To date, nothing has gotten better, they have gotten worse

After getting out of the Military I found myself in a very dark place and went to food for comfort. For years I hid behind this feeling of comfort until I finally had enough. At 250 lbs I knew I needed to make a change. So I did. Two years and a 135lb weight loss later I was finally at a comfortable and healthy weight. I did everything humanly possible but was still left with extra skin and a very deflated and saggy breasts. I wanted to take it one more step so after saving, scraping, and cutting back I came up the money to pay for plastics in full. I started researching plastic surgeons in my area and found Dr Basner. Initially he was mentioned in a FB group which led me to looking him up on Realself. Past results looked decent and there had been a handful of people who ranted and raved about how amazing he was. After another month or so I pulled the trigger and called in to schedule an in person consult. It took roughly about two-ish months to get in. During my first consult, I went over that I had massive weight loss and was looking to try and get back my pre-weight gain body. Dr Basner seemed nice but the appointment was actually kind of quick. I tried on sizers at my appointment (I was never measured for my breast width. So if this is something important to you, he at the very least did not do it with me.) His assistant, Colleen, was friendly as was the scheduIing coordinator, Rae. There was also the added bonus of him being local and close to where I live (45 min drive-ish.) I came in seeking a MMO (TT, MR, BA, and ended up getting a lower back lift added to it as well.) Dr Basner stated I did not need a lift and would be fine due to the CC I selected. I went with 500ccs in both breasts. High Profile Silicone Mentor. Supposedly I got lipo, but I never bruised or had anything otherwise to show I did. I asked the usual questions and my first red flag should have been that he said it was okay for me to smoke cigarettes/consume nicotine and I did not need to quit. Yes. Read that again. He told me I did not need to quit smoking ciagrettes at all and it would not have any effects on my results/healing. I assumed maybe he did something differently, but I did end up quitting anyway well in advance of surgery from wanting to be safe rather than sorry. I had a few other consults so I didn't book anything at the time. When I initially reached back out via email with follow-up questions, I never received a response back and chalked it up to them being busy. This probably should have also been a red flag, but hind sight is 20-20. Fast forward and I come back in for a second consultation. This one took about three months or so to get in to see Basner. During the appointment, I was vocal about the results I was looking for and he stated that they would be easily achieved. I was constantly called "tiny", "small", and told that my results were going to look fantastic and I would be happy. I booked my surgery and everything seemed to be great, but I found it odd there was no pre-op appointment and no discussion of my lab results to be cleared for surgery. Once again, chalked it up to just how they do things or maybe it was just Covid related of not wanting so many people in the office. A few weeks before surgery I called in with concerns about the procedures and Basner being able to accomplish what I was looking for. I went in for a third time and was once again vocal about wanting a smaller waist, flatter stomach, and perky, youthful, high boobs with clevage and upper pole. Dr Basner once again reassured me the size of CCs would give me what I wanted and that I will be happy with all my results. On the day of surgery I arrived 15 minutes early. When it was time to go in I found the doors were locked. I was under the impression someone would be there, so I started panicking that I got the time wrong. I called the office and it went to voicemail saying they were closed. After waiting in the car people finally showed up (about 5 to 10 minutes late) and I was able to go inside. I was shown to a room and instructed to change. Shortly after the anesthesiologist came in. It was a quick in and out thing and soon after Dr. Basner came in, marked me up, reassured me that I was going to love my results, and I would say within 30 minutes I was taken back to get prepared for surgery. This consisted of being cleaned down by a nurse and being shaved in my pubic area (yeah, yeah, yeah some people like it bald but I prefer not to. It is a coping mechanism/comfort thing for me.) The nurse said it would be easier for Basner to see the incision line, so I shrugged it off as not being a big deal. I came into the office from day one never shaved and seeing as she only trimed at the top and did not shave me bald, I did not think anything of it. After, I was helped up on the operating table and I do not even remember falling asleep. Next thing I remember is waking up and being told it was time to go home. Dr Basner did call to check on me that evening and at which time I told him I was in pain. He had instructed me to increase the amount of pain medication I was taking and said to call if I needed anything. I spent the first week sleeping, walking when I was awake, and just the bare minimum. I was hurting and assumed it was all normal. First follow-up apt was extremely quick of Dr Basner being in and out. It was mostly his assistant (Colleen) who spent time with me and that was to check my incisions and I got my drains taken out. I would say it was a day or two later that I started having a dull pain running down my entire right side from the hip down. My foot got to the point where I physically could not put pressure on it at all without being in tears. My husband called the office and after speaking with another PS, I was instructed to go to the ER to check for blood clots. I did not catch the surgeons name, but it wasn't Basner and they were a male. Very kind on the phone and understanding. Thankfully, I got cleared at the ER and it was ruled as a nerve pain problem, but never once did Dr Basner call to check on me. No one in