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POSTED UNDER Smart Lipo REVIEWS

A Nightmare, I Would Not Recommend It, at Least from my Doctor - Scottsdale, AZ

ORIGINAL POST

So I try to get rid of this little muffin top that...

4everfilms
$5,000
So I try to get rid of this little muffin top that I have, but nothing is working. I don't want to diet and lose weight anywhere except in that particular area. I have an injury to my low back, to the point that the disk at L5-S1 has degenerated to nothing at all, so excersizing that area is a lot more difficult for me then most people. I made an appointment to see doctor who was suppose to be a hot shot plastic surgeon in Scottsdale Arizona and he tells me I'm the perfect candidate for a procedure called Smart Lipo. He says its safe because I will be awake during the whole thing, and if something were to go wrong, like he accidentally touched my kidneys with this laser of his, that's suppose to be melting away my fat, I will feel it and will stop him from doing that because it would hurt.
He says thousands of people have done it. Its safe. And I'll love the results. So I'm excited. I've tried other beauty procedures in the past, that was suppose to get rid of the signs of aging that didn't quit give me the results I was expecting, but this was going to different. He was going to insert this laser (or what looked like a skibob to me) into my muffintop in several areas, and it was going to heat up and actually melt the fat from my sides right then and there. He would then suck out the liquefied fat. He showed me a video of this laser melting fat and turning it into a liquid, so if this was how it was done, how could it fail?
I did my own research on the Internet. I watched some video clips of people actually having the procedure done. One guy was talking on his cell phone, and cracking jokes with his doctor and staff. He said he felt no pain. Got up off the table and walked away after it was all over. That is how I envisioned it would be for me.
So for Christmas 2007, I told my husband that this is what I wanted! And Santa baby delivered. It was scheduled for the first week in January. I was excited to have this done and start the new year with my new body. my doc said I'd probably drop 2 pant sizes.  I wear a waist size 26 or size 2 pants .Oh the sales after Christmas were so tempting, but I wasn't sure exactly what size I would be wearing, so I had to let them pass by.
January 8th I have my 16 year old daughter drop me off at the doctor's office. I told her I'd call her when I was done so she'd could pick me up. I took a volume that was prescribed to me before hand, and eventually I was wheeled down a long hall into a procedure room. I was told to get completely naked and lay under a sheet on a hospital bed that was in the room, so I did. I brought my pocket PC with me so I had something to keep my mind off things during the procedure. I figured I surf the net or something. I sent a text to my daughter letting her know what was going on. She immediately responded with a text back, and then a nurse walked into the room. She had a syringe in her hand, and I figured it was to numb me up. To my surprise, the shot was injected into my arm.
I remember asking her what she just did, and said it would relax me. The very next thing I remember is standing in my laundry room. I had just walked into the laundry room from the garage. I looked down and I had been wearing a white long sleeve button up shirt, that was now drenched in blood or what looked like blood to me at the time. My shirt was so wet that it was completely see through and I wasn't wearing my bra. I was still very out of it and very confused. My daughter and husband put some towels down on the spare bed, took off my clothes and put me in some pajamas and I slept for almost two days straight. Of course they would wake me up every few hours try to get me to eat and drink something, but I could only stay awake for about 30 minutes at a time. I remember being extremely emotional and crying a lot. Which is not the kind of person I am.
When I finally shook off whatever drug it was that he gave me, I remember feeling intense pain. Before I had the procedure done, Dr. name shown above for registered site users said that I had to contact this lady and buy an after surgery garment from her, to wear after the procedure. The stupid thing cost $300, but I wasn't exactly sure what it was or how to shop for one at a better price, and I wasn't able to see it before the procedure. It was taken to my doctor's office directly and put on me there after it was over. It ended up being this very restricting body suit that went from under my breasts to my knees with the crotch cut out of it. I had given her my measurements, but it was too small for me and was cutting off circulation. I called her crying. I told her it was very painful to wear, especially wear my bra strap would usually be. She came over to my house right away. She was stunned when she looked at where he had inserted his skibob into me. She said that she thought I was just having my flanks done, and had she known he was going to do my upper back too, she would not have ordered the garment that I was wearing. The edge of the garment had a thick elastic band around it and that band was going across a couple of puncture marks on my upper back! Which was nowhere the doctor was suppose to be. She ended up selling me another garment of a different style for an additional $150. They sell the same damn things at the mall for about $40, but I was in no shape to go shopping.

For three months following this procedure I was extremely sore, to the point where I would flinch if anyone got too close to me. I had a follow up visit with my doctor two weeks later, and I was going to say something, but he's such an arrogant man, it made it difficult. I brought up the part about him going into my upper back, when he was not suppose to, and he denied that happened and said that I had no marks on my upper back except for what looked like bug bite. With the disadvantage of not being able to see my back to point it out to him, there was really nothing I could say further about it.
I was looking forward to seeing him at my three month follow up appointment and I was going to get this all off my chest, but I learned after I arrived for my appointment  was not with name shown above for registered site users, it was with his photographer and it was for taking pictures only. I told his nurse, or photographer, or whatever she was, how dissatisfied I was with the outcome. We compared the before pictures with the new pictures, and she agreed that there is no change at all, not even a little bit, in my appearance. I went through all of that, and I paid him $5,000.00, and now I have scars all over my torso, for absolutely nothing! The nurse said that it could take up to six months to see the final results of the procedure. Every time I have an appointment with the doctor, I get a call the day of the appointment from his office, stating that he had an emergency and he had to leave the office unexpectantly. My six month follow up appointment has been rescheduled twice so far. My next appointment is scheduled for Aug. 8th.

