Beverly Hills Breast Reconstruction doctors
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Robin T.W. Yuan, MD
Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon
462 N. Linden Dr Suite 236, Beverly Hills |
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52 answers |
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Leif Liu Rogers, MD
Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon
436 Bedford Drive Suite 104, Beverly Hills |
14 answers | |
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Kevin Brenner, MD
Los Angeles Plastic Surgeon
465 North Roxbury Drive Suite 1001, Beverly Hills |
14 answers | |
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Lisa B. Cassileth, MD
Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon
436 N Bedford Dr Suite 103, Beverly Hills |
7 answers | |
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Andre Panossian, MD
Los Angeles Plastic Surgeon
800 Fairmount Ave #207, Pasadena |
2 answers | |
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Anita Patel, MD
Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon
465 N Roxbury Dr Suite 1001 , Beverly Hills |
2 answers | |
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David S. Rosenberg, MD
Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon
9090 Burton Way, Beverly Hills |
2 answers |
Recent Answers
I had a bilateral mastectomy with tissue expanders this fall. When I asked my plastic surgeon's office manager how much my out-of-pocket cost would be, she replied, "We'll work with your insurance." Now, months later, the billing department is threatening to charge me $25,000 (this is just the surgeon's fee) for the implant exchange surgery because my insurance only paid $10,000 of the $35,000 they submitted. And the initial tissue expanders submission was for $67,000 for which only $11,000.
There is no typical fee as you can find widely different ranges. Medicare, HMO's, and insurance plans have their own fees determined by political and business factors. Individual surgeons have their own fees determined by market forces, reputation, and experience. The fee should be discussed upfront and specifically. "Working with your insurance plan" is not very clear or legally binding I would guess, but the paperwork and consent you signed might be. i would suggest speaking directly to your surgeon with your concerns as most reputable surgeons working with breast cancer patients will not want to put their patients in financially jeopardy. I had a number of patients who owed tens of thousands of dollars pay me a couple of hundred dollars per months for years so as not to put a burden on them.
Robin T.W. Yuan, M.D.
How do medical products like Alloderm aid in breast reconstruction procedures?
1. With tissue expanders
Alloderm is used by many plastic surgeons with tissue expander placement at the time of mastectomy. After the mastectomy, the pectoral muscle is lifted and the Alloderm is placed from the edge of the pec to the bottom of the breast. Generally this means less pain and faster expansion.
2. With implants
Alloderm is used as an "internal bra" to control the position of the implant so that the silicone implant can be placed at the time of mastectomy. This is a GREAT technique - in the right hands. Make sure your plastic surgeon and general or oncologic surgeon are comfortable with this! Generally this reconstruction is performed with nipple or skin sparing mastectomy and is associated with fewer complications and faster recovery. As far as I know perhaps ten surgeons around the country are doing this successfully.
My doctor had to set up separate surgery to repair loss of inframammary fold after surgery to remove expander. He says that sometimes this is necessary. I feel that he should have seen it at time he removed expander and fixed it then so that I would not be charged for another surgery. Please advise
I think the number one question is what is the reason for removing the expander in the first place? Also, how many surgeries were performed prior to the placement of your expander? Was this for breast cancer reconstruction, and if so, did you receive radiation therapy? Typically, when multiple surgeries have already been done, it is best to start from scratch to allow the tissues to heal. This needs to be balanced by the need to keep your current breast volume, which can shrink if is not maintained by another expander or implant. On the other hand, there are sometimes too many variables to control when trying to correct a secondary breast deformity. Elevating the inframammary fold is one of the most difficult tasks to accomplish even as a solo procedure. Adding the weight of another expander or implant may make inframammary fold reconstruction quite difficult and prone to failure. I think in these situations, less is more.
