POSTED UNDER Mommy Makeover REVIEWS
Tummy Tuck and Breast Lift Coming Soon for This Mommy... :) - Danvers, MA
ORIGINAL POST
A little about myself, I am a 31 yr old mom of 3. ...
WORTH IT$8,600
A little about myself, I am a 31 yr old mom of 3. I started my transformation after my daughter was born in 2008 since I let myself get to my heaviest weight (about 270 lbs YIKES!) and started to get depressed. I had always been a big girl and had periods in which my weight dropped and then went back up. I decided to look into having a gastric bypass (roux-en Y) and ended up having my surgery done December 2009. The recovery was not easy, I ended up having a leak and that lead to a bunch of complications that made me question my decision of having that procedure. In the end I do not regret my decision because I lost almost 100 lbs and have drastically changed my lifestyle (especially eating habits) ever since.
Early last year I got pregnant with twin boys (double YIKES!) and although I really did not gain much weight with my pregnancy (about 40lbs), my belly stretched big time and all of the scars I had from my gastric bypass became larger and darker. :( I also have a hanging pannus that makes me look 5 months pregnant if I am not wearing a compression garment...
I met with Dr. Cooper in April and while it was an awkward meeting (I'm sure he's tired of seeing imperfect figures but that didn't make me feel better about stripping lol) I knew I wanted him to do my surgery. :) My primary care sent his office a letter of recommendation to see if my insurance (blue cross blue shield) would cover some of the costs of my procedure and they approved it! (yayy!!!) :)
I figured since I am going under the knife might as well get a breast lift because right now they look like a pair of tube socks with oranges in them lol! Dr. Cooper recommends I get some lipo so he can give my waist some contour when he does the tummy tuck, so I will be having some lipo done on the flanks as well.
All in all I am excited, nervous and anticipating my surgery. My boys are going to be about 6.5 months old when I go in for my surgery so I figured it's better to have it done now while they are smaller and not running all over the place. I will miss holding them for a few weeks but I have a plan to spend time with them during my recovery even though I won't be able to carry them. After the insurance coverage and a promotional discount the office has I will have to pay about $8,600 out of pocket (I'll be saving almost $5k which I am thrilled about!!). I will update soon and post some pre- op pics.
My current weight is 178lbs (I am 5'8") and my bra size is 36D (sometimes I can fit into a C cup, depending the brand). I hope to lose 10 lbs by my surgery date (hopefully more but I am being realistic :) ).
Early last year I got pregnant with twin boys (double YIKES!) and although I really did not gain much weight with my pregnancy (about 40lbs), my belly stretched big time and all of the scars I had from my gastric bypass became larger and darker. :( I also have a hanging pannus that makes me look 5 months pregnant if I am not wearing a compression garment...
I met with Dr. Cooper in April and while it was an awkward meeting (I'm sure he's tired of seeing imperfect figures but that didn't make me feel better about stripping lol) I knew I wanted him to do my surgery. :) My primary care sent his office a letter of recommendation to see if my insurance (blue cross blue shield) would cover some of the costs of my procedure and they approved it! (yayy!!!) :)
I figured since I am going under the knife might as well get a breast lift because right now they look like a pair of tube socks with oranges in them lol! Dr. Cooper recommends I get some lipo so he can give my waist some contour when he does the tummy tuck, so I will be having some lipo done on the flanks as well.
All in all I am excited, nervous and anticipating my surgery. My boys are going to be about 6.5 months old when I go in for my surgery so I figured it's better to have it done now while they are smaller and not running all over the place. I will miss holding them for a few weeks but I have a plan to spend time with them during my recovery even though I won't be able to carry them. After the insurance coverage and a promotional discount the office has I will have to pay about $8,600 out of pocket (I'll be saving almost $5k which I am thrilled about!!). I will update soon and post some pre- op pics.
My current weight is 178lbs (I am 5'8") and my bra size is 36D (sometimes I can fit into a C cup, depending the brand). I hope to lose 10 lbs by my surgery date (hopefully more but I am being realistic :) ).
ladyjay45's provider
UPDATED FROM ladyjay45
16 days pre
pre-op pics...
Here are some pics of the damaged goods. It's funny because as I took the pictures I was laughing at myself because hopefully soon I won't have this terrible looking belly, hubby just looked at me and thought to himself I must be going crazy lol! I can't help it I am just so excited to have this surgery! :-)
I'm still working up the nerve to post pictures of my breast hanging loose lol!
I'm still working up the nerve to post pictures of my breast hanging loose lol!
