I cannot recommend Dr. Funk enough! Before seeing him, I had 3 previous lip fillers with different doctors. The previous ones were horrible- I felt like a monster- and I was incredibly scared when I first walked into Dr. Funk's office. I told him my concerns, and he listened sympathetically while offering advice on how we could approach the situation. I showed him pictures from the previous fillers, and he agreed that they had been overfilled (an understatement). Not only did he do the fillers much more quickly than the previous doctors (15 min as opposed to 1-2 hours), but he did a MUCH better job. He has a great eye for aesthetics, a very skilled hand, years of experience, and a great personality. I have been to his office a second time since then and am now planning my third visit. I will never see another doctor for fillers! Dr. Funk is wonderful. I highly recommend him.
I had gastric bypass in 2001. Lost 125lbs.I have quite a bit of excess skin, but my arms bother me the most. Consulted with 4 plastic surgeons before chosing mine. He didn't rush our consult, his before and after arm lift pics were the best, he had performed an arm lift in the last 6 months, and his staff was wonderful. He was voted the best PS in Lancaster County for at least the last 6 years. Surgery was performed at a hospital out patient. Surgery took about 3 hours. Came out of anesthesia fine. Arms were wrapped with ace bandage, and it feels so tight. Went home with 2 drains. Only took pain meds 2 days. Drinking 48oz+ water a day, cut out salt, added grilled chicken, fruit, protein puddings and shakes. Doctor put my in 5 days Ceftin. I had my husband measure on the 4 th day and my arms are 2 inches less in circumference. Had my post op visit Monday (post op 4 days), still draining too much so no drain removal. He unwrapped my arms and I was pleased with how much smaller they were, but not prepared for how barbaric the scar looks. I can't even imagine that this scar will heal flat and lighter.... but I am trusting the PS and the process. At day 7 post op, I am still draining quite a bit and hoping for drain removal 11 days post op. My arm pit scar also took on a weird look to it. My forearms are very swollen and tingling and kinda hurt when I lean on them. Can't raise my arm up much, and I walk like a zombie. My advice -a recliner chair is necessary. I tried on the couch with pillows and sitting up in the bed and was so uncomfortable. Have button down shirts ( I bought some at Goodwill and borrowed some of my husband's) on hand. Larger yoga pants or pajamas. Medical tape. I taped pads and socks under my armpits cause the rubbing was driving me crazy. Big thick dense pillows, I am using 2. I ice on 20 minutes, and off. Probably only icing every 1-2 hours, not every 40 minutes like I have read. My PS doesn't allow a shower before drain removal, so it's been 7 days so far. I have sponge bathed, but eewww lol, it's not the same. Updated on 2 May 2016: Saw the doctor today. The CRNP removed 1 drain, put bacitracin on it and a band aid. OMG, did the drain removal HURT and burn!! Doctor came in and He looked at my arms and arm pits. I have an appt. next Monday to hopefully remove the 2nd drain. I can shower tomorrow. He put white compression stocking (the ones that go on your legs in the hospital) on my arms, this is what he uses (not compression garments). He does put them from arm pit to wrist. Now that the compression stockings are on, my scar scabs are starting to leak a little from the putting on of the compression stockings. I am keeping gauze taped under neath my arm pits due to the pain of them rubbing skin on skin. Updated on 9 May 2016: Had a post op visit with PS today. Right side drain still in (drainIng 30ml in 24 hour period). Also might have a possible under the skin infection (area is hot and red). PS gave me Ceftin antibiotic for possible infection and go back in one week for possible drain removal. Arms still hurt, arm pits really hurt. Still have limited mobility. I am heading back to work tomorrow. Updated on 12 May 2016: Yesterday, the hot red skin was on both arms. Called Doc, had an appt. for this morning. Woke up this morning and the red was better, but my drain (which is still in and draining 40ml a day) started to hiss and my bulb wouldn't stay vacuum packed. No fever. Saw Doc, keeping me on the Ceftin as he feels it's helping, red and hot is gone...just red. Put bacatracin in my arm pit area (which is not an infection, but some weird opening), and he is not worried about it. I do have a small round wound (under a scar) that I thought nothing of, he says if it opens or has puss he wants to culture it-uuggghhh. Next appt. is Monday, hoping to get drain out then. I will try and get pics of these problem areas. Still wearing compression garment. Updated on 13 May 2016: Hole under right arm, Bacatracin and gauze on it. New, smallet compression sleeves came today. They feel great.
