Advice finding an excellent plastic surgeon

[Djmohr 6,965]

Hi everyone! I am currently 14 months post op and down 134lbs. I am 10 pounds from my goal and beginning to think about getting some help for some big problem areas with loose skin.

I live in Pewaukee, Wi, which is basically a western suburb of Milwaukee.

I wanted to start looking for plastic surgeons in my area that specialize in massive weight loss. Honestly I a, having a hard time finding the best way to locate and more importantly review some of these doctors.

There is a lot of work that I ultimately want to have done but for now my biggest, most embarrassing problem is my upper arms. I had very very large arms and I have lost a lot of weight in them but still have both fat and a lot of hanging tissue that is making me very self conscious and embarrassed.

I would like to get something done with these soon but want to vet out a good surgeon so I can feel comfortable with a doctor.

I would not consider Mexico. I am wondering if you can give me any advice on how to begin my search and what sites to use for looking at reviews on a specific plastic surgeon.

I appreciate your help!

Deb

[AvaFern 3,516]

I also did not want to go to Mexico, but I live in FL, so can't really refer you to my surgeon, lol. I used realself.com to review the doctors and to see what other people had posted about them. I went to my doctor originally just for a boob job and I liked him so much we did my stomach, my back/butt, thighs, boobs and arms, haha. Go with someone who makes you feel comfortable, particularly since a big part of the process is getting totally naked and having them draw all over you. Your doctor should be very patient-centered, as in you tell him exactly what you want and he makes it happen, instead of gives you excuses. My doctor put my arm scars in a place he had never done before and they ended up being perfect. They are pale, flat, very narrow, and along the back of my arm where you can only see them from the back when my arms are not by my sides. I drew him sharpie marks on my arm before surgery so he would know where to put the scars.

A plastic surgeon is someone you want to pay full price for. If you see discounts, run for the hills, lol. My surgeon was near the top of the market where I live but he was so slammed with patients that he never had to offer incentives to get new customers. Also my doctor gets a lot of his business from breast cancer patients, which means he is not only very compassionate, but he is gifted at taking a body part that has been severely damaged to save someone's life and reconstructing it to the point that they not only feel normal again but that they feel attractive.

So...best advice. Don't pick your surgeon based on price or sales, but based on kindness, compassion and talent. If he at any point makes you feel like anything other than a priority, walk away. There are plenty of excellent surgeons and finding someone you really like is worth the effort.

[ad1203 85]

I asked my surgeon and he recommended a reputable plastic surgery group in my area.

[jane13 2,256]

@@AvaFern - maybe done the road I will check into a PS too - where in Florida was this doctor???

[KristenVSG2014 1,871]

@@AvaFern - maybe done the road I will check into a PS too - where in Florida was this doctor???

I'm in Florida and will begin shopping for a plastic surgeon later next year when my weight has been stable for six months. Please share. I've been leaning towards Dr. Bruce Mast at UF in Gainesville. He's the chief plastic surgeon and specializes in EWL patients.

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

I would search realself and be biased toward docs with LOTS of before and afters that are similar to you (ie results from a typical mommy makeover isn't necessarily the same as a formerly obese). Speciifcally, I have more "back skin" then a typical Mommy makeover person. Also, some of my skin has very poor quality - it has been so over stretched for so many decades. For me, the bad area is the pubic area. So, if my surgeon had pulled me any tighter, I think I would have even MORE stretch marks on my already crepey pubic area skin...

Then, go on SEVERAL consults. Be sure to ask questions, discuss options and recommendations.

he eye opener for me is how much variation there was in recommendations for me in terms of what procedures, how to sequence them etc. By talking to various surgeons it helped me hone in on what is important to ME.

I also noticed a variation in the "asethetics" or how people looked. I did all these consults 6 months before I actually did the plastics. It gave me alot of time to think about my own priorities. Example, some surgeons seem to wind up with "boy figures" after lower body lifts. I would rather a womanly shape (and am already cursed with broad shoulders and skinny butt so so this was very important to me) over having as tight of results as possible.
Having said that, I am an athletic person and didn't want boob so big that it interfered with my cowgirl lifestyle! in the summer, i want to wear skimpy (cool) tanks and camis without feeling like an aging porn star - ha!

I feel that complication rates vary by surgeon too, but I think that is hard to research. I did alot of reputation checking - realself, healthgrades, talking to rich women i know (most have had work done of some type).

Anyway, I am not saying my path is right for others, I am simply saying take the time to really understand that this is largely an "art" - individual results do vary due to both surgeon and the patient.

