Located in Raleigh, NC, we are committed to excellence, providing a caring and warm atmosphere with personalized service. With our top-tier training, experience and artistry, we are able to create individualized, meticulous outcomes for all areas of the body, breasts and face. Our philosophy is “What is important to you is crucial to us.”
This procedure was my second one done by Dr. Blanton....who performed a Breast Lift about nine months ago. I opted to have the procedures done separately due to my schedule. I am three weeks out from my tummy tuck and feel great. I love everything about Dr. Blanton and this practice...Specialists in Plastic Surgery is the best place in Raleigh for plastic surgery. The staff, EVERYONE, is so nice and accomodating, everyone calls you by first name, spends endless time with you answering your questions and making you feel at ease. I had my tummy tuck two days before Christmas, which did not turn out to be a problem at all. I love that SIPS has three operating rooms IN their facility so I was able to go home right after the surgery. I do not remember being in a lot of pain. I was a little out of it from the anesthesia and the pain meds, but remember crawling into bed when I got home. I vaguely remember Dr. Blanton calling me that night to check on me, but woke up every four hours to take my pain meds. They send you home with a catheter that you are supposed to keep in until the next morning, but I really felt like I could walk to the bathroom and I felt it in me and just wanted it out, so when he called I asked him if I could take it out and he said "yes"....that was a relief. They want you to get up and walk around a little bit every 3-4 hours, which I did, even though at first, you feel like walking very scrunched over and slow, but I still did it and wasn't in too much pain. We have stairs in our house, and our bedroom is upstairs and the kitchen and living room are downstairs, so some of that walking was up and down the stairs, and that was fine, it didn't bother me. Day 3 was Christmas Day, and that morning, I came downstairs and sat on the couch and opened presents with everyone, and felt fine, but I didn't move around too much. I pretty much stayed on the couch most of the day...at least I spent most of the day awake. I spent the afternoon addressing Christmas cards...on the couch. Then day 4, 5, 6 and 7, I really did nothing at all, except, rest in bed, play on Pinterest, Twitter, FB, Instagram, and go to the bathroom because starting on day 4, you have to call your drain totals in to the office and if they don't get less and less each day, that means you have to keep your drains in longer, so I really tried to do nothing and stay down so I could get my drains out the following Monday (1 week after surgery), and I did. That wasn't too bad. Getting your drains removed feels like a 5 second sting, and then it's over. Not too bad. I could not shower anytime while my drains were in and I could not shower until the day after my drains were removed so you know that my Tuesday shower was AWESOME! I took a shower two times a day after that, because I missed it so much! After several showers, the steri-strips covering the scar area begin to fall off and you get a first peek at what it looks like. At one point, a few days after my drains were removed, it seems like my left drain site was infected so I texted a picture of it to Dr. Blanton and he said it wasn't infected but to keep Neosporin on it and continue to shower daily and that it would look better in a couple of days...and it did. Two weeks after surgery, I noticed that my lower belly began to look a bit like a water bed, like there was extra fluid build-up again, so I texted Dr. Blanton again, and he asked me to come in. He said it wasn't too bad, not the worst he'd ever seen, but he syringed about 20cc of fluid out of my belly, which did not hurt at all. He said it's called a seroma, but normal seromas look like you're pregnant and mine was not like that at all. He did want me to take it easy and not "reorganize my house" after that and I shopped around for a new binder by Spanx, which is what Dr. Blanton recommended. I have three weeks out and feel great. On a pain scale of 1-10, this surgery was between a 3-4. I had two c-sections 15 and 13 years ago, and the recovery for this seemed about that same for that, not bad at all. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.
Dr. Donald Oshwald of Specialists of Plastic Surgery performed a complete abdominoplasty on me on 9/25/2015. I initially went in August 2015 to discuss having liposuction, to reduce the amount of my midsection. He told me that I was not a good candidate for liposuction, and instead recommended a full abdominoplasty, and that it would be $10,885.00-which was paid in full prior to surgery. After the surgery was performed, my stomach still was not noticeably flatter like so many others stated it should be, even though a large piece of skin had been removed during the abdominoplasty. However, he stated at every post op visit that everything was doing well, even though almost 3 months after surgery the incision had to be re-opened and dead tissue had to be removed due to not healing correctly, causing additional recovery time. I followed all of his post op care instructions to the letter, and still did not see the expected "flatness" in my stomach that is normally seen with a full abdominoplasty. At my post op visit in March, when I questioned him about this, he told me there was nothing he could do, that the sutures holding the muscles together in my abdominal wall had come undone, and that I needed to diet and exercise. This had never been mentioned previously, and I had not gone crazy on my eating habits, so I had not gained any weight since surgery. I had followed all of his post op care instructions, and they had been the complete opposite of exercising, I was supposed to use caution while waiting for everything to heal. I was cut from one hip all the way to the other hip. After he told me this I went home and was extremely upset and disappointed. I called back to let him know how disappointed I was, and again was told there was nothing else he could do. I decided to go to several other doctors at this point for their opinion. I was told by all three that I should have never have had an abdominoplasty, that there was too much fat tissue underneath my muscles in my stomach, and that it would never work, and never provide the results that I wanted. I would need to lose at least 50+ to get good results with this surgery. This was never explained to me by Dr. Oshwald, if it had been, I would have never had the surgery. I never even wanted an abdominoplasty to begin with, I went in initially for a consult about abdominal liposuction, and was talked into the abdominoplasty by Dr. Oshwald. I believe that he acted unethically in his practice by doing this surgery when he knew that it would not work as it was supposed to, and that I was taken advantage of. I am very disappointed by the lack of care for his patients that he has shown here in this situation. I will never recommend anyone else to this practice.