Tummy Tuck Tips?

[Settledownnow]

I need to be nosey... what is the going rate for a tummy tuck?

 

[Marquis Mark]

I need to be nosey... what is the going rate for a tummy tuck?

I got quotes all over the place. From $6.5k (Dr. Sauceda in Mexico who has an excellent reputation, btw) to $16K in Beverly Hills. I would say the average LA price is $13K. That's probably a little higher than the national average due to everything being more expensive here. But you have to also factor in if it includes recovery house stay, meds, labs, etc. I've heard of people paying 10K and being very happy with a US surgeon.

Realself.com is a good resource for reviews, info, photos, etc. Most surgeons on Real Self will give you a free consult so go to a few until you find one you like at a price you can stomach (pun intended). Also, notice the difference in advice they give you vis a vis what they think you need done. In my case, some said lipo, some said no way, some said anchor cut, some said no way.

Good luck!

 

[DSRIGGS]

I've used a recliner - and the good thing about that, is when you're healed, you have a recliner!

LOL....too funny!

 

[DSRIGGS]

I got quotes all over the place. From $6.5k (Dr. Sauceda in Mexico who has an excellent reputation, btw) to $16K in Beverly Hills. I would say the average LA price is $13K. That's probably a little higher than the national average due to everything being more expensive here. But you have to also factor in if it includes recovery house stay, meds, labs, etc. I've heard of people paying 10K and being very happy with a US surgeon.

Realself.com is a good resource for reviews, info, photos, etc. Most surgeons on Real Self will give you a free consult so go to a few until you find one you like at a price you can stomach (pun intended). Also, notice the difference in advice they give you vis a vis what they think you need done. In my case, some said lipo, some said no way, some said anchor cut, some said no way.

Good luck!

$10K is the price I had quoted both here in Central, IL and in Cali.

BTW, I don't have much skin on my belly area but my biggest areas of loose skin are my pubic bone, nut sack (is a pain in the ass because they droop so bad if don't hold them up when I take a shit the boys get a gross bath), my ass and my inner thighs. I have actually gotten a bit of a rash on my ass where my cheeks come together. It is not towards my the pucker it is the other direction .

So I don't know how many different procedures that would be but if I had lots of money to waste and I felt up to it, it would be nice to have those things taken care of.. The tightening of the scrotum and the pubic bone would be by far my priority..

Good luck on the abdominoplasty.

 

[Marquis Mark]

$10K is the price I had quoted both here in Central, IL and in Cali.

BTW, I don't have much skin on my belly area but my biggest areas of loose skin are my pubic bone, nut sack (is a pain in the ass because they droop so bad if don't hold them up when I take a shit the boys get a gross bath), my ass and my inner thighs. I have actually gotten a bit of a rash on my ass where my cheeks come together. It is not towards my the pucker it is the other direction .

So I don't know how many different procedures that would be but if I had lots of money to waste and I felt up to it, it would be nice to have those things taken care of.. The tightening of the scrotum and the pubic bone would be by far my priority..

Good luck on the abdominoplasty.

A mini Tummy Tuck will probably help your FUPA a lot. Pull up whatever loose skin you have at the top of your pubic area as tight as you can (close to where the incision is usually made) and see if that helps. A circumferential tummy tuck (aka lower body lift) will do a lot to fix your checks, outer thighs etc. My guess is Dr. Sauceda would do the whole thing for about 9k. That would include the flight, meds and 10 days in his recovery hotel. You're on your own as far as your balls go.

 

[DSRIGGS]

A mini Tummy Tuck will probably help your FUPA a lot. Pull up whatever loose skin you have at the top of your pubic area as tight as you can (close to where the incision is usually made) and see if that helps. A circumferential tummy tuck (aka lower body lift) will do a lot to fix your checks, outer thighs etc. My guess is Dr. Sauceda would do the whole thing for about 9k. That would include the flight, meds and 10 days in his recovery hotel. Your on your own as far as your balls go.

If I ever get health enough to do that and back to where I can afford to spend the $9K on that I would not hesitate to go this guy. Thanks

 

[bearmom]

Practicing the "log roll" to get up would be helpful if you use your own flat bed, but I'd also recommend getting "chucks", those plastic backed absorbent pads that are like 3 or 4 feet square, used in nursing homes. Long incisions usually have several leaky spots, and if there is any lipo done as well, those poke holes leak a lot. Nothing like constantly changing bedding or trying to protect upholstery or leather every few hours when you are trying to recover, so just use stuff that can be tossed frequently.

 

[bearmom]

A mini Tummy Tuck will probably help your FUPA a lot. Pull up whatever loose skin you have at the top of your pubic area as tight as you can (close to where the incision is usually made) and see if that helps. A circumferential tummy tuck (aka lower body lift) will do a lot to fix your checks, outer thighs etc. My guess is Dr. Sauceda would do the whole thing for about 9k. That would include the flight, meds and 10 days in his recovery hotel. You're on your own as far as your balls go.

