Hi all!! REVISION question and an update

Hi everyone,

I knw it has been awhile since I have updated. It has been a wild ride in terms of recovery. I hit a major depression; just felt crappy inside; an emotional wreck. I had regrets, sadness and overall, a feeeling a despair.

Things are getting better...slowly but surely. I still have moments when I cry out of the blue. Someone will say, "HI Denise! How are you?" and the waterworks will start.  I have no idea why, but then again, depression is depression! The good news it is getting better. The good moments are coming more and more and the bad ones aren''t staying as long. That is a good thing.

In terms of recovery, my tummy wound is looking AWESOME. It is closed and WAS scabbed over, which was great until after a shower, the thick scab came off (yes, I did pick a little..I will never, ever ever do that again!!!). Underneath where the scar was, 50% was perfectly healed and the other 50% was not. HOLE!! UGGGGG...I started to cray. I couldn't believe it....I had come so far and because I just couldn't leave well enough alone. I went through hell with that wound and it was finally healing and just like that, I am back with another hole.

So, I bandaged it and hoped for the best. Two days later, it started to scab again (YAY!) and believe me I left it alone. It is now healing awesome and I am thrilled!!!

My wounds on my hips are healing awesome, too. No issues there.

My thigh wound, the one that kept opening is not an issue anymore. i went and bought those buttlerfly bandaids and secured the skin together with those and I was shocked and amzed at how effective that was. So, recovery is GREAT at this time.

I do have a problem though.....of course, right?

I am not happy with my upper inner thighs. Not happy at all. They each have bulges from frm the crotch area down about four inches. From the knee up to the start of the problem: perfect. From the start of the problem up to the crotch, AWFUL. I not only have bulges but I have weird rolls of skin that are scars but they healed funny. Hard to describe but they look like little cigars under the skin. These are right at the top of the incision, right near the crotch.

Now, if these issues could be hidden easily when wearing a bathing suit I wouldnt care. Seriously; I am not looking for perfection. But they are NOT hidden when wearing a bathing suit. They are very, very obvious...the weird scar things and the bulges. They are ugly and unsightly.

I MUST get these fixed. Despite the hell I went though emotionally with the recovery from my suergy there is no way I cant get this fixed.

you guys, these issues are bad. BAD. My inner thighs actually touch where the bulges are and they never touched before. I hate the way they look.

The scars are hidden nicely from the knee up to the problem area and tehn where the problem starts, the scars are in the front....it is clearly an issue that needs surgical intervention.

I am so bummed becase my thighs were always the area I hated most and wanted PS on. The LBL was an added bonus; if I could have only had one surgery it would have been the inner thighs. This has always been my area of concern. I hate to say it, but those bulges make my thighs look worse than before surgery. And I am not exaggerating. I am so disappointed?!!!!

So here is my question:::

I need a revision. This is clear. No doubt about, I need to get a revision.

Will I need to pay for this? I obviously already paid for my LBL and thighs....would the revision be extra? Ordoes this vary from surgeon to surgeon?

If I do need to pay, I imagine I should get a major discount.....I would be seriously pissy if I didn't.

I paid $16,000 for a LBL and the inner thigh plasty.I honestly dont feel as though I should have to pay anything except for myabe anesthesia fees, but surgeon fees I feel should be waived or at the very least, reduced significantly.

OR.....as I honestly can not come up with a huge amount of money at once, a payment plan would be doable. Is this reasonable? Do surgeons do these in my type of situation?

Guys, I went though major surgery to better areas that needed intervetion. I DID NOT EXPECT PERFECTION. I need to emphasize this, as I know there are some patients who are displeased no matter what the outcome. This is not me. I want to be happy with my outcome and I dont want to need a revision! I dont want PERFECTION, I just want thighs that dont have huge bulges and cigars for scars at the top!

PLease advise!!!

I promise to come to the boards more frequently now that I am back in the swing of things...I just started going back to work last week....that was quite an adjustment, by the way...getting better, but boy. This ride has been wild!!!

More on that later...for now, please advise me on my course of action regarding the revision. As a side note, I have my next follow up, just a check up, in mid-April. This is the appt I will talk to him about the revision...unlesss it is felt I should call sooner in which case I definitely will.

any hel******iously appreciated!!!!!

Hugs and kisses,
Denise

Hi Denise,

Glad to see you are making progess physically and emotionally.  About the hole, don't feel to bad about the scab.  My drain holes had healed quite nicely the scabs looked great, then boom ooze was coming out from under.  (they are all healed now).  What I am saying based on your description they would have probably opened anyway.  So you opening it a little probably helped in getting to them earlier rather then later.

Revisions,  My PS includes revisions.  He does not charge for his time, but I do have to pay for the anesthesia and the surgery room.  That was made clear in the contract language i have with him.

oh Denise it is SO wonderful to hear from you!! 

my thoughts on the revision is this:  your PS should do them at no charge. I know there are particular cir****tances to each situation, but I know my DR will do revisions as part of the entire process. 

