Worth Every Tear and Every Penny - Syracuse, NY

Six weeks. They could have gotten me in sooner, but I had quit smoking and was still using Nicotine lozenges. Dr. Baum told me he wouldn't see me until i was three months nicotine free, "ASSUMING" I could quit them. I loved that Dr. DeRoberts didn't question my ability to quit nicotine but required 4 weeks without it prior to surgery. I'm still nicotine free btw, and let me say that people oughtn't imply another person lacks strength, character, or ability. I don't care how many people relapse, give up, or fail...we are all unique individuals and deserve to be treated as such.

My FP referred me to Dr. Baum bc of the amazing results some of his other patients had gotten from him. I saw Dr. Baum and I was very disenchanted after my consult. Had I not scheduled my other consults I would have scrapped the idea of the TT and I would not be a member on this site. While I know he is a well respected and highly qualified surgeon, he was condescending and discouraging. I could diatribe a long while about that consult, but I won't. My other consult was with Dr. Giuffruida. I felt like he was too flattering and enthusiastic about getting me in the OR ASAP. It seemed insincere and forced; and I've learned that when my gut tells me to run...to double knot my laces and sprint. Dr. DeRoberts was my last consult and as you know, was my surgeon. I'm surprised that the offices have not been more responsive. I did email the office and learned that its less efficient than calling. Ultimately I say follow your gut. It is an expensive and permanent decision. I am very happy with my results, with Dr. DeRoberts and with my decisions thus far! I would highly recommend him! I'm curious who you have contacted and what you decide to do!- best wishes

I contacted Drs. Deboni/Baum (my friend's coworker had a TT with Deboni and is very happy), Dr. DeRoberts, and Drs. Giuffruida/Halliday so far. With all of them, I went to their website and filled out the "contact us" thing for more info. The initial responses were all quick but any follow up questions I had went unanswered (I usually had to email at least twice, took weeks for them to respond, and when they did, they dodged the questions). I flat out asked the person from Baum/Deboni's office why their newsletter mentions a "complimentary" consultation but yet they want to change $100 (and then take it off your procedure). That's illegal (there's no asterisk that says there's a charge, etc.) and just unprofessional. Also, I asked some easy but detailed questions that went completely unanswered (they basically said that I'd have to pay for a consult to get those answers). I'm sorry, I'm not going to let them charge me $100 for some simple statistics. That rubbed me the wrong way! I understand the point of charging for the consult, but if they are going to do that, they need to give me the information I want ahead of time so they aren't just blindly stealing my money (which is what it felt like). I had a similar experience trying to get info from Dr. DeRoberts' office, but at least they don't want to charge me for the consult. They gave me a date and time for a consult and asked for more info so they could schedule it, but I never heard back as to whether or not it was confirmed. It seems like a stupid thing, but it's much easier for me to communicate via email because placing phone calls during work hours is difficult (I can't be on the phone all the time while I'm at work). I definitely would LOVE to get in ASAP (I've made up my mind that I want it done, I just need to find the right surgeon), but I don't just want to go to the surgeon who is available the soonest. Price is always a concern too. I don't want to go to some cheap hack, but I also don't want to overpay because of someone's over-inflated ego. Drs. Deboni and Baum sound like they are the most expensive in the area, with good results, but maybe an unnecessarily high price tag. Dr. DeRoberts sounds a little more reasonable and I haven't heard anything yet about pricing from Drs. Giuffruida or Halliday. All I know is that Dr. Armenta is a definite NO. My friend's coworker's sister had her TT done with him and he forgot to re-attach her belly button!

I am sorry that you feel that you did not have a good experience with our office. I wanted to take a moment to answer and clarify a few things. We do offer a complimnetary consultation for skin care/aesthetician services, but do charge a consult fee for a meeting with one of the surgeons. This is applied towards any service which the patient subsequently has. In the past, we did offer free consults. What tends to happen is that patients schedule, the consult and many do not show up for their appointment, resulting in open slots which could be used for other patients. When a patient meets with us, thay have a lengthy consultation with a physician or PA. Many practices offer a "free consult," but that actually is with a nurse. As as far as answering detailed questions via email, that depends on what is being asked. The staff responding to the emails are experienced, but thay are not doctors. Many questions simply cannot be answered without evaluating the patient. The last thing that we want to do is to give someone inaccurate advice over the phone. The decision to have elective cosmetic surgery is a serious one, and should be treated a such. Our goal is to provide the best and safest information and care for our patients. Thanks. Dr Deboni CNY Cosmetic and Reconstructive Surgery

Dr. Deboni, Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post. I absolutely understand the issue with patients not taking a free consultation seriously. Your time is valuable and you do not deserve to have people who aren't serious waste it. However, have you considered charging a cancellation fee instead of a consultation fee? I wouldn't mind putting down the $100 (to ensure that I wouldn't be wasting anyone's time), if I got it back when I showed up for the appointment. I'm fully aware that your time is valuable, but so is mine! I have to take time off of work to go to the appointment, so charging a fee on top of that just stings. It's not the cost; it's the principle. As for the emails, I wasn't asking detailed medical questions. I was asking for statistics such as the number of similar operations performed, more before and after photos (there's only one on your website), what costs are included in the pricing, etc. This is information that is not readily available on your website but which is crucial to me when making decision on whether or not to even schedule a consultation with a given doctor. I have spent a lot of time researching the procedures, doctors, other patients' experiences, etc. I was just asking some preliminary questions in order to narrow down one or two doctors worthy of scheduling a consultation with. Why would I waste my time, and in this case, my money, on someone who may not be worthy of it? At least with a free consult, all I've wasted is time. You're absolutely right when you state that the decision to have elective cosmetic surgery is a serious one, which is why I'm making a concerted effort to gather enough information to ensure that the decision I make is the right one! After all, would you buy a car without taking it for a test drive? What if you showed up at a dealership and the salesman wanted a "deposit" in order to take that test drive, or even just to look at the cars they had in stock? I don't know about you, but if I were looking to buy a car, I'd be checking the dealership's website to see if they even carried the car I wanted before wasting my time by going out there. There are so many dealerships that you'd be stupid not to! Granted, I'm not saying that surgery and buying a car are the same thing, but they are both large investments that require time, research, and knowledge and making an uninformed or rash decision could cost you not only money, but your own safety! As a cosmetic surgeon, you are selling a service - a service that is completely elective and not necessary, so you have to be more than a surgeon, you have to be a salesman. You have to make people WANT to come to you. When your office staff doesn't fully respond (or at least provide a decent explanation as to why they can't), or, worse, doesn't respond at all, people aren't going to work extra hard to get the information they need; they will simply seek it elsewhere. I wouldn't have been offended if someone had responded and said "I don't have the answers you're looking for, but if you give me some time, I can find the answers for you," "if you'd like to come in and speak with a nurse or assistant who might know more, you can," or something else similar to that. Instead, I have to email several times to get any response and instead of answers, I get "you can see a doctor, but it'll cost you $100." That just comes across as if you don't even want my business. Heck, you may be overrun with patients and you don't have any spare time, so you might not miss me as a patient. If that's the case, congratulations! But if you would like my business, all you have to do is work with me and treat me with some value. I respect you, your time, and your talent; I expect the same respect in return. Again, I really do appreciate you taking the time to read and respond to my post. Hopefully you'll take this post into consideration as well. Thank you!