Last week I had a consultation with the plastic surgeon. I want to have skin removal on my stomach, tummy tuck, arms, breasts, and thighs done. He wanted to focus on what he thought would make the biggest difference and what would be partially covered by insurance, which is the stomach. He wants to do a panniculectomy (skin removal) with extended abdominoplasty (tummy tuck/muscle tightening) and belt lipectomy (lower body lift). Basically I will be cut both horizontally and vertically, and tightened and lifted. Trust me, I need all of this. I am hoping to have it done this summer.

So here are some things that people asked me about -

Cost - approximately $20,000 without insurance. I was told my insurance would cover $8,000 to $10,000 and I would have to cover the rest. I am currently waiting for the insurance approval. The insurance covers skin removal only. They said occasionally it's denied, but usually with an appeal it gets approved.

Recovery - The surgeon said he had a tummy tuck and he went back to work after a week, but took it easy. He said I can resume exercise (excluding abdominal exercise) after two weeks. Drains have to stay in for about 4 weeks. They want you up and walking around as soon as possible.

Scarring - there will be scars, but the sutures are under the skin so the scars won't be as bad as some scars, and he said mine would heal fine. He also said that the surgery will eliminate a lot of my stretch marks.

Other information -

Skin removal on my arms - surgeon said normally he would have to do liposuction first but he won't have to in my case. The arm surgery also removes the overhang that some of us ladies have when we wear a bra. I plan to do this surgery as soon as I can after the stomach surgery.

Skin removal on thighs - surgeon said he would have to do liposuction in advance of this surgery and some will have to be done during the surgery. He said I could have the lipo on my thighs before the stomach surgery if I want to and I might just do that.

Fat transfer - I asked the surgeon if he could do fat transfer to my breasts and he said that it really doesn't give the desired effect. He said I would do better with lift/implants. They do fat transfer to plump up the face sometimes.

Weight of excess skin - he said usually he removes 5-10 lbs of skin during this surgery, but I might have more than that, and he said after the surgery many of his patients also end up losing about another 5 lbs.

I am sure I left out some things, if I remember, I will add them! It was a pretty interesting consultation though!