I'm going to be completely honest and very detailed in my review. I'm a real person who had real concerns and my body looked very bad from being overweight my whole life, a gastric bypass and 2 back to back pregnancies, the last which had been a set of twins. I'm very pleased with my results even at only 1 month post op.
I had been overweight my whole life. I turned 30 a few days before my surgery. I'm only 5'3'' and had weighed over 200 pounds since the end of high school and close to 280 the last few years. In July of 2014 after pregnancy and at my highest weight I had a gastric bypass. I lost over 100 pounds and was now at 170ish. But I had a large apron skin flap across my abdomen and my breasts that had been very full were like empty sacks of skin that pointed downward. I had another pregnancy after losing all of the weight, my twins, who were born this past June and even though I had a lot of skin to begin with from the weight loss, the twins stretched it out even more. 3 months after the twins were born I looked in the mirror grabbing my skin flap and said this has got to go. The skin flap was so large it hung over my underwear waist band. I spoke to my husband about having a surgery and he agreed I needed surgery to get the results we both wanted.
I immediately began researching realself, deciding on what I wanted, needed and what could be put off and what I wanted to do first. I ideally wanted a inner thight lift, tummy tuck and breast implants to fill out the skin. I started seeing plastic surgeons that week in September. Each one different and each one who had different ideas about my surgerys and different results.
I visited 5 plastic surgeons and ultimately decided on Dr. Salama. He was the least expensive, I was a cash customer and money was not my main concern, it was his technique that he explained to me during our consult. And after visiting other surgeons and them explaining their results and technique I was sold on Dr. Salama. I flat out had other doctors told me not to expect any curves, that I had never been an hourglass and when they pull the skin down flat, it actually makes a boxy appearance. Dr. Salama explained how he pulls the sides of the skin inward and would create me a hourglassy figure. I didn't ask him to do this, he explained upfront to me that he would do this.
I had original contact with Cynthia over email, asking about pricing, which was very upfront, and to schedule my consult which was set for Sept 30th. Upon arriving to the Aventura office, I found it to be a nice building but once in the office it was PACKED and very small. There was nowhere to sit and the people there ranged from consults and post ops. I have to admit I was turned off at that moment. After visiting other offices that looked like spas, I was embarrassed I was there. There were people complaining about their pain, post op patients, and very large people waiting for consults, who in my opinion were not ready to go under the knife as I had been very large once too. There were young ladies who brought in 3 family members, even an elderly grandmother to the consult, I'm guessing for support and the atmosphere was very unsettling. I waited 2 hours past my appointment time to be seen. 2 hours in that waiting room had me ready to run for the hills. They finally called my name. I went to a room which looked like it was used more for storage and a lady came in, told me to undress, put on a paper gown and what I wanted done. 4 times the door opened and it was a nurse or lady getting some sort of supply out of the room. I waited approx. 30 mins. Finally I met Dr. Salama. He immediately started explaining what he could do. Showing me his hands and taking breast measurments. We talked about profiles of breast implants and the sizing, however, there was only a chart in that room not actual implants that I could see, touch like at other offices. I believe this was just that one room as I did see implants in another room when I came back for my pre op with a nurse. He made me feel very confident. I remember saying to him, I don't expect to look like a centerfold, and his remark to me was I'll get you as close as possible.
Next, I was in a room with Nancy and Cynthia discussing dates and cost. I was blown away that they were only quoting me 10000 dollars when at other consults I was quoted more in the 12-15 thousand range. He was gifting me the silicone breast implants at the saline price. The facility fees were the least I had seen. This is because every other plastic surgeon I visited was a 'quality assured' facility. More on that later. I told them a November date would be ideal, they said I could have Nov 30th. I said yes, but I wanted to talk it over with my husband first. They took my credit card info for my 1000 dollar deposit and said they would hold it until the next day to make sure I had time to talk it over with him.
I left feeling excited and hopeful. As my prior consults left me feeling a little sad and unsure if I wanted to trade my skin apron for a boxy shape. I called the next day and scheduled and paid my deposit. They required the balance 3 weeks prior to my surgery and although I was a cash customer, they did offer Carecredit with financing specials for 1 year or 2 years, I can't remember. I was given a brochure on it. I did the rest of my coordinator talks with Nancy, she was pleasant, friendly and very kind. She remembered little details we had spoke about in the original meeting such as I said I was moving to Coral Gables and we were closing on our new home, and she was friendly with her small talk.
Over the next few weeks, I had email and phone contact with Zuny.