I had seven hours of treatment over two afternoons. I think they treated 7 areas. The treatment itself was like a "spa" afternoon for me, lol. I work full time so two afternoons in a quiet room with a cozy, warm blanket and Netflix - and time to take a nice nap - was awesome for me! Each time they put on the "machine" I would count to 300 and the initial pain would subside. Some areas hurt more than others but it always subsided by the time I counted to 300 and the rest of the hour was a breeze....very relaxing. The first week I have been very swollen and I gained 3 pounds immediately. Today (8 days after 2nd treatment) I notice my weight starting to go down and my husband tells me the swelling is going down, also. I have been taking Ibuprofen for slight pain and cramping, and it itches sometimes but not anything really annoying. I was told I was a "prime candidate" for coolsculpting as I only want to lose about 20 pounds and you could really grab and inch or two of fat on me. (I guess this fact is good....and bad!!) My doctor DOES recomment a compression garment and I have been wearing my bands from when I had my hysterectomy, as well as Flexees. I do take it off at night, however, for a break! I will continue to post as I see results...and I realize that may not be for weeks or months. I am willing to wait! If it works, I will have two more areas on my back done this fall. I will also try to scan and post photos soon. Updated on 26 Jun 2014: My husband says he can tell the difference when he puts his arms around my waist but I can't feel or see it yet so maybe he is just being nice and supportive!? The numbness is still there but diminished. I had some bad cramping for a few days but that has gone away also. The skin on the areas where they had put the "contraption" on me is baby soft and smooth. I don't know why? I think most of the swelling is gone now so...hopefully....in the next 6 weeks I will start to see some results! No weight change since the days after the procedure but that really is not expected. Updated on 7 Aug 2014: I am almost at 8 weeks post procedure now. Just this past week I started noticing that my love handles were definitely smaller! That is great but I am not going to even expect to start seeing full results for another couple of months. I won't jump to conclusions so early even though many say the final results can be obvious as early as 2 months after. I am choosing to hold out judgment until at least 4 months out. At that time I will decide if I want further treatments. I do know my problem area will be the area right above my belly button around the front. I am pretty sure that I will have future treatments on that area. All my life I never had an issue with that area but post-hysterectomy, now I do. I have my post procedure check up with the doctor next week. But I probably will not post anything more until another 2 months when I feel I will be almost "done" flushing out all the fat after the procedure. Updated on 3 Nov 2014: It seems to have taken me four months but the positive results from my first round of cool sculpting in June can be seen. My husband has noticed it for a couple months and it definitely shows in my clothes. I am a lot less "curvy" and have fewer bulges than before. I am pleased with the results. Tomorrow I will have one more treatment just above my navel....a small but annoying area I cannot lose with exercise and diet. Should be only a one hour treatment. I will leave an update on those results in a few months. If I had the money right now I would do a second treatment in all areas but that will have to wait until next year. But bottom line...cool sculpting worked for me!
Ever since I was in 6th grade I have wanted my nose done. This was something I felt very uncomfortable talking about with anyone. When I was 17-18, I finally told my mom. I have always been really insecure about my nose but I never like to talk about it. I'm not sure why that is, I guess I'm ashamed of it. Anyways, my mom was really shocked and couldn't warm up to the idea. Now, I'm 21, I'm comfortable talking ONLY to her about it. I'm most nervous about telling my dad's side of the family, and my mom, mom (my grandma). She is really religious and judgmental. I feel like she will hold this against me for a while. (So if anyone has any tips or advice to give me on breaking the news, it would be greatly appreciated.) It took me a little time to tell my boyfriend. He kept asking me why, and telling me that I shouldn't. But he realizes this is for me, and my self esteem. Last August, I met with a surgeon, in Lancaster, PA, at the health campus. I believe his name was Dr. Arthur. I was almost set on going to him. But he didn't make me feel comfortable for some reason. When we talked about what would be done, he didn't ask me what I preferred. He kind of just told me he would be taking the bump out and my nostril would be high up? I was really unhappy with the consultation but I was also unhappy with my nose, so I wanted to fix everything. I had no job, so no money, and I was and still am a full time student. So I knew I wouldn't be able to get the procedure done anytime soon. In December, a girl told me about a plastic surgeon down the road from the one I went to, Dr. Wendell Funk. I hesitated to call for a consultation because I hardly had much money at this point. I decided in May to schedule my consultation and I was extremely pleased. Dr. Funk did stimulated images to give me any idea of what my nose would look like in two different scenarios. The first scenario would be just taking the bump out. The second would be taking the bump out and shortening my nose. I am still set on the second option. I wanted to have my procedure scheduled for December 27-28 (because of winter break at school) but I only have a little over half of the money now. I am looking to find a job but I'm not sure if that's even going to help give me that money by December 28. So if I don't get it by then, I will be getting it in the summer! Having these insecurities really put a limit on my life. I have extreme anxiety, like most people, but I let it determine my life. It's not fun!Updated on 11 Apr 2013:Since