George Peter Poletes

I saw Dr Poletes around 2010 for a tumor removal.

I had a bad experience w Dr Messenger the elderly male dermatologist in the initial part 1 of the surgery so I was a little scared coming into the situation.

Dr Poletes made me feel so incredibly comfortable that I left not having fear the “what if I have to do this again?”. I have a severe needle phobia and he had to give me dozens of shots to perform the surgery while I was awake and visually near the surgical site. He was able to keep me calm rather than hysterical. The entire process was pretty painless.

I also need to note that the previous doctor, Messenger, left me with a very nasty scar. He gave wrong directions for its initial surgery healing and caused an infection by waiting too long for the stitches to be removed.

Dr Poletes however did not leave me with hardly any scar. He did wonderful work with my skin and much of his work is not visible, even though he opened me up much further in my arm.

He is one of the few wonderful genuine doctors I have been lucky to come across in the Lansing region and many of those are retired or passed away these days. He’s not judging, he has a nice calming demeanor, is very intelligent, forthcoming with as many details as possible on your situation, and has confidence that radiates outwardly onto his patients.

Very happy with his work and character, and hopefully get to see him again for the good enhancing plastic surgeries before he retires!

His staff are some of the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure of working with from ANY doctor, ever. He gave me his personal cell after my tummy tuck, has been NOTHING but available 24/7. 2 weeks out and I am ecstatic about my results now, I cannot even imagine months from now! He is so thorough at getting you ready, ensures you know every possible risk and outcome and really is such a strong advocate for you in every way possible.

I have had neck, shoulder, and back pain for as long as I can remember from my large, heavy breasts. I was finally able to get reduction approved by insurance and had the reduction 4-28-14. I read up on comment boards like this to be prepared for surgery and post-op. Instant relief! My procedure included removing tissue down along and under my armpits also, so I am basically cut from one shoulder blade around the front and back to the other blade. There was a lot of swelling, but I also realized 2 days later that those were my new breasts so high up on my chest! I don't think they have ever been there! 2 weeks out, I developed a hemotoma-bleeding inside my left breast. It swelled again and was as hard as if I needed to nurse. Blood was also collecting under my armpit. The Dr. drained 90+cc in his office and scheduled me for an additional 15 min. surgery to drain some more and insert a drain if needed. He felt that he had gotten it all with the second surgery, but 3 days after that one, I started draining a lot from under the armpit. I came into his office again and he re-opened about 1" of the incision and I massaged the upper half of my breast while he worked my side under the arm and got about another 1 1/2 cups of fluid out. He said it wasn't a hematoma but a seroma. A seroma is when the tissues keep producing fluid, which will build up if not drained. So, after we drained as much as we could, he left me with a small rubber drain tube and I'll come back in 3 days to have it removed. Now, all of this might sound bad. But I understand that it is not common at all and actually I have never been more than uncomfortable through all this. I have not been in any actual pain since I came home from the 1st surgery. Of course, it would have been nice to not have these set-backs, but in the end I am still without my big ponderous breasts and without the neck, shoulder and back pain. I still VERY glad that I had the procedure. I am still telling my daughter to start making medical history now so she can have one when she is ready. I still recommend it to all who are cursed with heavy breasts.

Im very disappointed. I saw him for a deviated septum. He said he could also alter my noses appearance since he was going in for my surgery. He didn't do anything I asked, plus my nose looks worse. I have a bump on the bridge with 2 jagged pieces under the skin. It hurts some days from wearing my glasses, having pressure on that area. When I complained at one of my followups, he said, well you cant see the bumps. I was like, yes you can!

This Dr. ruined my nose, as a result my nose until today looks asymmetrical. It's been almost 10 years and I still suffer from the complications. I also ended up with breathing problems. He is not a skilled Dr. also his staff is very rude and unprofessional.
I will now have to spend thousand of dollars, and I do not have any resources to fix what he ruined. I have an asymmetrical and notched nostrils and breathing problems as well. Please be careful while choosing a Dr.