tcbgirl

I went for my 3rd consults yesterday and I love the doctor. I still have one more consult to go to but out of all 3, I love her the most. She said I need 3 things done, arm lift, inner thigh lift (not the long scar but the scar around my panty) and exxtended tummy tuck. She said she can do all 3 procedures in 4 hours. The total cost will be $19,000. Her fees is about $12,000 and the rest is the surgical room and Anesthesia fees..this is an outpatient and not include hospital stay. She give me a one year for revision if something goes wrong within a year, i don't have to pay anything except if it is major and has to be done in a hospital operating room which I have to pay for the fees. Is this sounds reasonable? BTW, I live in TN. Thank you,

Hi Guys, I have a question about teeth problems after lap band. I was banned on 4/21/09 and have lost about 84 lbs. I have been going for dental cleaning every 6 months since I can remember and I have never had any problems. Well, yesterday I went to have my teeth clean (it has been 8 months because my kids were sick a lot so I have to postpone it) and they do X ray on my teeth and found out I have many teeth decay. I will need to have 5 crowns within this year and 2 filings. The dentist asked me a bunch of questions because he was concern about me. I’ve told him the only thing major happen to me is that I had lap band done. He told me to get my blood check and see if I get enough nutrition. He asked if I take my Vitamins and well, I hit or miss the vitamins, so he thought it might be that. I am going to get my blood check sometimes next week. If you have problems or know anyone that has problem, please advice me on what to do. Thank you very much,

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Sorry for the late reply. I live in Nashville, TN and I have been to 4 surgeons now. The first surgeon is going to do TT with muscle repair, arm life & medial inner thigh lift. He has his own facility but I do not like him because I felt rush and my questions were not answered. Eventhough he is one of the top surgeon in Nashville and has his own facility, if he and I don’t click, it is not going to happen… he quoted me $12,000 total (2 surgeries) (out patient). The second surgeon wants to do belt tummy tuck, arm lift and thigh lift (2 surgeries) (1 day stay in hospital with tummy tuck & thigh lift) Outpatient for arm lift..total $18,000. The 3rd surgeon, whom I love is going to do extended tummy tuck, muscle repair, arm life and inner thigh lift (out patient) total $19,030. The 4th surgeon will send me the quote tomorrow. He also is going to do extended tummy tuck with vaser lipo because I have fat on my hip, arm lift and inner thigh lift (2 surgeries as well) all out patient. BTW, I like him too J Right now I fell lost. I really don’t know what I really need since all 4 said differently about my tummy. Thank you for reading

Dr. Schulman, Hi, I have consulted with 4 plastic surgeons and so far these are what they said: 1)Extended Tummy Tuck (from 2 doctors), A belt tummy tuck (from 1 doctor) and A tummy tuck with vaser lipo by one doctor. 2)Armlift (3 doctors), Mini Arm Lift (by 1 doctor) 3)Inner Thigh lift (horizontal one by 3 doctors) Tell you the truth; right now I am really confused. I love Dr. Haws, she is great; however, she wants me to do 3 things at one time because it will save me quiet a bit of money. The first doctor has his own operating facility, so the price is a lot cheaper than the doctor that I like; however, I felt rush when I have the consult with him and well first impression matters too. The doctor that I love said that she thinks I need an extended tummy tuck with muscle repaired, arm lift (hid the scar one since I do not heal well at all) with the use of silicone tape, and an inner thigh lift. Can you recommend a great doctor in or around Nashville, TN? Thank you very much,

Well, I've not been here for about 2 weeks since my 3 little monkeys were so sick. Andy had a bad case of colds, Austin had pneumonia and Aaron had croup ahhhhhhhhhhh. They are all better now though yippeee! My insurance person just email me and said she submitted everything to Cigna. I was floored and mad because I suppose to give her my 5 year weight history tomorrow. She said I just wanna know if it flies without the weight history. What was she thinking???? She said she got the letter from my pcp today, so she decided to do it. :w00t: My BMI is 40.1 and the past 4 years was 35 -39.9. I just found out that I had sleep apnea and that is the only co modity that I have. I know they are going to reject it now since they required 5 year weight history. Ohhhhh I am so mad at her right now. I have started this prcess since June and hope to get everything together and file so I will have a better chance. Do you think I can still submit my weight history tomorrow? I'll let you all know what happen. Thanks, Alisa

I had that happened to me about 2 months ago. I went to the doctor and he said my esophagus is very irritate and swollen. Everytime, I eat or drink, I will have sharp pain and lots of gurgling sounds too. He put me on Prevacid and let me stay on liquid and mushy food for a while. It took about 2 weeks and I feel normal again. I also suffering the same thing as we speak because of the bronchitis thing that I am having. I am going to do the same thing and see what happens.

Count me in! I will be banded 1 year on 4/21 or Cinco De Mayo is close enough to my bandniverasy. I would like to be at goal (my personal goal) by then.

I am having a hard time to figure out what should I weigh. I looked at BMI chart and cannot imagine I weigh that little. Right now I am hovering around 150 -152 lbs. My goal is to weigh around 140 lbs; however, according to BMI chart, I am still overweight. By the way, I am 5”2’. Thanks,

I reached my goal the first time hip hip hooray! Next challenge here I come!

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. I can relate is so many things too especially head hunger and exercise. When the doctor and the nurse asked me how I did it, I told them I just carefully picked my food...I can explain to them either how I lost the weight. When I went on a vacation oversea for almost 6 weeks, I just eat what is available and still lose some. I love my band because if I did not have it, I will probably gain at least 10 lbs on my vacation. Good job on your weight loss and happy bandniversary.