I guess it will depend on your DR's policy and how extensive the re-work is.

take care and lean on us, we are here for you!
Sandy

 Denise -
I'm so glad to see you post!  I had my thigh lift a few days before your surgery.  I will need some minor revisions to my upper inner thighs as well.  I discussed this with my surgeon a few weeks ago, and we have scheduled an in office procedure to hopefully correct that.  I don't have to pay any additional fees.  He is saying that it should take 1 - 1.5 hrs under local anesthesia.  He has 2 bulges in the upper, inner thigh that need to be taken care of - my legs rub together, and we both agreed that was not acceptble.  There are also a couple of dog ears at the top of the curve in the groin that need to be fixed and 2 tiny rolls in the groin that need to be fixed.  All of this will be done on April 29th.  He did say that with the amount of tissue that I had removed sometimes they cannot do it all initially, and expect to have to revise.  Not a big deal.

I totally understand the weepiness and depression.  I went through that with my LBL, and again with my thighs.  Hang in there, it will get better.

{{{{{Denise}}}}}

Hi Jennie!!

Thank you so much for your reply!!

It sounds like you and I have the EXACT same problems. I am ECSTATIC to hear that there is a possibility that this can be fixed in the office under local!

Can you tell me more about what he is going to do? I am going to share this with my surgeon. The problems you have, the ones you describe as "dog ears" and "little rolls", as well as where certain spots touch is exactly what I have. EXACTLY!!!!!

I am sorry you are having these problems but on a selfish note, excited to hear there is a possibility that I can be fixed more easily than I thought!

I really hope my surgeon doesnt charge me. I think $16K is a hefty chunk of change and the small amt of work I need should be at no charge but who knows.  I don't know what the scoop is with mine...I would think he wouldn;t charge me and I REALLY hope not but I just dont know. Regardless I need to fix it....it is awful!

Jenny you made my day!

(((((Jenny))))

Thank you so much for posting and any additional info you can provide would be awesome!! Is he going to cut back into the old incision and fix that part, where the bulges are, and at the same time get rid of those little skin rolls/dog ear things? I am so curious!!!! Serisouly, I think we have the exact same issues. How ironic!

Thank you, Jenny!

Denise

Denise,

I am SO HAPPY to hear from you! We were wondering how you were holding up.

I too am unhappy with my thighs. I really really wanted them done with my LBL/but my PS would not do them at same time. I love my results of my LBL, instant gradification.
But the thighs thats another story all together.

The front hanging skin looks tons better, but the rest of it......... Can't tell any difference. At first I thought, swelling. Then I realized they ain't getting any smaller.
In just 4 weeks we are going on a tropical vacation, well I hate the thought of wearing a bathing suite.

Oh well, what can a girl do. Just ***** about it I guess.

So glad you saddness is going away. I think we all get a little depressed after surgery.

Take care,

Montie

Hi Denise,

Sorry your thighs turned out badly, I have the ugly thigh skin also and need surgery so badly but doubt it is going to happen, so I feel for you.  I had a revision to my neck surgery when I had my arms done last year, I paid nothing at all, I just paid for the arms surgery and they ate the cost of the neck revision.  My neck still has one line down the middle that is annoying but with the amount of extra skin I had I can't really complain, I am not 21 anymore, although I would like to be.  lol lol  Go ask your surgeon, I don't know that there is a standard for this, hopefully your dr will agree and do the redo for free.

Good Luck sweetie!
Hugs Heidi

Post-op depression is a *****  Glad you'[re feelign ebtter.  Are you 100% sure, though, that your thighs are not a little swollen?

If not, and you do need a revision (which I can completely understand), you should definitely either get the reviaion for free or for a seriously reduced price.  I do know, however, that the policy on revisions varies a lot from surgeon to surgeon.  One of the reasons I selected my PS was his policy on follow-up visits and revisions.  (I don't know about thighs, but I know that -- before I decided to go ahead and do the TT -- my PS was going to do my arm revision in the office under local -- and I have heard of him doing lots of various procedures in his office surgery suite (which keeps the cost WAY down) that *I* would expect required an OR. 

So... take a deep breath... I'm sure you'll be able to work something out with your surgeon... after all, every PS knows very well that word of mouth (and how you LOOK) is their best (or worst advertising) so they want happy, beautiful customers.  (Sorry that it sounds like a revision is needed, though.)

Lora

Hi Denise,

Delayed reaction from a frequent lurker who has read/watched much of your journey & I think we talked a few times. Anyway, I'm having a revision for a very similar situation although my "bulges" & weird scars are on my back thighs just under the buttcheeks. It is noticable in a bathing suit & noticable with some pants & worse is: I sit on the bulges everyday! Anyway.... I'm having a revision next Thursday - 1 week from yesterday. Since I had insurance pay, my surgeon submitted for pre-approval & my insurance approved. Yahoo, right? Yea well I know you're self pay so it's not what you wanna hear.... but this is!! He said whether insurance approved revision or not he was doing it. Period. He said it's his work & he stands behind it & wants the best possible result. I also need a chunk of deep tissue fat necrosis removed from the lower tummy so he's revising that as well. He said most revisions of that nature in outpatient done in the office under local anesthesia & valium... so hopefully your surgeon feels the same way! Just wanted to share that with you & give you some hope that your surgeon would be willing to fix it - never hurts to ask & I don't think you should have to pay either!!!! Keep us posted!!!

I'm also sorry to hear of the depression/mental stuff going on & I can say I hear ya! I also had a tough mental time post plastics that I was not at all expecting! Hang in there... it will get better!!!

Jalyssa