Dr. Telepun was actually the second Plastic Surgeon that I went to meet. I first went to another, highly advertised, Plastic Surgeon group in my area. They were very nice and professional, but the cost blew me away. I decided not too long after that to COMPARE PRICES and I would highly recommend that you do the same thing before your procedure. The two procedures that I'm ending up doing with Dr. Telepun, a Breast Lift and a Tummy Tuck, cost less TOGETHER (with the hospital the day of, anesthesia, follow-up visits, one night in the hospital and the surgeon) than just ONE of the procedures cost with the other group of doctors.
While we're on the subject of money i know you're dying to know how much it cost. When I was first researching thats really ALL I wanted to know. Well, at Dr. Telepun's office my two procedures TOGETHER with all of that mentioned above, cost me approximately $8,200.00. So if you're just looking for a full abdomnioplasty (aka tummy tuck) its going to be around the 4,500-5,000 mark. They accept Care Credit also which allows you to make payments on your procedures. We took the 6 months no interest option, but there are more options available. They do not, however, take the 12 and 18 months credit option at Dr. Telepun's office because the office charge to them is so high. They have a second option with 23, 36, 48, or 60 month periods, but the APR is 14.90%.
It cost $50.00 to do the consult with the doctor. This seems to be the standard at all plastic surgon offices. Many will allow you to just meet with a nurse at no cost and learn about the procedures. This is, obviously, so there's not a lot of time wasted on clients who are not going to end up doing the procedure and just really wanted to know how much it was going to cost. Many of the surgeons offices will tell you how much a procedure costs if you just call on the phone and ask, however some do require that you come in.
Also, make sure that you bring some paper and a pen ahead of time. They will have things to discuss with you and you'll want to write them down.
Consultation Run Down.
So on the day of the consult (call ahead and make an appointment) I came in the office, signed in, and filled out some paperwork. I was surprised at how little they required compared to the other group, but I found that very refreshing.
After I finished my paperwork I was called back and the nurse who is VERY nice, gave me a paper vest and a cover and told me to remove all clothing except for my underwear. Those vests are oh so sexy, but whatever.
So after I changed the doctor came in and examined me. I wasn't sure if I needed implants or not to look more full on the top, but after the examination he said that I didnt. What they will be doing on me is a Wise Masectomy which is where the excess sagging tissue is essentially shoved back to where it should be, which means no implants, its your own tissue, and then re-sewn to get back to the height it should be. Dr. Telpun took a good deal of time explaining to me that there are different stages that women can progress through ranging from normal to stage 3. Because my children had breastfed more on one side than another it turned out that one breast was at a stage two and the other at a stage three, which means there's just more tissue that will need to be removed (from what I can understand), to get them more even again.
The tummy part has to be the worst. The only thing that makes it manageable for me is 1) knowing he does this all day every day and has seen better and worse, and 2) the knowledge that this will be GONE soon and I wont have to be so insanely self-concious about it. So he lifts up "the flap" of skin, examines that area, checks to see if everything will go well. He then has you lay back and do small sit-ups where you push against his hands as much as possible so that he can examine how loose those muscles actually are. Mine were pretty shredded (I had huge babies and carried them very high) and so he told me that the muscles would need to be sewn back into place, but that no amount of sit ups would ever get them tighter than what he was going to sew them. I started to smile thinking, wow if I could lose some of this chub up top then I could have a little six pack going. lol (thats for ME by the way, not for anybody else. This whole thing's for me. I don't care about impressing a soul I just want to feel good in my own skin!) The muscles being sewn back in is also the part that hurts the most, from what he explained. So I'm not looking forward to that part so much. He also explained that this part he doesn't charge more for, he just does it if it has to be done. That was refreshing also.
He was also very indulging of my very nervous questions. When I'm nervous I talk to much and he answered each and every one without hesitation or signs of irritation and took great pains to explain every step in the procedure and about my body to me.
So after the examination I was sold. The price is good, the Doctor is professional, he seemed to feel good about what he could do for me...SOLD.
So I went directly to "check out" at the assistants window and asked her when I could schedule surgery for. She asked how soon I wanted it and I told her since I was on summer break currently the earlier the better. That was on a Tuesday, my surgery was then scheduled for 14 days later!! Now I can't say that your experience will be like this, but it was a lot faster than I thought it would, but since I need to be recovered by the time school resumes it works perfectly for me.
She asked how I'd be paying and I told her I already had my Care Credit approval and we were all set and we scheduled my Pre-Op appointment for one week later. You can read all about that next appointment by clicking HERE.
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