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*Treatment results may vary
There are definitely more than few areas I need to...
There are definitely more than few areas I need to address but my largest concern was my bra area fat and the lack or waist/uneven waist that I already had. Treatment was done on my bra bulge and flanks.
Description of my experience:
I didn't actually meet Dr. Zawacki until the day of my procedure. My initial consult was with the office manager who came off as a bit more of a saleswoman. After having the procedure I have learned that while she did not lie at all, there things she said about there being minimal pain and instant results that ended up contradicting what Dr. Zawacki and her assistant Nicole both expressed to me. Dr. Darm also made a brief appearance during my consultation to look at my areas of concern and confirm that I would be a good candidate for the procedure.
I went back in for blood work and was told my before pictures would be taken at that time. They have a somewhat younger gentleman do their before pictures which I personally found to be a bit inappropriate as I am sure more of their clientele are women and would likely be more comfortable if a female was taking the pictures/videos. Nonetheless, he was polite and professional which is all I could ask for.
The time I did spend with Dr. Zawacki on the day of my procedure was nice though it was very short. I went in for my follow up appointment the following day and was told I wouldn't be able to see her as she was doing another procedure so I'd need to see Dr. Darm. I wasn't opposed to that but it did rub me the wrong way. At that moment I thought of the place as a bit of a lipo mill, like they do what they can to get people in the door, Dr. Zawacki does the procedure and then someone else makes sure there aren't complications.
As far as the actual procedure went, my surgery day looked like this:
I went in, had my BP taken, signed some disclosures, took a "chill pill" and was told Dr. Zawacki would be in shortly to mark me up. I waited about 45 minutes or so and she came in and did my markings. There wasn't a whole lot of conversation at that time, she basically confirmed the areas of concern, marked them up and asked that I confirm. We made some slight changes but that was it, once that was done she left the room. After this a nurse came in and took pictures/videos of the markings and I was asked to wait again for another nurse to come in and get me for the procedure. After another 20 minutes or so I was taken into the procedure room and prepped for the procedure. I removed the gown I was given and asked to lay on the table. From there I was hooked up to some wires to monitor my heart rate etc. and cleaned off with Betadine and the procedure began. I was first given shots of lidocaine. The amount of shots you'll get will depend on the area(s) being treated, in my case I had 3 on each side of my body. Yes, this hurts. It was a stinging sensation and you feel it. The next step was the lidocaine/fluid that they inject through the same hole with a larger cannula. If the first shot hurts you then get ready for this next step. All I can really say is OUCH. It was definitely the most uncomfortable part of the process and I'm sure the pain really depends on what area is being treated as I do have a high pain tolerance but was fighting back tears at this point. Once this process was done we waited for a few minutes and Dr. Zawacki came in. The first thing she did was the laser process. I could feel some pressure and there was slight pain sometimes when I could feel the long wand hit a part of my skin that wasn't real numb. Otherwise it was a breeze. The next step was the suctioning and that was similar to the laser part but more intense as the motions were quicker and felt a lot harder. Once that was done I had the wires removed from me and I was asked to get off the table. I stood on some pads the 2 nurses had laid on the floor and they began to apply some pressure to the incision sites and fluid dripped and squirted out. It is definitely not a glamorous procedure. Once some of the fluid had been removed I was put into my compression garment with maxi pads over my incisions as fluid will continue to leak out for approximately 24 hours. Once this happened I changed into the clothing I brought with me (black yoga pants, loose black t-shirt and flip flops) and waited for my husband to arrive. In the 20 minutes between the garment being put on me and my husband arriving I did feel some leaking happening and asked that they take out some of the soaked pads and add more in. I did not put a towel down in the car and I did not leak but I do only live 15-20 minutes away from where the procedure was done.
