm a DD...that has lost lots of volume since losing weight and now the DDs hang and it is PAINFUL.  Not on my back, but on my skin from the pulling.  I find that I MUST wear a bra at all times...even to bed.  The only time I go bra-less is in the shower. 

I'm a bit confused because while they most likely will not remove much tissue if I get a boob job, there will be lots of skin removed and they will be put back in the proper place.  Ok I'm rambling but what exactly consitutes a "reduction" vs. other procedures that fix other issues.  Is it just the volume of breast tissue that is removed?  Is it the volume removed plus other corrective stuff?

It's the amount of tissue that matters. Pre-breast lift, I was a 34DDD, but mostly skin. My doctor said I would not qualify for a reduction because he only removed skin.

Hillery, Laura is correct in *general,* but my case was different and yours might be as well.

I went from a 46DD/DDD to a 34C (rolled up tube socks with tiny golf balls in the toes), and the dragging weight caused a chest wall muscle chronic pull/tear that did not improve even after over a month in full support (high impact sports long tanks with formed cups) all the time unless I was in the shower.

The breast specialist at my gyny's office (I was initially afraid I'd damaged the breast itself, and I was fond of them!) told me, and my reconstructive guys agreed, that all the excess skin on my breasts, arms, and upper side back was dragging on the muscle and it would not ever improve without skin excision in ALL of those areas.  My insurance termed the skin reduction on the breast as a breast reduction, and the reshaping as a breast lift.  They covered all of those surgeries because of that.

So, at least the way my plan was written, "reduction" involved what needed to be reduced and why.

Ok we started out in EXACTLY the same place and right now I'm a 42C/D with my band slowly going down.  I have tube socks but lots of breast tissue that hangs down at the bottom and they HURT ALL THE TIME when I'm not wearing a bra.  Dragging weight is the perfect explaination of what I am feeling.  If I'm not wearing the super dupper pushup underwire bras to hold them up, its like I can feel the weight pulling down on my chest.

I think at my next OB/GYN appointment I'm going to bring this up because last night I tried to sleep w/o a sports bra on and woke up darn near in tears because I'd rolled over on the boobs and the skin was pulled.

Thanks for the information

DO bring it up.  I felt a stabbing pain just at the upper edge where the breast joins your side, almost under the arm.  Because of the location, the gyny supported having the breasts, arms, and upper back done because removing only part of that skin would leave the rest pulling on that muscle.

The only thing that helped the dragging feel was when I purchased a workout top (Danskin, from Walmart for $7) a size too small and lived in it.  Everything was compressed and held into place as far as the breasts were concerned, but the arms still dragged on the sides which was why (according to the gyny's office) even the compression for a solid month 2 separate times didn't allow the muscle to heal.

It's nice to be a 32D now!

Nag, nag, nag ANY specialist you see for ANYTHING that is impacted by excess skin, and then nag the insurance company about medically necessary reconstruction.

 I have the same issue with pain when I do not have a bra on with the breasts pulling downward, and I frequently have varicose vein like "bruises" that appear if I sleep with one of my breasts underneath me the wrong way (my guess is that it gets folded over and then stretched when I move), but many insurance companies (like mine) will NOT cover a reduction no matter what kinds of other issues there unless the surgeon removes a specific amount of tissue according to this odd formula/chart.  Even though I am a 36DD/DDD, too much of it is skin unless I want to end up a B-cup (which I do NOT!).

Lora