Well, I had my consultation today with the Plastic Surgeon. I wanted to get an idea of how much it would cost and get his advice on whether I need to lose more weight before I consider it or not.
I went to a doctor that shares a lobby with my Bariatric Surgeon. I went in and of coarse had to strip down to barely nothing and get photos taken. Yay! Fun! I knew I had to do that though. The Doctor came in and looked at me and basically told me what he’d do, surgery wise. He told me where he’d cut and what scars I would have. I told him what I was wanting to address and with everything I wanted done, he said he’d do two surgeries.
The first surgery would cover the whole abdomen. From pelvis to right under the breasts. I had heard of people being left without belly button’s after surgery, but he said I’d have one. He said it’s a possibility of losing it, but he’s never lost one. (as it depends if it can get good blood flow back to it) He explained I’d have a scar all the way across the crease under my stomach and up the middle of my abdomen. He’d remove skin, bring it in and tighten it and also do some lypo while in there. It would basically be outpatient. I can’t remember now if he said I’d stay overnight or go back home same day and come back next day to get drains out. I think you go home and then come back. Off time from work would be about two weeks.
The second surgery would be my arms and thighs. Plus the side fat the doctor left from my breast reduction, he’d take care of with the arms. He would do both these surgeries at the same time. Time off work for this one would be one to two weeks. They are both done behind Saint Lukes South. The second surgery is basically twice as much as the first, since it includes two areas, done at the same time.
I was surprised at the price of the surgeries. Personally, I was expecting it to be a lot more. I’m also glad that Tommie had that same reaction when he asked me how much. He said “That’s it?” I’m not sure he was happy I went and got my consult now. He knows I’d like to lose more and it seems that he thinks I should do this AFTER I meet my goal. When I asked the Doctor if I should lose more before considering this, he said no. He said the requirements are that you are 18 months out from your gastric bypass surgery and that you have maintained a weight for six months or more. (Which I have)
I was upset when I first told Tommie and he hinted that I need to lose more before doing this, because I didn’t really get anything out I wanted to say. I ended up taking a long walk and thought about things before coming back and making my case. This is the way it works. They gave me a quote for both surgeries. The abdomen will be done first. The second surgery will have to be done at least four months later. Surgeries have to be paid in full before they will do them. I will have to pay 20% by November 1st to lock in the quoted price and after that I can just make payments towards the surgery as I can. I can take as long as I need and there is no interest on it. I know I want to have this surgery done, but I’m not in a hurry. I’d like to get started by making payments so when I AM ready, I will be able to get it done. He had a few questions, which I will bring up with the office before moving forward, but for the moment…..I think I will start on making payments and plan to do the surgeries in six to twelve months, depending on how much I can pay towards it. In the meantime I’m going to continue to work at losing my weight and getting closer to the goal I have made for myself. It’s getting harder and harder as time goes by.
It’s scary and exciting to think about. I’m not looking forward to the pain of the surgery, but I’m looking forward to the final result. I’m also scared I won’t be happy with it. The breast reduction surgery was VERY emotional for me. The outcome wasn’t what I expected and I wasn’t 100% happy with it. I’ll just have to deal with the outcome though and hope I’m making the right decision.