After the procedure:
Once I got home my husband and I did check the pads and they needed to be changed. On the first day I changed them 3 times (3-4 pads over each incision), on the second day I changed it once (1 pad over each incision). If you and your helper are up to it, I think when changing them your first time when you come home, applying some pressure and getting out some fluid is helpful. My husband and I did this together before putting the new maxi pads in and I was still numb so there was no pain though it is gross and you'll want to stand in the shower/tub. My leaking wasn't bad though I did go to Walmart and get a cheap mattress cover/fitted sheet the day before just in case. I also wrapped a fluffy blanket around my mid section to avoid any leakage onto the bed but I didn't have any leakage. I did keep maxi pads on my incisions until the end of day 2 and on day 3 I removed them and added small bandaids over the incisions. I found that cutting a normal bandaid in half length wise and folding over the sticky part about halfway was the most comfortable thing for me. I switched out my bandaids twice after initially putting them on and by this time I was on day 5 and felt comfortable removing the bandaids completely as my incisions had sealed up nicely. I started showering on day 2 but was very quick and mainly focused on everything around the incisions. My husband helped to rub off the betadine in places I could not reach with light soap and I briefly ran water over my incisions and used a fresh towel to pat those areas dry first before moving on to the others. After the lidocaine wears off it is pretty painful and even now on day 6 I am still sore and feeling a lot of tightness. Dr. Zawacki recommended stretching so I have been doing that as much as I can to get rid of some of the stiffness. I recommend maxi skirts/dresses, poncho style tops, maternity pants, etc. all to help relieve pressure and help to conceal any garments you may need to wear for compression. After my first week with the compression garments given at the time of the procedure, I will switch to a new garment I bought that is a bit more functional for everyday use but continue to wear that for 12+ hours everyday which is what was recommended for week 2-3.
I would say that at this point I do see some improvement but I'm trying not to focus on how I look as there is still swelling and bruising and I don't want to be discouraged. The results are not immediate and you just have to trust the process and hope that once everything settles, you are closer to your ideal after expectation. The jury is still out for me as I am only barely a week in but I wanted to share this experience as I struggled in making the decision to have this procedure done period as there wasn't anyone in this area who shared an experience that was enough for me to properly judge what I wanted to do. I am hopeful that I will be happy with my results and I hope this helps someone else who may be on the fence make an educated decision on how to move forward.
** Will add pictures later.
Description of my experience:
I didn't actually meet Dr. Zawacki until the day of my procedure. My initial consult was with the office manager who came off as a bit more of a saleswoman. After having the procedure I have learned that while she did not lie at all, there things she said about there being minimal pain and instant results that ended up contradicting what Dr. Zawacki and her assistant Nicole both expressed to me. Dr. Darm also made a brief appearance during my consultation to look at my areas of concern and confirm that I would be a good candidate for the procedure.
I went back in for blood work and was told my before pictures would be taken at that time. They have a somewhat younger gentleman do their before pictures which I personally found to be a bit inappropriate as I am sure more of their clientele are women and would likely be more comfortable if a female was taking the pictures/videos. Nonetheless, he was polite and professional which is all I could ask for.
The time I did spend with Dr. Zawacki on the day of my procedure was nice though it was very short. I went in for my follow up appointment the following day and was told I wouldn't be able to see her as she was doing another procedure so I'd need to see Dr. Darm. I wasn't opposed to that but it did rub me the wrong way. At that moment I thought of the place as a bit of a lipo mill, like they do what they can to get people in the door, Dr. Zawacki does the procedure and then someone else makes sure there aren't complications.