Wow, 9k!!! That sounds too good to be true!

 

[sheribearmama]

So, this was just my experience, which seems to be so much different from others in almost every way: I had the tummy tuck...well, I should say I went in for a tummy tuck but came out with something different. My surgeon said that when he went in to tighten the muscles, my abs were already so tight that there was nothing to be done. He simply removed the loose skin and then moved the belly button to the proper place. I'm not sure why my abs were so tight--could be because I'd spent nearly 40 years sucking it in all the time perhaps. In any case, my recovery was easy. I had my stomach, arms, and breasts all reconstructed at the same time. I don't recall any real pain except that I wasn't able to stand up straight because of the tightened skin--which loosened quite quickly. I took a pain pill or two for a couple of days but then was fine. My pain tolerance isn't any better than anyone else I'm sure. The recovery from the original DS knocked my for a loop and was the worst pain I'd ever felt. I guess all other pain pales in comparison!

I had no compression garments and only some small tape around the incisions. The tape fell off on it's own. Worst part of the whole surgery was having to wait for my doctor to give the go-ahed to take soak in a bathtub.

 

[Marquis Mark]

Wow, 9k!!! That sounds too good to be true!

You can email him for a quote at any time. You just have to send him pictures...

[email protected]

 

[hilary1617]

Trying to visualize how you used the folding step stool help you get out of bed... feel free to describe!

After abdominal surgeries (5 and counting...) the activities I find most challenging / painful are getting in and out of my bed (for which I use the stepstool) and chairs, including motor vehicles and the toilet (for which I use a cane).

My bed is high off the ground in a princess and the pea arrangement, essentially the polar opposite of your platform scenario.

I have a two step folding stepstool with a handle like this: http://www.target.com/p/cosco-two-s...step-stool-with-rubber-hand-grip/-/A-51347402

1. Place the stepstool with the handle flush against the side of the bed near to the head.
2. Face the stepstool and grab the handle as a support throughout.
3. Climb the first stair while facing the bed.
4. Once both feet are on the step and hips are higher than the top of the mattress, in a single motion swing and pivot/swing around that axis. You should end up sitting down on the mattress between the pillow and the stepstool, with the crease behind your knees against the edge of the mattress and legs hanging down. (The stepstool should be placed so that when you pivot, your hips land exactly at the distance from the head of the bed that you want them to be when lying down.)
5. Gently roll your head, shoulder and arm down, so that your head is on the pillow and you are approaching a fetal position, but with bottom half of legs still dangling off the side.
6. Draw legs up onto the bed, to move into full side sleeper / fetal position.
7. Use the handle to help roll your entire body over onto your back. Having a bunch of pillows that will raising the knees up a bit reduces the "pull" on the abdominal muscles.

Reading this, it sounds more complicated than it is in practice!

It might be useful to consider renting a recliner or maternity glider. Very comfortable and no long term commitment...

Best wishes!

 

[Lisa Gemmel]

I had a fleur de lis tummy tuck in January with hernia repair and abdominal muscle tightening. I came home 24 hours after my surgery. No special equipment and I was only on pain pills for 4 days and then tylenol during the day and pain pill before bed. Hubby took 2 days off from work.

I wore a compression garment all the time. It made me feel the most comfortable with the least pain.

I drove myself to my 1.5 week follow up.

It was not as bad as I expected it to be

I am SO hoping this to be me in two weeks - going on 5/12...

 

[Spiky Bugger]

It's cheaper if:
1--you stop calling it a "tummy tuck," because THAT is cosmetic;
2--you factor in that, in CA, this is a reconstructive procedure to repair damage (stretched out skin) caused by a disease (morbid obesity) and as such must be covered by your insurance policy.

The hard part will be finding a plastic surgeon who will agree to do it for the insurance payment, but if s/he is in network with your insurance...

Remember, you don't have to establish "medical necessity," you must merely look "not normal."

 

[DianaCox]

"Remember, you don't have to establish "medical necessity," you must merely look "not normal.""

Not really - in response to the lawsuit, insurance companies have come up with DEFINITIONS of what is "an abnormal structure of the body" and corresponding policies, to give them something to point to when they deny. For panniculectomy for example, the apron has to hang past the pubic bone and have rashes that are resistant to treatment over at least 3 months (the latter is a medical necessity standard, but they are using it to "prove" abnormality, at least in initial denials).

And unfortunately, the MoFos who are the IMR reviewers for the DMHC are clearly in cahoots with the insurance companies. They are plastic surgeons who don't want to have to accept low insurance company reimbursements, and they know that the patients will hock their houses to get PS after WLS, so they are denying as much as possible. So the litigation victory was, to some extent, Pyrrhic.

If you want to see how they are applying these standards, go to http://wpso.dmhc.ca.gov/imr/, and put in the term "reconstructive surgery" and click on the Reference ID + sign to read the decisions. Even the ones that say "overturned decision of health plan" often partially maintain the denial, e.g., of some of the procedures requested.