I'm beginning to think that he had an emergency in the middle of the procedure, and had to leave me or just did it as quickly as possible, so he could go. It was happy hour on a Friday evening. I'd be interested to know if anyone else's experience of smart lipo was similar or completely different.  

4everfilms's provider

Todd Malan, MD

Todd Malan, MD

Board Certified OB-GYN

Replies (7)

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April 7, 2015
Hello sorry to hear about your mishap. However, I wanted to know if things were better or not. Please share.
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February 15, 2017
Thanks for posting this - his website looks great, but after reading your review I googled him more and he has a lot of complaints. I am surprised he is in business still. Best wishes to you.
May 4, 2018
I can only recommend for everyone to GOOGLE Dr Todd Malan. PLEASE READ THE COMPLAINTS!!!! They are true! My experience~A NIGHTMARE!!! He is the WORST!!!! And yes, surprised he is in business!!!
August 3, 2017
Dr. Malan messed up my thighs! I have had to live with thighs that look like they belong to a 90 year old woman(: ....I went to a well known Plastic Surgeon that speciallizes in lipo in Beverly Hills and he could not believe what a terrible Dr. Malan. There wasn't anything he could do to reverse the damage Dr. Todd Malan did on my thighs. How dare Dr. Malan continue performing lipo, knowing his work sucks! By the way ,stem cell transfer to the breast is not recommended. As time passes the stem cell fat that is in the breast calcifies and on Mammograms imaging it looks just like cancer. If you want lipo Dr. Matlock is one of the better. I wished I had him perform my lipo..I have seen his
work, lipo that is. Do not have him or any of his associates do any plastic surgery other than lipo and vaginal surgery. For any other procedures do your research. there are great plastic surgerons in Beverly Hills and San Francisco. I have found out the HARD WAY!
May 21, 2018
Dr. Malan performed smart lipo on my stomach in 2007 and I’ve had two revisions and still not happy. He is not a good doctor but at the time was supposedly teaching other plastic surgeons how to perform smart lipo because he was so experienced. Awful doctor.
March 4, 2019
Not happy at all with the final results. If I would of known then the difference in a cosmetic and plastic surgeon I would of never went here for male breast reduction. His office called me a few days after the consultation and asked me how much money I got and that they were willing to take what I have and pay back the rest in six months. I was happy and could not believe they would trust me and do that for me, this was happening quicker than I thought and figured anything would look better than what my chest looked like now so lets do this. They gave me Dr. Malans personal number and said if I had any questions or concerns in the meanwhile not to hesitate to call him for anything. I knew that gynecomastia can not be treated by lipo alone so I called him one time about this and he told me that I was over thinking it and that he has plenty of tools to use if his lipo procedure wouldn't work, so I left it at that. I planned for it and took a week off of work and they had the nerve to call me the day before my surgery to tell me that they don't think that I'm ready and the doctor is willing to give your money back. I couldn't believe them. I don't know if it was because I called the doctor once and the office once with a few questions or what? It was almost as if I offended them because I had a few doubts in my mind and they didn't like that. I should of took my money while I had the chance though. All I can say is that Dr. todd Malan is a liar about what he says he can do for you and what the results will look like. He promised me a flatter chest and they his lipo technique was strong enough to remove the glandular tissue along with the fat but he failed to do so. He was there for my one week and my one month post op appointment and kept telling me that I was swollen still and to go get lymphatic massages, and give it some time. On my three month post op he wasn't there and supposedly in the Bahamas with his wife opening a stem cell research clinic. That's when his nurse or whomever she was took my after Pics and kind of gave me an evil smirk as she pointed out the difference which was very little and not satisfying at all, telling me thats all they could do for me. I tried calling back the next month and the month after to see if the doctor had any other ideas for me but supposedly he was still in the bahamas. I paid all his money back in less than six months. It is now four years down the line and am now in the process of looking for a plastic surgeon to do what Dr. Todd Malan promised he could do for me. You were a waste of my time and money Dr. Malan. You obviously know nothing about GYNECOMASTIA SURGICAL CORRECTION, or what guys with gynecomastia have to go through and endure on a daily basis, or maybe you did but are so arrogant that you didn't care. Please do yourself a favor and do your homework before you choose a surgeon, ask for pics, proof of their work, talk to other patients, look at reviews, do whatever it takes to make sure the doctor will get the job done right for you. There is a major difference in a cosmetic surgeon and a plastic surgeon. Thanks for taking my hard earned money DR. MALAN, I was really looking forward to finally correcting this problem.