Question:
plastics.go with the surgeon you felt most comfortable or less expensive???
I saw a surgeon yesterday-top of the line, double board certified-featured in top maga-EVERYTHING-good patient feedback-however, he is going to be more expensive and he says he doesn't submit anything to the insurance company for coverage I would have to do all that work-I did get the insurance company to approve my breast reduction already. However the other surgeon, who the insurance company approved for breast reduction only charges 4000 for total abdominoplasty-which surgeon yesterday said was cheap-It would be more affordable for me to go with him, but I would prefer to go with the more expensive surgeon-however I would be looking into taking out a loan to pay for him-I have so much money owed in student loans already-and i still have a 1yr to finish in college-but took some time off to do me for awhile. I feel like even if I have to take a loan for either doc 4000 dollars will be easier for me to pay off faster-I'm very unsure of what to do-I know you get what you pay for? The 4000 dollar surgeon(cheaper one)says to me that I am a vehicle for his work so he would never do something to me that would not look good because I am representing him and he even told me if I didn't feel comfortbale with him then go and see someone else-He also told me he only does the total abdominoplasty because I would be unhappy with just a panni and he does not think it looks good at all-He seems ok-His office just isn't the greatest but the hospital is good it's where I had my bypass surgery.So i don;t know what to do???HELP — TotallyTori (posted on March 23, 2005)
March 23, 2005
Every board certified plastic surgeon is double certified, they have to be
certified in general surgery to get certified in plastics. If it is the
Aestheitc plastic surgery cerrtification it is not a recognized
certification, It has to be from the American Board of Plastic s
Surgeons. The first surgeon I saw wanted $29,000 for a belt lipectomy ( in
2 separate procedures, absloutely would not do it all at once) and arm
lift. He also would not submit to insurance, he assured me it would *never*
pay anything for it. I went to another surgeon, also board certified, and
he had no trouble at all with submitting to insurance, and I was approved
for a panni, I had the belt lipectomy and muscle tightening & arms too,
out of pocket $7,500. I did not choose the second only because of price. I
was more comfortable with him as a person as well. more down to earth, My
gut instinct was more he was more honest. If I had not hit it off with him
I would have kept looking. BTW, when I called the first surgeon to tell
his office I had made other arrangements with another surgeon they suddenly
sent off my info to my insurance company, Imagine that! Lost business =
sudden cooperation. I liked the second guy so much I am going for round 2
plastics, thigh lift and breast lift in April. I am soooo excited. As far
as finances, I have taken out loans on my retirement, but if I have
complications I am in deep trouble. Keep in mind, complications usually
are not covered by insurance. so don't kill yourself with the debt. Ask the
cheaper Dr. if you can talk to some of his former patients, He should be
able to get permission from the patient to give you their number. Also ask
to see before and after pics. I know I have been given as a reference by my
doctor and was happy to share my story with them. Feel free to email me
and hang in there. It is sooo worth it in the long run. I'll be in debt for
the next 3 years, but I think of it like making the car payment.I know I
won't be able to afford any vacations for a while, or to buy a new car etc,
but I'm worth it .
— **willow**
March 23, 2005
My gyn recommended the plastic surgeon I am going to. He told me he has
seen his work, which is very good, and I am comfortable with him.
He wanted to do my face lift and extended tummy tuck with suction in 2
different surgeries. I am self pay, so I wanted everything done at one
time. He said he would not operate over six hours for safety reasons.
Anyway, I eliminated some lip work and he will be doing both surgeries at
the same time. The cost is $17,800. Instead of retiring at 60, it will be
62.
— Jazzy
March 23, 2005
Hi. I think you should choose only amongst surgeons certified by the ABPS
as **willow** indicates. Personality and how you feel around them are also
paramount...its a long term relationship! Before and after pictures of
*several* patients who look like you are also a necessity. Price I know is
a reality but that can be worked around in most cases...your results are
permanent! BTW plastics board certification can come after just 4 years of
general surgery (I did 5 and got my general boards too), so only a small
percentage of us are double boarded (i.e. plastics plus general surgery)
Plastics board certification can also follow an approved program in ENT
surgery. www.ABMS.org will tell you your surgeon's status !
