Question:
If you need to have something fixed from a plastic surgery that doesn't look right

like a modification, does insurance cover that. Like if the surgeon makes a booboo and waits to see what things look like post-op, does insurance cover that too? Just curious, I have to wait til swelling goes down before I jump to conclusions. Thanks gang!    — Cinna G. (posted on February 8, 2003)

February 8, 2003
I would also like to know. I had surgery on Feb 3, 2003 and my scar looks horrible. I don't have bad brusing, or a lot of swelling that I can detect. What I see is a deep indent where the scar is, then I have fat that hangs over the scar. It is soft and a lot like the skirt was. It actually looks like someone who had a panni done, then gained like 30 or 40 lbs. I am so distraught from this and would like to know if anyone else see's the same thing from their panny surgery. the doctor didn't do the usuall anchor, I have a W it comes up my side, down to the belly area where it dips then comes up to the belly button, and back down the belly button dipping down to the tummy and back up the side. I have never seen a picture on any plastic surgery site like what I have. I don't have a picture of it yet, still trying to find someone who will be willing to develop a picture of it. If anyone thinks this is unusuall please please email me and let me know. I don't know if this will ever look normal again. Am I disfigured for life???
   — MAGICG9

February 8, 2003
Don't despair if you're surgery was just a week ago! You have all kinds of swelling and settling of the tissues to go through before you have your final result...hopefully your surgeon told you that this could take months, depending on the amount of tissue you had removed. Often, small amounts of remaining fat can be liposuctionsd later to "fine tune" the result. I do this in up to 20% of my patients, and inform them ahead of time of their fianancial responsibility. I do not charge for minor "touch ups" taht can be done in my office, but if it is to be done in a hospital, then they may have charges. Issues such as fluid collections and other "complications" may be covered by some plans. If a patient is very large, or has a LOT of skin, then I tell them to look at their improvement in terms of staged procedures. You simply cannot reverse the way your skian and fat has been for years with just 5 hours of surgery. Doing too much at once is usually not good! Be patient (!) and talk to your doc about the timeline s/he expects for the items you mentioned to improve. JL
   — DrL