POSTED UNDER Breast Fat Transfer REVIEWS
I was a 34A going into the surgery and ended up a 34D at 12 months post-op!
ORIGINAL POST
It’s Not Magic. It’s Dr. Gabbay’s Mad Skills!
StudentDoctorDecember 12, 2022
WORTH IT
Dr. Gabbay is an incredible plastic surgeon. He is extremely knowledgeable and patient when he explained my options and his decision-making. I’m also a medical student at a top medical school, so I probably had more questions and concerns than the average patient. Dr. Gabbay is very honest in what he will and won’t do, thinking long-term on my behalf. He’s not the type of surgeon to push something on the patient so he can get more from each surgery, and he’s also not the type of surgeon to be pushed to do things that he doesn’t think will work out. All the pre-op consults were focused on what I wanted and what he thought he could safely do with good results. I ended up getting liposuction around my back and abdomen, the fat transferred to my breasts, and laser skin tightening.
His staff are all very responsive and friendly, and they really catered to my needs with regards to timing of my surgery. As a medical student, I have a very rigid schedule and few vacation days, so they really made my scheduling a priority such that the surgery and recovery didn’t interfere with my coursework. They also helped me set up post-op hyperbaric oxygen and lymphatic drainage sessions. One thing that set him apart from other surgeons I consulted with was the post-op plan. I think the hyperbaric oxygen was crucial to retaining the newly transferred fat, but the other surgeons I consulted with didn’t really mention it. It makes sense though, that the newly transferred fat won’t have its own blood (and therefore oxygen) supply, so it is necessary to provide supplemental oxygen to the fat to allow it to survive. Dr. Gabbay really optimized the whole fat transfer process for maximal results. After the initial swelling went down, I really didn’t notice any loss of fat in the post-op recovery months.
Aside from the amazing and natural results, one of the other things that drew me to Dr. Gabbay’s practice is that he does many of his procedures on awake patients. General anesthesia is actually the most dangerous part of many surgeries, and so I liked the idea of being awake and participating in the surgery. Unfortunately, I don’t remember much of the surgery, maybe because I was more sensitive to the medications, which felt like a reaaalllyyyy good drunk, but it’s possible that someone with better drug tolerance could have been a bit more “awake” than I was. It was fine though, because Dr. Gabbay and I talked thoroughly about what we were aiming for before I got the drugs, so he knew what I wanted and I knew I was in good hands. I remember the skin preparation at the very beginning, then I remember him asking me what OR music I wanted, and next I remember it hurting when he was injecting the fat into my breasts because there wasn’t local anesthesia there yet. I remember cursing and asking for something to squeeze, and then two breast implants appeared in my hands LMAO. Not gonna lie, that part hurt a lot, but I was laughing so hard about the breast implant stress balls that it didn’t matter and it was over really quick. Next I remember someone putting a diaper on me, and then I was in a wheelchair with a Mountain Dew in my hand (the best Mountain Dew of my life).
Dr. Gabbay was very realistic with my expectations, saying that I will likely still have some redundant lower abdominal skin, which ended up being true, but we decided that I will deal with that after I have kids. The redundant lower abdominal skin is honestly not noticeable to a normal person. I’m just a perfectionist. He also said that most patients get 1/2-1 cup increase in breast size for each transfer surgery, and I asked him to do as much as he can. By Victoria’s Secret measurements, I was a 34A going into the surgery and ended up a 34D at 12 months post-op!!! I am THRILLED with my breast results and could not be happier. They are perfect and perky and REAL, and they will grow and age with me and I will never have to worry about them popping or needing to be replaced!
10/10 would recommend. :)
His staff are all very responsive and friendly, and they really catered to my needs with regards to timing of my surgery. As a medical student, I have a very rigid schedule and few vacation days, so they really made my scheduling a priority such that the surgery and recovery didn’t interfere with my coursework. They also helped me set up post-op hyperbaric oxygen and lymphatic drainage sessions. One thing that set him apart from other surgeons I consulted with was the post-op plan. I think the hyperbaric oxygen was crucial to retaining the newly transferred fat, but the other surgeons I consulted with didn’t really mention it. It makes sense though, that the newly transferred fat won’t have its own blood (and therefore oxygen) supply, so it is necessary to provide supplemental oxygen to the fat to allow it to survive. Dr. Gabbay really optimized the whole fat transfer process for maximal results. After the initial swelling went down, I really didn’t notice any loss of fat in the post-op recovery months.
Aside from the amazing and natural results, one of the other things that drew me to Dr. Gabbay’s practice is that he does many of his procedures on awake patients. General anesthesia is actually the most dangerous part of many surgeries, and so I liked the idea of being awake and participating in the surgery. Unfortunately, I don’t remember much of the surgery, maybe because I was more sensitive to the medications, which felt like a reaaalllyyyy good drunk, but it’s possible that someone with better drug tolerance could have been a bit more “awake” than I was. It was fine though, because Dr. Gabbay and I talked thoroughly about what we were aiming for before I got the drugs, so he knew what I wanted and I knew I was in good hands. I remember the skin preparation at the very beginning, then I remember him asking me what OR music I wanted, and next I remember it hurting when he was injecting the fat into my breasts because there wasn’t local anesthesia there yet. I remember cursing and asking for something to squeeze, and then two breast implants appeared in my hands LMAO. Not gonna lie, that part hurt a lot, but I was laughing so hard about the breast implant stress balls that it didn’t matter and it was over really quick. Next I remember someone putting a diaper on me, and then I was in a wheelchair with a Mountain Dew in my hand (the best Mountain Dew of my life).
