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Has Anyone Had Surgery with Dr. Meronk and What Was Your Experience?

By Glendale on 29 Oct 2010

I want to have eyelid surgery to correct some sagging on my upper eyelids. I want to be very careful and not have too much skin removed or come away with a hollow look? I have heard that Dr. Meronk is the best in the L A area. Could some of you who have had experience with his work would write in, I would love to read your experiences.

Comments (27)

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Sharon at RealSelf (Community Manager) 29 Oct 2010

Welcome to RealSelf! Here's a thread where Dr. M is recommended by another plastic surgeon: "Getting Second Opinion from an Oculoplastic Surgeon - Need Help?"

If I see anyone around RealSelf who has had surgery with Dr. M, I'll direct them to this thread too.

Glendale 22 Nov 2010
Thanks Sharon, I went ahead with the upper blep with Dr. Meronk. The surgery was November 19 and stitches come out tomorrow. So far so good. Very little bruising and almost no discomfort. I had what Dr Meronk called a limited blepharoplastyt because I was already beginning to look "hollowed" even with never having eye surgery. Hereditary I guess. I will keep you posted but so far even without the stitches out yet its looking good.
Sharon at RealSelf (Community Manager) 23 Nov 2010

That's great news! I'm so pleased for you. :)

Researcher Becky 3 Dec 2011
Sharon at RealSelf, I need to initiate some direct correspondence with you concerning a post. please contact me directly.
Glendale 3 Dec 2010

Today is two weeks since my limited upper blepharoplasty with Dr M. My upper lids are still slightly swollen however no one seems to notice but me. I had Thanksgiving dinner with my brother and his family 6 days after my surgery. I covered my bruises with makeup. No one seem to notice anything different. I did not tell anyone at all that I was having this surgery and I do not intend to ever tell anyone, its been a surprisingly easy secret to keep.

Dr. M office is in Oxnard, California. He has an arrangement with the Marriott there to take guest to his office before and after surgery. I went up to Oxnard the night before my surgery and took the hotel van over to his office the morning of surgery. Afterward the van took me back and I stayed at the Marriott until my stitches were removed. It felt like a vacation. My room had a kitchen, fireplace and I put on sun glasses and walked on the beach everyday.

So far, even with slightly swollen lids, I am thrilled, my eyes look more open and younger and less hollowed.

Glendale 17 Dec 2010
Today is 4 weeks since my upper eyelid surgery. The scar is barely noticable, even to me. If anyone is considering this operation, I encourage you to find the best doctor possible, preferably one that performs only eyelid surgery. My surgery was easy and very fast healing. It has made a huge difference in my self confidence. If you live in California I highly recommend Dr. Meronk,. Best to everyone!
Violett 19 Aug 2011
How much did you pay for your surgery?
Glendale 21 Aug 2011
After my limited bleph with Dr Meronk, I wished I had taken his advice and also had fat grafting. My eyes have hollowed over the years due to heredity. As I said before in my post I had a limited bleph with him in November o 2010. I returned to his office July 29, 2011 and had the fat grafting. It is now 4 weeks out and I am thrilled. Now my eyes are perfect . Dr Meronk is retiring in September which is too bad because I believe he really is the best eye surgeon around.
Violett 25 Aug 2011
How was healing with the fat grafting? Was it as unnoticeable as with the blepharoplasty?
Glendale 25 Aug 2011
It took a little longer, (10 days). I am thrilled with the result. It has been 4 weeks now and no one can tell. I hid out for about a week and then just said that my lids were swollen from allergies. After two weeks nothing was noticeable.
Violett 26 Aug 2011
I am having surgery with Dr. Meronk soon! I'm glad that your healing went well and that you had good results. I am a little nervous!
Glendale 26 Aug 2011
I hope everything goes as well for you as it did for me. Will you have anyone with you? I did not, because I wanted to keep it private. I stayed in the Marriott for several days. However I think it would be good to have someone with you.
Violett 26 Aug 2011
Hopefully my brother will take me but he says my eyes are beautiful and thinks I'm crazy. I'm having the same things done as you did...I'm having the fat grafting and the extra skin removed. I don't live too far so I plan on just coming home right after.
Violett 6 Sep 2011
I am just wondering, is the scar where they took the fat very noticeable?
Glendale 7 Sep 2011
Hey Violett, The scar is in the pubic area and it is about 1 inch long. My surgery was 5 weeks ago and now the pubic hair covers the scar. At first it is noticeable, however after a couple of weeks when your hair grows in it is less noticeable. I never told my boyfriend about the surgery, and strangely he never has noticed the scar.
Violett 8 Sep 2011
I had my surgery today and I am already happy with the results! I don't have any bruising or bleeding at all. My eyes are just swollen but they look really symmetrical. :)
Glendale 9 Sep 2011
I am so happy that it went well for you. My bruising did not show up for a couple of days but it went away quickly. In about 8 days no one will be able to tell you had anything done, but everyone will think you look younger. Congratulations!
Violett 9 Sep 2011
Thank you! It is helpful to know what to expect. I can't wait to see the final results!
Researcher Becky 15 Nov 2011
I really wish I could go to Dr. Meronk for this surgery. I am in San Diego and I now believe that the fat transfer done here by many is simply a bill of goods due to trauma to the fat cells. Dr. Meronk seems to have transplanted strips of fat into the orbital fat layer itself and/or placed "pearls" of fat into that layer. He considers it an "orphan" procedure.
He was in Oxnard and I think its really too bad that other SoCal surgeons have not availed themselves of an internship with him.
Glendale 15 Nov 2011
I had a blepharoplasty with Dr. Meronk and then 9 months later went back and had a fat implant. My eyes were very hollow when he did the blepharoplasty and I could have had the fat transplant done at the same time. I felt that I could not afford it then.

