Plastic Surgery

I'd like to start saving and planning in case I have to have plastic surgery after weight loss. I'm still pre-op but I know it's costly and I have other expenses that have to come first so I'd like to put money back when I can. I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions and maybe wants to share your story. What procedures you needed and what they cost? I know costs varies but I'd still like to know what everyone paid. If you do an arm lift what are the odds that there is a major scar? I read that they cut down to your elbow? Just things like that. I realize I have a long way to go and may not even need it but I'd rather be prepared.

I'm almost 2 years post op and I lost 225 pounds. My skin has actually tightened up better than I expected.   I have extra skin on my inner thighs, and upper arms, but  I can live with that.  The excess skin in my belly hangs down and bothers me, so I am looking into a tummy tuck.  I got two estimates for 10K and 15K for the tummy tuck.  I don't know if this is high or normal. 

Insurance will sometimes pay for the removal of excess skin from the lower abdomen if there are open sores or rashes making it "medically necessary".  I do get rashes in warm weather, so I'm hoping they will pay for part of the tummy tuck. 

best wishes on your weight loss journey.

Carol

Wow! That's an amazing weight loss! Congrats on that. I think for where I live that would be considered high. I know the price varies depending on where you live. Maybe I'll get lucky and not have too much excess skin. Who knows. As far as insurance I do have really good insurance so that may be an option when the time comes.

I had my tummy tuck done in Northeast Ohio which is very economically depressed.  My surgeon charged $5,000 whi*****luded the operating room and hospital costs.

He formally did the same surgery in Dallas, Texas where he charged $8,000 and when he worked at a hospital in Boston, MA he charged $13,000.  It is the same surgeon and same procedure, but where they are working is what determines the fees that they will charge.

I was looking at getting it done in Louisville, KY. I think it's closer to $800 there but I'm not sure. I'm pretty sure if I get surgery I'm going to at least want the lower body lift, the breast lift and maybe the thighs. Arms too if they are too floppy. lol I think I need to win the lottery! Maybe I'll get rich between now and then so I can just start life over at 34!

I seriously doubt it would be $800 anywhere. It would not even be that low at a residency program. $5,000 seems to be lowest I have heard.

For all that you want done it will probably be anywhere from 15,000-40,000.

HA! Typo, I meant $8,000 and that was for the tummy tuck. I'm thinking it'd be close to $20,000-$25,000 for everything. I'm not sure on that though. That's based off of random websites and what some others have paid.

I have had one surgery that combined three procedures - an extended arm lift (to get rid of the "side boob" too), a breast lift, and a full lower body lift (combination of tummy tuck, outer thigh lift and butt lift). These procedures took 6 hours and cost $19,300. I am pretty sure I'm going to do the medial thigh lift too this year, and that cost is about $6,500. So... to do the entire body... I am looking at $25,000.

I started saving money the moment that I decided to start losing weight - because I knew I would want plastic surgery, without a doubt. I started taking the money I used to make for a car payment and putting it away each month. Then, every time I was promoted, got a raise, etc. I took the difference in my paycheck and added to it. I was able to save up 10k in that time, and I financed the rest through a credit union. I am not doing the thighs unless I can save the cash, which hopefully I can do in the next 6 months.

I think it has been worth every. single. penny. If you're interested in looking at pics and reading about it, my blog address is in my signature and all protected posts have a password of capella2014

Thanks for that, your pictures are amazing. I looked up prices online and this is kind of what I was estimating. I'm a stay at home mom so I'm really nervous to tell my husband the price tag on this! Not that he's a selfish or lazy kind of guy and I know I'm not being selfish for wanting it. I do however feel selfish since I know that there are so many things that money could go towards that my family could benefit from. I keep telling myself, no, I've spent the past 10 years letting myself go for that very reason and I deserve to be happy too. I'll get over it. lol If I worked I could put my paychecks into a savings account but I don't and on top of that we have to have the other half of our driveway black topped this year. It's a long driveway and is gonna cost us a fortune. I'm not comfortable doing the Mexico thing. I guess we'll figure it out. How long after your surgery did you go in for plastics?

"Bariatric Plastic Surgery: A guide to cosmetic surgery after weight loss" by McNemar, Lamonaco, and Krieger. This book explains in detail the kinds of plastic surgery that are currently being used and fully describes each procedure. Unfortunately they don't include any information about costs.

psychoticparrot