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POSTED UNDER Smart Lipo REVIEWS

24 Yr No Kids. (5) Areas Done at Sonobello. Sacramento, CA

ORIGINAL POST

Okay I want to start of by saying I am a very...

jennLM
WORTH IT$8,500
Okay I want to start of by saying I am a very active 24yr old. Although the last year I've had major issues with my ankles and being a runner all my life it has definitely hindered my weight management. Over the last 1-2 years I've gains 15-20 lbs all around my stomach back waist back bra roll. Long story short my mom offered to get my confidence back to what it used to be. At 5"4 I have weighed 181 pounds! The biggest I've ever been and carried it ALL on my abdomen. I went in for the consult and I waited about 45 minutes before meeting with the only Sonobello consult at The Sacramento location. She was very pleasant but no doctor as I expected. We quickly talked about the areas and then pricing. Pretty much based on my BMI of 30 the price per area would be around 1,750$! I was blown away kinda pricey but I knew it would be more than $5,000 based on the reviews.
The Consultant Naomi was pretty much a sales person she quickly talked us into booking immediately and saving almost $4000 if we did so within the next week. So we did.
We signed ALOT ALOT OF PAPERS!
She gave me my doctors info and sent me off with a lot of reading material which I pretty much had already done prior to meeting her.

Pre-Op:
My pre Op visit was on a wed just a couple of days after my initial consult appointment. I was scheduled for the following Saturday 8/29/15. I finally met my Doctor Micheal A. Giuffrida. He was pleasant at first but I quickly got the sense that he was in a rush. All the questions i had for him disappeared due to him pretty much standing a foot or two away from my face and basically waiting for me to finish talking. It was pretty awkward. He wasn't very genuine or made me feel comfortable at all. At first I thought to myself "man I know he's haut doing his job and he's doing me a favor but seriously a little bit of "Hi how are you, you're going to look great after this" none of that. No excitement at all. Although he did say I needed to add an extra area my lower back , he said it would define my "butt" more . The meeting with him couldn't have been more than 10 minutes long. And off I went again to talk to the consultant about adding the 6th area. Seems like a lot but my mom thought if I'm doing this I better do it all so it looks great . I arrive to Naomi's office and she's busy talking to someone I told her I would come back with my mom since financially she was taking care of most of under her line of credit. She said " everything is okay bc she had enough credit left over to cover the 6th area which would be an additional $1,400" I then asked her if my mom or I needed to sign anything . And her being in a rush as she seemed said no everything is good to go I'll just add it to your balance. And adjust the payment plan. So I left since I have class to catch within he next 30mins.

Night before Surgery:
As you could imagine with all the research and knowledge I was still VERY nervous the night before. Around 5:45pm THE DAY BEFORE THE PROCEDURE . Naomi calls me telling me in a very angry and upsetting voice that my mother did not sign all the paper work for the credit company and that she needed to fax it over within the next 15 minutes bc they were closing 6pm!" As I am driving I'm receiving this call. Annoyed and frustrated that she JUST caught this mistake in her behalf not my mothers since she looked over everything twice in our presence , I just couldn't believe that the night before my surgery she is now finalizing everything. When we left our initially consult she said everything was finalize. We figured out the issue and she then asked me if we were going to put the remaining balance for my 6th area on a card or debit card the next morning. I reminded her that she had told me just 2 days ago that it would be covered by remaining balance of my mothers credit line. She then rudely said " No your moms credit line does not have enough so you need to pay out of pocket " AGAIN THIS IS ALL AT 6pm the night before surgery. My surgery was scheduled at 730AM! How the hell am I going to take out $1,400 the night before my surgery. AGAIN another last minute mistake and issue. At this point I was ready to CANCEL but their policy said something about less than 24hrs you pretty much have pay 100% even if you don't get the procedure. So I show up to my surgery appointment NOT getting my 6th area done bc no way to afford it or pull money out before 7am.
DAY OF SURGERY:
I arrive with my boyfriend. The nurse asks if my mom is present to sign MORE papers from the credit company that were missed . My mom was at work. Again another mistake and issue we weren't aware of. So I call my mom to leave work and sign or else they wouldn't do the surgery. The nurse was so completely rude too. Considering this is their fault and mistake they all should have been a lot nicer when fixing their mistakes. It's like I was being punished for even considering spending $8,500 on a procedure in their clinic. An hour later I'm getting pre-Meded. I'm a talker so I get that but throughout the entire process I felt like I had to pull teeth from my doctor along with the nurse. No conversation started at all. Not even what music would you like on. I have to pretty much say hi my name is jenn and I like running . I was disappointed by my experience. A lot of people were skeptical about me doing this and I wanted to prove them wrong so bad and tell them I love my doctor and refer them to this place but the experience alone is enough to take my money else where.
RESULTS:
My results are coming in . So far love them. CANT complain on that. My mom and aunt want to et work done along with a coworker but truthfully even though Dr. giuffridas Work was great so far I will NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE TO ANYONE I LOVE AND KNOW. It's a scary nervous experience and it didn't need to be all that scary. I don't need someone to hold my hand but it would have been nice if my doctor along with the entire staff was pleasant and friendly.

