124 pounds and 5'3" with a small C or large B starting out. Dr. Krau was amazing. Very direct and to the point. If you want a fluffy doctor to baby you and hold your hand, it isn't him. He just gets in there and gets it done, which I don't mind. He's professional and competent and very "no-nonsense". I really didn't even have time to get nervous. At 1 month post op, my incisions already look amazing. I feel great. They look BEAUTIFUL. I COULD NOT be more pleased with my results.
Two and a half weeks after surgery I experienced a hematoma behind my left breast. I texted Dr. Krau in the middle of the night and he responded almost immediately and had me set up to come back in for surgery the next day. I was charged a $300 anesthesia fee only to go back in and remove it. Immediately felt 100% back to normal after that surgery. He's fantastic.
As for CG Cosmetics, well, you get what you pay for. I'd go back again in order to have surgery with Dr. Krau for such a great price, but just be aware that they are basically trying to herd people through there as quickly as possible to make money as efficiently as they can. I'll detail my experience below.
My coordinator Catherine Ruiz was very difficult to deal with. I'd call to make payments and give her my card numbers and weeks would go by and she wouldn't have processed my payment. I'd email and leave several messages and not get responses for several days to weeks. I finally ended up finding someone else to work with me to make my payments and she was prompt but no longer works there. I emailed her on numerous occasions asking for a doctor's note for work and she said she'd get it and never did. When I continued to ask about it she flat-out never responded. I ended up needing to call the office and have someone else do it. I could go on and on about the poor communication with her. It was very frustrating.
I got right off the plane and went directly to the CG Cosmetics. The office, or offices rather are located inside a large law firm building with several other business including a dog groomer. I went to the 3rd floor as indicated on the directory where found their somewhat nicely decorated waiting area. I informed the receptionist that I was there for my pre-op appointment and she referred me to another office suite on the the second floor where they do pre-ops. One the way down I found the restroom in the halls which is shared by all the businesses and it was filthy and smelly and there was no lock on the stall door. I nearly just left.
I walked into the pre-op office and found a waiting area no bigger than my closet with several chairs and a receptionist sitting at a tiny desk. It looked like the paint had just been slapped on the walls in a hurry and was kind-of thrown together. I had to wait for nearly an hour as she had to go back up to the third floor to find my chart. Once she came back, i was escorted to a small office to sign all the waivers and financial documents that I'd already signed, scanned and emailed in prior to getting there. Guess they never made it to my chart (thanks Catherine). After doing that for about half an hour, my blood was drawn and before and after pictures were taken and I was given my prescriptions. The medical assistant asked me several questions including whether or not I'd taken any street drugs in the past 2 months. I responded no, I'd never in my life taken street drugs. Then she looked at me like I was lying and asked me again and told me I really needed to be honest! W....T.....F? I told her I knew the importance of being honest and that I'd hadn't lied to her. She paused and just stared at me for several seconds and then went on. I was under the impression that I would be seeing Dr. Krau after that to discuss what size implant I'd be getting and to have him doodle on my boobs and ask any questions I had. Nope. You won't see the doctor until the day of your surgery, minutes before you go in.
I was escorted back up to the third floor into the nicer looking office and then taken into a small exam room by a woman I wasn't introduced to. She asked me what size implant I wanted and I told her I wasn't sure, that's what I was there to decide. I told her I thought 450 cc from things I'd read and seen, She then stood in the room and had me take off my shirt and put on a bra and she handed me the 450 cc sizer. It looked good to me so I said okay. I was never measured or told whether or not they would fit or anything like that. I guess the doctor would have addressed that right before surgery had it been an issue. Then I was done. It lasted less than 5 minutes. I was told not to eat after midnight and to be back at 3 pm the next day for surgery. I left and went to get my prescriptions.
Getting medication was an adventure, to say the least. Apparently, percocet is pretty popular in Miami. I had to drive around to 7 different pharmacies to find it. I finally found it in a Walmart pharmacy. My nerves were SHOT. Hahaha.
My sister got in that evening and I slept pretty well. We woke up the next morning and decided to go walk around the mall to kill time. While we were there, CG called an told me they'd had a cancellation and asked me if I could come in right then. I told them I'd be there in 45 minutes. We got to the office and there was absolutely NO PARKING in the impossibly tiny parking lot. We had to sit and wait for 10 or 15 minutes for someone to leave.