the office did. I delt with it and thankfully had a support system at the very least at home. As I started to come off the pain meds I noticed a sharp pain under my armpits on both sides and a few eyebrow raise worthy concerns (loose skin on stomach, breasts sinking into armpits when not standing without slouching (I am talking standing back straight, can walk with a book on your head without dropping it expectations you see in those high class prep schools), and my armpits felt an extreme amount of pressure/pain that was worse when I was not fully standing or sitting fully up. I also started to notice that he had cut very low on the incision line, now that I was starting to not swell as much my skin was becoming lax. What started as tight and taunt (I now think it was the swelling) was now extremely saggy and loose. The saggy skin that once sat on my lap now not only sat there, but also between my legs where pads no longer fit correctly. There is not enough mon left and I am now stuck having a pad go half way up my back side or half way up the front of my stomach. My mon area is now also droopy and has loose/exesessive skin at the top where he pulled the skin down, where before it did not. I also look aesthetically weird because as mentioned, I do not shave and it has caused mental distress of no longer having that "security blanket." I will say that an incision line was never discussed, but I do know my panty line did not go below it when he marked me. After this realization I instantly started paying more attention instead of the "trust the process" mentallity and I was in sheer horror, shame, and depressed at what I seen in the mirror. When I called in to express my concerns I was told to email his assistant (they never did email me back about my concerns.) While dealing with the mental mess I was I was still trying to navigate how to deal with the pain I was having with my breasts. Any time I would try to lay on my side it felt like my breasts were being pulled/tugged on and I had a sharp pain that shot through both my sides, more so the side I tried to lay on. Even though I was cleared to be fine sleeping in any position, they all hurt and left me to sleep on my back where the pain was the least. After a few more days of still having the pain in my chest that was not getting any better and under my arms got progressively worse, I called into the office in tears to express what was going on. The soonest they could get me in to get checked out was two weeks. He was too booked with surgeries and consults per what the receptionist said on the phone. I took the appointment because I was worried and desperate for answers and a way to fix it. Later that day after getting out of the shower, while getting help adding my surgery tape back to my surgical sites, I noticed what looked like a small hole on my incision line on my lower back and white puss coming out of it. Now, any reasonable person would of course assume infection. I became worried and my husband called into the office on my behalf. At first Dr Basner's care team refused to get on the phone, because their office was closing, and the receptionist relayed the message they got my email and will respond when they can. It was only after my husband had to explain to the receptionist more than once that it was something else, that someone would finally get on the phone. My husband did not get a name, but they were very short with their response and sounded annoyed. Apparently, they knew about it all along, never once told me about it, said it was normal, and rushed off the phone. No explaination of what happened, what it was, just that I would be fine. I was left confused, even if this was normal, I did not understand why it was never mentioned until I brought it up. It would have saved them time of getting out the door on time for them and save me from freaking out. Fast forward to my appointment and Dr Basner blames me for all my concerns. Every single one of them. I was taken aback and where he came off "nice" about it, I genuinely wanted to cry. Never once was it ever brought up beforehand. Never once did he or anyone in the office say anything but how great my results will be. Now that the surgery was over, they had my money, and the results that were promised were not delivered by a long shot, it is suddenly my fault that I still had a lot of loose skin on my stomach, a bellybutton that looks the same way it did prior to surgery (think smiley face with fat folds/loose skin around it), that my breasts have rippling and loose skin (during the consultation I asked if I needed a lift. He said no.) And that it was my fault that my implants slide halfway if not more under my armpit even when at an incline and even worse when laying down. That it was normal I was still in constant discomfort and pain. Dr Basner went on to say that most "normal" women with breasts deal with their breast going under their armpit and some even deal with all of their breast going under their armpit. He explained it as if it was an every day thing that my implants took up residency under my arms, instead of considering that I am suffering from lateral displacement or my pocket needed to be corrected; the blame was once again placed on me. I do understand that to some degree they will move, but not to a degree to where I have to float my arms because I cannot lay them straight against my sides from a bulge big enough to cup with my entire hand. The front of my chest also goes 90% flat. He also went on to say that no one is going to see me naked anyway, that I look better than I did, and said this was a great time to work on my posture (the area around my belly button still folds and you can still pinch a great deal of loose skin even when sitting up straight btw.) He dismissed being able to fix my stomach, would not even acknowledge it, but he did say he would exchange my implants for smaller if I wanted to pay for them (one of my concerns to what might have contributed to some of my current pain and deformity is the size of my breasts now with implants being too large for my frame.) At that point, I no longer felt comfortable