I last posted I've had days where I am so scared to get this procedure that I don't want to do it anymore, and there are days where I can't wait to get it done and over with. Nonetheless, this is something that I truly want and it effects me in so many ways. I finally mustered up the courage to schedule my pre-op April 26. They told me I would only have 30 days after my pre-op to get the surgery. So I am hoping to not chicken out. As I said in my previous post, My main concern is telling certain family members. I'm not sure if there is a right way to tell them but hopefully I find it soon. Another major concern for me is not waking up. I am only 21, and I certainly want to live a whole lot longer. P.s. On my next post I will upload some pictures!Updated on 6 May 2013:My procedure is scheduled for the 21st of may! I am very nervous. More nervous than excited at this point. I keep having bad dreams that I am going to look like an over done plastic surgery woman! Haha but I am hoping for the best and hopefully my surgery will go well. I have decided to only tell the people that I am very close to, that will accept my decision. I am going to just tell the rest of my family when all is said and done. I do not want to feel more selfish than I already do. If anyone knows what I should eat or get prior to surgery let me know. All advice is greatly appreciated! :)
Hi ladies! Im so glad I found this website!! And thanks to all of you wonderful ladies for sharing your personal journey!! It is so much more benefitial to me to hear from women who have gone thru the procedure vs looking through tons of web articles. So hopefully my story will help someone along the way! A little bit about me..I'm a happy 37 yr old mother of a 9 yr old son. I'm divorced and had just recently started back into the dating scene again and was lucky enough to meet a wonderful guy. I'm 5'5" and weigh 155lbs.I have lost a lil over 30 lbs in the past year. I went from a size 12 to a size 8, I wear size 6 pants but Im really squeezed into em so I dont think that counts lol. I went from a size 40 DD to a size 36 D! I'm content w my weight now. I've always been a big boned girl, more of an athletic build and I;ve always weighed heavy. And I've ALWAYS had big boobs! My ideal goal is to have a mommy makeover. I do not want to do the procedures together and I've decided to have the breast reduction and lift done first. My surgery is scheduled for May 2. I've been wanting to have this done for quite some time. I had a goal of losing 20 lbs before the surgery and to my amazement I've surpassed my goal. Now I'm sure some of u may be thinking why am I still going thru w the surgery. I would like to be a full size c and am in need of a lift especially after my weight loss. My boobs r a lot saggier now than they were before weight loss. I'm very excited to have the surgery and am looking fwd to the new me. I will continue to add more each day! Updated on 13 Jun 2013: My surgery was may 2. I had a wonderful experience overall. I was a bit nervous the nite before but my worries were eased the minute I walked into Ephrata Community Hospital, where i had my procedure done. My dr was very pleased w how the surgery went! I was definitely in considerable amt of pain the first nite, but after about the third day I felt pretty good! My drains came out within 24 hrs. After one wk the incisions were mostly healed and I was feeling almost back to normal. My breasts have felt swollen and kinda hard like since the surgery...they r only now starting to feel like natural breasts 5 wks after surgery. I'm very pleased w the size and am more pleased w the shape everyday. Once the swelling has completely gone down and they have dropped more(which the dr said that will take place over several wks) I will b extremely pleased!
Thank you for your question. Any procedure to reduce fat demands stablilty of weight otherwise you can put on fat in other areas of the body. If you weight it stable, this is usually minimal but stability of weight is simply mandatory. Many patients require more than one session of treatments also to get the best result.
Fraxel Dual 1927 is a great laser for pigmentation and one may require 2 -3 treatments 4 weeks apart. There is downtime associated with this, therefore another option would be PicoSure, which has almost no downtime and again, multiple treatments may be required. Both are excellent lasers to treat this however. Maintenance is very important with all these lasers however. There are many many lasers that treat this but I have no information about the Cutera you asked about. Finally, a good medically based skin care program is critical to help maintain results. Just like you brush your teeth daily, you MUST do daily skin care to keep up good results. Thank you!
Thank you for your question. It is probably best to do Fraxel Dual 1927 every 4 weeks for pigmentation. If scarring is the greater problem, I would use the Fraxel Dual 1550 wavelength and again at 4 week intervals. You could also do a combination of 1550/1927 monthly but I would recommend spacing them 4 weeks apart. There are other modalities also. Probably the best is still CO2 ablative but it has a long down time with redness and the possibility of permanent hypopigmentation. Often a combination of treatments is of value also. Thank you!
Since the two are not related there is no reason you could not have an injection of orthovisc if your physician feels it would be of benefit. I should have no benefit or adverse effect to the SculpSure. Thank you.!
One would definately need to see better photos before making that decision. I would recommend a consultationg with someone who has the ability to do surgery and the non invasive procedures to get the best answer. The consultation would allow the physician to truly know your expectations which is critical. Often, with a combination of modalities, one can defer surgery but rarely can one get a surgical type result non invasively, so I would recommend a board certified plastic surgeon, well versed or specializing in cosmetic surgery but who also offers some of these other modalities to get the best answer. Thank you for your question.
