At the age of 38, I found myself to be a mother of two beautiful girls and a non-active life, weighing over 300lbs and zero self-confidence. I had Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy surgery in August of 2015 to help lose weight to be around for my children and their children. After two years and 169 pounds gone forever, I was left with a mangled, ugly looking body with loose skin in the tummy area. It was gross and sometimes having this hanging loose skin was mentally worse than being fat and overweight.
I started to look for plastic surgeons who were recommended from someone or another. I went to several who offered “free consultations” and I left many times with ink drawn on me and feeling kind of bad for myself because the doctor would make comments about the fat and weight of this loose, hanging, ugly skin. It was horrible. These doctors would also give me the costs of their procedures, even after I asked about help getting the procedure covered through insurance because of side effects and other issues caused by the loose skin. They did not want to deal with insurance. I often left without hope, because I simply knew I could not afford their services.
One day, I changed my route driving to work and rode past the office of Doctor Alan Weiss in Glen Burnie, MD. I saw his sign hanging, advertising his cosmetic procedures he could perform. I continued to ride past his office for weeks until I got up the nerve to call for yet another “free consultation”.
I must be honest, I was expecting another let down and I am so thankful that I did make the call and visit with Dr. Weiss! Not once was there a discussion of his pricing for the procedure. Dr. Weiss took the time to listen to my story and history and I left the appointment feeling a bit optimistic because Dr. Weiss and his office assistant Anna, were contacting my insurance and working with them to get the procedure covered.
After a few hiccups and supplying more info to the insurance company, the abdominoplasty was covered by my insurance and I was called by Dr. Weiss himself to schedule my surgery. Dr. Weiss again, took the time to explain every step of the procedure to me and my husband and what to expect during recovery. Surgery was May 31, 2017 and when this day finally came, I was not the least be worried or scared, simply because I knew what to expect thanks to Dr. Weiss’s thorough explanations and straight to the point answers. Everything Dr. Weiss mentioned to me was dead on. After surgery, I received several calls from Dr. Weiss and Anna, both, checking on me and asking how I was doing.
During recovery, I had a problem with a cream causing extremely itchy, contact burns on my skin. A simple call to Dr. Weiss and I had a prescription called in for me, as he knew exactly what the problem was. Though I am still very in the recovery period, I could not be more pleased with my results! It is only up from here and I have Dr. Weiss to thank for getting my self-confidence, and pre-mom body back! Now to save for the next procedure I would like to have, as Dr. Weiss will be the first one I contact when I am ready.