We went up to the 3rd floor waiting room my sister and I were taken back to pre-op pretty quickly. The pre-op area is next door to the waiting area and honestly, that's when I got scared. It looked like a hospital you would see in Mexico. The paint was old and haphazardly painted on the walls. The bathroom was a tiny closet and clean but on par with a gas station's bathroom. They had me take a pregnancy test and then I was taken into the surgical waiting room. The nurse started my IV and when she threw away the supplies in the sharps container on the floor next to the bed, I noticed there was blood spatter all over the wall above it that no one had bothered to clean. I kept pressing onward because I was so invested at this point, having fully paid and flown to Miami, however, had I seen any of how that office operated before, I probably would have backed out.
Once my IV was in, Dr. Krau came in and measured me and drew on me and asked me if I had any questions. He was professional but quick. He asked me what size I wanted and I told him 450 cc but asked him to verify that I was choosing the right size for the look I wanted by showing him a picture. He said 450 was good for the look I wanted. He took some pictures of me with his cell phone and saved them along with my name and number and sent me a test so I would have his number. He told me to text or call him directly with any concerns, day or night and to not bother at all with the office. It made me feel really good.
Then the anesthesiologist came in and got some health history from me and told me what he'd be doing. I liked him a lot. After that he walked me down to the OR. Again, it looked like a Mexican hospital. Not dirty, but just not like any OR or hospital I've ever been to. There was a big tool box on the back wall that looked like it belonged in a car shop. I climbed up on the table and the meds went in. I never saw my doctor again.
I felt really good when I woke up. I was immediately able to raise my arms. I only needed pain meds for one day.
The next day I went back for my post-op at 9am. You won't see your doctor for that either. I saw the surgical assistant who asked a couple questions, looked at the taped incisions and sent me on my way. He didn't so much as take my temperature or vital signs, which I though was odd. I was scheduled for another post-op for 7 days later but decided not to go. If that was going to be the extent of the care recieved, it wasn't worth a plane ticket to Miami. I opted to go see my primary care doctor instead.
And that's pretty much it. I give Dr. Krau 5 stars. I look and feel great. I give CG 2 stars. As I said before, I would do it over again in order to have Dr. Krau perform the surgery at such a low cost, but I was shockingly disappointed with CG Cosmetics.
Two and a half weeks after surgery I experienced a hematoma behind my left breast. I texted Dr. Krau in the middle of the night and he responded almost immediately and had me set up to come back in for surgery the next day. I was charged a $300 anesthesia fee only to go back in and remove it. Immediately felt 100% back to normal after that surgery. He's fantastic.
As for CG Cosmetics, well, you get what you pay for. I'd go back again in order to have surgery with Dr. Krau for such a great price, but just be aware that they are basically trying to herd people through there as quickly as possible to make money as efficiently as they can. I'll detail my experience below.
My coordinator Catherine Ruiz was very difficult to deal with. I'd call to make payments and give her my card numbers and weeks would go by and she wouldn't have processed my payment. I'd email and leave several messages and not get responses for several days to weeks. I finally ended up finding someone else to work with me to make my payments and she was prompt but no longer works there. I emailed her on numerous occasions asking for a doctor's note for work and she said she'd get it and never did. When I continued to ask about it she flat-out never responded. I ended up needing to call the office and have someone else do it. I could go on and on about the poor communication with her. It was very frustrating.
I got right off the plane and went directly to the CG Cosmetics. The office, or offices rather are located inside a large law firm building with several other business including a dog groomer. I went to the 3rd floor as indicated on the directory where found their somewhat nicely decorated waiting area. I informed the receptionist that I was there for my pre-op appointment and she referred me to another office suite on the the second floor where they do pre-ops. One the way down I found the restroom in the halls which is shared by all the businesses and it was filthy and smelly and there was no lock on the stall door. I nearly just left.
