Words Cannot Describe How Good Dr.Rahban Is.

Dr. Rady Rahban is truly an Artist. I had my surgery for Diastasis Recti a couple of months ago and I cannot Thank Dr.Rahban enough for it. He is truly amazing.
My journey began 7 years ago when I was expecting my first child. I have always had a very fit petite body type until I got pregnant. During my first pregnancy, I gained 75 lbs and my baby was born at 10 lbs via a c-section. Once I recovered from the delivery and my doctor gave me the go, to start exercising, I immediately started working towards losing all the excess weight. It took almost 2 years to get back to somewhat closer to how I looked during my first trimester. But I never went back to how I looked before pregnancy (which does happen in many cases). After 2 years of rigorous diet and exercising, I still had some bulging of my stomach and didn’t look completely normal, as I would suppose after working out religiously for 2 years. I consulted my OBGYN at Kaiser and wasn’t even once told of possibly having Diastasis Recti (splitting of the abdomen muscles during pregnancy). The doctor told me that this is quite normal after delivering babies via c-section and hence I accepted my fate and decided to live with it.
Then fast forward one more year and I got pregnant with my second child. This time I gained around 70 lbs by the end of my pregnancy and my baby was 11 lbs, delivered via another c-section. Believing what I had heard from my doctors after my first delivery, I decided to start boot camp and a healthy diet, as soon as I was permitted by my doctor. This time around I came back to my first-trimester weight in a years time. But this time my tummy was bulging even more than it was the first time around. I started focusing on more ab exercises in belief, that it would go down. One more year later, I started having a lot of lower back pain and getting out of bed in the morning or straightening myself up after bending was extremely painful. I had to wear maternity pants with a girdle around my waist to relieve myself from severe lower back pain. Playing with my kids started to become an option. Let's say that it was just getting worst day by day.
During this phase, we had a new trainer at the boot camp I go to, who also happened to be a physio-therapist. Upon talking to her about my ab and lower back pain issue, she enlightened me that I possibly had Diastasis Recti. She did a quick finger check between my ab muscles (a little above my navel) and confirmed that I had Diastasis Recti. She suggested I do some ab exercises at home that would naturally close the gap between my ab muscles which would reduce the bulging. After 30 days of regularly practicing the ab exercises, I had zero progress in closing the gap. My trainer then suggested I see a doctor, to get it checked and see what they say.
I then immediately made an appointment with a General surgeon at Kaiser (which I was referred by my family practitioner) to see what options I have. I was flat out told by the general surgeon that my gap wasn’t that big and since they do not perform any surgeries at Kaiser, I should wear a girdle for the rest of my life and live with it. After much pressing, she suggested that I could see a plastic surgeon at Kaiser who could help me get rid of all the excess loose skin which might take some weight off of my back. So then I made an appointment to see a plastic surgeon at Kaiser. She confirmed that I had Diastasis Recti and also that the gap wasn’t very big. She gave me the option of having surgery to close the gap, but it would be an out of pocket cost, as my insurance wouldn’t cover for it, because it wasn’t severe and my loose skin wasn’t sagging down to my thighs. She also mentioned that there was no guarantee that I would have a somewhat but not completely flat tummy after this surgery, (I looked like I was 4 months pregnant at that time, even after the weight loss) which made me doubt her as a good plastic surgeon. I decided to walk out of there and started researching for another doctor. I figured that since insurance isn’t going to cover this surgery, I could go to any doctor outside of my coverage.
I started googling the best plastic surgeons in Los Angeles and came across Dr. Rahban’s website. Once I saw his work on his website I was blown away, but thought it was too good to be true. I questioned every case/picture I saw on his website - thinking maybe the patient didn’t have a severe case or were a thinner body type, to begin with, which is why there were after pictures of a lean tight body. I wasn't ready to believe that any doctor could be this good.
I spent 3 months researching other doctors and no one was nearly as good as Dr.Rahban. So I decided to make a consultation appointment. At the appointment, I decided to not say anything about my prior experience with Kaiser until after my consultation. Dr.Rahban immediately explained/showed me how big a gap I had (95% gap) in my abdomen due to Diastasis Recti. I was shocked to see it. After the examination, he asked me if I had been to another doctor prior to this appointment and that's when I told him about my experience with Kaiser. He wasn’t surprised at all. He said this is very common with a majority of the hospitals since Insurance doesn’t cover it. He was very patient with me, answering all my questions and concerns, and covered each and every detail regarding the surgery and post-op measures. He was very honest when it came to what kind of surgery should I go for - Diastasis Recti with a regular tummy tuck or a 2/3rd or a full body lift. He explained all of it in detail and put across his opinion as to what would be better for a perfect look for my body type. Remember, I popped out 2 babies over 10 lbs, which had left me with a TON of loose skin and more after my weight loss. I took a couple more months wrapping my head around all this information and figuring out the logistics of budgeting the cost and who would watch my kids post-op and how much help would I need from my husband (we don’t have any family in this country). Once, I had it all figured out, I contacted Dr.Rahban and locked a date for my surgery.
Finally, it was the day of my surgery and I was a nervous wreck. All kinds of thoughts regarding the surgery and post-surgery hovered my mind. Dr. Rahban took once look at my face and instantly started calming me down with his confidence. He explained everything again in detail and assured me that I would be absolutely fine post-op. His words calmed me instantly and I walked in for surgery. Four and half hours later, I was out of surgery and then started my journey to recovery.
Dr.Rahban and his team were very hands-on with step-by-step instructions, one week at a time, as to what was needed to be done once home until my first appointment after a week and going forward. At my first appointment, when the bandages and binding were taken off and I saw my tummy, I was in shock. I couldn’t believe what I saw ... I had a Flat Sleek stomach. Dr.Rahban had done an incredible job. Dr.Rahban and his team were consistent with their instructions at every appointment and I followed them to the T, which is the result of the body I have now. I was just plain lucky to have stumbled upon Dr.Rahban’s website, as I had no one to educate me about the condition I had and the fact that the condition could not only be fixed but also that I would get back my pre-pregnancy body.
I really hope and wish to work towards educating expecting/pregnant women about this condition and also take measures to have insurance companies start covering this since it is caused during pregnancy which is a natural phenomenon.
I am now 2 months post-op, with a flat tummy, and NO back pain. It's like I have this new energized body.
All thanks to Dr.Rahban. I wouldn’t have found anyone better than him. He is simply the Best of the Best.