Manuel Gigena, MD

Do NOT go to Athenix. I lost a lot of weight on my own over 5 years via diet/exercise/hard work and had been wanting a tummy tuck for years to remove my loose skin. The surgeon they assigned me (you don’t get to pick or even meet them all, first red flag) had an unprofessional bedside manner. He tried to talk me into implants (no thanks, I had a reduction years ago) and then was saying how I’d be so happy after my surgery, walking around the house naked because I’d be so hot (gross). I ended up financing ~17k for the surgery and had a hip to hip TT on 11/1/22. I was beyond excited to have a flat stomach at last, but it never happened. I had a terrible experience instead. I had several drains in which I hated (should’ve done my research better and gone to someone who does drainless) and after they removed them I ended up getting a seroma (large fluid buildup from bad drainage) that the surgeon could not aspirate himself so I ended up having to go to a specialist to get an ultrasound-assisted aspiration. Good thing I went to a great dr for that because the seroma was near my bladder and she had to be very careful with the large needle. This was not a very comfortable procedure despite localized numbing. That got taken care of (thank goodness I had insurance that covered it!!) but then I developed a dehiscence (wound reopening) in the very front of my TT incision, which was scary. I called and my dr was not available (later learned he has his own practice in Newberg area and is there most of the time) so they said I could drive all the way there (an hour drive for me) or see a different surgeon at Athenix. I did that because I wanted the hole seen ASAP and that surgeon didn’t even seem to agree with the opinions of my original surgeon, even though they’re colleagues. Ended up having to carefully clean and pack the wound for a month until it healed (it left a bad scar). After all of this, my tummy is still not flat. I look pregnant. My tummy is very firm but pokes out. I went back to my surgeon to complain about it and he said I needed to get a CT scan and to bring him back the CD of images, so that was a whole procedure to deal with (also luckily covered by my insurance). Nothing was found (so we ruled out a tumor or another seroma) and the surgeon tried to tell me it was because I was bloated/“full of poop” (his exact words). I was like nope sorry, being constipated would not make you look pregnant. He was zero help after that, no apology, no offers to fix the issue, no follow up from him or the clinic. So I waited for months to see a specialist to rule out bloating/food allergies/visceral fat) and that was all negative. Then I went to two different surgeons in Portland (who are highly rated here) and they both believe that the surgeon botched the muscle repair and did not sew my abs together correctly, and that is why my stomach sticks out so much when there’s no fat. In addition, I got a keloid around my bellybutton, so it doesn’t look natural at all and has a circle scar around it. My stomach also feels tight all the time because he pulled my skin taut when I was laying on the surgery bed but as soon as I stand up, my muscles poke out and push against my skin. Now I have to pay for a tummy tuck revision and go through the whole recovery process again and I am so upset about it. Updated on 17 Aug 2024: Did an awful job on my tummy tuck and MR. My stomach is not flat at all as it should be. I met with two other plastic surgeons at two different clinics and they both think he botched my muscle repair, which is why my stomach sticks out despite no fat. Had to pay $17k for a bad job and will have to pay again to have someone else fix it. Not to mention I also had to deal with a seroma post-op, plus the incision popped open in front which required me to perform wound care for weeks and left a bad scar. I also had a keloid form around my belly button, so that doesn’t look great either (and no I’ve never had keloids before, my skin usually heals very well from surgery). On top of poor workmanship, his bedside manner leaves much to be desired. He is unprofessional (curses, tried to talk me into breast implants even though I told him no - plus was told by another PS I was not even a good candidate for implants). Do NOT recommend Dr G at all.