Michael Leadbetter, MD (retired)

It’s been a long and painful road already. I am scheduled for my second hernia repair with diastases repair. The first surgery my surgeon left tissue in my belly and had to remove it. When he went to get it out he created an entirely new hernia. Because of this my diastases is worse than it was and my abdomen is disfigured due to the Seroma fluid that has built up in my umbilical area. I’ll include current pics.

I had been seriously contemplating a tummy tuck for 2 years. Despite the naysayers telling me I did not need a tummy tuck, to use the money for something more useful instead, and warnings about dying during surgery, I scheduled to have a tummy tuck December, 2017. One of the best decisions ever!!!!

My daughter is 14. After years of fluctuating weight due to bad eating habits and lack of exercise I knew I needed a change. I've been heavier than 185 lbs and went from a size 16 to 00. I was able to lose 75+lbs and kept it off for 3 years, however the less I weighed the worse I looked (in my opinion) due to sagging excess skin. I got pregnant this year in April and put on 20 lbs, sadly I miscarried. It was a wake up call for me and I'm determined now to love myself and do whatever I have to in order to be the healthiest happiest person I can be. This is something I never dreamed I'd be able to do. With the emotional support of my friends, family, and most importantly my daughter, I feel that it's the right time for me and will have a long lasting positive effect on my life.

Updated on 10 Nov 2016:
Finally able to move around more. Went in for my second check up and had the tape removed. Spent my day off trying on old bathing suits/dresses to see which styles hide my scars the best. It's so nice not having to worry about hiding excess skin anymore when wearing low rise bottoms.

I have always have ice pick scars from acne as well as disliking my bulbous tip. I decided to have consultation with Dr.leadbetter at The plastic surgery group in Cincinnati,Oh. He seemed very confident in only doing the tip of my nose & that total fx should help with many of the scars. I had the procedure done on 12/16/15 & went ahead and had him put the juvaderm in my lips while I was out , I figured why not! with all this being said I am a recovering addict & absolutely can not take any opiates or benzodiazepines So I already was aware of how horrible this was going to be, but I'm tuff so I wasn't going to let fear hold me back!
I WOKE up to the most god awful sight my face looked like I was put in a meat grinder!!! The nose couldn't feel a thing .....I really couldn't feel any pain in my face just slight sunburn feeling but I had no clue I would look like that!! So 24hrs in after a horrible nights rest, I was oozing honey color stuff everywhere and it just dripped I just kept applying hydra balm as I was instructed at 48hrs I was the same as first day just not as bad with dripping & I finally got to wash it too which was the highlight of my day! At 72hrs it had stopped ozzing & the dreaded itch started which was horrible! Then 96hrs came and I was getting impatient! Well the next morning I finally started to peel I'm assuming he went pretty deep!! But it was a relief THAT SOMETHING was happening finally! However, yesterday I began breaking out underneath of all the brown dead skin and probably had 35 whiteheads all over my entire face and it was the worst I have ever seen my face breakout!! It was so gross!! So back to today some of the whiteheads came off with the skin peeling today but a lot have not SO my new pink skin HAS new zits & whiteheads on most of it!! I'm discouraged feeling & just over the whole thing!! My appt is tomorrow & I'm praying he can give me something for the breakout & possibly some HOPE! Cause this seems horrible to me ....my cheeks have not peeled so unfortunately I can't get a good look at where scars were yet!! So I don't know if this was worth it....more will be revealed I guess & trying to remain positive!! NOW for the nose it still is swollen is what I keep telling myself cause it still looks big! Which is what I wanted to change!!! The shape is slightly different so I don't know about it either lol!! Stitches come out tomorrow hopefully & we will just see!
Now my lips look great but that's instant & a given!! So I'm a lil all over the place with this whole experience sorry guys I will keep you posted thou...and one other thing my eyes were so DRY & IRRITATED during this whole thing! AND THANK YOU TO CHRIST HOSPITAL STAFF in Cincinnati For listening to me all 500 times I continued to tell you I wanted no opiated or benzos!

