Dr. Chick put me at ease immediately. He has a fantastic bedside manner, and is completely professional and exudes confidence in what he dies, which he should, because he is excellent! I will definitely recommend him to anyone I know looking for a plastic surgeon.
I am a recent (and enthusiastic) patient of Dr. Chick’s. I had the mommy makeover done and haven’t felt this good about myself in 20 years. I started to consider having a tummy tuck about 5 years post pregnancy. I had two 9 lb. babies and don’t have very elastic skin. Additionally, I gained over 50 lbs. with them. After taking the weight off my skin just hung. I did weeks’ worth of research prior to even contacting a plastic surgeon. Once I did, I sought out 4 different surgeons for consultations. Because I had done my homework prior to seeing anyone I felt I had a list of intelligent questions to ask. Dr. Chick was the second surgeon I saw. I knew right away that this was going to be my surgeon. However, I didn’t want to make any decisions without seeking several opinions. And my gut instincts were right. I did end up going back to see him because of the way he cared and took the time to explain and answer all of my questions. Dr. Chick wasn’t the cheapest surgeon I saw but if you care about the way you look and feel post-surgery the money isn’t an issue. I decided to do the mommy makeover instead of just a tummy tuck because looking down at a beautiful tummy but still having sagging breast I knew I would have regretted my decision and had a breast augmentation and lift done afterwards. I couldn’t be happier with my decision. Dr. Chick does such amazing work. He also got me in contact with a massage therapist, Ruth, who helped tremendously in my recovery. His staff was very helpful as well. Alyson has so much insight and was full of recommendations for both pre and post op that I am grateful to have had her to ask questions to as well. I didn’t want anyone to know that I had anything done and she eased my fears. Nowadays however, I feel an obligation when I hear women talking about plastic surgery to tell my story and what tremendous work Dr. Chick does. Thank you Dr. Chick for caring so much about your patients!
I am 2 weeks post OP and have a lot of questions.. my right breast has had a lot of work done to it so... I had reduction and lump removed 1985, then a mastectomy 1990, then a tram flap 1998.. and now an implant August 29,2012.. it is still quite sore, tight.. and oh.. also have a nipple.. have not seen a nipple in 22 years... I cried when I first seen my nipple. it seems too large right now.. but the dr said it will get smaller.. ??? I know I need to be patient but.. my left breast have been so nice and round, and the right one is just so far behind, I feel like it is NEVER going to catch up.. I guess it is hard to imagine it filling out, and getting softer, so I figure if some of you have or are going thru what I am it will help to talk to you .. ? I think because I have history with my doctor, he did my past surgery.. that I feel he might not tell me something, till he has to tell me..
He lost my personal information out of his nurses trunk. I have been hacked 2 times in 6 months. The scars are horrible. Look at the pics and you decide if you want him working on you. Was told this happens sometimes just happened to you. Kinda sucks to be me I guess.
I LOVED how my boobs looked when I was nursing and want that look back. But I'm nervous of not liking the feel and/or look of an augmentation as much. I've always been obsessed with big boobs though and there's no way to get that back without surgery. I always were padded bras whick my boyfriend does not like the look of and thinks I should just wear non-padded bras and embrace my smaller boobs. But I just don't like how I look in them :( Small boobs are not me. I worry about being fake or looking fact, but honestly padded bras are fake too and still not quite the look I want. So I've decided to take the plunge and get them done. I chose a Dr. Chick who my sister in law used for her BA last year. She had a really great experience with him, fast recovery and I think her BA turned out really nice and natural. However, she chose a smaller size than I am going for. After my first consultation I felt good about choosing 400 cc moderate silicone implants. I tried on the 371 sizers and really liked the look of those and thought they might still be a tad large (they say go a little bigger than you think so it should be perfect). They said they would put in the 400's to get that look. A week or so later I talked to his assistant on the phone and she told me the moderate profile in 400 ccs were to wide for my BWD (11.5) and they would probable need to go to high profile. She was concerned I might not like that look as much, so I went in yesterday to try them on again. She was right, I did not like them as much. I felt they were to narrow. (I think they were 10 or 10.5?) So we tried the next size up in HP to get a wider base. Still didn't like it much. Tried the next size up which were a tad over my bwd but not as much as the 400 moderate. I like them much better we settled on 450 cc hp. Now that I'm home I'm having anxiety that they are going to be way too big and that I won't like the High Profile look. It's two sizes up from my original choice. But