42 - Breast Reduction, Tummy Tuck & Liposuction Oh My! - Atlanta, GA

I've wanted the breast reduction since I was 16. I am currently a 36 HH and I've suffered 2 slipped disks in in the last 5 years (one in the lumbar region and one in the neck). I had it approved by United Healthcare in 2007 but opted not to do it then because I wanted to do a tummy tuck at the same time and my ex-husband and I were renovating our house (which we ultimately had to short sale after we split in 2008 so yes, I am still kicking myself). Last time I ran it by the insurance (about 2 years ago, still United Healthcare) they denied it, but I didn't fight. It just wasn't a huge priority at that moment.

Husband has planted the seed that we should try to get it done before the end of the year because our oldest needs some surgery (nothing major, but $$$ all the same) in December and we can really save on the deductibles. That is assuming that UHC will cover the breast reduction. The second slipped disk was since the last time I tried. We are on cobra now so we could change, I've heard BCBS is better about it but we'll see.

I will definitely do the tummy tuck at the same time. So excited about my first consultation, I feel like I should do at least 3. Still undecided on the other two surgeons. Didn't have a great feeling from the last one I consulted with and she wasn't willing to go to bat for me with the insurance so I've ruled her out for now even though she is top rated on this site.

I have a lot of mixed feelings, I want to skip ahead to 6 months post op! I know I can't though. I recently had lasik with great results and I was terrified of that too, not the same but I'm glad I took the risk there so it helps me conceptualize this too.

Thanks for all the folks who have posted detailed journeys on here!

I've got a consultation set for August 20, I can't wait!

Ok, this is taking some courage but here are two "before" pics. I'll have to work up to posting the girls in their natural state! They are larger (and much saggier....nipples, meet belly button. Oh wait, ya'll are already acquainted aren't you?) than they look in this sports bra. This was the first week I began working with a personal trainer and changed my eating habits. He suggested I pull out an old pair of favorite jeans that I loved but could no longer wear and then try them on again every 2 weeks instead of focusing totally on the scale. Those are the jeans I attempted to squeeze into for this picture. I'm overdue to try them on again but I'm scared. I've only lost 2.4 lbs so far but I know I shouldn't focus totally on the scale. When I got married 4 years ago I was 20 lbs lighter than I am now (and I actually wore those jeans comfortably the weekend of my wedding), I want to get at least that far before surgery. I could stand to lose another 20 on top of that, I was pretty happy with my body (other than my boobs) when I was 40 lbs lighter but I haven't been that small since before my son was born 13 + years ago!

So I've been meeting with the personal trainer 3 days a week at my house. The first two weeks I was really good about doing my homework cardio on the days he didn't come (for 5 days / week total) but this past week I totally failed. I'm juggling two jobs right now and I didn't make the workouts a high enough priority. That's what I love about having the trainer though, even if I get slack I know he will be at my door at least 3 days a week and I don't have the balls to refuse him to his face! :-)

I know how to eat right. Years ago, before I got pregnant, I even worked for Jenny Craig! I also used to work out a lot around the time of my divorce until I blew out my first disc in my back from running with my behemoth boobs. But in the last year I had gotten really bad about food. Lots of stress from work, my husband and I bought a business (we are both now self employed) which was a really stressful process etc. etc. yada yada yada. Now we have 3 overweight teenagers and we've both put on 20 lbs since we said our "I do's", most of it in the last 12-18 months.

So, if I want to do the surgery before the end of the year, I've got my work cut out for me. My 41 year old body is giving me some hell about it and my husband keeps eating candy, burritos and fries in front of me but what the hell, I'm not doing this for him anyway, there is some satisfaction in feeling morally superior at the dinner table!

The recovery stories I've been reading seem so much more positive for the folks who were working out and had lost a decent amount of weight before their surgery. I'm so scared of recovery, I'm a baby, I want to set myself up to make it as easy as possible!

I think I've found the second surgeon I want to set up a consult with, I'll call him tomorrow. Anyone have any good lists of questions for prospective surgeons they'd care to share?
TIA!

So I have three consults scheduled now, one on August 20, one on August 29 and then the third one they asked me a lot more questions over the phone and scheduled me for October 7. I had said I wanted to do the surgery in December and she let me know that if the insurance approves the breast surgery there will be a 90 day window within which they will require me to complete the surgery. I'm going to go ahead and keep the earlier consults but with the understanding I may need to update them closer to October before they submit my insurance information. I hate having to wait so long to know whether insurance is an option or not though!

How have other people's experiences been with getting the breast reduction covered by insurance?