Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi all...

3-weeks post op LeFort I 3-piece upper jaw surgery. I'm feeling damn near back to normal. Still have some swelling/numbness, doc said that's normal.

Had an appointment yesterday at my OS. He said everything looks great! Changed my bands, said my bite is almost where they want it. On schedule to get my splint out in 3 more weeks.

Diet plan is going much better, I've found things other than soup that I can eat.

And now for the BEST NEWS!!

Pre surgery my OS submitted the estimate to my insurance co. Insurance said they paid 100% for that procedure, but it appeared the cost exceeded what they paid. The estimate was for $8900. I contacted my ins. co. to find out how much of that they would pay. They sent me a letter saying my out of pocket costs would be approx. $2800. I had to pay that up front to my OS before surgery.

Fast foward to yesterday....secretary at my OS said that the Ins. co. sent a cheque for the full amount!! I got home and in the mail were the copies from my insurance company. They paid the full $8900. I'm getting my $2800 back.

My insurance company ROCKS!!

spartanfan72, my understanding is that that $8900 was for the surgical fees for the surgeon only. Did you stay at the hospital at all? If you did, in addition to that $8900, your insurance probably paid for the hospital stay which can run up to $25000/night (yes, 25 thousand) depending on what hospital and which city. Right? At least, that's what I was told by my surgeon even though my surgery is still 1 year away. By the way, who is your insurance carrier?

Did your surgeon explain to you why LeFort I 3-pieces? Why not 1, 2 or 4 pieces for instant? Did you have open bite to begin with? In any case, glad to hear to have a fast recovery.

OneGuy wrote:spartanfan72, my understanding is that that $8900 was for the surgical fees for the surgeon only. Did you stay at the hospital at all? If you did, in addition to that $8900, your insurance probably paid for the hospital stay which can run up to $25000/night (yes, 25 thousand) depending on what hospital and which city. Right? At least, that's what I was told by my surgeon even though my surgery is still 1 year away. By the way, who is your insurance carrier?

Did your surgeon explain to you why LeFort I 3-pieces? Why not 1, 2 or 4 pieces for instant? Did you have open bite to begin with? In any case, glad to hear to have a fast recovery.

I don't know what the hospital bill was...the insurance company pre-approved that for 100% before surgery (it was a participating hospital on their list).

The $8900 was for the surgery, assist. surgeon, & anesthesia.

The LeFort I 3-piece was done because in addition to an underbite, my jaw was too narrow. They had to widen it and the surgeon felt the 3-piece was the best way to do that. He said after surgery that it was more narrow than they had thought and they widened it as far as they possibly could. I had a slight open bite, underbite, and crossbite. They had to widen, rotate and move my upper jaw forward.

Well talk about pennies from heaven!!!!! How awesome is that? Perhaps you all deserve a vacation???? (I love spending other peoples' money !)

So glad to hear you are feeling near normal now!!! That is great. Are you feeling up to normal more physically strenuous activities?

Any especially interesting food discoveries?

Andantae wrote:

Well talk about pennies from heaven!!!!! How awesome is that? Perhaps you all deserve a vacation???? (I love spending other peoples' money !)

So glad to hear you are feeling near normal now!!! That is great. Are you feeling up to normal more physically strenuous activities?

Any especially interesting food discoveries?

Feeling pretty close to normal strenuous activities. Still don't quite have my endurance back yet. Just started working out again, still taking it a little slow.

Nothing too interesting in the food department...it's just that I finally realized that I could eat things other than soup.

Had homemade chicken & dumplings the other day....MMMMMMMMMM.
I just mashed it up with a fork so I didn't have to chew it.

Hey Spartanfan, good to hear you're having a good recovery. Do you have any before and after pics? Also, does anyone know where I can find a diagram of what a Lefort 1 3-piece looks like (where the cuts are made)? The reason I ask is I'm having the same surgery, along with BSSO, at the end of the year. My upper palate is narrow as well, and my surgeon mentioned the possibility of a SARPE. I thought a SARPE involved cutting the upper palate in two pieces, hence why I'm confused why I need a 3-piece Lefort, and wonder how and where the maxilla is broken and where that third piece is. I'm sure my surgeon will explain eventually, though my next appt. isn't for 4 months...

sappho wrote:Hey Spartanfan, good to hear you're having a good recovery. Do you have any before and after pics? Also, does anyone know where I can find a diagram of what a Lefort 1 3-piece looks like (where the cuts are made)? The reason I ask is I'm having the same surgery, along with BSSO, at the end of the year. My upper palate is narrow as well, and my surgeon mentioned the possibility of a SARPE. I thought a SARPE involved cutting the upper palate in two pieces, hence why I'm confused why I need a 3-piece Lefort, and wonder how and where the maxilla is broken and where that third piece is. I'm sure my surgeon will explain eventually, though my next appt. isn't for 4 months...

I don't have any pics of what a 3-piece LeFort I looks like. The way my OS showed me was on my models. He took the upper jaw and drew a "Y" shape on it, showing where they would make the cuts.

I posted some pics in this viewtopic.php?t=24894 posting.

The downside of a full refund is you can't take it on your taxes. I'm sure you're REALLY depressed about that. NOT!

Congrats and good luck on the continued healing.

Mike