{ I must be blunt: First of all, I do not support the idea of flying across the world to India for elective surgery. It is neither feasible, nor advisable. This is not the same as even flying to Mexico where there are quick daily flights from most major cities in the US. India is literally a world away - and I guess I'm just finding these spammy posts for Indian surgery to be repetitive. JMHO.}
To The
Original Poster:
1. You mentioned being 13# from your goal weight. That's within a reasonable range to consider an Abdominoplasty or Tummy Tuck (TT).
Now is the time to start researching, consulting, making appointments, etc. I just had my TT in December within 18# of my goal weight (and I'm still 16# from goal, LOL) and both my WLS doc and my Plastic Surgeon thought that was within a workable range of my goal - to have get a TT.
But just to reiterate what other posters have responded, you will
NOT lose weight from a Tummy Tuck. Neither Abdominoplasty/Tummy Tuck Surgeries nor Liposuction are going to generally result in any weight loss.
You might lose clothes sizes (sometimes the sizes don't change either) or not, but you will definitely see a difference in how your clothes fit. But not only will you not usually lose weight, but initially you may well see temporary
gain on the scale while your body heals from this complex surgery. It's common to initially gain pounds from fluid retention and swelling from the procedure. Most patients do not lose weight overall.
2. Now you mentioned possible options for paying for the Tuck. I also believe that you will probably not save overall in having your surgery abroad unless you are in an area with limited plastic surgery surgeons and facilities. Most of my friends who succeeded best with surgery abroad were Flight Attendants, Airline employees or others who were reasonably certain they could have quick, easy access to their surgeons if need be.
I think another option is to consider whether your excess skin or other abdominal/medical issues might lead you to have your surgery paid for in total or partially by insurance. Hernias, Excess Skin, Large Amounts of Weight Loss and other conditions can be reasons for insurance to approve reconstructive [ notice I didn't say Cosmetic :rolleyes ] surgery.
I worked at an insurance company to learn all I could about approvals, coverage and claims and I write about the process in my blog all the time.
(Hopefully I can use this knowledge against the insurance company in the future - it's a fascinating but sometimes frustrating process, really.)
So people ask me a lot about whether they can get insurance approval for Abdominoplasty, Panniculectomy, or Lower Body Lift surgeries. With some good research and documentation, these surgeries can be covered.
As I get asked about it a lot, I put in a page on my blog about some ideas and suggestions for getting the insurance company to pay for these surgeries.
Maybe you'll get an idea or two (this is just a page on my personal blog)
The link is:
http://www.newsho.zoomshare.com/2.html
Hope this helps!
Happy Band (And Life) Journeys To All...
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