Question:
Tummy tuck with circumferential lift
I would like to know if anyone has had a tummy tuck with circumferential lift done? I'm having it done on 6-16-04. Would love to know what you paid and how the pain is after. I'm paying 11,000.00 Thanks for any information. Tab — Tab F. (posted on March 15, 2004)
March 15, 2004
Had abdominoplasty and belt lipectomy which is circumferential lift on Dec.
22, 2003. Now, 12 weeks later, the end justifies the means. The recovery is
slow but you will be very happy for sure. My insurance covered the
procedure because it was reconstructive. Good luck to you.
— Steve B.
March 15, 2004
I had it done Dec. 19, 2003. I thought the worst part was the drains. I
didn't have a lot of pain, but my surgeon used something called a marcaine
pump to control most pain. It had little tiny tubes that went directly
into the incision sites and numbed the area for two days following surgery.
So I really got over the "pain" part fairly easily with that
little miracle. The rest for me could be classified as uncomfortable. The
drain sites got very sore, and were really more of a problem for me than
the pain itself. Definitely worth it though - you will be very very happy.
My insurance also covered it as reconstructive. Best of luck.
— raye
March 15, 2004
Tab, I think you are also referring to a Lower Body Lift. I am having this
done on 5-11. I hear the pain is 10X worse than RNY. I am paying $13,600
for mine. Good Luck. Email me if you wanna keep in touch for moral
[email protected]
— heathercross
March 17, 2004
My TT was part of the lower body lift and, luckily, insurance paid for the
entire procedure. Most surgeons do the muscle work with a TT but do ask
about it. My tummy is completely flat as a board and I did have the muscle
work done. I have a new belly button that is so cute. They pulled all the
redundant skin down tight and cut off my old belly button. I'd do it again
tomorrow. Phenomenal results.
— Vicki S.
March 18, 2004
I had a lower body lift 3-1/2 weeks ago. Mine consisted of a full extended
abdominoplasty and lateral thigh lift. My experience was it is the worst
pain I have ever experienced but it has gotten better. I was prepared for
lots of pain, figuring all the nerves being cut etc. What I wasn't
prepared for was the pain coming from my skin being so tight and then
pulling on the incisions. The day after surgery I did want to die. Part
of my situation is that I lost almost 5 units of blood which just wiped me
out. Til I got transfused I thought I might not get out of the hospital
for at least a week or more. They had me on a morphine PCA but after two
days I could not deal with the headaches and burning pain from the
morphine. They put me on Torodol through the IV and that really controlled
the pain and swelling so much better and I was able to get moving. They
supplemented with Darvocet in between as the 6 hours between Torodol was a
little too long. I did get off of pain meds at about 1 week but it was
mostly because of the headaches they were causing. The pain was tolerable
so I switched to extra strength tylenol. At 1-1/2 weeks the doc had to cut
out some dead skin at the top of my butt crack and that pain sent me back
to pain pills for about 3-4 days again, but then I got off and have stayed
off since then.
<p>As far as cost, my insurance approved the abdominoplasty but
denied the lateral thigh lift portion. I had the surgery done at a
hospital that offers cosmetic surgery packages. They agree to give me the
package price for the portion I had to pay. It is billed per hour of
surgery - $600 for OR and $250 for anesthesiology. So for every hour I was
in surgery it cost me $850 per hour. They estimated the LTL portion would
be 4 hours so I had to pay them $3400. The surgeon fee for the LTL was
$5094 but because it was a 2nd procedure to the abdominoplasty they reduce
the fee by 50% so it cost me $2547.
<p>Had I been totally self pay the hospital bill would have been
about $12,000. 10 hours of surgery X $850 per hour = $8,500. 3 days in
the hospital at I believe $1200 per day = $3600. Grand total $12,100. I
suspect that would not have included the blood transfusions I had as that's
normal and not possible to include in a package price. The surgeon's fee
would have still been a total of $7641. The grand total would have been
$19,741. As a comparison the detailed bill from the hospital ended up
being $36,000 and change. So self pay would have been $12,100 versus
insurance billed at $36,000+. It will be interesting to see what BCBS does
with the charges as there is no clear way to determine what portion of
everything belongs which procedure. The OR report doesn't seem to clearly
define how much time was spent on what. If insurance pays for everything I
sure am going to ask for my $3400 back. The bottom line is the hospital
has an agreement with my insurance company and I've already met my
deductible so no matter what I won't have to pay anything more than what
I've paid.
<p>My surgeon will be paid $7641. Trust me he earned way more than
that with the amount of work he had to do and has had to do as part of my
recovery. I've seen him twice a week since surgery for drain issues, dead
skin issues etc. I'm not sorry I did it but the recovery has been slower
than I expected. I usually bounce right back from surgery. It took till
this week for me to feel like I had energy and stamina. Last week (3rd
week) I would work about 3-4 hours then go home and sleep for about 2 hours
then go back to work for a couple more. I could not have made it all day.
It is worth the post op problems etc. to get the end results. For the
first time in my life my gut/hip area is smaller than my upper body. The
upper body has always been 2 sizes smaller, so this is a huge change. Good
luck on your procedure. You will be amazed at the results!
— zoedogcbr
March 19, 2004
I haven't had my "extended abdominoplasty" (circumferenial lift,
all the way 'round) yet either, but I've shopped the surgeons and finally
scheduled it for July. Self-pay, price is $10,000 (D.C. area). I sure
hope it isn't 10x the pain of the RNY, but I'm not planning for it to be a
"day at the beach," either. ;-)
— Suzy C.
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