Like you I was also a self pay. I used Dr. Yu because he was recommended by my sister's plastic surgeon as a doc who is a good technician and his patients don't have a lot of issues. My sis lives in Houston so it worked out perectly. They want you to stay in town at least a couple of weeks post surgery so I had no problem with that. My recovery has been pretty noneventful so far. . Yu I found to be nice and easy to talk to. He is very realistic about the risks of surgery and does not have a rose colored glasses attitude.We have to do our part.
Anyway prior to surgery he told me it would be one incision in my navel area and maybe one additional one if needed in the left abdominal area. That is what I had. The small one is extremely small (like a puncture) and the navel one is curved (I have an innie navel and its hard to see). I am so glad I decided to go to Houston as I had not come across any docs in the Atlanta area doing the spider and they were al more expensive than Dr. Yu. If you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask.
Oh yeah the office was very accommodating as far as me being from out of town. I had my psych,nutrician, and surgeon appt. on a Thurs. and surgery on Monday. I really appreciated that.