Traveling out of State for Surgery - BA/BL, Tummy Tuck with Dr. Hedden, Birmingham, AL - Birmingham, AL

You know you're getting old when your body loses its healing powers. Less than 20 years ago I needed stitches for an on the job cut and went to one of those med-help places. I'm pretty sure those doctors aren't plastic surgeons and yet there is no scar from those stitches. I've had stitches several times by non-plastic surgeons and the incisions healed beautifully with no scar. Sadly, my body no longer possesses those amazing healing powers.
Breast augmentation/lift--revision on areolas 12 months later. I was meticulous with massaging, using scar cream and even silicone strips, but the areolas stretched so much that bras no longer covered them. The scars never lightened and even widened. I've read horror stories on this site about doctors who will tell patients unsightly scars look perfectly acceptable, simply to get out of doing revisions at a lower cost or maybe because they mistakenly believe that acknowledging a poor result isn't the same as admitting fault. I received nothing but compassion from Dr. Hedden and he performed the revision at a very minimal cost. Doctors have to pay their nurses and anestheologist so please understand that unless a poor result is undeniably the fault of the doctor, the patient will need to pay for revisions. Dr. Hedden also performed light liposuction on my flanks during the breast revision.
I would have loved the areolas to be even smaller but my implant size doesn't allow for further reduction. At any rate, I'm very pleased with the result and pray my breasts maintain this appearance. If the areolas stretch again or the scars widen I'll probably just have them removed or possibly go smaller and with saline.
Tummy tuck scar revision 15 months after the original surgery. Dr. Hedden offered to revise the tummy tuck scar during the breast revision but I declined because I had already placed a large deposit with a top NYC surgeon to perform a BBL and that surgeon had already agreed to revise the tummy tuck scar. I'll discuss the tummy tuck scar revision/BBL/liposuction in a new post as those surgeries were performed by Dr. Hedden's surgical partner--Dr. Schaffer. I forfeited my $1,600 deposit with the other surgeon to go with Dr. Schaffer after seeing the results of a BBL and breast revision surgery he performed on my sister.
I believe I was scheduled to arrive for surgery at 10am and waited a couple of hours after my scheduled time of arrival. Not ideal to have to wait for hours after not having food or water since before midnight, but it happens often with surgery no matter who the doctor, so be prepared.
After waking up in the recovery room, or being awakened by the amazing surgical nurse (Carol or Wynne or both) I was asked questions to make sure I was mentally stable to go home, given ice water because I indicated severe thirst (which is to be expected after no fluids since before midnight the day before, the anesthesiology and the liposuction). Carol and Wynne always make sure their patients go home with a bottle of gatorade and crackers so they can easily put something on their stomach. If you make he wise decision to have surgery with Dr. Hedden or Dr. Schaffer, pray that Wynne or Carol are the surgical nurses. There are two other fantastic nurses in the office-- Penny and I'm afraid I don't recall the name of the other young nurse. They are meticulous and miss nothing. Front office receptionists Sherry and Meredith are simply amazing, beautiful people. And Nicole, the surgical coordinator is phenomenal.
The evening was uneventful. I took the pain meds and slept through the night. Dr. Hedden always wants to see patients the next morning following surgery. I woke up with a severe burning pain in my side so getting dressed took a bit longer than expected, which caused me to run late for my 8am appointment. I called the office to let them know I was running late and the nurse told me not to worry, to take my time and Dr. Hedden would still see me quickly when I arrived.
At my two week follow-up Dr. Hedden very gently removed the tape from my breasts and I was thrilled with the result.
I'm happy to say that I just learned yesterday that several people have had surgery with Dr. Hedden based on my speaking so highly of him after my first surgery. I ran into a housekeeper at the hotel that I stayed in during that first surgery and she told me based on my urging her to do something for herself and telling her about Dr. Hedden she went to him and she's also been referring other people. She told me she had always wanted to get the tummy tuck and even though she knew other guests at the hotel were there because they were having surgery with Dr. Hedden she never considered him because she's African American and assumed he was only interested in affluent caucasian clients. If that were ever true it's certainly not the case now as I'm in Spa Greystone frequently and in his office waiting area often and I can honestly say that at least 40% of the people in the waiting area are not caucasian. I love seeing an Alabama surgeon with such a diverse clientele and look forward to sending more patients to his practice.
I will also be posting this update as a new review so if you happen to come across it again, that's the reason.
Regarding the new pics--unfortunately I no longer have photos of my breasts after the areolas became huge--new phone. But as evidenced in the photos below they're still larger than average so the spreading was quite significant.
Best of luck to all who take the journey. At 51 years of age I've never felt better.

I think my belly button looks pretty good. I'm going to call Dr. Hedden's office tomorrow to see about the breast incisions. My awesome neighborhood pharmacist suggested I ask the doctor for a prescription for Mupirocin. Neighborhood pharmacists are so rare now--they know every patient by name and face. I never use CVS or Walgreens when I'm home.

Not sure what happened but the incision on my right hip is much higher and not hidden by a bikini. If I can ever bring myself to go back to the office for a follow-up I would like to know what happened.