Dreaming of a Hourglass - Dominican Republic, DO

Went for a Tummy Tuck, BBL and lipo, specifically of the upper back (hump, chin, and maybe the arms and thighs. Arrived and CICIP and had all testing done which went smoothly. Laura Dr. R's assistance explained the procedure etc. and collected payment. She had stated I needed to pay her the deposite again because there was a problem with Western Union, she had told all of the patients this. Laura stated that we would be able to take a shower and then Dr. R would be in to mark us up, although maybe not until the morning. Upon waiting for Laura's update Dr. R came in at about 9:30 P.M. with Laura and marked me up, I had stated that I hadn't yet took a shower and she stated I could take one after being marked but not to scrub those area's. I re-asked now and not the morning because I sweat when I sleep etc. and Dr. R said now, she did not confirm which order I would be in for surgery in the morning. I was disappointed as Dr. Robles informed me that she will not lipo the front of my abdomen if she is doing a muscle repair which is always done with a TT, she said there is too much bleeding. She also stated she may or maynot be able to lipo the "hump" on my upper back and couldn't guarantee doing my chin. In addition she stated my buttocks muscles were small so no guarantee on the amount of fat she could graft in my buttocks. Let me just say I was very upset as she did receive pictures of my body first and stated "She could do a good job to improve my body." I think that she should have told me about the lack of lipo to the front of the abd. with the TT, the problems with lipoing my upper back and also about my buttocks muscles being small which may cause difficulty with the fat graft. After surgery I found that she did not do my chin, states she did do my upper back the Tummy Tuck and BBL were done. It is hard to say if I like the results as of yet. My waist is looing good, my butt is bigger although not the roundness I wanted and kind of a odd look to and the hump on my upper back not sure, and cant really tell the difference although she said she did lipo it. I ended up with two drains which I expected. The nurses at CICIP are o.k. the do what they need to and nothing extra, they are not sanitary, a example of this is I had to ask of a pillow and soap three times I eventually go a pillow but no wall soap. My drain came disconnected during the night and hit the floor. I was trying to tell the nurse not to reconnect it until she wiped it with alcohol although she didn't under stand and just reconnected it! I was pissed! I was suppose to have a private nurse, although no one ever showed up for that. Pain and nausea was well controlled in the clinic but they give you very weak pain medication to go home it was something with Tylenol, a muscle relaxer, and anti-inflammatory 1 tab. every 4-6 hours. It didn't even touch my pain. FYI bring your own pain medications. I stayed at "Real Recovery Tropical Deluxe" It is across the street from the Ocean with a lovely view. The staff is great and the food delicious. I did receive great care there and would recommend, the only negative is they don't speak much English, the beds are uncomfortable, and they forgot meds sometimes. I just ended up putting my own meds in a pill box I brought and kept tract myself. They would order from the pharmacy, communicate with you doctor, wash hair and are VERY clean. I would stay there again and would recommend it, was $85.00 a night there. Some doctors have a deal with them and you can get the stay all inclusive. The first follow up with Dr. Robles was horrible, I had a appt. for 8:00 P.M. which was too late, but when I arrived the room was filled with Dr. Robles patients at least 20. I reluctantly signed in and waited, in the process I was talking to the other patients. One of the first questions when I booked the surgery was how many patient did the Doctor perform surgery on a day, I was told 3-4 no more then four. I found when talking to the other patients there were 5 my day of surgery!! Laura and blatantly lied about the amount of procedures that the doctor performed a day!! At least I was the second to be taken that morning. Dr. Robles tried to push me into doing the oxygen treatments at $100.00 a procedure and I refused. She said it was better for my incisions. I don't know why she was really pushing this but she pushed it on the day of discharge, the next day they called and tried to push it again and at the revisit. The second follow up with the doctor was suppose to be two days later they stated they would call me. I waited all day and they finally called me that evening and said that they would see me the next evening instead. I said NO, I mind as well wait till Friday because I don't want to wait again and nothing is wrong, and my drains are not ready to come out anyway. They said o.k. and made the appt. for Friday moring, again I waited for the call until about 9:30 A.M. and then started to contact Laura, she said she didn't do the scheduling and gave me the number of the girl who did. The recovery house called and they told her the appt. would be in the evening, about 30 min. later at 10:00 A.M. laura sent me a message saying that my appt was at 10:45 A.M. This time the appt. was on time and good. Moral of the story that is Dr. Robles staff is very unorganized and untruthful. The pain is bad. I am home now 12 post op, the pain during the day is fine, although at night is bad. I expected a lot of pain but after the procedure the pain is horrible and not controlled at all with the doctor. They also removed the drain from my back the day before I left. I didn't understand this because it was putting out a lot of drainage 200ml just that night before. I told Dr. Roble this but she insisted on taking out that drain, even though the other drain from my abdomen was putting out much less, she left that one in. Ruth at the recovery house did wonders with her massage and would also remove accumulated drainage under the skin, but now that I am home I know the massage therapist will not do that and I am having a difficult time finding one who is appropriate for lymphatic drainage massage. BRING YOUR OWN PAIN MEDS. If I could go back in time would I do this again? In the beginning I said no way, but now as the pain is getting better I think I would BUT NOT WITH DR. ROBLES.

Ok, well I should have already been out there in the D.R. by now but I got a nasty cough that I am having a serious time kicking. Talked to Laura and she told me to take anything I could take to stop the coughing and fly out anyway, that they would give me something for the cold and worst case scenario put my sx off a couple of days and I would have to change my return ticket. Why would I do that it would cost all the extra days of the RH and change my ticket anyway! So that same night I was up all night, having a sore chest, ribs and belly muscles I though "um no." Being a nurse I know my body and knew even if they stop it temporarily it would hurt like a b*tch after surgery. Not to mention that it would put me at a much higher risk of tearing the abdominal repair, pneumonia, etc.... So I called her and said look I need to reschedule this is not going to be safe. Laura was pretty good at that point, she looked at her calendar and ok'ed the new date and was really easy with it. Now my mom wants to come out with me, lol. She wants a TT too. I have been having a heck of a time with the booking and changing date of the RH. I was all set for Real Armonia, then when I needed to change my date, Mayra sent me pics of the new place on whatsapp and when I said where's the sea view, she said there wasn't one and that she was moving to a house. I went on their FB page today and hear are more pics with a sea view again. So I sent a message on FB and asked what was going on. Apparently they have the apartment and a house and she said if I confirmed on whatsapp then it was for the house. I clearly said I wanted the sea view. So I requested to be in the apartment with the sea view and they said o.k. but now I am worried about where I will really end up. Not sure what to do. Any thoughts? So now my new date is for May 22nd and I am trying to see if Dr. Robles to do her surgery. Although communication with her is impossible and Laura only responds if I call her on her cell phone. So we shall see how things turn out.

Hi ladies, we'll I am going with Dr. Robles. My surgery date is May 13th and I am hoping to stay at the Real Recovery Armonia. Anyone else staying there?