As far as the actual procedure went, my surgery day looked like this:
I went in, had my BP taken, signed some disclosures, took a "chill pill" and was told Dr. Zawacki would be in shortly to mark me up. I waited about 45 minutes or so and she came in and did my markings. There wasn't a whole lot of conversation at that time, she basically confirmed the areas of concern, marked them up and asked that I confirm. We made some slight changes but that was it, once that was done she left the room. After this a nurse came in and took pictures/videos of the markings and I was asked to wait again for another nurse to come in and get me for the procedure. After another 20 minutes or so I was taken into the procedure room and prepped for the procedure. I removed the gown I was given and asked to lay on the table. From there I was hooked up to some wires to monitor my heart rate etc. and cleaned off with Betadine and the procedure began. I was first given shots of lidocaine. The amount of shots you'll get will depend on the area(s) being treated, in my case I had 3 on each side of my body. Yes, this hurts. It was a stinging sensation and you feel it. The next step was the lidocaine/fluid that they inject through the same hole with a larger cannula. If the first shot hurts you then get ready for this next step. All I can really say is OUCH. It was definitely the most uncomfortable part of the process and I'm sure the pain really depends on what area is being treated as I do have a high pain tolerance but was fighting back tears at this point. Once this process was done we waited for a few minutes and Dr. Zawacki came in. The first thing she did was the laser process. I could feel some pressure and there was slight pain sometimes when I could feel the long wand hit a part of my skin that wasn't real numb. Otherwise it was a breeze. The next step was the suctioning and that was similar to the laser part but more intense as the motions were quicker and felt a lot harder. Once that was done I had the wires removed from me and I was asked to get off the table. I stood on some pads the 2 nurses had laid on the floor and they began to apply some pressure to the incision sites and fluid dripped and squirted out. It is definitely not a glamorous procedure. Once some of the fluid had been removed I was put into my compression garment with maxi pads over my incisions as fluid will continue to leak out for approximately 24 hours. Once this happened I changed into the clothing I brought with me (black yoga pants, loose black t-shirt and flip flops) and waited for my husband to arrive. In the 20 minutes between the garment being put on me and my husband arriving I did feel some leaking happening and asked that they take out some of the soaked pads and add more in. I did not put a towel down in the car and I did not leak but I do only live 15-20 minutes away from where the procedure was done.
After the procedure:
Once I got home my husband and I did check the pads and they needed to be changed. On the first day I changed them 3 times (3-4 pads over each incision), on the second day I changed it once (1 pad over each incision). If you and your helper are up to it, I think when changing them your first time when you come home, applying some pressure and getting out some fluid is helpful. My husband and I did this together before putting the new maxi pads in and I was still numb so there was no pain though it is gross and you'll want to stand in the shower/tub. My leaking wasn't bad though I did go to Walmart and get a cheap mattress cover/fitted sheet the day before just in case. I also wrapped a fluffy blanket around my mid section to avoid any leakage onto the bed but I didn't have any leakage. I did keep maxi pads on my incisions until the end of day 2 and on day 3 I removed them and added small bandaids over the incisions. I found that cutting a normal bandaid in half length wise and folding over the sticky part about halfway was the most comfortable thing for me. I switched out my bandaids twice after initially putting them on and by this time I was on day 5 and felt comfortable removing the bandaids completely as my incisions had sealed up nicely. I started showering on day 2 but was very quick and mainly focused on everything around the incisions. My husband helped to rub off the betadine in places I could not reach with light soap and I briefly ran water over my incisions and used a fresh towel to pat those areas dry first before moving on to the others. After the lidocaine wears off it is pretty painful and even now on day 6 I am still sore and feeling a lot of tightness. Dr. Zawacki recommended stretching so I have been doing that as much as I can to get rid of some of the stiffness. I recommend maxi skirts/dresses, poncho style tops, maternity pants, etc. all to help relieve pressure and help to conceal any garments you may need to wear for compression. After my first week with the compression garments given at the time of the procedure, I will switch to a new garment I bought that is a bit more functional for everyday use but continue to wear that for 12+ hours everyday which is what was recommended for week 2-3.
I would say that at this point I do see some improvement but I'm trying not to focus on how I look as there is still swelling and bruising and I don't want to be discouraged. The results are not immediate and you just have to trust the process and hope that once everything settles, you are closer to your ideal after expectation. The jury is still out for me as I am only barely a week in but I wanted to share this experience as I struggled in making the decision to have this procedure done period as there wasn't anyone in this area who shared an experience that was enough for me to properly judge what I wanted to do. I am hopeful that I will be happy with my results and I hope this helps someone else who may be on the fence make an educated decision on how to move forward.
** Will add pictures later.
Provider Review
Dr. Amie Zawacki