Rachel Sullivan, MD

I am now 10 days post op breast reduction and bilateral brachioplasty. I had bariatric surgery 20 years ago and had a >100 pound loss. I just thought I had to live with the extra skin at the time and ended up being so busy with life that I didn’t even bother to look into skin removal. I consulted with Dr Sullivan after seeing the work that she did on patient’s of mine that had seen her (I’m a primary care provider).
Dr Sullivan explained the process and what she would do for my concerns. The office staff was very friendly and super efficient with paperwork that needed to be filled for work leave.
Post op- I had pain control issues and Dr Sullivan was very responsive and assisted with pain control promptly.
I LOVE my results!!!! I never thought my breasts could look the way they do again.

Updated on 21 Nov 2023:
I’m now 3 weeks out from breast reduction and brachioplasty. I’m advised to leave the surgical tape in place until my next visit next week. The tape has been changed by the surgeon every office visit. I’m still in a compression vest witch keeps the arms and the breast compressed 24 hours and only take it off to shower.

I'm on day 4. I've been sleeping on the couch with several pillows. I found that Percocet kept me awake so I barely slept for 3 days until I switched to ibuprofen. My drains come out on Monday (today is Saturday). I might try sleeping in my bed again when they're out. The bra is tight around the band and I change it and the dressings every morning. My Dr provided 2 bras.

She seemed great at first. Very knowledgeable. Also highly recommended to me at the VA Hospital.

The back story…
I wound up have capsular contracture after my first implant exchange.

The imaging center said what I felt under my arm (16 months after my BMX/reconstruction I had Jan 2017) was “just extra skin from the mastectomy”.

I believed them, shame on me, and wound up doing an exchange to my second set of implants a couple of months (Aug 2018) later (the first ones just didn’t sit/look right).

Seven months after they had said it was just extra skin, and five months after my exchange to the second set, my PCP sends me for more imaging…

Same place. They do the scan again and this time say “oh…we should biopsy that.” Ya think? So my gut instinct was correct.

Now the breast surgeon (not a plastics doc) can’t get clear margins and I wind up having to do radiation.
If I had known it was cancer again, I would have waited to do the exchange.

About 4 months after I finish radiation, I notice the cancer side implant was starting to become misshapen- almost like it was being squashed…and then it started to lift and shift towards my under arm.

I was then referred to Dr Sullivan as my original plastics doc had retired and the VA was having a hard time hard time finding a replacement.

Dr Sullivan decided to fix the capsular contracture (and add fullness that I was lacking) by doing fat grafting and filling in the areas that needed rounding out. This was Nov 2019. I should have done my own research on capsular contracture. Shame on me, again. You can’t “fix it” with fat grafting. You have to remove the implants and likely the capsule pocket.

Needless to say, it didn’t work. For those that don’t know, fat grafting is really just liposuction taken from other areas of your body, spun up and put back in your body. (Not to mention how much pain and sensitivity I had at the donor sites for 2+ years after the surgery.)

All of the fat had reabsorbed back into my body within 3 months. But then covid hits. Everything shuts down.
So now I’m on a waiting list to get back in…

I finally give up and call her office after things loosening up a few months after the shut down.
She just “happens to have” an opening for surgery the following week.
(If I hadn’t called, I probably would still be waiting for a call back.)

She decides to do another exchange. June 2020.
All seems well, although the results weren’t exactly what I had hoped for. As a matter of fact after the swelling went down, I realized these implants didn’t seem to be the same size as my other ones. So I go looking for my medical device card to check the implant size…

I go back for the follow up.

When she came in to the office for this visit, she thought she had done the fat grafting surgery. I reminded her- No, you did an exchange. (I really wanted to ask her if she had at least read my chart before she cane into the room.)

She then takes pictures and compare them to the ones when I first came in with the capsular contracture and says they look great and that she did an amazing job.

You should have seen the look on her face when I said “Oh, you decided to go bigger?” It was like a deer in headlights! “Well you wanted more fullness.” (No, I wanted more upper pole fullness - not bigger all around implants that now make it so I can’t wear my size small shirts because now my floobs -fake lumpy boobs- are too big and everything gals open. Geez)
Not to mention they are too big for my frame and totally look fake.

At this point, she was ready to schedule me for another surgery in a couple of months.

“Umm, not right now. I’ll call you in a few months.”

I NEVER called her back again!!

The VA FINALLY was able to hire a new plastics doc…
Turned out to be the resident my first doctor had (the VA is a teaching hospital and we get all the Brown University residents). And I finally did an exchange Dec 2022. Wayyyy happier. And these implants are actually softer and nice a little. They last over were so hard.

Excellent! Biggest worry was going to be my recovery and what I could and could not do. I do have scars but could care less...I have skinny arms! First time every and so excited to wear sleeveless tops this summer.

Updated on 27 Apr 2017:
I used Embrace Scar Therapy and followed the instructions very carefully. But it did damage to my skin by actually pulling it off! I had to see a doctor and put medicine on my arms twice a day for 10 days. I called Embrace and they are refunding me. I am now just using BioCorneum which is a silicone gel.

Updated on 27 Apr 2017:
I am 2 1/2 months into my recovery. My scars are still healing and have that pink color to them. I bought Dermablend Leg and Body Buildable Liquid Foundation and it is AMAZING!!! I went to Macy's to get a color match and then just ended up ordering it on eBay as it was about half the price.