Cleft lift surgery scheduled for 6/1/12

Today I had my surgery consultation. I am in Georgia, outside of Atlanta, and I only had 2 choices for surgeons that can perform cleft lifts in the state. I chose Dr. Arie Pelta and right now, I am very happy with my decision. He was very professional and very educated on PD so I am definitely comfortable with him doing the procedure. He took a look at my current wound (from the open wound excision I had done in January) and determined that the cleft lift would be the best route to heal this and prevent recurrence. He also told me, before I even brought it up, that excision is outdated by 30+ years & was standard procedure in WWII but shouldn't even be performed anymore. We went over the usual things and he applied silver nitrate to my wound (I have not had this done in the 4 months I've been healing, but I don't believe it was a bad choice because it did not hurt at all and I can't see any harm from it), then we scheduled my surgery.
He also recognized and made it clear that there is no 100% cure for this, but that the cleft lift would be my best option. He said he is nearly certain that with the placement of my wound (right at the top of the crack, no pits or anything and does not go anywhere near my anus) and the way he will perform the surgery, I will be able to fully heal from this (and not have problems with the lower stitches/healing) and put the last four months behind me.
I've got my fingers crossed!

Good for you! He sounds like a great surgeon. Hopefully it'll clear up the problem.
Did you have any problems with your insurance agreeing to pay for a second surgery?

I actually haven't called yet to see how much my insurance will cover because the office insisted I had to call the hospital to figure it out, and I'm very nervous but I'm hoping it won't be a problem. I have Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO and I've seen other people on here with BCBS that didn't have any problem getting them to cover it so I'm just hoping I'm as lucky. I'll update y'all whenever I figure it out.

We have Highmark Blue Shield and they paid everything except our 500 dollar deductible. The total surgery cost to have the cleft lift done at a prestigious level one trauma center by a highly regarded cleft lift and critical care surgeon was just over 13,000 dollars.
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There was no pre existing condition clause


And CONGRATULATIONS on your future cleft lift!!!!!!

i have my fingers crossed for you that all goes well!! i just got the cleft lift done last week and am already back to (almost) normal!

When I looked into it Dr. Bascom's assistant said I should get the Cleft Lift billing codes from the surgeon's office. And then call my insurance, give them the codes and make sure they will pay their share. They'll probably do all at that at the hospital when you pre-register and let you know if there's a copay or deductible. Hopefully Blue Cross is better than Humana.

I'd hate to see you get surprised with a $13,000 bill after your surgery.
The main thing BCBS should know is what you had done back in January didn't fix the problem (Pilonidal) so you need additional surgery. Insurance should definitely cover that. I've had some bad experiences with mine so I don't trust them.

So how has it gone? How is the healing going? My son just had to go the the emergency room in Atlanta to get his Pilonidal cyst opened up and drained. Now we need to go to another dr and see if he needs the larger surgery. Did you have the Bascom technique?

Good luck! My son just had to go the the emergency room in Atlanta to get his Pilonidal cyst opened up and drained. Now we need to go to another dr and see if he needs the larger surgery. Did you have the Bascom technique?We need to call a dr tomorrow morning and I also see there are only 2 dr's on the list from GA. Did you also meet Liberman in Marietta? I feel so bad for my son. He is between his Jr and Sr year of HS. I'm afraid if he doesn't have the major surgery this summer he will end up missing so much time from school or it may happen when he is in college and then he will have to come home from school. Please keep us updated on your progress. Best of luck!

Things went very well with my cleft lift... Only 2 weeks post op and I'm back driving... Healing has been going smoothly up until tonight, it just stings a little near the top- not a pilonidal sting thank god.... but it might just be that its splitting a little. i don't know. but in any case i would go with the cleft lift over all other surgeries to ensure that the root cause is taken care of...(shallowing the cleft) hope all goes well with your son! let me know if you have any more questions about it!

Lisar, I never met Lieberman but I can tell you right now that I highly recommend Pelta (the other surgeon on the list). He is the one that will be doing my surgery and he is very knowledgeable on the disease as well as he is very nice, helpful, and truthful.
I also do recommend getting this taken care of as soon as possible, like you want to. If he has it done over the summer, it will save him a lot of trouble with school. This whole ordeal practically ruined my second semester of my freshman year of college (grades and social life).
I have my pre-admission testing and blood work tomorrow, then the surgery on Friday. I will keep y'all updated!

Also- insurance-wise, from what I understand, my insurance will be helping even though this is my second surgery for the same thing. I'm hoping to get it 100% cleared up tomorrow.

Andrea, I'm glad to hear that! I need to cross my fingers and hope for a healthy, speedy recovery because I will need to return to work as soon as possible.

