He Gave Me a Square, Uneven Butt for an Outrageous Price and then Was Rude About It

Adding pics to show the underwhelming result. Unfortunately I can't add them without sharing 200 characters so I will elaborate on my disappointing experience. I'm going to cut and paste the email I ultimately sent to Corinne, his office manager (I think?):

Hi Corinne,

I hope your little one is feeling better. Thank you very much for sending the before and after pictures and for forwarding the estimate for the revision. Sorry for not being more specific but I’d like to see all before and after photos including of my back/buttocks if you can please send those. The front looks great but the back is the issue for me! Now unfortunately I have to brace you for a long email ????

I am surprised and confused to learn I would be charged for Dr. Galanis to revise the work I already paid for that was not completed to my satisfaction. I recognize that there is no such thing as perfection in the world of surgery, and that is certainly not my expectation. However, I paid Dr Galanis over $32,000 and trusted him greatly with my body. The concerns I had about the results were immediately obvious to me post surgery, and I brought them up in our follow-ups from the beginning. I waited patiently to discuss a revision with him per his advice that I let 6 months pass and see what happened when swelling went down. At the three-month mark, he was the first to bring up a revision when we discussed the hip area because the issue was obvious. I asked when the appropriate time would be to discuss s revision and he told me at the six month mark, and so I patiently waited. However, when I brought it up at the six month mark, I felt that he shut down discussion and rushed me out of the room, saying we need a year for swelling to go down. After I pushed, he agreed to meet to discuss it at the 10 month mark. Once I brought up my concerns at the 10 month follow up, I again felt rushed and my concerns were minimized, but he told me you would be in touch and I felt some relief that we were finally moving forward after waiting patiently for so long.

To be clear, in our consultations preoperatively, I expressed that the fat on my hips was my biggest concern and that I wanted it to be transferred to my hip dips and buttocks. As he marked me up before surgery, he explained to me how he would remove that fat and place it lower to fill my hip dips and create a nice shape. Unfortunately, the results do not reflect the discussions we had about how that area would be treated. As a result, my hip dips are still visible, and clothing falls awkwardly on the fat on my hips. Additionally, it is surprising and disappointing to me as someone who started out at a low BMI with a strong workout routine and no children that I would end up having rolls on my back, the same bra size before and after lipo on my back (36B), the same troubling fat on my hips and a square shaped buttocks with hip dips after the enormous sum of money I paid to address those issues. My arm results appear barely noticeable but it’s not worth the pain to go through that part of the procedure again and I can live with it. The ab etching looks fantastic and I’m very happy with the front. But the back, the hips and the buttocks were not done in the way we discussed, and I find that unacceptable at over 30k. I am not asking for a different procedure separate from what I had the first time and I can assure you I never wanted to do this more than once. The time and money it takes to recover are an investment I only wanted to make one time. However, after this significant of an investment I want the result I believe I should have gotten the first time. I am of course prepared to cover the fee for the OR and anesthesia but I do not think it is appropriate or fair to ask me to pay to fix the areas that did not turn out well. I have documented my recovery meticulously, and it is clear that the hip dips I’m seeing are not from loss of fat over the year, but were not filled in enough initially. I have included pictures from the first week after surgery, the end of the first month, and 6 months later; I am happy to send pictures in addition to the ones you have on file if that would be helpful. I would like a more aggressive Lipo of my hips and back as I understood would have been done initially, and for the fat to be transferred to my hip dips, and I would like him to do the right thing and not charge me other than for the OR and the anesthesia. Please let me know next steps. Thank you, Corinne.

Best,
Lauren

After this, they adjusted their quote to redo the work, but said fat grafting to the buttocks would be a separate procedure because I wanted more volume. What I in fact wanted was for him to remove the upper hip fat as we originally discussed and to graft it to my buttocks in a shape that wasn't square, also as we originally discussed. I was not coming to him to re-do this because I decided I wanted to go bigger. I always wanted the volume to be natural and proportionate. I came to him because I wanted him to fix the shape to be round or upside down heart shaped, as we originally agreed upon. If I was a super challenging case with a history of weight loss and loose skin, I would understand. But I was a great candidate for a skinny BBL, and he fumbled.

I initially found Dr. Galanis on the RealSelf website, and was comforted by his positive reviews. I do not take writing a negative review lightly, but I want to share my experience so others can learn from some of my mistakes in choosing a surgeon. In December 2023, I had 360 lipo, arm lipo, renuvion skin tightening, and fat transfer to my buttocks by Dr. Galanis. This is the story of that surgery, and what I would have done differently.

-I found him on RealSelf, saw positive reviews, and explored his work on his IG page.

-I consulted with him in August of 2023 and really liked him right away. He was warm, friendly, confident, not pushy, and most importantly, he was confident that he could address the issues I wanted help with surgically. He conveyed that it would be a fun and easy case for him, and we agreed that with lipo 360, arm lipo and fat transfer to buttocks I could have a very natural result that would still really improve my shape.

