Hello hello! I am home from my plastics operation and let me tell you a little about it. I was very curious, and still am, about other's journeys so I'll tell you what I can.
I will be 3 years post op October 8th. My starting weight was 282 and the day of vsg surgery I was 141. I quit smoking a few weeks before PS surgery. I chose Dr Joesph Capella in NJ even though I'm Tennessee. My insurance, BCBS of TN covered the tummy tuck portion because my stomach hung down further than my pelvic bone. I have not been reimbursed as of yet for the surgeons portion however Dr Capella's staff did file my insurance and they paid for my anesthesia, operating room, and hospital stay. I had to cover all the surgeons fees, to stay an extra week (stayed 10 days) past surgery date, flights to and from for my mom and I, hotel, food, rental car. I also had to pay for a mammogram, ekg, chest xray, physical, blood work and put down 2k for the surgeon's office to be filed. I had prepared for insurance not to cover me and my quote w/o all the extras was 19k. I had only planned on having the LBL portion until insurance came through and i knew it was the only chance i had to get everything with insurance paying a big bulk of hospital expenses. If you would like a quote from Dr Capella call his office and send in pics. They are great to work with. That is about all I have to say about the cost of it. Each person is different so telling you exactly what I paid wouldn't help.
So I flew in on a Monday morning,had my preop appointment where Dr Capella went over everything in detail. He's a very warm man with TONS of experience. He pulled up bodies that look like mine, told me what to expect, and what the complications might be for each part. How to take care of it and showed me what I would look like. I took photos and signed paper work. Then that night went out with a friend to NYC. The next morning went to the hospital Hackensack, which was AMAZING in everyway. I got marked up, weighed, bp, all that good stuff. Wiped down with iodine and then I fell asleep from too hard of partying on the surgery table before they even pumped me full of stuff. Woke up bandaged in a room with leg compression on. Slept a lot, liquid diet, drugs, sleep, drugs, sleep. The next day I had an ultrasound on my legs to check for clots, cath out, walking time. I was VERY hunched over and it was hard to walk at first. I was transfered to an after care place which is basically a nursing home later that day. Dr Capella came in and took all my bandages off. I had 4 drains in. Said no more binder/bra needed. That place wasn't bad wasn't great. The next day my Mom flew in and we checked out of there and went to the hotel. Over the next week I slept a lot, walked, was babied and even went shopping a few times. Did blood thinners starting 3 days post op for 7 days.
1 week check up had two drains out and said my good byes. Stayed in the hotel 3 more days. Was told when the drains were less than 30 ccs/24 hours I could take them out. Removed one of my drains the day we left. Flew home. The drive from Nash to Knox was a pita. I had wheelchair assistance from the layover but the whole day exausted and drained me. Got home and the next day one drain site where it went in my body was putting out yellow puss. Called the Dr on July 4th, he called back, sent pics,he said to pull it. He's very responsive which I love.
So here I am. I love my little cupcake boobies. I'm probably an A/B now which means no more shoulder pain, no more rashes. My tummy is swollen but I haven't had lower back pain and my arms have been a breeze. My Mons was lifted (bye bye rashes there too) He cut off 7lbs lipoed (on arms) 2lbs. I'm still at 141 from the swelling but I expect to be at 135 and to maintain it.
I can't start dancing, working out, or having sex until the 6 week mark. I'm so ready to start ab work and get my thighs built up since they are the only saggy thing left. Even the lbl helped pull those up on the outsides and a tiny bit on the insides too.
I haven't started scar therapy yet but I hope to start silicone treatment soon. I'm broke broke broke after some extra expenses in NJ so clothes/scar treatment will have to wait for a while. I really was down to the penny (seriously, no exaggeration) to get this done but I'm so happy with the results thus far. I know about now is when people have sutures that start popping open so I'm just hoping that's not me. My appetite isn't all the way back but i'm trying to eat healthy.
In the future I might go back and get a small implant but I have a lot of saving to do and dental work plus expenses to pay back before I can consider that. Dr Capella will put my implants in without charging me a surgeon's fee as he does breastlift/implants in two stages and any revision work w/o a fee but i pay hospital fees/anesthesia fees/cost of implant. If you do contact him tell him I sent ya. I do not get any money for posting this or promoting him but maybe if enough ppl are sent his way he will cut me some money off the implants (one can dream huh?) http://www.capellaplasticsurgery.net/
I cannot wait to be able to save enough to buy a bra from victoria's secret. I've never been able to own a matching set from there. That was one of my goals pre-weight loss that i couldn't fill even after losing my weight because my boobies were just skin and wouldn't sit right in those bras. That is my final goal that I had before starting my journey and I can't wait to complete it! Other than that I don't HAVE to wear a bra anymore... how freeeeeeeing!
