Some of us have looked forward to this fall in anticipation of Succession’s return, the rerelease of Taylor Swift’s Red album, and a Thanksgiving spent with vaccinated family members. But for The Real Housewives of New Jersey star Dolores Catania, fall signifies something else too: “It’s surgery season,” she says, explaining that it’s the ideal time to undergo any cosmetic enhancements or changes she’s been considering, since it’s after the overexposed summer months but before the heavy lifting of the holidays.
In the past, Catania has used “surgery season” to have a facelift, a Brazilian butt lift, and a tummy tuck; this year, it was a breast augmentation, which she underwent on October 26. We caught up with Catania to chat about the details of her recent procedure, from how she chose her doctor and implants to why she feels it’s so important to talk about plastic surgery publicly.
RealSelf: What was your previous experience with breast augmentation?
Dolores Catania: As a young girl, I was voluptuous, with big boobs and a big ass. But as I got older, and after I had my kids and lost some weight, my breasts just kind of deflated. So I felt that I needed to get them done, and it wound up being part of the after-divorce [makeover] I did. I did my boobs and liposuction. After the revenge body, about six or seven years ago, I did a breast revision.
RS: Why did you decide to have your breasts done for a third time now?
DC: I didn’t like the way they felt. I thought they looked a little uneven, and I just didn’t really like the implants that I used. I have a thyroid issue, so I went up and down in weight a lot, and I didn’t like the way [my breast implants] hung as my weight fluctuated. Of course, nobody’s body is symmetrical, but it was such a noticeable difference, and I just wanted them done right.
I was looking around at boobs all the time, to see which ones I liked best, and I really felt that [RHONJ castmate] Teresa Guidice’s were best. My breasts weren’t really on my priority list until I saw how good hers looked and realized how much of an improvement I could have. It really lit a fire under my ass because I knew that I could get a better result with different implants and I knew that I had to find the right surgeon for the job. Once I’d healed from my tummy tuck and all that other stuff, I decided it was time for my next surgery.
RS: What were the next steps on the road to this surgery?
DC: I asked Teresa which implants she got, and she said they were Sientra breast implants, so I started looking into them. I liked the shape, I liked the guarantee on them, and I liked all the different options they had, so I felt really confident in the product. After all, if you’re putting something in your body, you’d better know what you’re doing—and I like to think that I’m doing the homework for everyone else.
The doctor Teresa used, Dr. Aviva Preminger, is absolutely amazing. She’s a rockstar of a surgeon, and her credentials are off the charts. She’s board-certified and a Harvard graduate. And her office staff is all women—they are so on top of everything and were so patient with me. On the morning of my surgery, I was just as confident as I was the moment I signed on the dotted line to go there.
RS: What were your goals going into your breast augmentation procedure?
DC: My breasts kind of sat on the side more than the front and they were uneven, so I wanted a better shape and I wanted them perkier. I did not change the size—just the shape and the position, to make them more even. Dr. Preminger also went through the same scars that I already had. I never wanted the lift scars, but I had them from when I needed the lift. There’s really no way around a lift. I’d done one previously, and I did one again now so they were lifted a little higher.
RS: Your family hasn’t been thrilled about your cosmetic surgeries in the past. How did they react this time around?
DC: Everyone’s given up on yelling at me. I don’t mind them being mad at me, but I do feel bad when they worry about me. It’s my choice, so I don’t want people worrying, and I know any time they have disapproved, it was because they were worried about me. The truth is, I feel guilty even having people help me when I come home. I hate it! Like, I asked for this, so why should they have to help me?
Going through surgery is no joke, and there’s always going to be risk involved. It’s a lot of money, and there’s the chance that it won’t be done the way you wanted. I have a lot of people who depend on me in my life, so doing elective surgery is not something I take lightly. There’s also the fear of what could go wrong, the downtime, the pain, and—especially with revisions—the scar tissue involved. You really have to go to a great surgeon who knows what to do if there are some roadblocks when they go in there, and I really had the utmost confidence in Dr. Preminger.
RS: How has your recovery been?
DC: My recovery has not been bad at all. I did not come home with drains, which was amazing. The first three days are always the hardest; after that, I started walking and took my first shower. But I had a lot of help. I had an amazing friend who picked me up and took care of me throughout the night. I had people come and help me with my dogs. Making sure you have people helping you when you get home from all these surgeries is just as important as picking the doctor. I have two dogs that I have to walk, and I had to think about that. I also had to think about what would happen if, during the night, I had any complications and make sure that the right person was going to be there for me.
RS: It’s obviously early days, but how are you feeling about your results?
DC: There aren’t too many better feelings than when you come out of surgery and realize that you chose the best doctor, everything went great, you love the way you look, and that everything you went through paid off. That’s exactly how I felt, and it’s how I still feel.
RS: You’ve always spoken candidly about the cosmetic procedures you’ve had. Why do you think it’s so important to have an open dialogue around getting work done?
DC: The truth is, everything I do looks natural, so if I didn’t talk about it, you wouldn’t know. You wouldn’t know I got a facelift or a butt lift. I just enhance things, and I don’t find doctors who overdo it. Everyone I see is all about looking natural, and they’re all board-certified. It’s important to me to tell people where to go when I find the right doctors because people are going to get surgery done no matter what, whether they admit to it or not. I’ve done the homework, I have a surgical background, and I know what to look for in a doctor. So if you’re going to do it, you should do it in a safe way because there are so many risks. I want people to know that.
And you shouldn’t feel ashamed to have plastic surgery or worry about what other people will think of you. Don’t let anyone else dictate what you do with your own body. If you look in the mirror and see something that bothers you and makes you unhappy every single day and there’s a way to [change that], you should do it.
