Follow up visit with second PS consult

 I went yesterday for a second visit with the second PS I consulted with for all my work I need done.  When I went to the first visit, he did not have pictures of his work since I was seeing him in a satellite office.  I had spoken to the girl in his office and she set up the appt to have me look at pics of someone who had similar work to what I need.  
I am concerned about lack of communication now, as he had no pics with him.  He apologized profusely, and called his office to get them to send the pics to him.  It was an ordeal, but he finally was able to pull them up, but they weren't cropped yet for identifying features, so he told me he would crop them and send them to me.  I did not hold this against him as he is trying to juggle bringing his terminally ill mother home from the hospital to care for her and is pretty distracted.  But scary at the same time.
The other thing that is a little bothersome is that his quote for everything is 10k more than my first consult.  The main reason for the price difference is that he is planning a total of four separate surgeries, as opposed to three surgereis from the first surgeon.  He will not waiver on the four surgeries for safety reasons.  He said that yes, he may be able to do it in three, but is not willing to take the chance on running out of time and keeping me under longer than five hours.

His quote does include silicone implants as opposed to saline in the first quote, and also does not take into consideration any reimbursement from insurance.  I am fairly positive that insurance will cover eyelid surgery, but not sure about tummy portion of other surgeries. So if insurance does pay, it will offset the extra 10k I would be paying.
I feel like he understands more clearly exactly what I want more so than the first surgeon.  He answered every question I had, and there were many.

So now I am mulling over the info I have so far.  I am thinking maybe I need to get a third consult so that I can see what the concensus is as far as the number of surgeries and price range.  I did listen to a great presentation from a PS that specializes in Bariatric patients, who spoke at our WLS support group meeting, and he would be the most likely third consult, but he is a good  distance away and although he was very informative and seemed to know his stuff, he was also extremely arrogant and I don't know if I could live with this or not.  Everything was either his way or no way.  Such as the placement of arm scars, the order of surgeries, etc.  He had good scientifc explanations for all of it, but I am still on the fence about his inflexability.  I guess I will be in thinking mode for a while and continue to gather info.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings.  Any thoughts or opinions are appreciated as this is all new to me.

Take your time.  Go for the 3rd consult and see what he says.  You really want someone experienced with bariatric patients.  Our needs and skin are so different.  Most important, go with someone you trust.  If it doesn't feel right, it isn't even if the cost is lower.

Kay

 I would definitely get the third consult. And although personality plus is a huge bonus with surgeons, it's not necessary. Some people are brilliant surgeons who lack certain people skills. Surgeons have rigorous training and have to focus to get to the top of their fields. It takes some arrogance to get to the top, so although I certainly would note it and resent the patriarchal arrogance, I wouldn't rule out that surgeon on the lack of his bedside manner. I'm not looking for a friend in my surgeon, I'm looking for the best person to do the job.

I would get a 3rd and even 4th consult if needed. The second guy sounds too disorganized, regardless of his personal issues. Usually, surgeons have photo albums available or pictures that have been uploaded into a computer. There is no excuse for not having photos available or changing pricing. That would be a red flag for me.

 He didn't change his prices.  Just the disorganization and the distraction makes me worry.  I really like his personality, but I worry that this apparent lack of professionalism will carry over into his work.  I like to have all my ducks in a row as much as possible in advance of something as serious as surgery.
I am realistic and I know that everything has variables and some things cannot be controlled, but I like to at least be aware of the possiblilites beforehand.  I asked my daughter what she would do and she also recommended another opinon.  She said she got three consults before deciding.

Have you considered Dr Sauceda?  I had my LBL, BL, arms and medial thigh lift at one time.  I wanted one surgery and one recovery time.  You can click on Dr Sauceda in my siggy line and see his group here on OH.  His prices are reasonable too.  We have pics in our photo section and Dr S has pics on his website.

 I have thought about him and have even gone to his website to have a look at his work.  The only thing that worries me about having plastics out of the country, other than the usual fears, is the lack of after care.  I am thinking that a lot of what you pay for here in the states is not just the surgery itself, but the numerous trips back for checkups, minor fixes, etc.  I am not sure I would be prepared to be on my own so soon after surgery.
Feel free to tell me I am wrong.  I am open to any and all info before I make up my mind.