to stay with moderate profile I'd probably have to go down a size or two from my original choice and I don't think I would be happy with anything smaller than 400 cc. Maybe I should settle on 425 HP? Updated on 26 Nov 2014: Here's some pics with 371 sizers (what 400cc should look like after they are placed under the muscle) Updated on 30 Nov 2014: So I was going to start taking vitamin E to help avoid stretch marks. I read on the bottle "Caution: If you are taking any medication, including daily aspirin, or if YOU ARE PLANNING ANY MEDICAL PROCEDURE, have a medical condition or have any bleeding problems consult you doctor before taking this product" Hmm, does vitamin E thin your blood or something? Is it a bad idea before surgery? I'll ask my PS as soon as I can, but I'm curious NOW. :P Updated on 15 Dec 2014: I paid in full today. Kinda makes it seem more real. I'm starting to get excited. The last little while I've just been worrying a lot, thinking of all the things that could go wrong, worrying about size, if they are going to turn out how I want them, if I'll end up regretting it. Today I started feeling happy about it again. Still can't believe it's only about a week away. Wow. Updated on 22 Dec 2014: Ahhhhh. Only 12 hrs left. I have to be there at 6:30 a.m. I went to one last sizing appointment. Decided on 371 mod+ because that was as high as I could go to stay with mod+ but even that is pushing it. I was relieved to have made a decision but as soon as I left I started stressing they wouldn't be big enough. So worried about being to big or not big enough. I'd go bigger but so worried I won't like HP. Ahhhh! Guess it's too last. I told him 371 mod+ and I doubt I'll get be able to get ahold of him before 6:30 a.m. to change my mind. Updated on 23 Dec 2014: Today was the day (oops, it's after 12 a.m. so I guess yesterday was the day :P). Went in at 6:30, I was super nervous but it went pretty well. My Dr. was real great at making me feel at ease and like it was no big deal. I woke up and immediately asked what time it was although I don't remember what they said, I noted it was light outside as they wheeled me to my room. I had a little pain and pressure, but it wasn't too bad. Looked like I was on track to be out of there shortly, but then they decided they should give me a Lortab. Bad idea. It made me so sick and miserable and they had to keep me there 4 more hrs till it was out of my system. I had a lot of pain in my upper back and down my arms into my hands. Thank goodness my BF was there to squeeze and rub it. Helped a lot. I threw up a few times, and dozed in and out. I focused real hard on relaxing my muscles to ease the pain but then my heart monitor would start beeping cause my heart rate dropped and it jolted me back awake. Finally my nurse decided I just have a slower beating heart and reset the machine so it wouldn't be so sensitive and it stopped doing it so much and I got some decent sleep. When I woke up I felt so much better. The nauseousness was gone, I felt clear headed again, and the pain was back to being tolerable. It's weird, but it's almost like the Lortab made the pain worse. They sent me home around 2:00 with a prescription for Percocet figuring I'd do better on those but I've been scared to take them. I don't want to go through that again. So I've just been taking ibuprofen and as long as I'm sitting in my comfy recliner with my ice packs I've been fine. Mostly feels sore but hurts if I try to move. Good news! My nipples feel normal! Numbness or loss of sensation doesn't set in later does it? I'll try to get some pictures up soon. Updated on 24 Dec 2014: height - 5'4" weight - 125 -130 lb bwd - 11.5cm implants - Naturelle smooth silicone profile - style 15 midrange profile size - 371cc method- under the muscle Updated on 27 Dec 2014: Finally getting around to posting some before and after photos. Okay so the after don't look great but luckily won't be the end result :P I'm feeling okay. Not really any different than when I got home. Not better or worse. Except some spasms first thing in the morning. My two yr. old is having a hard time not getting constant 'huggie's. Any time I'm on the couch she likes to sit by me and snuggle. It's not a 'huggie' if I don't have my arm around her and her head on my chest. Luckily she is doing pretty good to lay on my lap instead and daddy has been around to help get her situated and take her away if she's getting too wiggley. He's been doing awesome taking care of me and the kids. Updated on 14 Jan 2015: I'm about three weeks post op and haven't updated in a while so I'm going to post some pics and an overview from the first week. The day after my surgery I felt so much better than I thought I would. I was bored and feeling good so I took a walk around the block with the kids and hubby. we ended up going further than I planned and think I overdid it a bit. I felt okay other than tired but the next morning I had some pretty fierce muscle spasms. Ibuprofen took care of it. I spent the first week or two feeling pretty sad I hadn't been brave enough to do high profile so I could go bigger. They seemed so small and flat. Now that I've seen them in me I think I would have liked high profile just fine. But at least now, if I have a moment that I think they look a bit fake I can reassure myself that chose