Surgery OK Aftercare is Risky

It took me long time to decide to write this review. I finally am writing it because I want them "to do better". The staff are personable. However, the aftercare is a bit wanting. I had an extended tummy tuck and BBL. My first 2-3 weeks of recovery were hard. Most folks on here don't talk about how hard the recovery is, but it is. 5 weeks after surgery I needed to travel for work, and I still had one drain in. I asked if it could be taken out for the trip. First, I am not a doctor and have never had this surgery before. My request should have been turned down, since the doctor knows more than I do, although it was the PA who removed the drain. I developed a seroma because of the extra fluid that wasn't draining. I returned to the doctor’s office to have another drain installed. It worked for about a week and the stopped draining. I went back to the doctor’s office and the PA ended up removing the drain because it had bent and was no longer functional. I was told that they did not have any more drains in stock (umm…what?) so I would have to come weekly and be aspirated. During my weekly drain visit the PA stuck me at least 6-8 times trying to drain fluid but being unsuccessful, this was Friday). Monday, I returned back to the office so that the Dr could try to drain me, she was able to drain me. This went on for a couple of weeks. I then had a severe bout of diarrhea and vomiting. I went to my primary Dr and was later sent to ER for extremely high white blood cell count (infection). When I was checked in, I mentioned that I was currently being drained for a seroma, so they did CT scan and MRI of my abdomen to look for infection, where they found 3 masses. Long story short (over the course of 4 months) turns out the masses were abscesses caused by infection from the surgery. Two resolved on their own while one had to be drained. In addition, I’ve now become anemic, as a result of the hard recovery and not really eating during that time. I’m seeing a hematologist to get my iron and hemoglobin levels back to where they were pre-surgery. During all of this I asked for my deposit back for the second surgery I had planned on doing before all of this happened (I’m a bariatric patient and have loose skin from the weight loss that I want removed). I was told “they don’t give refunds” …meanwhile that’s not written anywhere. Not on the surgery quotes, not on the invoices, nowhere. So now, not only has this been the year from hell medically behind this surgery, but I have also now “donated” $5k to her practice. As far as the results, if that’s all you’re interested in, they are ok. I’m not sure what to expect so I don’t know what’s normal. When I sit my stomach crinkles with loose wrinkled skin, it looks not cute. If I’m standing it looks like a flat stomach, so I don’t know what’s supposed to happen. The scar has healed well; however, I do have this bump under my breast, which I was told is probably related to the stiches inside. Anyway, to sum this up, the surgery went ok as far as I can tell. There were missteps in the aftercare, that could have been handled better, 1. Be the Doctor and deny a request that you know would cause more harm than good, 2. Make sure you have the supplies you need on hand at your office, 3. have competent people draining seromas, 4. write your refund cancellation policy on all of your documents, so that patients are aware before making any payments, especially deposits.