Hello hello! I am home from my plastics operation and let me tell you a little about it. I was very curious, and still am, about other's journeys so I'll tell you what I can.
I will be 3 years post op October 8th. My starting weight was 282 and the day of vsg surgery I was 141. I quit smoking a few weeks before PS surgery. I chose Dr Joesph Capella in NJ even though I'm Tennessee. My insurance, BCBS of TN covered the tummy tuck portion because my stomach hung down further than my pelvic bone. I have not been reimbursed as of yet for the surgeons portion however Dr Capella's staff did file my insurance and they paid for my anesthesia, operating room, and hospital stay. I had to cover all the surgeons fees, to stay an extra week (stayed 10 days) past surgery date, flights to and from for my mom and I, hotel, food, rental car. I also had to pay for a mammogram, ekg, chest xray, physical, blood work and put down 2k for the surgeon's office to be filed. I had prepared for insurance not to cover me and my quote w/o all the extras was 19k. I had only planned on having the LBL portion until insurance came through and i knew it was the only chance i had to get everything with insurance paying a big bulk of hospital expenses. If you would like a quote from Dr Capella call his office and send in pics. They are great to work with. That is about all I have to say about the cost of it. Each person is different so telling you exactly what I paid wouldn't help.
So I flew in on a Monday morning,had my preop appointment where Dr Capella went over everything in detail. He's a very warm man with TONS of experience. He pulled up bodies that look like mine, told me what to expect, and what the complications might be for each part. How to take care of it and showed me what I would look like. I took photos and signed paper work. Then that night went out with a friend to NYC. The next morning went to the hospital Hackensack, which was AMAZING in everyway. I got marked up, weighed, bp, all that good stuff. Wiped down with iodine and then I fell asleep from too hard of partying on the surgery table before they even pumped me full of stuff. Woke up bandaged in a room with leg compression on. Slept a lot, liquid diet, drugs, sleep, drugs, sleep. The next day I had an ultrasound on my legs to check for clots, cath out, walking time. I was VERY hunched over and it was hard to walk at first. I was transfered to an after care place which is basically a nursing home later that day. Dr Capella came in and took all my bandages off. I had 4 drains in. Said no more binder/bra needed. That place wasn't bad wasn't great. The next day my Mom flew in and we checked out of there and went to the hotel. Over the next week I slept a lot, walked, was babied and even went shopping a few times. Did blood thinners starting 3 days post op for 7 days.
1 week check up had two drains out and said my good byes. Stayed in the hotel 3 more days. Was told when the drains were less than 30 ccs/24 hours I could take them out. Removed one of my drains the day we left. Flew home. The drive from Nash to Knox was a pita. I had wheelchair assistance from the layover but the whole day exausted and drained me. Got home and the next day one drain site where it went in my body was putting out yellow puss. Called the Dr on July 4th, he called back, sent pics,he said to pull it. He's very responsive which I love.
So here I am. I love my little cupcake boobies. I'm probably an A/B now which means no more shoulder pain, no more rashes. My tummy is swollen but I haven't had lower back pain and my arms have been a breeze. My Mons was lifted (bye bye rashes there too) He cut off 7lbs lipoed (on arms) 2lbs. I'm still at 141 from the swelling but I expect to be at 135 and to maintain it.
I can't start dancing, working out, or having sex until the 6 week mark. I'm so ready to start ab work and get my thighs built up since they are the only saggy thing left. Even the lbl helped pull those up on the outsides and a tiny bit on the insides too.
I haven't started scar therapy yet but I hope to start silicone treatment soon. I'm broke broke broke after some extra expenses in NJ so clothes/scar treatment will have to wait for a while. I really was down to the penny (seriously, no exaggeration) to get this done but I'm so happy with the results thus far. I know about now is when people have sutures that start popping open so I'm just hoping that's not me. My appetite isn't all the way back but i'm trying to eat healthy.
In the future I might go back and get a small implant but I have a lot of saving to do and dental work plus expenses to pay back before I can consider that. Dr Capella will put my implants in without charging me a surgeon's fee as he does breastlift/implants in two stages and any revision work w/o a fee but i pay hospital fees/anesthesia fees/cost of implant. If you do contact him tell him I sent ya. I do not get any money for posting this or promoting him but maybe if enough ppl are sent his way he will cut me some money off the implants
(one can dream huh?) http://www.capellaplasticsurgery.net/
I cannot wait to be able to save enough to buy a bra from victoria's secret. I've never been able to own a matching set from there. That was one of my goals pre-weight loss that i couldn't fill even after losing my weight because my boobies were just skin and wouldn't sit right in those bras. That is my final goal that I had before starting my journey and I can't wait to complete it! Other than that I don't HAVE to wear a bra anymore... how freeeeeeeing!
If you have any questions ask away!!