cost

[bennj51189]

Typically how much does the surgery cost? and my doctor said he can get the insurance to cover one side by calling it a something mass i forget....so how much do u think the one side would be.....and how could i raise the money? im 18 years old and going to study abroad sept 2, how many days of camp would i have to miss, and how long would i not be able to swim for.

[Bolognianips]

Are you saying your insurance will pay for the removal of one gland by a PS or a general surgeon?

I think ideally you could get away with paying less than half.. but that would be up to how your doctor bills it.  If your insurance would pay for a plastic surgeon, it would probably cover consult cost beyond your deductible, and depending on the type of anesthesia they use, would cover that, and the removal of the gland.  Probably the Operating room as well.  The only issue is, how your dr. etc bills.  If your insurance company sees that you had both done, and liposuction, you will probably end up paying the majority, since it obvious that the lipo, and excursion of the other gland would have used the bulk of Surgeons time, Op Room time, anesthesia, and medical equipment.

However, if you were talking about just a general surgeon, the same may apply, but you will not have the option of liposuction, and the gland removal would be a pretty crude one, that is not done with the primary goal to improve appearance.

Hopefully your doctor can help you determine what the cost sharing would be, or if it is even possible or legitimate to "piggyback" an elective procedure.

Regardless, I think you would be looking at at least $3,000 (best case) and at most $7,000 for a PS to do a reasonable job.

As far as swimming, that would depend on what you end up getting done.  You could probably get into the water fairly quickly, but since swimming is all about upper arm movements and stretching you need to make sure you are healed enough to not cause any setbacks in a full recovery.  Judging by this site most people look and feel fairly normal after 6-8 weeks, but who knows how noticeable your scars will be at that point.

If I were you I wouldn't rush it, and just make some better plans etc for when you return.  Sucks I know.. but two months would be cutting it close heeding the fact that you might have a wait a few weeks to schedule your operation.