the 'least fake' profile. :) Now that they are dropping and fluffing some I am feeling much better about them. They are getting more projection. It may be enough for me once the D&F is done. Technically they seem to be the exact size I wanted. fitting into my fav 34D nursing bras and a tad bigger than my ultra padded look. I think it's just that I am familiar with myself at this size so it doesn't look like much of a change to me. My friends and coworkers that know about it say I look the same and that's a bummer. But they haven't seen me naked to see how sad they'd become since I stopped nursing. Updated on 14 Jan 2015: Here are some pics from the second week. Updated on 14 Jan 2015: You know, the ones to remind you why you did this :) 11 day post op pics and squish test. I could squeeze the a little at this point but they were pretty rigid in their spot. Updated on 14 Jan 2015: I went back to work as a kindergarten teacher 13 days postop. My job doesn't require much heavy lifting, thankfully, but I'm on my feet almost the whole day and use a lot of arm movements, checking papers, writing on the board washing tables, vacuuming at the end of the day etc, so I was glad to have as much time off as I could get. The thing I was most worried about was getting my kids in and out of the car. Mostly my 2 yr. old since she need more help. The first day went really well though, I bend my knees and have my toddler wrap her arms around my neck so I don't actually have to lift her. My boobs felt a little weird when I bent over to help students so I crouched instead. Wiping the tables and vacuuming made them a bit sore and crampy but that got better every day now I hardly notice my boobs. My boss is amazed that I'm fine and back a 100%. My recovery has been pretty easy. I think the worst at the beginning was the upper back ache from hunching and compensating. Two muscle spasm episodes and at the beginning they would cramp up when I got cold. I didn't seem to have any bruising or complications. The scars are longer than I thought they would be but I think they will heal fine. They are bumpy right now but my PS said they will smooth out over time. Right now the only time they bother me is if I try to push on something a little harder or lift something a bit heavy. I haven't gone back to the gym yet but plan to soon. I'm not going to rush the upper body weights at first but it feels like it won't be too big of a deal once I do. Updated on 14 Jan 2015: Okay now I'm finally caught up to date. This photo was taken last night on day 21 (3 weeks) post op. I love this pic. After I started doing the massage exercises on day 13 I started seeing noticeable improvement in the softness and movability of these babies. It's been making me feel a lot better about them. They seem firmer and still can't quite get them to touch without great effort when I am standing up but it's getting better and when I am laying on my side they are softer and more real feeling and I can get them to touch. Sometimes when I first wake up they seem really soft and squishy. I know it seems opposite for a lot of people though. I love waking up in the morning and catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror in just a tank or sports bra and thinking 'Dang, look at them boobies' Hope all is going well for you ladies. For those with upcoming surgeries - if you are deciding between two sizes right next to eachother my Dr. says the difference is not that noticeable. So choose the one your heart seems to really want and don't let fear do the choosing for you :)
I am having a full TT with BA ( 500cc silicone) after having gastric bypass in 2008. I am totally happy in my skin, however, after loosing over 100lbs people still look directly at your 'gut' once they realize its you-- like your forever on display. ( have that apron look in everything i wear, which is wearing on my self conscious ,So, as a treat to myself after nearly 5 years of weight loss and keeping it off, my husband and I decided that I deserve to get my tummy done-- the BA is a treat for the hubby- ( so he says) lol-- I am super excited, but nervous all in one-- I nearly walked out prior to my GBP- so i hope i can do this-- with the daily posts from you ladies, i think i can make it-- ( i just gotta get ahold of the anxiety and show it who'se boss) Updated on 10 Jun 2013: not real thrilled about the pics-- kinda grosses me out actually-- hence, the reason im getting the MM-- cant wait to continue my journey to the new me-- Also have a forum on the Gastric Bypass in 08 ( not sure how to navigate thru this sight really well but lots of pics there as well) -- ( ALL BEFORE PICS) surgery is in 2 weeks, cant wait to post after pics FULL TT and BA without lift Updated on 20 Jun 2013: well, only a few days left till the surgery ( MM) Kinda nervous and excited all in one- Ive been nesting for a few weeks-- wanting to make things easier on myself and family- I have pre prepped a weeks worth of dinners ( to help out my teen and hubby) got all the gadgets Ive read about online ( like the shower chair, handy dandy picker upper tool, meds, easy slip on clothing ( from a thrift store) extra sports bras that latch in front , scar gel, and all those other ones ive read about-- My mother in law says I should take the BONE, FLESH and CARTILAGE vitamin? has