I use to have blue shield for my insurance and they were great from getting hit by a car to getting into brawl they covered everything pretty good. Now I have Blue Cross PPO and I haven't heard anything good about them thus far. Nor have I used them yet. But now I need to take care of this cyst anytime I bump into something or I land on it, it feels like i got shot or something above my bum. How was blue crosses coverage?

Honestly I think it's going to depend on what exact plan you have under BCBS PPO because there are different deductibles, out-of-pockets, and co-pays. Yesterday I just had to pay about 320 to meet my 5000 deductible and they told me they think that's all I'll be billed but I don't believe it. I'm pretty sure I'll be paying for 30% of the operation (My co-pay percentage is 30%). You really just have to badger the hospital and your insurance to figure it out and find out all your numbers.

So here's my update, y'all!
I got the cleft lift yesterday at about 11 AM. The anesthesia was unlike the last operation and I honestly don't even remember falling asleep. They didn't have me count down or anything, I just passed out at some point while we were getting me ready on the stretcher. Next thing I knew, I woke up in recovery (like I should have) and was just supppper tired (normal). They told me everything went great and I'd still be out-patient since nothing went wrong. They made me eat and drink something so that they could see I was fine, then they explained the medicines I'd be prescribed and my next appointments.
I have to keep the huge dressing on it for 48 hours (although I'm not to be intimidated apparently, for my wound is actually only about 2 inches long) and then once I take it off I am allowed to shower as normal. I must keep the area around the drain very clean until I get the drain out on Thursday. Then, I will get the undissolvable stitches out on June 10th.

My favorite thing about all of this is that my throat did not and does not hurt like it did for my last operation! Whatever they did when sticking the breathing tube in, they did it right, because I really do not feel it and I couldn't be happier. Last time, I was dealing with a sore throat for about 3-4 days.

I got home at 5pm yesterday and slept until just now (waking up every few hours from discomfort or having to pee) and I couldn't keep any food down at all yesterday. I threw up everything and it was horrible; however, I just had breakfast and it's staying down now so I'm hoping I slept away the side effects from the anesthesia.

When I woke up, I started to definitely feel some pain but I took a percocet so I really can't feel anything except for discomfort and caution since I have to definitely be careful about moving and lying down.

My drain is not filling up much and I'm not sure if that's good or bad. I suppose it could be because of the way one of the nurses taped it on to my shirt and everything because it goes like up and down and I feel like the blood would have to do a lot of work to flow through it. I'll take and post a picture of this contraption later to see if y'all that have had the cleft lift had your drain set up like this.
(update: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10895553@N08/7321176930/in/photostream)

Overall, I'm really happy with the surgery and I can't wait to start healing up and taking steps toward putting this all behind me!!

That's great news! Congrats on taking the courageous step to get a CL done. I too hope it helps you put the Pilonidal issue to bed for good.

Thank you! Just another update, I was advised to take off the huge bandage yesterday and shower. Afterward I cleaned the drain site. I'm now 3 days post-op and thought with the pain I'd never be able to start sitting, but I just woke up, made coffee, and sat down on a semi-firm leather couch. It was actually an accident because I meant to lie down on my side but I almost spilled my coffee and ended up sitting down on my butt. I feel fine so far and I've been sitting for 5 minutes so I suppose I'll keep going until I get too uncomfortable. I also drove this morning but it was only a 10 minute drive and I didn't sit
100% normally with full pressure on it.
I've posted pictures on the pictures forum (it's hard to find good pictures of the cleft lift so I figured I'd contribute) and I will continue to do so as I heal.

It's crazy how much of a difference one day can make.
I made the same 15 minute drive there and back again today and it wasn't as bad as it was yesterday. Still not the most comfortable thing in the world, but it's not bad, and I do believe it won't be bad at all once the drain is out.
There were so many positions I could sit/lay in more comfortably today than I could yesterday.

Only 4 days in and it's already so much easier, so I'm excited. I wish I would have done this 4 months ago!!