I had my pre op labs and doctor visit done 3 weeks before surgery, and met with Noamie who explained what to expect. I was given my time to be at the surgery center and was basically all set. I wrote a check for my final balance.
One week before surgery I got a call saying they hadn't received my mammagram report, I explained I didn't have that on my orders and had been told I wouldn't need one due to my age. After a lot of back and forths and me being scared that my procedures were going to be canceled, I was informed that yes, it was an oversight and I didn't need the mammagram, So finally, I was all set.
I live in Miami but not very close to the office so we stayed at the Residence Inn near Aventura Mall the night before and night after surgery. My husband and my 3 little children were all there in the room with me. I saw a lot online about being away from your family or needing 'nurse' care, I didn't find this to be true. My husband was my only care giver and my kids stayed with the us the whole time, and this is 2.5 year old toddler and 5 month old twin babies.
I arrived at the surgery center early 7 am on the Monday morning of my surgery. This is when I got VERY nervous. It was in a building that was older and the OR looked nothing like any other OR I had visited or toured. It looked basic and old looking. Every other surgeon I had visited had a quality assured facility which means its at hospital standards and gets graded like every 3 months. Surgical facilities that are not quality assured are graded like yearly and do not have hospital room minimums. Dr. Salama also uses an anesthesiology nurse rather than an Anesthesiologist doctor. Which I'm sure is why other quotes I had were higher. These are all things to consider when considering a plastic surgeon. Although, I'm happy with the choice I made, it was a little jarring at first after seeing other top of the line facilities. I got marked up, I was sweaty and nervous but Dr Salama was patient and kind. I met the other providers. English is my first language however living in Miami, I speak fluent Spanish. I also am also fluent in Arabic and Hebrew. Although I always start talking in English (unless someone tells me they don't understand) and then am generally always responded to in English, everyone else will be speaking Spanish around you. You may find this uncomfortable if you do not understand other languages. I was super nervous however it was now or never and I hoped for the best and expected the worse and got on the table.
I woke up dressed in a wheel chair, well atleast that's all I remember. They mentioned my blood pressure had gotten very high and I need to talk to my doctor. I was wheeled out however I do not remember it and was put into my car with my husband.
I remember waking up when we got back to the hotel, and the pain was bad but the out of it feeling was the biggest struggle for me. Pain was rough but not as bad as I expected. I had a C-section for my twins that was WAY worse in pain. I have an adjustable bed at home and was able to rest comfortably with only my husband helping me get up.
I have gone to many follow ups at the surgery center not the office to see Dr. Salama. He always checks everything and explains the healing process. My tummy tuck is perfect. The scar line is pencil thin. He lifted mons pubis area as well and all is perfect there too. I couldn't be more happy. I have no liposuction burns and have a beautiful torso/tummy. My breasts are still very high and have not dropped yet. The lift is amazing, I can't believe these are my beasts now. Also, every other surgeon said they would only attempt a 300-350cc implant when done with a lift. Dr. Salama said he would go as big as he could safely. I wanted large breasts. I went under thinking 400cc, as that's what we discussed previously. I woke up with 550cc in one breast and 600cc in the other. My breast were not the same size beforehand. PERFECT. Basically he got excellent size for me even with the lift. I am so happy about that. He has told me I still have time for them to drop into place better. Otherwise a simple revision will be needed. I have hope they keep dropping on their own and have started getting deep tissue massage on my upper chest to help out.
The aftercare so far has been good. The post surgical nurse is nice and helpful.
I love my body. Dr. Salama is a true professional and a master of his craft. He made me beautiful. He made my body so sexy. I have curves and a tight little tummy. When he did the tummy tuck it actually smoothed out the lumpy skin I had on the outside part of my hips and thighs, which is just a big bonus!
Even tough I have swelling still in my lower tummy, at one month post op, I went from a size 12 jeans into a size 8... WITH SWELLING! I started in a larger sized compression garment and need to buy a smaller one, or even 2 sizes smaller. I cannot wait for a few more months to pass, to see how much smaller I get when swelling subsides. Although my breasts are large DD sized, I fit into a size small shirt. He made my the most beautiful body and I love it!
I wanted a thigh lift as well when I started this journey. Due to how much surgery was needed for the tummy tuck, Liposuction, Breast lift and implants, that's all he could safely do at once. I will go back to him for a thigh lift, arm lift, and BBL once I'm totally healed and ready to undergo surgery again. I'm totally in love with my new body. I'm so curvy, he made me the hourglass that other surgeons wouldn't even attempt. Thank you, Dr. Salama!