jennLM's provider

Michael A. Giuffrida, MD - Account Suspended

Michael A. Giuffrida, MD - Account Suspended

Board Certified Plastic Surgeon

jennLM rating for Dr. Giuffrida:

Overall rating
Doctor's bedside manner
Answered my questions
After care follow-up
Time spent with me
Phone or email responsiveness
Staff professionalism & courtesy
Payment process
Wait times

Replies (11)

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September 26, 2015
Your post op pictures are looking great! He is a little short in his pre op appointment. But I think its just his personality. It did make me a little nervous too but I am very soft spoken so it didn't ruin it for me. We should keep contact for our results!
September 26, 2015
Thanks ! Definitely like I said I was contemplating writing my review but I figured I should be as honest about my experience as I could help others. I like my results so far.
September 26, 2015
I just had mine done a week ago just curious how many pound did they take day of procedure?
September 27, 2015
They don't do a specific amount of pounds but Liters . The Max was 5L for me and I'm down 11 lbs so far but I've cut out everything sweet from my diet and I've been following a pescaterian diet along with running and light weight lifting.
September 27, 2015
Hi, doll! you look great - keep up all the hard work! Thanks for sharing your experience - it helps the rest of us to decide where to go. Keep posting and sharing, I'm so nervous and on the fence about having this done so you are an angel for putting your pics up. xo, S
September 27, 2015
I would definitely do it. But shop around for the BEST doctor along with the clinic to make sure your experience is nothing but great. Ask for the doctors previous work pictures. Also the recovery I think depends on how many areas you are doing. Since I did the Trisculpt which is laser assisted lipo and had 5 areas done along with the max amount of fat taken out, my recovery was a bit longer. You can walk and pretty much do everything yourself slowly within 24hrs. But showering and taking off he garmet can make you very VERY light headed which happen to me for about 1-2 weeks so I had to force myself to drink a ton of water like they recommend . I hope you have a great future surgery!
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September 27, 2015
I'm glad your results were great as they should be seeing as $8500 aint chop liver. These docotors need to understand, we as consumers have a choice in who we put our lives and trust in. And when you decide to choose them then its their upmost responsibilty to treat you with respect. You were lucky he does fablous work, don't ever trust your life to any other doctor that wont take the time to sit down and answer ALL of your questions. You only have this one life so be very catious with it... Thanks for letting all the other dolls here know about this doctor and his practiceses..
September 27, 2015
Thank you ! I agree. I should have been more cautious and maybe shouldn't have gone through with him for the surgery but then again I didn't want to loose $8,500 for nothing. So I took the risk and luckily like you said his work was great, but not everyone can get as lucky as me. As I've seen some terrible stories and pictures.
September 28, 2015
Sorry you had to go through that experience.
UPDATED FROM jennLM
1 month post

1 Month Post Op. Noticing Indentation ?

jennLM
Hi I'm exactly one month post op my laser assisted lipo procedure (Trisculpt) and I've been noticing some indentation on my upper abdomen. When I'm sitting down I can definitely feel a little roll zoning out and when I stand up I can see the indentation. I've switched to a much tighter garmet without zippers and is flattening . But can't see the indentation going away much. I know technically I've still got 4-6 months left on swelling to go down but I'm getting a little worried as the indentation has not fluntated. The nurse pointed it out at my 1 week post op but didn't think much of it then until now. Is it possible that not enough fat was taken out of my upper abdomen ? Any creams of ointments I can use to make the indentation less noticeable ?
Also for the skin tightening and recommendations on Lotions to speed up the process ?

Thank you

Replies (2)

September 30, 2015
Hi, I was advised by Dr that I have to be treated after care. For example, Dermawave treatments as well as lymphatic drainage massages to help with swelling and tightness.
September 30, 2015
Give it time. Takes 6 months for the swelling to go away. We are all different in the rate we heal.