Question:
how do I afford plastic surgery?
I saw my surgeon and he said to see the plastic surgeon. The plastic surgeon wanted to do the "lockwood" method and lipo and lift my outer thighs, tummy and rear...then he wanted to do my eyes and neck separately...to be followed by arms, inner thighs...he recommened breasts, lol...for $30, ooo. I am so frustated...selling my kids won't fetch that kind of money, and while I can get insurance to cover the hospital for the tummy as I have a hernia, it still costs a fortune and the other surgeries he wants to do in his office. He claims he is the only one around who does the lower body lift and I'm afraid of getting stuck needing way too many surgeries one at a time if I go elsewhere. How can I fix myself up so I can finally wear a bikini? Who is good and affordable? Please help, thanks!! — elaine27 (posted on September 24, 2003)
September 24, 2003
Well, I took money out of my 401k to pay for my 19k surgery for extended
TT, brachioplasty and breastlift on 3/31/03. Some people take out a 2nd
mortgage. I didn't have my TT covered by insurance since it was deemed
cosmetic. Would I spend the money again? YES!! I felt guilty about it
before, but not after surgery! Why are you having your eyes done? Is this
something you want or that he suggested to you? Don't take his word for it
that he's the 'only one' in your area who does the LBL. Does he give
discounts for multiple procedures? Mind does. Get another opnion.
— Kris T.
September 24, 2003
I'm afraid you are going to have to decide on how much you want to spend on
a bikini. I know there is NO WAY I would spend $30,000 for one. First I
think you need to prioritize or buy lottery tickets. Don't assume
insurance will cover all of the hospital costs because you have a hernia.
You will be in surgery for likely 4-8 hours longer than is required for a
hernia, which is normally an outpatient procedure also.
<p>I saw a PS a few weeks ago and he has submitted to insurance for
an abdominoplasty. I just received a copy of a letter today asking for
pictures and details on what he would do in the procedure. Since we are
trying to build a case for medical necessity based on my severe lumbar
degenerative disc disease I'm sure they want to know what the PS will do
that will help this, like tighten certain muscles etc. When I saw the
surgeon we discussed a panni, abdominoplasty and a belt lipectomy. I
started out wanting all of the center body issues taken care of in one
surgery, but he has convinced me it is in my best interest to do it in two.
Due to some strange things in my anatomy doing the usual remove the role
and pull the lose skin down to flatten the upper abdomen won't work on me.
He will actually do the area below the belly button and then do another
horizontal cut above the belly button to take care my extra set of breasts,
as I call them. Two outpouchings of skin and fat that are all stretched
out and have been that way for many many years. However, at my waist it is
quite tight, like a band of tissue tied around me. He explained that he
could do it as once but I would have to be hospitalized for like 3 days,
the recovery would be much slower and painful and most importantly he is
concerned about losing blood supply to so much tissue at once. He feels it
is safest to do one are, let the blood supply regenerate, wait about 2
months from the first procedure and then we can do the 2nd one. Since I
don't want to end up with dead skin I will follow his plan. In reality it
won't end up costing more because he can do the 2 procedures in his clinic
and I won't have hospital charges which are much more.
<p>At the very end we talked the belt lipetomy and that is definitely
the way I am leaning as the pictures I can find on the internet show great
results and I feel would address 90% of my thigh problems and avoid any
other leg surgery. Granted my legs will never be bikini material but they
will be okay in the average swim suit. I suspect I will always have some
loose skin on my legs but as long as it doesn't hang real bad I can live
with it. I'm 42, not competing in a beauty contest and have no desire to
be in one. Personally I cannot imagine doing my eyes or neck, but each
person has to decide. I'm not excited about breast implants so I will
likely never do anything with them but buy good quality bras. No need to
spend the money to lift them up when a $25 bra accomplishes the same thing.
They have been hanging since a few years after they grew so it's no big
deal. Arms are a maybe but extremely low on my list. They have shrunk in
proportion to my other areas so they fit in the smaller clothes etc. I
don't even mind that I have bat wings. The only thing that bothers me a
little lately is that if I lean forward and the arm skin hangs forward it
shows tons of wrinkles. But not much when I have my arms in the normal
place.
<p>In answer to how you pay for it. 1)Prioritize, 2)Home Equity Loan
- That's where some of mine will come from if insurance doesn't cover the
abdominoplasty, 3)Personal loan if you have the credit rating for that kind
of money, 4)Supposedly there are companies that do loans for PS - try an
internet search, 5)If you have equity in your vehicle borrow some against
that, 6)Redo your first mortgage and get the money that way and locked in
at a low rate, 7)Borrow from family, 8)Put it on a low interest credit
card. The belt lipectomy and 2nd procedure will run $12000-15,000. If I
ended up doing arms it's around $3000. If I can get insurance to cover the
abdominoplasty that will wipe out about $7000 of the total and then he can
bill me the difference between that and the belt lipectomy. If I have to
pay for it all myself I will be paying for it with a combination of the
things I mentioned above. Good Luck and I hope you are able to get
whatever PS you feel is necessary.
— zoedogcbr
September 24, 2003
In addition to all the ways already listed, if you are working, you can get
a second part-time job and save the money toward your surgeries. Might
take a little longer but that is an option.
— Delores S.
September 24, 2003
Hi Darlene -- according to your profile, you've lost 100 pounds since your
WLS in January (congrats!). This just seems like a lot of plastic surgery
to me, for a 100-lb. loss, and it also sounds expensive (on the other hand,
you're looking at a lot of procedures). I'm not criticizing the decision
to pursue those procedures, but I wouldn't let a PS talk you into
everything that could possibly be done the way a car salesman might try to
sell the fully-loaded model. I would suggest you subscribe to the Yahoo
OSSG plastic surgery group at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ossg-plasticsurgery/?yguid=106670120 and ask
for some recommendations of plastic surgeons in your area as well as for
opinions and experiences of other patients regarding those various
procedures. You could also cruise the various plastic surgery sites on the
web and read about the various available procedures (and look at before
& after photos to give you an idea what can be done with your body
type). I can't add anything to Chris' excellent summary of the various
places to get $$ to self-pay for PS; if insurance doesn't cover it, it's a
huge decision for the average person, financially. Good luck!
— Suzy C.
September 24, 2003
I don't think it's too much plastic surgery. Everything she mentioned
(except for eyes and outer thighs) I need to have done too and I've lost
125 pounds. I took a loan on my 401K plan to get some of my plastic
surgery. I'm no where NEAR done with it but I've had my tt and arms done.
I would like to have my inner thighs done next. But that's about $8000
total. So I need to save for that one. Check out opening up a credit card
and breaking down the surgeries over a course of years. Also, ask if the
Plastic Surgeon works with a lending company to get you financed. There
are serveral who do.
— Patty H.
September 24, 2003
There is also the possibility of going out of the country. I looked into
going to Brazil. Try going to the Yahoo group and reading up on this
option. There is a price list in the files section. While I was
researching, I added up the cost for everything I wanted done (lower body
lift, breast lift with implants and arms) and it came to around $9000. Of
course you will need to add in travel and lodging costs. But you can ask
about those to the group. The lady that coordinates for the dr. down there
is an American citizen and will gladly answer any questions you have.
<p>
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MedNetBrazil/
— Ali M
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