Breastlift 'Letdown'

Hi there, This happened to me recently, my breasts were not 'lifted', so I emailed a definition of 'breast lift' to my surgeon with pics my partner took of me, and gave him the option of redoing them. I then called and said I didn't want to be nasty, but this was my body I had spent a lot of time and money, and he'd better redo them that day or I would plaster his name over the internet with my boob pics! Luckily he agreed, which is why i'm not saying his name now. Put your foot down, you paid for a service, you deserve to be happy.

thanks for the 'support'. I did go in pretty 'firm' , to the point that he 'shussed' me.I do have a consult on May 5th re: lipo of 'banana roll', again not , in my opinion, successful. As his nurse said , he removed a popcan size amt. of fat fron BR and an area higher on my behind.The miserable part now is that I did these proceedures in the early spring to be ready for summer, and if I opt to redo them now , I'll be in a panty girdle till the end of JUNE!!!!I'm a bike rider 100miles weekly . the bike seat isn't going to feel too good.the only reason I'm going back to his office is the $ invested already. The internet 'threat' is GOOD. Thanks again

Both of your posts highlight the extreme importance of "doing your homework" before selecting a surgeon. The assumption that we are all equally skilled is false, and surgeon skill/experience is easily the most important factor in a patient's satisfaction or dissatisfaction with a breast lift. I know this doesn't help either of you now, but for any future procedures, I would recommend you always ask to see photos of their work, and maybe even ask to talk to another one of their patients (who had the same procedure). With regard to how best to communicate your dissatisfaction to your surgeon, I thought it would be in the best interests of the entire community to help you understand a few things. Even without the threat of posting negative things about your surgeon online, I can assure you they want your satisfaction. Having said that, it may be that the results you have achieved represent the limit of what they as a surgeon are able to do for you (thus the importance of "doing your homework"). Further, most surgeons include in their informed consent documentation that there is not, nor can there be, any guarantee of the outcome of your surgery. This means that you understand going in that there is the possibility that despite your surgeon's best efforts, you may not get what you wanted out of your surgery. If you indeed signed informed consent for the surgery and the documents included this language, it is not reasonable to hold your surgeon to any outcome standard you may have (again highlighting the importance of choosing well in the first place). If you do end up dissatisfied, talk calmly with your surgeon... Explain why you are unhappy, and what would make you happy. Remember- he/she wants you to be happy too- the key is to communicate positively so that the two of you can figure out a solution for you. If you get too confrontational, communication may break down, and then you will get nowhere... possibly ending up having to pay another surgeon to make the desired changes... Be careful with what you write on the internet as well... There have been several large cases in the last year where a dissatisfied patient posted negative things about a surgeon who was able to prove that the patient understood the risk of being unhappy before surgery-(making this slander/defamation or libel) in each case, the surgeon was rewarded damages and the patients had to pay lots of legal fees in addition to the aggravation they had already experienced. There is no question that your best approach is to try to work it out positively. If you have lost confidence in your initial surgeon's ability to achieve your goal, ask what they can do to help restore your confidence- or ask for a referral to someone who can.

I wanted to further explain why I removed a few comments above. To do that, I'll include below the message I sent to rnuch regarding violating community guidelines.

If you're confused or concerned, please send me a private message. If you'd like to post feedback about RealSelf, you can do that here.

I’m Angie, the breast lift community moderator at RealSelf. While I’m not an employee of RealSelf, I do moderate reviews and comments. Part of my role is to make sure that RealSelf users are getting the most from their participation on the site.

I love this role because it helps people ask good questions and make informed decisions before deciding whether a procedure is right for them or not.

I do my best to keep it fair for all community members, people like you as well as over 1,000 doctors (who volunteer their time answering questions).

What I consider fair is for RealSelf users to post experiences about treatment reviews (as you've done) and, in the designated field, indicate whether they do or don't recommend a doctor.

I consider it unfair for someone to post entries disparaging other reviews as plants or frauds. No one likes personal attacks --which aren't allowed on RealSelf—or having someone question their honesty regarding their postings.

In the breast lift community, I focus on getting people to open up and share their surgery experience, but I do not allow discussion of individual doctors. I therefore moderate out comments which could be construed as personal attacks (which by law doctors can’t even respond to.). As you probably are aware, there are loads of forums for venting grievances and rating a doctor. It's just not the goal of the breast lift community and RealSelf. That’s why we ask that people refer to their doctors only in the doctor recommendation field associated with their review.

In your postings I see a mix of fair and unfair. I like that you offer insights about what you experienced post-op. That said, I’d really appreciate it if you’d allow people to express their breast lift experiences without suggesting they’re lying. Also, you reference the doctor in the discussion areas, but this should be limited to the doctor field in your breast lift posting.

Thanks for your help on this. I hope you’ll continue to help the breast lift community thrive!

Best, Angie