The 1st PS said, I need Tummy Tuck and Arm Lift. The 2nd PS said I need Belt Tummy Tuck, partial arm lift and partial inner thighs lift. I have my 3rd consult next month and if he said something different, how do I know what I really need? Thanks,

Thank you everyone for the advice. I know I really need the arms done because I cannot even wear short sleeves without seeing my skin hanging out. As for my thighs I know lipo won't work because my skins are too loose. However, the tummy thing I don't know whether to get extended tummy tuck or belt tummy tuck. Here is the price for both consults. 1st PS - Arm & Tummy Tuck - $11,000 (out patient) Thighs Lift - $4000 2nd PS - Thigh lift & Belt Tummy Tuck (all around tuck) - $14,000 with an overnight stay at the hospital. Arm lifts alone - $4,500-$5,000. (out patient) I have another consults next month and I will post the price quote when I found out. I wish I could post my tummy pictures somewhere and ask the one that have done it to see what I really need. Thanks,

Keith, I just went to consult with the PS this week. I’ve lost 80 lbs so far; however, I still need to lose about 10-15 lbs. The PS said I will need a belt tummy tuck, arm lift and inner thigh lift. He said he all that should remove about 5- 10 lbs and you probably will lose more since you won’t have an appetite for the first week or two. Great job on your weightloss!

I just went to consult with another doctor this week. Remember the first one that refused to answer my questions and made me feel rushed. Well, this one is totally different. He took time talking to me and listened to what I need and gave his opinion. Well, the first one said I need tummy tuck and arm lift. This NEW doctor said tummy tuck alone with yield bad results on me because I have a lot of skins on my hips. He said I need belt tummy tuck (when they cut you all around). He also said I need a little tuck for my inner thighs and a mini arm lift (doe not cut long to elbow). He also said to do the tummy and legs first then come back in 6 months an do the arms. The price is a lot higher but it is because I have to do it in the hospital and stay overnight. He agreed that with my skin type (Asian American), I am a slow healer and tend to get keloids, so 2 weeks after surgery, he has to put silicone strips on the incision. The only thing he does not do is pain pumps. I have another consultant next month; will see what this one said. For anyone that has belt tummy tuck, was it super painful? Thanks,

I am a full time mom to 3 fantastic boys ages 5, almost 4 and 2. I am a wife to my wonderfully husband of 9 years. I am also working full time as an Insurance Analyst for the State. Basically, I audit and regulate Life & Health insurance companies (Cigna, BCBS and etc) to protect them and policyholder at the same time. I am thinking about going back to become an RN though but with 3 little ones, I am not sure if it is the right time.

Good job on your weight loss everyone! Band_Groupie..good job on your weight loss and congrats on being NORMAL :-) I have 2 lbs to go; however, I have to fight my head hunger first. Before band, I normally don't like sweets or chips; however, after band that is all I want. It does not help when you not at your sweet spot yet too. I am going to call in and see if I can get a fill because the last time I got only 0.1 cc due to tightness why on my cycle.

My band has been working fine up until I threw up due to food stuck last night (4 times from the same stuck). After that, I had these gurgling sounds and kept burping. Burping is not normal for me since after band, I hardly burp anymore. This morning, I still have the gurgling sounds, burping and when I try drinking warm tea, my chest hurts so badly. Has this ever happen to you after throw up? I phone the doctor and I am still waiting for someone to call me back. Thanks,

I weigh myself everyday too so I know what I eat and do the day before was right. If I gain, I'll try to see what triggers it. This way, I can fix it before it is too late :-)

For me, nothing taste good except Low Carb Slim Fast.

I had what the doctor thought was sinus infection before surgery and the doctor postpone the surgery by 2 weeks. Well, after 2 weeks was up, I still had head cold; however, after the anesthesiologist checked me he said it was ok to do surgery. Everything went well with my surgery. Good luck for tomorrow!

Thank you so much for answering my questions. I felt better today but I am still on liquid diet and tomorrow, I am going to try mushy food. Yesterday was kind of hard for me because I ran out off Slim Fast (I bought 2 big cases from Sams in November). I went to the grocery store and to my surprise, they pull Slim Fast off the shelves for now due to bacteria contamination. I've tried Atkins but it was horrid, so I dump it all. I cannot wait till Slim Fast is back on the shelves. Thanks again,

First week, 2 low carb Slim Fast and 1 low carb tv dinner (the doctor gave me a list). In between that if I am hungry, I can have SF Jello, SF pudding, SF popsicle, all SF drink except sodas. 2nd week- liquid only, so I had 4-5 low carb Slim Fast drink and other SF liquid drinks. I've lost total of 21 lbs.

Hi, When did you guys starting to consult with PS? My band date was 4/24/09, starting at 231 lbs and right now I am at 155lbs. I have a lot of hanging skins and I know surgery is the only way to get rid of it. My goal is to be around 140lbs even if it is not a normal BMI (I am on 5’2”) but I think it is a healthy weight for me. When should I consult with the PS? I know the PS won’t operate on you until you can keep your weight off for 6 months. Thanks,

wannabethinagain- my husband said the same thing and stay away from this guy. I felt bad because I had high hope since 3 of my co workers had work done from him plus I am out $150. My husband said it is worth $159 because I found out for myself how he is and since I have doubt and my gut feeling said not to do with him. I went to get my fill today since the last one was 4 months ago and I am so hungry all the time; however, the doctor can only out 0.1 in since my cycle start and it made me super tight. Oh well, I get to talk to him about this doctor though. He gave me 2 other doctors name that he had known for a long time. He said he understands my concern and whether the doctor is top ten surgeon in the world, if patient and doctor does not click, it is not good. I'll update again when I get to see the other surgeons. Thanks,