saying anything else and just went quiet because I did not get this surgery for anyone else but myself. For him to say no one else will see it anyway just stopped me in my tracks of realizing he did not understand, did not want to try to understand, and I was only wasting my breath. Once he left the room, I brought up my last concern to his assistant, Colleen. I had a lower back lift and I am now completely flat, think Hank Hill from King of The Hill flat; probably worse if I an being perfectly honest. My buttcrack is also high and some times the skin folds like it is a part of my butt crease ( it is literally right at the incision line) and other times it is flat. Prior to surgery, I at least had a little "something" back there. I also did not have a buttcrack that looked deformed 50 percent of the time. These results were also blamed on me as well. I left there feeling defeated and even more ashamed of how my body looked prior to having the surgery to begin with. I started to noticed that my right breast did not sit up as high projection wise as my other (this was new and not happening before.) I had enough. I called into the office and spoke to the receptionist. I asked what would I be charged to just ex-plant. At the very least when I had no breasts at all I did not deal with any type of pain or defomity and I still could go back and hide beneath my clothes again like I did before surgery since I am still in the same boat with my stomach. The receptionist told me that Dr Basner was in surgery, took my name and number, and said that someone would call be back. I recieved a phone call the next day from Colleen, she was pretty quick to just get down to talking about ex-planting and the cost. Did not seem to really care about the reason why, but I will say when I was dishearted that I would be stuck with them because I already spent all my money on the surgery, she did make an effort to see what could be done. Colleen called me back and did offer to cut the price a little (not much to bulk at.) I asked more questions about with ex-planting will I be fine right away (I know my breasts would probably sag more than before, but I was worried about under my arms. I can already see where the skin is being stretched from the implant constantly hanging around my pockets) and how it will affect me if I wanted to get another BA in the future. She went on to explain that if I wanted another they could just exchange them if I wanted to pay for them. I told Colleen to give me time to think about it. Few days later I noticed more oozing but now it was coming from my left and right side. Peeked under the tape and had two gaping holes on the incision line, one about the size of a quarter and the other about the size of a walnut. I decided to call into the office (it was after hours so I called the after hours line) and was called back roughly a little over an hour later by Dr Shermak. She was beyond unprofessional on the phone, talked down to both myself and my husband, and seemed like she had a serious chip on her shoulder because she was expected to do her job. Granted, she was not my surgeon but from the brief contact I did have with her-- I honestly refuse to call in after hours at this point because I do not want to deal with her and her attitude. I ended up emailing Colleen in the morning, explained my concerns, and she actually called me back. Was told to keep both wounds covered and keep clean with soap and water vs the original advice of taking off all my surgical tape and using neosporin on the open wounds by Dr Shermak. Since then I have mostly been trying to rough it on my own until I can go back in person. To date, nothing has gotten better, they have gotten worse. Stomach has even more loose skin and breasts have now settled even further apart while standing while issues when leaning back and laying down have gotten worse. To date I still cannot lay on my side without the pulling sensation. They were not this far apart prior to surgery or did I ever have this type of issue with my breasts. I am hoping that Dr Basner will be more open-minded to my issues at my next appointment and work with me to fix the now added issues I have and address the issues I still have that were meant to be fixed to begin with. Update to come.

For reference, I am 5'6, 115 lbs, and 99.9% of my loose skin was carried in my mid/lower stomach and my surgeries were on 10/19/2021.

After a last attempt of going with Dr Adam Basner I tried another in office appointment. During the appointment I requested to convert to an FDL, which at that time Dr Basner only focused on it causing an ugly scar. When I voiced I was not concerned about the scar but the loose skin I still had, and mentioned that I had gone for other opinions, he immediately became defensive. Asked me who the other PS's were and proceeded to shove a marker in my face telling me to show him what I wanted him to do. I felt absolutely terrified and felt uncomfortable, and could only come up with I don't know, I just want the extra skin gone. He then began to mark my stomach and continued to say that it would not give me great results, continuing to focus on the long scar that could not be hidden. Ultimately, he told me that he seen nothing wrong with my results and even stated that my results were what he would put on his website. He told me to go to one of the other PS's and discontinued my care. As you can see, as time has passed my stomach went from flat to nothing but clumps of loose skin. I now suffer from rashes and other medical issues due to everything sagging even below the waist. Based on the unprofessional behavior of Dr Basner, his office staff, and my results I do not reccomend him as a PS.

stomach has gotten worse since last update, guess I jinxed myself thinking that I have seen the worse of it. To date, No change in weight. That is a roll of skin above the pants band. The squishy round looking glob of skin in the middle, is my belly button. The band is elastic, stretchy, and I even ordered a size up compared to my measurements. Both breasts have sunken further down my chest wall and have spread farther apart.