I had been overweight my whole life. I turned 30 a few days before my surgery. I'm only 5'3'' and had weighed over 200 pounds since the end of high school and close to 280 the last few years. In July of 2014 after pregnancy and at my highest weight I had a gastric bypass. I lost over 100 pounds and was now at 170ish. But I had a large apron skin flap across my abdomen and my breasts that had been very full were like empty sacks of skin that pointed downward. I had another pregnancy after losing all of the weight, my twins, who were born this past June and even though I had a lot of skin to begin with from the weight loss, the twins stretched it out even more. 3 months after the twins were born I looked in the mirror grabbing my skin flap and said this has got to go. The skin flap was so large it hung over my underwear waist band. I spoke to my husband about having a surgery and he agreed I needed surgery to get the results we both wanted.
I immediately began researching realself, deciding on what I wanted, needed and what could be put off and what I wanted to do first. I ideally wanted a inner thight lift, tummy tuck and breast implants to fill out the skin. I started seeing plastic surgeons that week in September. Each one different and each one who had different ideas about my surgerys and different results.
I visited 5 plastic surgeons and ultimately decided on Dr. Salama. He was the least expensive, I was a cash customer and money was not my main concern, it was his technique that he explained to me during our consult. And after visiting other surgeons and them explaining their results and technique I was sold on Dr. Salama. I flat out had other doctors told me not to expect any curves, that I had never been an hourglass and when they pull the skin down flat, it actually makes a boxy appearance. Dr. Salama explained how he pulls the sides of the skin inward and would create me a hourglassy figure. I didn't ask him to do this, he explained upfront to me that he would do this.
I had original contact with Cynthia over email, asking about pricing, which was very upfront, and to schedule my consult which was set for Sept 30th. Upon arriving to the Aventura office, I found it to be a nice building but once in the office it was PACKED and very small. There was nowhere to sit and the people there ranged from consults and post ops. I have to admit I was turned off at that moment. After visiting other offices that looked like spas, I was embarrassed I was there. There were people complaining about their pain, post op patients, and very large people waiting for consults, who in my opinion were not ready to go under the knife as I had been very large once too. There were young ladies who brought in 3 family members, even an elderly grandmother to the consult, I'm guessing for support and the atmosphere was very unsettling. I waited 2 hours past my appointment time to be seen. 2 hours in that waiting room had me ready to run for the hills. They finally called my name. I went to a room which looked like it was used more for storage and a lady came in, told me to undress, put on a paper gown and what I wanted done. 4 times the door opened and it was a nurse or lady getting some sort of supply out of the room. I waited approx. 30 mins. Finally I met Dr. Salama. He immediately started explaining what he could do. Showing me his hands and taking breast measurments. We talked about profiles of breast implants and the sizing, however, there was only a chart in that room not actual implants that I could see, touch like at other offices. I believe this was just that one room as I did see implants in another room when I came back for my pre op with a nurse. He made me feel very confident. I remember saying to him, I don't expect to look like a centerfold, and his remark to me was I'll get you as close as possible.
Next, I was in a room with Nancy and Cynthia discussing dates and cost. I was blown away that they were only quoting me 10000 dollars when at other consults I was quoted more in the 12-15 thousand range. He was gifting me the silicone breast implants at the saline price. The facility fees were the least I had seen. This is because every other plastic surgeon I visited was a 'quality assured' facility. More on that later. I told them a November date would be ideal, they said I could have Nov 30th. I said yes, but I wanted to talk it over with my husband first. They took my credit card info for my 1000 dollar deposit and said they would hold it until the next day to make sure I had time to talk it over with him.
I left feeling excited and hopeful. As my prior consults left me feeling a little sad and unsure if I wanted to trade my skin apron for a boxy shape. I called the next day and scheduled and paid my deposit. They required the balance 3 weeks prior to my surgery and although I was a cash customer, they did offer Carecredit with financing specials for 1 year or 2 years, I can't remember. I was given a brochure on it. I did the rest of my coordinator talks with Nancy, she was pleasant, friendly and very kind. She remembered little details we had spoke about in the original meeting such as I said I was moving to Coral Gables and we were closing on our new home, and she was friendly with her small talk.
Over the next few weeks, I had email and phone contact with Zuny.
I had my pre op labs and doctor visit done 3 weeks before surgery, and met with Noamie who explained what to expect. I was given my time to be at the surgery center and was basically all set. I wrote a check for my final balance.