Dr. Gabbay was very realistic with my expectations, saying that I will likely still have some redundant lower abdominal skin, which ended up being true, but we decided that I will deal with that after I have kids. The redundant lower abdominal skin is honestly not noticeable to a normal person. I’m just a perfectionist. He also said that most patients get 1/2-1 cup increase in breast size for each transfer surgery, and I asked him to do as much as he can. By Victoria’s Secret measurements, I was a 34A going into the surgery and ended up a 34D at 12 months post-op!!! I am THRILLED with my breast results and could not be happier. They are perfect and perky and REAL, and they will grow and age with me and I will never have to worry about them popping or needing to be replaced!
10/10 would recommend. :)
StudentDoctor's provider
Replies (8)
December 13, 2022
My recovery was probably average for the extent of stuff I had done. My boobs healed with no issues whatsoever. Most of the discomfort was in the liposuction areas. The pain was probably worst the 2nd day, after the local anesthetic had worn off. I was totally out of business for about a week, and by 2 weeks I was feeling more able to do normal things. I had no serious post-op complications, like infections or fat embolisms. Also did not have any fat necrosis.
There were 3 distinct things in recovery that I knew could happen, but did not did not realize the extent until it did. They all were fine and resolved on their own. 1) I really underestimated the need for lymphatic drainage. I wish I had scheduled it for sooner after surgery. I had so much fluid built up. I thought it would just come out of the ports by itself, but it didn’t. It really needed to be massaged out, which honestly felt reeaaallyyy good. Those massages were so relieving. 2) The deeper layers of my skin started to feel really tight after about 2 weeks. I think this was because the outer layer was reattaching to the layers underneath, but this requires some scar tissue to form, and so I felt really stiff for a while, but stretched daily and it self-resolved in ~1 month. 3) Because there is a layer of fat removed, the nerves that were in that layer of fat were damaged. Healing nerves often feel itchy, but it wasn’t something that got better with scratching, because it was underneath my skin. It was the strangest and most uncomfortable sensation. I already had post-op appointments scheduled, and I told Dr. Gabbay. He prescribed me some gabapentin, which helped tremendously. The itching self-resolved in ~2 months.
I’m at 1yr post-op now and the only thing left that’s bothering me is the scars on the incision sites. I guess Asian skin is prone to dark scars, and so I’ll be getting some laser treatments to deal with those.
There were 3 distinct things in recovery that I knew could happen, but did not did not realize the extent until it did. They all were fine and resolved on their own. 1) I really underestimated the need for lymphatic drainage. I wish I had scheduled it for sooner after surgery. I had so much fluid built up. I thought it would just come out of the ports by itself, but it didn’t. It really needed to be massaged out, which honestly felt reeaaallyyy good. Those massages were so relieving. 2) The deeper layers of my skin started to feel really tight after about 2 weeks. I think this was because the outer layer was reattaching to the layers underneath, but this requires some scar tissue to form, and so I felt really stiff for a while, but stretched daily and it self-resolved in ~1 month. 3) Because there is a layer of fat removed, the nerves that were in that layer of fat were damaged. Healing nerves often feel itchy, but it wasn’t something that got better with scratching, because it was underneath my skin. It was the strangest and most uncomfortable sensation. I already had post-op appointments scheduled, and I told Dr. Gabbay. He prescribed me some gabapentin, which helped tremendously. The itching self-resolved in ~2 months.
I’m at 1yr post-op now and the only thing left that’s bothering me is the scars on the incision sites. I guess Asian skin is prone to dark scars, and so I’ll be getting some laser treatments to deal with those.
January 13, 2023
Given that you're a med student—how did you feel about the possible imaging issues of the breast that people can have due to the fat transfer calcification? That's the main thing that's still kind of freaking me out about the idea of the procedure
January 17, 2023
Hi! Sorry for late response. I was out of town. So the concern about calcifications on imaging is something that I actually asked at my first consultation with Dr. Gabbay. My understanding, as (full disclaimer) a medical student, after talking to Dr. Gabbay about this and reading about it is - yes there can be calcifications from the fat transfer, but they generally are in a different pattern/shape than calcifications that occur due to cancer. If a radiologist is unaware of the fat transfer or if they have not seen a lot of fat-transferred breast tissues, then they might be alarmed when the look at your mammogram. However, if it is an experienced radiologist, then they should be able to see the difference. Whatever can't be resolved in a standard mammogram can be better seen on an MRI, and also the imaging can be tracked over time to see if suspicious lesions change. So, I personally figured, if I stay on top of my breast health and checkups and have good communication with my healthcare team, then I felt safe moving forward with the fat transfer.
April 24, 2023
hello I'm so happy for you with your results do you have before after pictures?
April 29, 2023
No, sorry I’m not personally comfortable with that. However, you can see a lot of Dr. Gabbay’s work on his Instagram.
September 8, 2025
Hello, what a fabulous outcome. Im interested in incorporating hyperbaric oxygen into my post surgery healing plan (my surgery is tomorrow, yikes!). Can you tell me more about the hbot protocol you followed? How many sessions? Length of time? Pressure if you can remember? Any help would be appreciated. All the best x
Thank you for sharing your experience, your results sound amazing! What was your recovery like?