Anyway, I am so thrilled with my eyes now. They look the way they did before my lids began aging. My upper lids are full due to the fat implant ( from the pubic area). My lids look great. I wish that for the sake of other people that other Doctors had taken an internship with Dr. Meronk. His approach was one of a kind.
Now he is retired.
Best wishes to you.
Researcher Becky 15 Nov 2011
The other thing is that you can just add more fat if it resorbs...So if it lasts only 2 or 3 years, maybe we can convince some of these fellows they need to rethink their tiny fat drop approach and go with retired Dr. Meronk's larger "structurally intact" fat pearls inserted in a long incision.

This San Diego Doc would take from my buttock area or maybe stomach.
Researcher Becky 15 Nov 2011
I just met with a local plastic surgeon today who only does the face. He insists his fat drop approach is sound and efficacious and will last. However, he said the fat would be going on top of the bone, not in that fat layer around the eye. I met his wife who had it done 2 or 3 years ago. I thought she looked good, but thought she still had a little bit of a "doll's eye" look. I think this other guy's approach will allow him to inject the fat into many other places all over my face within 2 hours and so that is why Meronk's approach is not of interest to others. Meronk spends the whole 2 hours on the upper eyes. Also, Meronk's approach has a risk of ptsosis or lid sagging because he cuts right across the delicate lid...I am theorizing it is something others don't like to do.

I really don't have much choice anyway since Meronk is now retired. I do have a friend who is an eye surgeon, but focuses on eyeball stuff. I may write her. However, she is very conservative and she doesn't even like cutting unless there is a clear medical reason. She is not vain like I am. Ha. But I am dating after being widowed and then divorced.

The charge for the all over fat injection from my San diego guy is $5500 and then a lower lid "pinch" or excision for $2400. Like printing money, huh?
Glendale 15 Nov 2011
I hope that everything goes well for you. My surgery with doctor Meronk actually corrected a slight ptosis that I already had.
I am curious about where your doctor is taking the fat from? My understanding is that the donor sight for the fat is very important so that the fat is not bruised or damaged in anyway.

Best of luck to you.
Researcher Becky 15 Nov 2011
Glad you are so happy with your lids. I am just bummed that I missed Meronk's retirement by a month.
Alana Falana 3 Dec 2011
I just found out Dr. Meronk retired and I'm having a panic attack because I don't trust anyone else to do this surgery. Do you know if he left a recomendation or do you know of another surgeon in his league? I went to his web site and it said not to contact for referrals. Thank you.

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