Choose wisely

Treatment Provider

Provider Review

• 1 Aug 2017

I had BA and Lipo. This review is mainly for the BA. I spent years contemplating a BA and I wanted to gift these to myself just before my 30th birthday. When I finally decided to go for it, I unfortunately did not do enough research in selecting. I chose Dr. Stoker because of his raving reviews on RealSelf and Yelp although I found a couple of his Yelp reviews to be from his own staff but I saw that he did conservative breast augmentations as I was going for a natural look--just wanted a little booster and decided to go for it. During the initial phone pre-op I remember asking about how I would follow-up after the surgery being an out of town patient. He said that most of his patients fly in from out of town and even overseas and that his patients are so pleased with the surgery that the patients rarely call for follow-ups. I sensed a little bit of arrogance but I didn't let it question my decision. I traveled to do a BA and also Lipo. I started out as a 32b and wanted nothing more than 300ccs. Ultimately, 275ccs were chosen and while the size was fine, they didn't turn out fine. I found it strange that after my surgery was done, he didn't check on me before I was discharged. I would think most plastic surgeons coordinate to peek in after the patient wakes up from anesthesia to see how they are doing...etc. you know bed side manner. He did call me that night as well as the anethesiologist and did a brief follow-up the next day but that's it. The nurse a followed up with me a few days after I flew back home. As for my liposuction, they boast about having so many out of town patients but they don't have any establish procedures in setting up after care for like suture removals once you get back home (at least not for me). There was no initiation to help coordinate a referring physician to have stitches removed. Just that extra mile would've been great. Despite that, when I returned home, even though I was only 3 days post-op I was so excited I had breast implants and everything seemed good so far that I decided to write a review on RealSelf giving Dr. Stoker a pretty great 5 star review. Three months post-op, I knew something wasn't right. My nipples were pointing up, my swimsuits that I couldn't wait to wear for a planned summer trip were exposing my nipples and I could actually feel the separation between my original breasts up top and the implant falling below. My scars were also fully exposed, riding up. No correctly sized bras/swimsuits would fit without my nipples coming out . I was routinely embarrassed wearing tight tops and had to start wearing nipple covers every single day. I also get sharp pains where the bottoming out is even after over a year post-op; they are just overall very uncomfortable on the bottom and sides. I was clearly bottomed out. I should also mention I didn't receive ANY follow-up calls a month after, two months after or three months after. Only the night after my surgery, the brief follow-up the day after surgery and then a call from the nurse a week later. That's it! I spent over $16,000 at his office! They got my money so no need to follow-up especially since I'm an out of town patient right? After some research, I realized I had indeed bottomed out. I added an update to my RealSelf with pictures of my bottomed out breasts concerned that the pocket may have been over-dissected, or maybe even wrong implant size, I didn't know what was going on and why. A few surgeons on RealSelf answered a question post where they confirmed I was bottomed out, that my implant size was not too large for my frame but it was highly suspect that the pocket size was made too large and/or the implants weren't properly placed. I reached out to the office to schedule a call with Dr. Stoker to express my concerns, I was surprised to find that he told me he thought they looked great, that I had a great result and that I should wait because "most patients would leave them alone". How many of you would pay $$$ for a BA and just leave them bottomed out? The size would have been fine but if they aren't looking right and fitting in anything and are uncomfortable/painful, I would much prefer my original small and perky breasts any day over sagging down bottomed out implants. When I questioned how waiting would change things, he hesitantly agreed he saw what I saw and said he was going to "be nice" and do a revision for me but immediately after offering to do so, he expressed how unhappy he was to cover anesthesia and eating the costs from his own pocket. But while I'm still paying off implants that were highly suspect to be improperly placed, I now have to take more time off of work, more travel costs, pay for new implants even though these were only 3 months old, go through another surgery, another recovery, that’s a huge inconvenience for me. While I appreciated him offering to "be nice" I just got that strong sense of arrogance from him again. If he was really concerned about me as his patient, he would've offered to do the revision but without adding in those comments which took away any form of it being genuine. When I asked to see capsulorrhaphy procedures he has done I was referred to go look on his website. I was also recommended to plan to go with textured implants for the revision even though I expressed how much I did not want textured implants due to added firmness. He then went on to bring up my RealSelf update from the review I left him. Instead of acknowledging he still had a 5 star review from me, he wanted to mention how displeased he was about my update about being bottomed out. Nothing I said was wrong in question. I was trying to understand what exactly was going on and hoping for feedback from other women who had the same bottom out experience. After that, I decided to have my entire RealSelf review removed as I was on a bridge between knowing my surgeon didn't like my post and I could potentially be in his hands again. I had no idea how I would afford another surgeon when I didn't even have these paid off yet. After the call, I just felt really uncomfortable and sad that I chose him in the first place. I’m just speaking from my experience, maybe others have had a better experience with him...I had hoped for the same. I decided to consult with 2 other PS who specialize in revisions. I will need a capsulorrhaphy and an entirely new pocket made and possibly ADM because of the stretching from the bottomed out implant. I was also told the inframamary scars that have ridden up in clear view were longer than needed and could have them revised with smooth implants. Dr. Stoker’s only solution was textured implants, the other surgeons said textured were not necessary. I have scanned through countless revision reviews on Realself with women who had bottomed out and made the mistake by going back to their original surgeon to only end up with worse problems or just bottomed out all over again because the surgeons weren't skilled in capsulorrhaphy. While I'm not saying Dr. Stoker isn't skilled in capsulorrhaphy, I didn’t see enough photos on his site to make me comfortable, our conversations didn’t leave me feeling confident and I also wanted smooth implants. So at this point, I’d rather fork out another $10-12k to get it done by a revision surgeon.I think every surgeon should at least try to see their patient before they are discharged after surgery, I didn’t realize how important this is until I consulted with the other surgeons, knowing what to ask this time around with one of them being how they handle the procedure from start to finish, talking to previous patients and being personally sent and shown as many photos as I ask without any arrogance from the surgeon. As a patient, we don't do this everyday and as a surgeon it's your job to have to repeat yourself with many patients no matter how tiring it may get for you. Dr. Stoker made me feel like I should just assume he was that good because he does this every day. Also like to mention: If you have a brilliant distinctions program and purchase Natrelle implants you get I believe $50. I did not think to ask because I did not know this at the time that they were part of the program. They never bothered asking if I had an account and by the time I found out I could've earned points they said they couldn't do anything about it. But just on a side note, at my local medical spa points can be added into your account--t's just about going that extra mile. So ya, that was a bummer because $50 is $50. Ultimately, others may have had a different experience with him, I am just speaking truthfully about mine but before you choose a surgeon, consult with several skilled surgeons, try to get recommendations from others or ask to speak with a previous patient with their before and afters, trust your gut and if you get any sense that you aren't comfortable go with someone else, don't fully judge the surgeon based off their high-end surgery center overlooking a marina, take the extra time to research the Yelp and RealSelf reviews. Also, might be a good idea to make sure your chosen surgeon is skilled in doing revisions -just in case-! I decided to go with a new surgeon I personally feel is genuine, has a high reputation yet is humble and I don't feel like I'm being rushed when I speak with him. I will be doing capsulorrhaphy using smooth implants and a revision of my inframammary scars. Here goes another $10-12K but I can't wait to get rid of the discomfort, wear swimsuits again, go bra shopping, wear tight fitting tops again and not have to wear nipple covers anymore. .