VSG + hiatal hernia = tummy tuck??

I have a friend who just came out of surgery today.  The surgeon found a hiatal hernia while doing the procedure.  This is the same surgeon who I used about 10 years ago for my RNY.  He is a great surgeon...He is also a general surgeon along with WLS...So he goes looking for stuff while he is in there.  For me he found and took off a node on my liver (no cancer)...But that caring.  So since my friend got her hiatal hernia repaired (and had lost about 50 pounds pre op), would the surgeon pull some of the stomach tighter and give a free tummy tuck at the same time or would he just repair the hernia and move on???  Brian

If he did a tummy tuck, she would be charged for a tummy tuck, and I'm not sure they'd be able to do that without consent. Almost certainly it was a hernia only.

To repair a hiatal hernia they stitch the diaphragm usually.  For a tummy tuck, they cut and stitch together the muscles of the abdominal wall.  Two different areas.  General surgeons also don't do plastic surgery techniques, typically.  I don't think they are usually even trained in them, but I may be wrong.

Many people who go in for a hernia procedure will ask the surgeon to pull the stomach skin tighter (tummy tuck)...Get a two for one.  Some surgeons do this, some don't.  But I'm thinking doing the VSG is the most important...repairing the hiatal hernia would be # 2...Just wondering if she won the "trifecta" by getting a tummy tuck thrown in??

I'm not sure why someone would want a tummy tuck BEFORE losing weight?

Most surgeons won't do one until your weight has been stable for several months, so I was told by the plastic surgeons I spoke to, anyway.  Maybe some do?

Nope. When I had my TT the insurance paid for the pannilectomy (spelling is way off), and I had to pay for the tightening of the muscles. During the procedure he also repaired a hernia (somewhere around the belly button area) that the insurance paid for, but I still had to pay for the tightening of the muscles. After all was said and done though, it only cost me $2,000. My plastic surgeon did a fantastic job of getting the insurance to cover as much as possible overall.

he would do the hernia and move on. A hiatal hernia is an internal hernia. 

A tummy tuck is an outside procedure that involves much more than just "pull the skin tighter"

I had a hiatal hernia & the vsg, no tummy tuck, that wouldn't be done till after I was done losing most of my weight, not before. Besides my surgeon wouldn't do a tummy tuck anyway, that's done by a plastic surgeon & he'd want a consult, take a look, how long I was at this weight, etc etc.

I doubt if any surgeon would do a "free anything". They want to get paid for their services, besides what if there were complications?, he could be on the hook for doing extra procedures.

If all he did was pull the skin a little tighter in one spot, you'd end ip with a big, really odd looking pucker on your belly. A tummy tuck is a much more involved procedure.