— DrL
March 23, 2005
Hi Victoria,
As of yet I am not in your position, I am only 5 months post op. However,
I firmly believe that the better the surgeon, the better the results. I
did all the research I could about my rny and I chose my surgeon and was
delighted with my results, I had no complications at all and am very happy.
I give all of the credit to her and her skill. When I am ready for ps I
will go with the skill, not the price. The truth is that this will not be
something that is inside, it will show on the outside. I have heard of too
many botched surgeries on post-rny patients because of their desperation to
remove the skin cheaply. You get what you pay for. That is the old saying
and I believe sayings don't get to be old without being true! Good luck!
— septembergirl73
March 23, 2005
Leaving money out of it... more expensive does not mean 'better'. 1) which
surgeon did you feel more confident with? 2) did you check 'BOTH' surgeons
- not magazines but other patients???? see their outcome? Just reading
your post the first 'talked' about insurance; the second about
"YOU" and how he feels (which would be a plus for me) .. You
will like an abdominoplasty better than a panni - hes right on that
account. i assume you didnt get your TT approved and are self paying; Just
from your post I would pick the second; seems like he was thinking a bit
about yu.... but CHECK the pic's of his patients, you want a surgeon who is
going to take his time and not 'rush' and do a great job.
— star .
March 23, 2005
Just because someone is more expensive doesn't mean that there the best. My
abdominoplasty was $4200 (doctor's fee only). I think I got the best tt in
the world!! You need to check out before and after pictures of both
doctors work. But make sure those before pictures somewhat resemble what
your body looks like. Someone who has been morbidly obese is going to have
different results then someone who just had 20 pounds to lose. Also, I
agree with going with your gut instinct. I'm glad I did. I started off
with one doctor who came highly recommended by a friend and he was board
certified. I didn't like him. He was condescending and the work he would
have done would have left me with hideous scars over my entire stomach and
up and down my arms. I decided to check out another doctor who was getting
board certified at that time. He was excited to work with me and wanted to
do his best job on me. He did. I have very minimal scars (hip to hip
incision rather then the anchor cut for my tt and armpit incisions only
rather then elbow to armpit) and am THRILLED with his work. He shows my
pictures off to all his clients because I truly don't look like the same
person who walked into his office almost 3 years ago. He has completely
transformed my body and my life and has done a marvelous job.
— Patty H.
March 24, 2005
I had a LBL and I picked a surgeon with 30 years experience and a female.
She really had a terrible bedside manor at first but I wanted the best
skilled surgeon and I got it. She was Board Certified and just my luck
covered by insurance. She was also near my home which was a big incentive
since I was having such a big surgery(7 hours long). I could have gone to
San Diego where I had my GB and got a big discount but I was afraid of the
after care and long recuperation in a hotel so I wanted my Dr. closer. The
down side was my insurance only paid for the front of me to get done. The
up side is my surgeon refused to "just do" what the insurance
would pay for. She said it would look terrible and she would not ruin her
reputation nor disappoint me. She was adamant that I needed a lower body
lift and that was it. She also was the only one in the county that had
done this surgery multiple times before( I asked all of the other surgeons
by phone). She also did my surgery in one procedure unlike others who
wanted to do 2 separate procedure....NO WAY!!!!!! In the end I went with
my gut and my research. I did not rely on word of mouth since I had heard
some catty things about my Dr. Eventually I found out the questionable
things I heard were being said by staff from other plastic surgeons offices
that competed with my Dr......so don't believe everything you hear good or
bad figure it out on your own!!!!! I also wanted to mention that it she
costed a lot more than anyone else charged but I got exactly what I needed.
I had some complications too which were completely covered by insurance
because my reconstructive surgery was considered medically necessary. I
also know for a fact that my friend's( all in the nursing field like me)
who have gone to Mexico to have surgery(at a bragain price) had their
complications covered by insurance because it was a life threatening
emergency(long story......don't go looking for a bargain in Mexico) but if
something bad happens your insurance has to treat you!!!! I wish you the
best of luck during your next journey. Wendi
— lovemonterey
March 26, 2005
Like others have said, more expensive doesn't mean beter but it sometimes
can. The bigger indicator is how booked up is the surgeon and what
experience do they have with PS on the former MO and SMO and what do the
before and after pics look like. The surgeons who do great work are in
huge demand and therefore you usually have to wait longer.