Updated on 23 Dec 2015:
Above you seen my face was broke out pretty bad he wrote me antibiotics, popped some gross whiteheads for me so I didn't have to walk around like that! & removed external stitches from my nose that he says were there to keep its shape I don't know
He did give me permission to start using my obagi clenziderm so that made me happy!!! As for my nose there is like a welt or lump from where the stitching was it looks odd I'm praying it goes away!
THE SCARS I can see some improvement but my face is so tight and red & bumpy from 35 whiteheads being popped I will feel better when the breakout is under control & then maybe get a good look at my face

Updated on 18 Jan 2016:
My skin is still really red and blochy in the places I broke out
Unsure what I think of scars :(
The swelling in my nose has went down some ... It's an improvement but the tip isn't what I wanted so I'm hoping there's still a lot of swelling still

Breast Augmentation- Silicon Implants (below muscle); under breast incision.
Background- I decided on breast augmentation for two reasons. First, my breasts have always been asymmetrical (about a cup size difference). Second, I breastfed three kids so needless to say, my breasts were deflated.


I was about a B cup before the procedure (right a little smaller and left a little bigger). Not sure the exact cc's that my doctor ended up putting in. I will know after my pre-op appointment Tuesday (he was going to experiment with 302-390 cc's).
I'm 5'3.25" and 130 pounds.

Day 1 (1/17/13-TODAY!): My surgery was at 7:30am this morning. (6 hours ago). I was scared to death this morning but have been pleasantly surprised. Was a little nauseous for a couple of hours. The pain is minimal. From what I can see , my breasts look great!

I will continue to update as the days progress.


Updated on 19 Jan 2013:
Day 2-
Everything is continuing to go well. I was nauseous yesterday afternoon and ended up getting sick. After that, though I felt much better and cut back on my pain meds to lessen the nausea.
Last night, I slept as well as I could propped up on my back (I am a stomach/side sleeper).
Today I'm bored! Went outside on a slow walk for about an hour. My pain is minimal. My chest feels tight and swollen.

Updated on 20 Jan 2013:
Day 3-
I am down to 1/4 dose of painkillers. Went to my gym today and walked the indoor track for 30 minutes. I hate sleeping on my back. it makes my back sore. Looking forward to side sleeping again. I'm bored! :)

Updated on 22 Jan 2013:
Day 5- had my post op today. Found out I had 300 cc's put in my left breast and 372 cc's in my right. The profiles were different too. My bandages were removed and I'm off the pain meds and muscle relaxers. Starting to feel normal. Ready to sleep on my side but the doctor said a few more days elevated. I've uploaded pics.

Virtually painfree. Easy surgery. Think I will like the results. Dr. made me feel very comfortable and he came highly recommended. I hope to improve the excessive skin on the eylid that was aging me.

I just had a bi-lateral upper bleph just 5 days ago to correct sagging skin with one eye a little worse. Healing nicely; however, i am noticing the one eye still has a lot of skin folds. Is it too early to tell if I will always have this? Do these folds go away as the healing progresses?

Do not go to him for a rhinoplasty. He made my nose appear more crooked than it did before surgery, gave it a pig-like appearance (you can completely see inside my nostrils from both a profile and front view), and messed up my breathing. He helped my dorsal hump, although was too conservative (it still is not straight and definitely doesn't have the slight slope that his photoshopped images showed. (My new nose looks NOTHING like the photoshopped pics). When I told him about my difficulty breathing post surgery he told me to just use breathe right strips. I am now seeking a revision with a different doctor to address both the breathing and the aesthetic issues, as there was no way I'd trust him to operate my nose again, although he did offer to do it for a much lesser cost.