I walked into the pre-op office and found a waiting area no bigger than my closet with several chairs and a receptionist sitting at a tiny desk. It looked like the paint had just been slapped on the walls in a hurry and was kind-of thrown together. I had to wait for nearly an hour as she had to go back up to the third floor to find my chart. Once she came back, i was escorted to a small office to sign all the waivers and financial documents that I'd already signed, scanned and emailed in prior to getting there. Guess they never made it to my chart (thanks Catherine). After doing that for about half an hour, my blood was drawn and before and after pictures were taken and I was given my prescriptions. The medical assistant asked me several questions including whether or not I'd taken any street drugs in the past 2 months. I responded no, I'd never in my life taken street drugs. Then she looked at me like I was lying and asked me again and told me I really needed to be honest! W....T.....F? I told her I knew the importance of being honest and that I'd hadn't lied to her. She paused and just stared at me for several seconds and then went on. I was under the impression that I would be seeing Dr. Krau after that to discuss what size implant I'd be getting and to have him doodle on my boobs and ask any questions I had. Nope. You won't see the doctor until the day of your surgery, minutes before you go in.
I was escorted back up to the third floor into the nicer looking office and then taken into a small exam room by a woman I wasn't introduced to. She asked me what size implant I wanted and I told her I wasn't sure, that's what I was there to decide. I told her I thought 450 cc from things I'd read and seen, She then stood in the room and had me take off my shirt and put on a bra and she handed me the 450 cc sizer. It looked good to me so I said okay. I was never measured or told whether or not they would fit or anything like that. I guess the doctor would have addressed that right before surgery had it been an issue. Then I was done. It lasted less than 5 minutes. I was told not to eat after midnight and to be back at 3 pm the next day for surgery. I left and went to get my prescriptions.
Getting medication was an adventure, to say the least. Apparently, percocet is pretty popular in Miami. I had to drive around to 7 different pharmacies to find it. I finally found it in a Walmart pharmacy. My nerves were SHOT. Hahaha.
My sister got in that evening and I slept pretty well. We woke up the next morning and decided to go walk around the mall to kill time. While we were there, CG called an told me they'd had a cancellation and asked me if I could come in right then. I told them I'd be there in 45 minutes. We got to the office and there was absolutely NO PARKING in the impossibly tiny parking lot. We had to sit and wait for 10 or 15 minutes for someone to leave.
We went up to the 3rd floor waiting room my sister and I were taken back to pre-op pretty quickly. The pre-op area is next door to the waiting area and honestly, that's when I got scared. It looked like a hospital you would see in Mexico. The paint was old and haphazardly painted on the walls. The bathroom was a tiny closet and clean but on par with a gas station's bathroom. They had me take a pregnancy test and then I was taken into the surgical waiting room. The nurse started my IV and when she threw away the supplies in the sharps container on the floor next to the bed, I noticed there was blood spatter all over the wall above it that no one had bothered to clean. I kept pressing onward because I was so invested at this point, having fully paid and flown to Miami, however, had I seen any of how that office operated before, I probably would have backed out.
Once my IV was in, Dr. Krau came in and measured me and drew on me and asked me if I had any questions. He was professional but quick. He asked me what size I wanted and I told him 450 cc but asked him to verify that I was choosing the right size for the look I wanted by showing him a picture. He said 450 was good for the look I wanted. He took some pictures of me with his cell phone and saved them along with my name and number and sent me a test so I would have his number. He told me to text or call him directly with any concerns, day or night and to not bother at all with the office. It made me feel really good.
Then the anesthesiologist came in and got some health history from me and told me what he'd be doing. I liked him a lot. After that he walked me down to the OR. Again, it looked like a Mexican hospital. Not dirty, but just not like any OR or hospital I've ever been to. There was a big tool box on the back wall that looked like it belonged in a car shop. I climbed up on the table and the meds went in. I never saw my doctor again.
I felt really good when I woke up. I was immediately able to raise my arms. I only needed pain meds for one day.
The next day I went back for my post-op at 9am. You won't see your doctor for that either. I saw the surgical assistant who asked a couple questions, looked at the taped incisions and sent me on my way. He didn't so much as take my temperature or vital signs, which I though was odd. I was scheduled for another post-op for 7 days later but decided not to go. If that was going to be the extent of the care recieved, it wasn't worth a plane ticket to Miami. I opted to go see my primary care doctor instead.
And that's pretty much it. I give Dr. Krau 5 stars. I look and feel great. I give CG 2 stars. As I said before, I would do it over again in order to have Dr. Krau perform the surgery at such a low cost, but I was shockingly disappointed with CG Cosmetics.