anyone taken that? I have NOT started it, ill wait till after surgery-- ( it does say one of the ingredients can cause lack of absorption of some medications- and i would rather know my pain meds ARE going to work) -- I have a friend coming to cook a meal and clean up the house if its needed ( which i doubt, i been scrubbing like a mad woman- just to make sure) - I think im just finding things to do until the big day-- I have read so many posts and love them all-- Im hoping im one of those that is very pain tolerant and come thru this like a charm- I am a little nervous that my surgeon 'suggested' going with a larger implant than the one i chose-- so he ordered BOTH so i can decide again-- I dont want basket balls on my chest, but i do want a nice pump/cleavage if that makes sense?) EVERY person I know that has BA has wished they would of went bigger- so i think im going to leave that one up to the surgeon-- infact, im gonna be that wierdo that tapes a note to their chest that says-- ' -- put one size on each side and pick the better look '- or something silly like that! Anyhow, i wish you all a speedy recovery- and Ill see ya on the upside soon-- best of luck!! Updated on 24 Jun 2013: getting really nervous and excited to have surgery tomorrow. I'm totally fine with the tummy tuck I'm nervous about boobs too big too little OMG. I have a great husband and support group. can't wait to be on the flat side...... Updated on 25 Jun 2013: took ,1/2 a xanex.... feeling anxious...excited and everything in between. . wish me luck... big changes by the end of the afternoon. Updated on 28 Jun 2013: tummy tuck breast Aug went well. no tummy pain whatsoever. chest is swollen and sore. doing amazing with lots of help Updated on 5 Jul 2013: surgery was perfect, staff was amazing, when rate the combination pretty simple. breasts been a little more tender than the .tummy. overall pain scale from 1 to 10 I would rate it a 3 or 4. ( worst feeling in the world is a cough). no regrets, just patiently progressing. .... just a FYI, instead of buying a lot of steri strips or gauze pads, you can buy a roll of cotton finger tubing and cut it the length of your incision and keep it in place with your paper tape. if you have any leaking or bleeding you can use your little nonstick pads underneath that. I'll post a picture of what that looks like next review ( the finger gauze and how awesome it works). Updated on 8 Jul 2013: so I had my TT and BA June 25th. 11 12 days later I developed a rash on my trunk and behind my ears and scalp. I don't know if its a delayed anesthetic reaction or what. I spoke with my surgeon, we can understand the trunk portion but not the ears, so we're going to do topical benadryl an antibiotic. anyone else experiencing this,? I'm still absolutely loving all my procedures.... wouldn't change my doctor or what I had done for the world... should get the stitches out of my belly button Thursday.... recoveries actually been pretty minor in pain free. hope you all are doing great Updated on 11 Jul 2013: went in for my 2 week checkup. everything is going great with the breasts. the tummy tuck looks amazing, however yesterday started bleeding on the pubic bone. ( due to a blood pocket/ hematoma), surgeon is going to put a stitch just to prevent further problems. anxiety over the stitches is really on my mind.... sheesh I just got done having stitches , ( that I took out of my belly button this morning myself)... I'm pretty excited to start doing the breast massage, never get through this little bit of tummy trouble things will be super groovy! hope everyone's recovery is going amazing.... Updated on 12 Jul 2013: my profile top and bottom... with new incision on pubic bone and stitches Updated on 13 Jul 2013: I just got my mommy makeover almost 3 weeks ago. I had done a mammogram 7 days prior. I was supposed to have results prior to my makeover, but had heard nothing. have no signs or inclinations anything is wrong. all the sudden yesterday I get a call that they found something in my mammogram. now I have to do a ton of my tests, and hope for the best... I'm kind of irritated because I did tell them that I was doing the mommy makeover need a rapid results. ( and I also inform them that my grandmother had had a double mastectomy at the age of 37) the lady doing the image in was also commenting on how well my films looked, that some of them were so perfect it was like a text book, they should be used in teaching ( like getting a clear image of your bacon strap)... thats some strip of tissue underneath your breast that goes down your stomach, I don't know.... it's just what she said. I asked if I should have any concerns because I was having my mommy makeover a week later, and her response was everything looked good to her ,theyd have a radiologist read it and get the results to me within a few days. now a month later and me almost 3 weeks and my mommy makeover, no insurance , my savings was depleted on the mommy makeover, I could potentially have breast cancer. I'm keeping all of my feelings and emotions in, as I have two daughters home right now, though theyre older, there's no need to give them added stress. anyone else experience of abnormal mammogram that turned out okay,? and how hard is it getting another mammogram on you've got implants better still tender??????