I had a rhinoplasty then revision rhinoplasty with Dr Leadbetter, the 1st one in March of 2013, the revision in January of 2014. I chose him because of his supposed amazing reputation. We agreed after the initial surgery that enough just wasn't done, and that I needed a revision, this time being an open rhinoplasty. I wound up with more problems than I started with; a deviated septum, a whole in my septum, and a Polly Beak. Dr leadbetter told me everything was fine, and that maybe the whole would close on its own. I was not satisfied at all to say the least. I sought out a revision rhinoplasty specialist in Indianapolis who has since operated on me, Dr Stephen Perkins. Can I just say, what a completely different experience! I finally found a doctor who knows what he's doing! Much more compassionate, not arrogant, and takes my concern more seriously than Dr Leadbetter. Just an all around great guy and the consummate professional. I just had my surgery not even 2 months ago and already I can tell a difference. And after 3, swelling takes much much longer to subside. Dr L also STILL uses packing in the nose! Unbelievable ! The pain MAY have been worth it had I received the nose job of the century; not even close. Not to mention, it's cost me $10k more on top of the revision cost for my new dr to fix what Dr L messed up! I think Dr L may be great at other things, just not rhinoplasty. I invite you to compare his rhinoplasties vs Dr Perkins on their respective websites, and you see for yourself:). What a waste of time, pain, and money. My advice? Make sure you know just who you are seeing before you let anyone operate on you. Do your research. Also, dr L performs all kinds of plastic surgery, from noses to breasts. You simply can't be all things to all people. Find someone who specializes!

When I went to my pre op appointment the doctor immediately said that I should go over the muscle and use moderate classic implants around 340-360cc. After he suggested this I went home and researched and found that almost everyone has under muscle and moderate plus or high profile so I got more nervous. 15 days before I went to see him again and I explained my hesitation but he made me feel better by explaining exactly why he chose that. I have a wide chest and if I did under muscle it would pull the implants farther apart and the classic profile would help to not have a big gap in between because they are wider.

Updated on 27 Aug 2017:
Day 1, they sit very high, hard, and swollen but overall I am not in much pain at all, just uncomfortable and pressure on my chest. They are temperature hot and when I press down around then I feel a crackle or pooping from the swelling. I also don't have that much feeling on my breast when I touch them. I bought frozen corn and freeze the bags and use that for swelling and it feels soooo good. The size is a little bigger than I wanted but I've heard they'll look smaller once the swelling goes down and they drop and fluff. I also heard they'll get closer together

Updated on 29 Aug 2017:
A very strange feeling taking off my support bra to shower. In fact I don't really like it and I hope that's something I got used to fast. I feel like they are going to sag to my belly button. Spoken from a true flat girl. I feel like they have dropped a significant amount . Still swollen but a lot less and I see some bruising in between. I bruise easily so this is not a shock. I do not feel great though due to the pain meds, I'm very bloated and stopped up and I stopped taking the painkillers Sunday at 8am which was 48 hrs only

Updated on 31 Aug 2017:
Accidentally put the the flower on there and deleted the original!! Tape came off today, incisions are a little sore. The dr said mine are dropping and fluffing quickly because I went over the muscle but all is well.

Updated on 8 Sep 2017:


Updated on 27 Sep 2017:
I'm about one month post op and suddenly have rippling in my right breast. I remember when I first got it done I could see one tiny dent but I was hoping it was a bruise. Someone tell me some good news that this will go away once it settles... I don't understand why it's only in one

Updated on 8 Nov 2017:
Rippling has not gotten any better. Very upsetting as I? was advised to go over the muscle. The only way to fix would be a revision which is infuriating for the amount of time it’s taken to heal and money spent. Also developed Stretch marks in the breast that the rippling is on, assuming because the socket was smaller and the implant was bigger in that socket. Another reason why I? feel the wrong sized implant was used. I? went in thinking I? was getting around 380 but no more than 400 and I? got 450

I am urging anyone who is considering Dr. Leadbetter for a rhinoplasty to NOT DO IT! He absolutely destroyed my nose! I have never had such low self-esteem. I have since had to have 2 revisions and the damage from what he did is still not repaired. Allowing him to perform rhinoplasty on my nose was the worst decision I have ever made...He took a pretty girl and left me with a pig nose, uneven nostrils, and a scooped bridge on one side. Please save yourself & look else where!