siouxmac

Starting to Feel Nervous About Results...

Thank you all so much for your various comments - your insights have been invaluable to me. I ultimately went for both a second opinion and a legal consultation. My PS maintains that he tightened my abdominal muscles all the way up to my breastbone, so in his eyes he performed a 'full' tummy tuck. It is patently obvious that I didn't receive a full TT, but I stand nothing to gain by accusing my PS of lying. The second opinion I received (which cost $150) was that my original surgeon didn't perform a full tummy tuck, so that wasn't particularly helpful. My subsequent meeting with an attorney was an eye opener - he basically said that malpractice insurers don't settle until they've forced you into court, eaten up years of your life, ridiculed you for your vanity, and cost you thousands and thousands of dollars on expert opinions, etc. That's not what I want at all. As it stands now, my PS is performing revision surgery on me on March 31st. I will not have to pay his fees, but I do have to pay for all of the hospital fees, which total approximately $3,000. This absolutely infuriates me, but I don't feel that I have a choice. He holds all of the cards in this situation, unfortunately. Why my surgeon would want a client out there who is extremely unhappy (i.e., me) just to save himself $3,000 is a mystery to me, because I will have nothing complimentary to say about him when all is said and done, and we all know how quickly word spreads. Very short-sighted of him, in my opinion. If this were a matter of him tweaking something that I was marginally unhappy with, okay, I would get that. Sadly for me, this is not a matter of tweaking, my stomach is unsightly and botched by anyone's standards. For me to have to undergo a SECOND surgery, with all of the attendant risks and downtime, AND pay for it - well, let's just say that I am beyond pissed. My surgeon could have almost completely ameliorated my upset by paying for the hospital fees out of the over-$15,000 I paid him last June. In any case, please, all of you, think good and healing thoughts for me on the 31st! I want nothing more than to simply move on (with a nice, flat abdomen, preferably)when this is finally over! Thanks again!

Hello again! Mother of 5 - I love your 'be as firm as your desired abs' advice! Thanks for your comments. Dr. Shah - I believe my PS DID 'float' my belly button down without cutting around it. He was able to do that because according to him, it 'sat high' to begin with. I'm curious why he would do that if it wouldn't ultimately produce an attractive result? Also, I am not a smoker and I was not trying to avoid the full TT procedure. I was fully aware of the likely results of the TT, including the extent of the scarring. It seems that now I have both a nasty scar (replete with dog ear) AND a saggy abdomen! As it stands now, money is an issue, and I'm afraid that involving a second opinion would end up costing me thousands of dollars more. I also understand that having the surgeon that did a poor job initially now perform any revisions is a big risk, as well. This is my conundrum! I definitely feel like I'm between a rock and a hard place. My second laser tightening session is on Monday, January 5th - any suggestions on how I should handle voicing my displeasure with my PS? I'm loathe to make him defensive! Again, thank you all for your insights.

To the various physicians who were kind enough to respond to my original posting, thank you very much! I'm afraid in my attempt to keep my question as brief as possible, I may not have been as clear as I could have been about the details of my experience. A couple of clarifications: 1. I am 43 years old and have had three full-term pregnancies. 2. I did not voice any opinion about the length of any scar or scarring around my bellybutton to my PS prior to my surgery. I knew what the results of a full TT would likely look like,including the attendant scarring, and that's what I asked for. 3. It seems that all of you agree that it appears as though only a mini-tummytuck was performed. My agreement with my PS was for a FULL tummytuck, and I paid for a full tummytuck (listed on invoice as 'abdominoplasty - $4,995.00'). Is it usual for a surgeon to unilaterally decide to change the type of surgery he performs DURING the actual procedure? He also continues to maintain that I had a 'full tummytuck', although when I asked him to show me how high up on my abdomen he had stitched (internally), he was very vague. 4. My surgeon never said my original belly button was 'too high.' Rather, he explained to me after the surgery that he hadn't needed to construct a new umbilicus for me because my original navel sat 'high' to begin with, thus allowing him to stretch it downward without it ending up TOO low. Does that make sense? When he told me that, I got the distinct impression that he wanted thanks for having had the creativity and foresight to preserve my original belly button. 5. I am not a few days post-revision. I am six months out from my original surgery and have not had any revision. My PS's assistant has performed one laser tightening treatment on my upper abdominal area, with another scheduled for late January. The 'revision' word has not been uttered by either of us, although it is rapidly becoming the proverbial elephant in the room as far as I'm concerned! So, those are a few of the details I wanted to clarify, although I apologize for the numbered list - it seems so confrontational in that format, somehow! I certainly do not intend it in that spirit. My question is, how do I proceed? I feel that he should perform a revision at no cost to me, and sooner rather than later so that a second summer isn't spent in swollen discomfort. Is this a ridiculous expectation, and if not, how do I ask for a revision without making him completely defensive? I have soft-pedaled my displeasure up until this point, not wanting to alienate him or make our relationship at all adversarial. My fear is that as soon as I ask to see my operative notes or pose any truly hard questions, he will shut down. Any and all thoughts, comments, or insights would be extremely appreciated, and again, my sincere thanks for the informative answers you provided previously!

Hi, Libraldy and aphreal - thanks so much for your comments and support! Libraldy, no I did not get lipo on my stomach, and yes, I wore a compression garment even beyond the timeframe my PS recommended. More and more, I believe that my PS gave me a mini-tummytuck (for unknown reasons), but charged me for a full tummytuck. He continues to maintain that I had a full tummytuck. My next step will be to ask for copies of my operative notes, but I know that the minute I do that, his hackles will be up. I must admit, the prospect of fighting with him over this is a daunting one. Thanks again for your kind words!