One week before surgery I got a call saying they hadn't received my mammagram report, I explained I didn't have that on my orders and had been told I wouldn't need one due to my age. After a lot of back and forths and me being scared that my procedures were going to be canceled, I was informed that yes, it was an oversight and I didn't need the mammagram, So finally, I was all set.
I live in Miami but not very close to the office so we stayed at the Residence Inn near Aventura Mall the night before and night after surgery. My husband and my 3 little children were all there in the room with me. I saw a lot online about being away from your family or needing 'nurse' care, I didn't find this to be true. My husband was my only care giver and my kids stayed with the us the whole time, and this is 2.5 year old toddler and 5 month old twin babies.
I arrived at the surgery center early 7 am on the Monday morning of my surgery. This is when I got VERY nervous. It was in a building that was older and the OR looked nothing like any other OR I had visited or toured. It looked basic and old looking. Every other surgeon I had visited had a quality assured facility which means its at hospital standards and gets graded like every 3 months. Surgical facilities that are not quality assured are graded like yearly and do not have hospital room minimums. Dr. Salama also uses an anesthesiology nurse rather than an Anesthesiologist doctor. Which I'm sure is why other quotes I had were higher. These are all things to consider when considering a plastic surgeon. Although, I'm happy with the choice I made, it was a little jarring at first after seeing other top of the line facilities. I got marked up, I was sweaty and nervous but Dr Salama was patient and kind. I met the other providers. English is my first language however living in Miami, I speak fluent Spanish. I also am also fluent in Arabic and Hebrew. Although I always start talking in English (unless someone tells me they don't understand) and then am generally always responded to in English, everyone else will be speaking Spanish around you. You may find this uncomfortable if you do not understand other languages. I was super nervous however it was now or never and I hoped for the best and expected the worse and got on the table.
I woke up dressed in a wheel chair, well atleast that's all I remember. They mentioned my blood pressure had gotten very high and I need to talk to my doctor. I was wheeled out however I do not remember it and was put into my car with my husband.
I remember waking up when we got back to the hotel, and the pain was bad but the out of it feeling was the biggest struggle for me. Pain was rough but not as bad as I expected. I had a C-section for my twins that was WAY worse in pain. I have an adjustable bed at home and was able to rest comfortably with only my husband helping me get up.
I have gone to many follow ups at the surgery center not the office to see Dr. Salama. He always checks everything and explains the healing process. My tummy tuck is perfect. The scar line is pencil thin. He lifted mons pubis area as well and all is perfect there too. I couldn't be more happy. I have no liposuction burns and have a beautiful torso/tummy. My breasts are still very high and have not dropped yet. The lift is amazing, I can't believe these are my beasts now. Also, every other surgeon said they would only attempt a 300-350cc implant when done with a lift. Dr. Salama said he would go as big as he could safely. I wanted large breasts. I went under thinking 400cc, as that's what we discussed previously. I woke up with 550cc in one breast and 600cc in the other. My breast were not the same size beforehand. PERFECT. Basically he got excellent size for me even with the lift. I am so happy about that. He has told me I still have time for them to drop into place better. Otherwise a simple revision will be needed. I have hope they keep dropping on their own and have started getting deep tissue massage on my upper chest to help out.
The aftercare so far has been good. The post surgical nurse is nice and helpful.
I love my body. Dr. Salama is a true professional and a master of his craft. He made me beautiful. He made my body so sexy. I have curves and a tight little tummy. When he did the tummy tuck it actually smoothed out the lumpy skin I had on the outside part of my hips and thighs, which is just a big bonus!
Even tough I have swelling still in my lower tummy, at one month post op, I went from a size 12 jeans into a size 8... WITH SWELLING! I started in a larger sized compression garment and need to buy a smaller one, or even 2 sizes smaller. I cannot wait for a few more months to pass, to see how much smaller I get when swelling subsides. Although my breasts are large DD sized, I fit into a size small shirt. He made my the most beautiful body and I love it!
I wanted a thigh lift as well when I started this journey. Due to how much surgery was needed for the tummy tuck, Liposuction, Breast lift and implants, that's all he could safely do at once. I will go back to him for a thigh lift, arm lift, and BBL once I'm totally healed and ready to undergo surgery again. I'm totally in love with my new body. I'm so curvy, he made me the hourglass that other surgeons wouldn't even attempt. Thank you, Dr. Salama!
