You know, it may delay your surgery a bit but, you can ask for a plastic surgeon to close for you. My friend did this when she had her bilateral mastectomy. You can tell them you need all the muscles and soft fascia you can in order to breath properly. (the pecs are an auxillary breathing muscle). I'd keep harrassing the insurance. beth t. -----Original Message----- To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Hey all Thanks, Genia! Just got off the phone with the sawbone's office and here's the scoop: I'm not going under the knife until next Tuesday, week from tomorrow, August 5th. :-( I wanted it to be sooner than "yesterday", of course, but the surgeon's schedule is locked up unless there is a cancellation between now and then. So, I see the pain doc this Wednesday to cover anesthaesia and post-op pain-relief (I believe the technical term for me is S.O.L. <g>), I have a full-blown physical/stress test on Friday (happy, happy, joy, joy!) and get the knife on Tuesday. Here's one for ya: My health insurance carrier will pay for female reconstructive surgery after a mastectomy, but not males. Doc says that if I want the right side to look like the left, I'll have to pay for that out-of-pocket. I'm a lot more concerned that they get all of the malignant cells out than I am about cosmetics, but I just thought it was interesting that the carrier would discriminate in that fashion. Oh well, I'm used to driving with one headlight. LOL! Kyle