Replies (10)
May 19, 2013
Hi ladyjay,
You chose a great surgeon and his office is really fantastic. He just performed my lower body lift and arm lift a little over two weeks ago. I'm still very sore but my incision lines already look so nice and he did an amazing job. I'm available if you have any questions :)
-Melissa
May 20, 2013
Melissa, I am so glad to hear that you are pleased with your results, one of the things that I am very concerned about is the incision lines so I hope mine come out nice and thin. I might send you a PM asking you a few questions, thanks!
May 19, 2013
Hi there! Thank you SO much for posting this, I'm looking into the same thing. I'm curious, how did you go about getting your insurance to pay for part of it? And do you know which parts they're covering? I've had two children, one of which I measured much greater than gestational age (at delivery at 36 weeks I measured 48 weeks!) due to diabetes, large baby and an extreme amount of amniotic fluid. I've got documentation in my medical records including life threatening delivery complications due to the abnormally large size. Anyway, I was left with a 3+ finger muscle separation and back problems and am wondering if either of my insurances might cover some. Anything you could tell me would be awesome. Thank you!!
Anna
May 20, 2013
Mommy2boox2,
I suggest you call your insurance company and have them send you information on what is required medically to get coverage for a procedure like a tummy tuck. When I called the rep was really nice and she emailed me a pdf file listing the symptoms that could lead to coverage. In my case i get rashes frequently under the fold where my belly hangs (the pannus also needs to hang a certain amount in order to be eligible), which is one of the symptoms that are eligible for coverage for a panniculectomy. For my policy back pain is also listed as an eligible symptom, so you should deff call your carrier and get that info. Once you have that, you can talk to your primary care to see if you can get a referral for a reconstructive/plastic surgeon and they would send the insurance a proposal (including documentation of your condition) to see if they will cover some of the costs.
I hope this helps, feel free to send me a message with any questions!
May 23, 2013
Ladyjay, just wanted to follow-up--I called both insurances and they BOTH said that if my doc felt it was medically necessary for it to be repaired they would be happy to cover that part of the surgery. I saw my PCP last night for an unrelated matter, had her look at the bulge and she said, yup, that's a hernia! So I'm meeting with a hospital plastic surgeon on 6/12, a private plastic surgeon on 6/13. The hospital one said they did that combo all the time, billed insurance and that the normal bill was around $8400 and insurance typically took off a "few thousand". At the consult they are going to run the code through my insurance so I'll get an exact breakdown.Thank you for the suggestion, it was exceedingly helpful!
May 23, 2013
Mommy2, that's great news! It will be very convenient if your insurance can cover some of the costs because this process is not cheap. Especially if you have a hernia, it's good you have that repaired to avoid future complications. You can use the money you save to buy some new outfits to show off your new bod.. ;-)
May 20, 2013
Thank you for starting your story on RealSelf! Do you have lots of care for you and your children while you're recovering?
Congrats on that awesome weight loss! This is going to be a full on transformation for you and I'm looking forward to following your journey.
Here's a list of supplies you might need for recovery.
Please keep us posted!
May 20, 2013
Angiemcc,
Thank you so much for the wonderful list, it will come in handy when I start getting all the supplies for post surgery. I do have arrangements with several people to cover care for me and my children for post surgery, my husband is going to take a few days off work to help me through the first few days and I also have my mom and nanny to help me out when he goes back to work as well. Hopefully everything will work out, I am more worried about going through the withdrawal of not being able to hold my babies (I read so many stories of women with small children going through that), but it will only be a temporary thing. :)
UPDATED FROM ladyjay45
13 days pre
Online shopping...
I must confess I am an online shopaholic and am going through some serious withdrawal lol! I promised myself not to buy any new clothes until after my procedures because I just wont know what sizes I will need (I currently wear between sz 8/10 and am optimistic those numbers will come down ;) ). I need an intervention...
Replies (6)
May 20, 2013
I'm two days after you! I'm so darned excited its not even funny! I think you will certainly drop some sizes after your TT, so you might want to hold off lol. Thanks for sharing your story!!!
May 21, 2013
lol, I am sure we will not be this excited immediately post op lol! I hope I drop some sizes, that would be fabulous!
June 8, 2013
Newmetime, thank you, I hope I am down some sizes after the swelling goes away. :) Get ready because your surgery will come before you know it!
June 8, 2013
I'm thrilled! I'm not scared in the least, and I'm ready! Yay! Look at you!! You look
Amazing!!!! I'm so happy for you! Keep being positive, and take your time. You will be so happy with your new beautiful body.. Woo hoo! Happy healing! :)
May 23, 2013
Make sure you have lots of help for your boys for at least three weeks it is a lot to try to pick them up in the beginning! Good luck and can't wait to see Your results and on the flat side!
May 23, 2013
4myguiness, thanks I have the care covered, I just hope that i don't get too anxious and adventorous and carry them when I start to feel better because that would just make me take several steps back during recovery. It's so hard though because they are just so darn cute and cuddly lol!
Replies (0)