Good luck - it is a very big deal, but also very exciting.

[jane13 2,256]

@@KristenVSG2014 - I am south of jax...

[Meintraining 104]

The only problem I've found with real self is there aren't many reviews on PS I'm going with. I just have to hope it works out. I wish there was a better way of knowing who is the best in their field. I'm very nervous because I canceled my original surgery because I wasn't 100% about him after I saw pics. I liked the pic I saw with the guy I'm going with but he doesn't focus primarily on WL patients. I think I could find something about any doc. It's a scary process and I hope I'm making the right decision!

[AvaFern 3,516]

@@jane13

@@KristenVSG2014

Dr. Ankit Desai in Jacksonville, FL is the surgeon I used. Nice guy, and very, very good.

[catwoman7 10,844]

hi - as you know, I also live in Wisconsin. I looked into this earlier even though I'm only six months out from surgery and have a long way to go. It seems there were a couple of really good ones in the Chicago area, which isn't too, too far....

[jane13 2,256]

@@AvaFern thanks. now I am wondering who was your bariatric surgeon? I had Uchal from St.Vincent's and had surgery at Southside.

[AvaFern 3,516]

@@jane13

I had Craig Morgenthal at Baptist. Complete and total tool. I was so sick the morning of the third day I was in the hospital I could barely stand up and despite the fact that I had paid for the extra insurance, he gave me a HUGE amount of attitude about wanting to stay an extra day. In the end, because I had zero tolerance for his rude crap, I told the nurse that I would be leaving that day as planned and they could check me out or I'd sign out AMA. I was a self-pay patient who used the Blis insurance, which apparently is only provided to surgeons who rarely need them to actually pay out. I would assume the huge snotty attitude I got was because if anyone actually uses the extra insurance that they pay a thousand dollars for it makes him look bad. I also drove myself home, which had been the plan all along, however I had no idea I would be so sick I could barely walk when I was discharged.

The first time I was in the office the receptionist was so rude I almost started crying. The doctor made very clear that during my second and third visit (i saw him a total of 3 times the last of which was 2 weeks after surgery) that I was wasting his time, he considered me to be a stupid fat person, and I needed to shut up and stop talking. The billing department and his MA were the only polite people in the entire office, his behavior was of a doctor who sincerely did not remotely care about his patient, and the fact that he treated me like I was stupid, when I actually have a higher educational degree level than he does (although to be fair he never knew that) really discouraged me from ever seeking follow-up care with this surgeon again. I spent the entire second year of surgery puking half of what I ate, which seems to be partly resolved now, and had I had a doctor that didn't treat me like I was an idiot and a waste of his time it would have been really nice to have been able to go in for some follow-up.

So...that's my rant about Morgenthal. I'm very unaccostomed to people being total jacka*ses toward me and as a patient who was basically getting her stomach cut out, you're in the vulnerable position where you can't really tell him to go F himself like you would someone else who you didn't have to trust with your life.

Past that, I never had any complications outside of my puking, which I tend to think is from a small stricture and not a big deal. My stomach healed well, I never had any issues, and I am now at goal weight and have been for awhile. So while Morgenthal has an elevated opinion of himself and has zero concept of how to treat patients, he is an competent surgeon who did his job without killing me. If anyone is reading this and considering using him as your doctor, if you don't care that he treats you like you're stupid and a waste of space, the chance that he kills you or causes a major complication are slim to none, so you could really find far worse surgeons to use.

[BLERDgirl 6,417]

@@Djmohr - I would ask your Baratric program. Many have relationships with reputable doctors and they would know if they were equipped to work with bariatric pts.

[Djmohr 6,965]

My Bariatric team is located in Minnesota so that makes it hard.

I went out on real self last night and found a few surgeons in my area and have requested consultations.

We will see how it goes.

[NewSetOfCurves 1,553]

@@Djmohr, I used realself.com as well and found my doctor, Dr. Peter Fisher, who was a reputed weight loss plastic surgeon in San Antonio, TX. He has patients that come from various states due to his prices that are extremely reasonable. I had a lower body lift that included a Tummy Tuck and the insertion of "flaps" in both the hips and rear area (the flaps are meant to eliminate that "boy figure" that @@CowgirlJane had mention). I also had a spiral thigh lift and breast augmentation at the same time. All of that work cost me $21K. Which, when compared to prices around the states, is absolutely awesome. My results are great and I am very happy with the work that he did.

I wish you the best on your consultations.