-I made the mistake of only consulting with him. I wish I had met with at least 2 other surgeons to compare pricing, experience, and results. I know it can be expensive to stack consultations, but it is far less expensive to do that then to have to do a 2nd surgery because the 1st one yielded unsatisfactory results.

-I also made the mistake of trusting that we were on the same page when we consulted about my goals for my body. He didn't ever ask me for Inspo pics, and so I trusted his process and believed him when he said he could fill in my hip dips and give me the shape I expressed wanting for my butt. We looked in the mirror together, he pinched and grabbed (appropriately), and it seemed like we agreed about what fat needed to be moved and where it would be placed. In retrospect, I wish I showed him inspiration pics, and asked him if my goals were realistic based on his skill set and his experience. My result ended up being so "natural" that was underwhelming, especially for the cost.

-Everything was positive leading up to surgery, and the surgery went fine. I was grateful to him that I woke up from it and that I wasn't botched. I still am.

-The day after surgery was the first day I saw my results, because I took my garment off for my massage. I immediately noticed that he did not remove enough fat from the area I identified as my "problem area"--sort of upper hips, and that he did not place enough fat on the buttocks to create the attractive shape we discussed. Additionally, one butt cheek was different than the other in a noticeable way. I am a reasonable person, though, and knew I was very swollen. My heart sunk a bit, but I decided not to panic and hoped it would take shape when the swelling went down over time. I decided to document my body's progress every day, and to follow post-op care instructions rigorously.

The underwhelming result was obvious to even the untrained eye, and even Dr. Galanis brought up the possibility of a revision in one of our post-op visits as he examined the hip and buttocks area. I was relieved that he seemed to see what I was seeing, and yet was also trying to be reasonable and patient. I asked him when the right time would be to evaluate the need for that, and he said at the 6 month mark. I continued documenting my healing process and at the 6 month follow up, I was surprised when he said all looked good. I tried to bring up my concerns and discuss a possible revision, but his pleasant demeanor shifted to short and impatient. I felt he rushed me out of the appointment without addressing my concerns, and said we'd revisit at the 12 month mark. I pushed back and asked to revisit sooner, and he agreed to meeting at the 10 month mark. I waited patiently for 4 more months, and when the 10 month follow up arrived he did the same thing he did at 6 months. He told me I looked great and to keep doing what I was doing and tried to quickly wrap up our appointment. I again told him I wanted to discuss the areas that we previously discussed--hips and buttocks, as well as a back roll on one side of my back that didn't exist before my surgery. He again rushed me out of the room, ended the appointment abruptly, and told me Corinne would be in touch. I had no idea who Corinne was at the time, but she reached out that evening via text with a message that I found very confusing. From her message, it seemed she was told that I was interested in a Round 2, as opposed to a revision in which he fixes his mistake.

At this point I want to be very clear that I do not expect perfection, and I know there is no such thing. But he clearly did not do a good job, and did not want to deal with it when I politely brought it to his attention. They sent me a quote for the "revision" and I was shocked to realize he expected me to pay full price for a surgery I only wanted to have once and now would have to have twice because of his failure to do it right the first time. He agreed to cut back on some of the costs, but would not confirm that he could definitely transfer fat to my buttocks because he said I didn't have enough fat left. He essentially said that maybe if there was enough fat while I was under he could place it, but couldn't guarantee. I ultimately decided I did not trust him, and I did not feel comfortable with him "fixing" it if he refused to acknowledge the problem and to identify a solution together.

The worst part to me, apart from the 34k I paid for an amateur result, is that both times I brought up the revision in our consultations, he posted passive aggressive reels on social media about perfectionistic patients. I found this terribly insulting, and it showed me he lacked the maturity to humility to admit he just didn't get my result right. He's done a lot of good work, but he didn't get it right with me and he couldn't admit it.

I unfortunately found myself in the position where I had to do a 2nd surgery, take more time off work, make more financial sacrifices, and sacrifice more time recovering away from friends and family. I ultimately learned from my mistake of choosing Galanis and met with several surgeons before identifying one I felt great about. I had a revision with that surgeon and finally got an amazing result. It's not perfect--no body ever will be--but it's what I hoped for.

My hope in sharing this is not to be cruel to Dr. Galanis, who I'm sure is a lovely person who had an off day in surgery. But it's to share my honest experience and suggest consulting with at least 3 providers, and to trust your gut. A surgeon being pleasant or mildly attractive does not always mean they have the specific skill you want them to have. Ultimately, he gave me a weird square butt and then gaslit me about it, so I don't really care how cute his social media is. I care that he has 34k of mine and I had to do it twice.

p.s. - one star for me abs, which look great, and one star for keeping me alive.