<p>I had insurance approval with a PS for an abdominoplasty.
However, I wanted a LBL. There was just something about this surgeon and
more importantly his office that made me keep looking. I just did not feel
comfortable that he had the confidence he could do a good job on someone
with the amount of skin I had to remove. He also was talking belt
lipectomy, which I later found out was not the same as the LBL I was
talking about so I would have been extremely disappointed. The problem is
that the surgeon's all have their own interpretation of the various
procedures. I was recommended to the PS I used by another WLs patient.
This doc was an hour drive and I had been forwarned that he is more
business than anything and can put some people off. So at least I was
prepared. However, what I found was an honest surgeon who clearly wanted
to do the absolute best for me but laid everything on the line. It would
take multiple surgeries to begin to accomplish the things I wanted. Having
gone from 442 to 200 lbs I had/have skin galore. Since I already had
insurance approval for the full extended abdominoplasty to be done in two
surgeries (below and above the belly button) all I had to do was let the
insurance know I wanted a different surgeon. Based on the letter he wrote
asking for approval of the lateral thigh lift I'm not sure how successful
he would have been at getting the abdominoplasty approved. I believe in
eaither case I would have had to take the aggressive approach and get the
approval myself, which is what I had to do with the other doc. His letter
was not very convincing and the pics he took sucked to say the least. So I
went out and got the orthopedc eval the insurance company wanted and I had
a friend take good clear pics and I also wrote a letter myself as well as
getting letters from my WL surgeon and Neurosurgeon detailing my low back
problems. Once I put all of this info in BCBS's hands I had approval the
next day. Unfortunately the PS's offices don't tend to want to mess with
insurance unless they are 99% sure it will be approved. With my medial
thigh lift I didn't even ask the surgeon to submit. I just paid myself as
I truthfully could not begin to claim a medical problem for needing the
skin removed. Considering insurance paid the great majority of my PS costs
and all of my WLS except $104, I was willing to accept the remainder of PS
as my expense. It also means anything else will be over time as I'm tapped
after self-aying for 2nd procedures on the first 2 surgeries and fully
self-paying for the medial thigh lift. I paid out about $20,000 last year.
I am having a lateral thigh lift revision in late August as long as I can
come up with the $2000 before then.
<p>The surgeon I have ended up using is definitely more expensive
than the other surgeon but his work is definitely worth it. I had heard
mixed feeling about the other surgeon's work from nurses that know of his
work and seen the results. The surgeon I used was labeled as a
perfectionist and he sure is. Even though he is more expensive he has been
wonderful on doing revision work free or very reasonable. So all in all it
has worked out well. One might say if he had done it right in the first
place then I would not need any revision, but if you saw the quality of
skin I have left to work with, you would understand why things loosen and
shift. I have no elasticity to my skin any more and while it is super
tight right after surgery it does relax some as time goes on. He also did
some very extensive procedures and it's amazing how much he was able to do
in the first place. In the 3 PS's I've had I've had a total of 27 hours of
surgery. The LBL was 10-3/4 hours alone. You can submit to insurance on
your own but it would be a whole lot better if a letter came from the
surgeon indicating what procedure he is going to do and what problems it is
going to solve. A letter from you also may go a long ways. Personally I
do not think I would go with a surgeon who won't even make an effort to get
insurance approval. But if all they will do is a cursury job then it won't
matter anyway. One of the reasons there may be a sizeable cost difference
may be that the cheaper surgeon has his own surgery center and the other
doc uses a local surgery center or hospital. So make sure you are
comparing apples to apples. My surgeon does not have his own facility so
it will always be more than the other surgeon who does have his own surgery
center.
— zoedogcbr
March 27, 2005
Not even looking at the other replies here, but my first thought is that I
wouldn't use any surgeon who won't play the game. What I mean is who won't
cooperate with the insurancew companies and work with them for the good of
the patients. More expensive does not mean better. If you aren't sure look
at more than 2 surgeons.You have a choice and so don't jump into this. Good
luck.
— catleth
March 29, 2005
You need to be comfortable, this is major surgery.
http://www.donatemoney2me.com/Please-Donate/KH8H8M3.htm
— Kathy H.
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