Hey, guys. Just wanted to update. Don't know if anyone's really following mine, especially since Andrea also had hers not long ago but is farther along than I am so she has more to tell.
I'd like to say I've been very busy the past few days (also why I'm very glad this thing is healing/progressing so fast). I'm already full-on back to work (I went back to nannying two and a half days post-op, worked 3 consecutive days- 14+ hours each. Took a day off, got the drain taken out, and now I've gone back to my job as a summer camp counselor today.)
Getting the drain out kinda hurt quite a bit because there was no numbing and he just told me to breathe heavily, then he pulled it out. I may have shed a tear, but it was ALL worth it because life gets so much better when the drain is out. He also took off those little white X bandages that covered the stitches.
As for driving, I did drive to my nannying job (without the pain pills.. no heavy machinery) and back each time, but it was only a 12 minute drive. My drive was actually to downtown Atlanta today, and it was a 45 minute drive. The driving for the first few days was very uncomfortable and probably not the best idea in the world, but today, with the drain out, it was perfectly fine.
Each day has been heaps better and I'm more and more surprised by how much/what kind of activity I can.
It has been one week today and I feel so great. I lifted very heavy bins, went up and down stairs, bent over, walked around two huge malls, and everything today (only one week post-op?! I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't done it all myself!)
Seriously, it feels so great to know that even though I do still have a few stitches down there (5) that I will have to have removed next week, I don't have an open, gaping wound! I don't have any packing to do!

I've been posting in the pictures forum too, but only links.. It might be quite graphic so if you do follow the link, be ready for that. but here it is http://www.flickr.com/photos/80003886@N06/7165266679/in/photostream/ and you can click around a bit for the older/newer.

Well, the progress is only getting better and better. I virtually feel like there is nothing down there anymore. I haven't been as careful and scared to rip it as time has gone on.
I'm actually able to lie on my back now, as well. I've done in multiple times this weekend to test it out. After a long time in that position I start to feel it a tad bit, but it's not pain, it's minor discomfort. I just wanted to let y'all know that I'm NOT confined to lying on my sides and everything anymore. I'm sitting for extremely long periods of time, driving long distances, lying in any way I want to, and doing almost anything I want to.
Yesterday I wanted to see how much I could work out at this point (seeing as I still have 5 stitches in- I took it very easy.. but I was actually forbidden from any workout/physical activity for the 4 months that I had the open wound so I did more than I did with that wound. Talk about a HUGE downer! I did as much upper-body workouts I could, but there was literally nothing I could do with my legs, butt, or running, without stretching the open wound.) This time, I was actually able to do squats and wall sits without hurting the wound or tearing the stitches.

I really do think my surgeon did a wonderful job because I haven't hit any obstacles yet and I've been stepping very far out of my comfort zone.

Update, 12 days post-op:
Not sure how much more progress I can make from here on out since I've already been completely back into normal activity for days. I did want to say that I've been having a bit of discomfort in the wound/scar site toward the end of my work day/when I get home. I know it's because I work long hours and am doing physical things, running around and bending over a lot to pick things up (as a summer camp counselor that's just my whole day). It does not burn at all.. it's pretty much just a regular discomfort and I don't find anything weird about it. I know Jardesmom said pain and discomfort is normal for many weeks after the surgery, and I'm not even two week in yet so I'm definitely not nervous.

I am getting my undissolvable stitches removed tomorrow morning and the only reason I'm nervous is because the skin glue is still covering them and I'm not sure how he's going to remove the thick layer of skin glue and the stitches without hurting me... and I have to go straight to work (another long day) afterward. But I'm definitely ready to get the stitches out!

I will probably post a couple pictures tomorrow or the next day once the stitches are out so y'all can get a better understanding of what it looks like. Also, the other pictures have been with my phone but I may try to use my dad's camera so that it will be clearer/better quality.

Overall, I'm doing great. Still not one regret.

I'm so happy to hear how well your healing is going. I also wanted to say that it is so helpful to see your pictures. Thanks!

Thank you, Lilly! And it's definitely no problem. I was a bit uneasy about posting the pictures at first simply because it's.. my butt.. on the internet! But I can also see it being one of the most helpful, educational parts for people deciding for or against this surgery. For months before I got the surgery, I was searching for good pictures that truly show the continuing progress and what the scar will look like/how much the scar will affect the overall butt; and I didn't find many at all. The closest I came was Jaredsmoms' pictures of Jared's, yet they were limited and didn't show the continued progress.. so I do intend to continue with the pictures until I am 100% healed. I can already tell my scar is going to end up a lot differently than I had feared before the surgery, and I honestly think my butt looks completely normal (which I didn't expect at all).

13 day post-op (sutures removed) update: I got my undissolvable stitches removed this morning before work. It was a fast process, just a slight tugging for each one and it was done. Less painful than getting the drain removed. He told me that the bottom of the scar was having a little trouble being held together by the stitches, but I know (and he said) that this is completely normal because the bottom of it is the hardest to heal especially since that is where it becomes less shallow and flows into the rest of the crack. He also said that it isn't a problem and it looks very clean and healthy and has been granulating well. He left the skin glue that I thought he would remove on, and it is actually supposed to come off on its own. I have one follow-up in 14 more days (that will put us at 1 month post-op) and I believe he said I should be fully healed by then! I will post pictures later tonight which will be post-suture-removal pictures. And that's about it!