POSTED UNDER Tummy Tuck Reviews
Not what I expected - Paid for a procedure with subpar post op care
ORIGINAL POST
Not What I Expected
$12,100
My experience with this provider for an abdominoplasty with liposuction of the flanks is as follows:
My consultation with the surgeon went well. I noted him to be talkative and pleasant, and after consulting with him, my prior apprehensions eased. I began to feel relatively comfortable with my decision to use a surgeon two and a half hours away, and a whole other state over.
However, the pre-operative consultation with his practice nurse is where my experience started to take a turn for the worse. As a retired nurse myself with 17 years in practice, I felt the pre-operative consult was ok. The nurse and I connected somewhat on the fact that we were both nurses, but that was quickly revealed to be where our common ground ended. I found the consultation with her to be frustrating and uninformative at best, and I felt by the end of the conversation like I had been unheard and blown-off when I asked a few questions about his chosen methods. The surgeon advertised his practice on a billboard advertisement in my area which read, “See why people travel”. Hindsight is 20/20, and I wish I had done one more surgeon consult before going with his practice. He was my second.
The surgery went off without a hitch, but my experience as a client declined in the weeks and months of the post-op phase. Patient experience was good, client experience, not so much. I am now under the impression with this office that once your money is taken and the procedure done, you are no longer a primary concern. For example, my follow-up exam was a week from the surgical date. (I must note that this physician performs a traditional tummy-tuck using two drains. This antiquated approach would become a problem once I discovered I could not secure an adequately timed appointment to have them removed.) The practice nurse suggested we email her my drainage totals from the day of our appointment to the next one, and she readily assured us that I could be seen as much or as little as we wanted post-operatively if we had any concerns. So, we told her Friday of the following week would work for our follow-up. She spoke as if the appointment wouldn’t be a problem. However, much to my great discomfort, and with virtually no communication from them in the meantime, I ended up having to keep my drains in for 3 miserable weeks due to not being able to get an appt in the second week as she had assured me I could. The drains stopped draining on day 10!
A tummy tuck is an extensive and painful procedure. The pain control measures were also antiquated and inadequate. I was given only Percocet for pain and Phenergan for nausea. When I asked for a muscle relaxer for the pain due to the abdominal plication (I had muscle repair), I was offered Neurontin and told I needed to just walk more. Neurontin is often prescribed for nerve pain in diabetics with peripheral neuropathy or other conditions that involve chronic nerve damage. Studies on Neurontin have not been proven to be a worthy treatment for post operative pain. Furthermore, it doesn’t agree well with me personally. Also, this practice does not use the drug Exparel, which is widely used for post operative pain and would have made a tremendously painful several days of post-op far more tolerable. Exparel is an anesthetic block injected into the surgical area during surgery that will give several days of pain control post-operatively. As a client paying $12,000 plus for an elective surgery, I expected far better concern for my post-operative comfort and a far more luxurious experience overall. Exparel should be included in this physician’s formulary for mine and any other client’s comfort, and the fact that this surgeon chooses not to use it says a lot about his practice. Many plastic surgeons see Exparel as essential for such a painful procedure. My surgeon did not.
Overall, as a nurse, I feel this practice is lacking in client comfort and post operative care. In addition to all of these issues, every time I called the office, I got a different nurse. I communicated with this surgeon via email about my difficulty with the practice nurse and her manner early in this process and received no response from him whatsoever. Eventually, I opted out of communicating with his practice nurse any further due to her short and overbearing demeanor. As a result, this made continuity of care at this practice virtually impossible as it seems this is a surgical center that has a frequent turnover of nurses.
Long story short, I paid for a procedure with subpar post op care. This was my experience, and I am currently 4 months post op. I have since relied on very informative YouTube plastic surgeons and the platform RealSelf for most of my post op recovery information. My last visit to the practice was with the P.A. Sasha, who I believe no longer works there. Sasha also removed my drains at 3 weeks. She was pleasant to deal with, and was one of the few highlights of what was otherwise a harrowing and unpleasant experience overall. While I do recommend this doctor for his work, I do not recommend him for the overall experience and lack of up-to-date practices to insure patient comfort.
My consultation with the surgeon went well. I noted him to be talkative and pleasant, and after consulting with him, my prior apprehensions eased. I began to feel relatively comfortable with my decision to use a surgeon two and a half hours away, and a whole other state over.
However, the pre-operative consultation with his practice nurse is where my experience started to take a turn for the worse. As a retired nurse myself with 17 years in practice, I felt the pre-operative consult was ok. The nurse and I connected somewhat on the fact that we were both nurses, but that was quickly revealed to be where our common ground ended. I found the consultation with her to be frustrating and uninformative at best, and I felt by the end of the conversation like I had been unheard and blown-off when I asked a few questions about his chosen methods. The surgeon advertised his practice on a billboard advertisement in my area which read, “See why people travel”. Hindsight is 20/20, and I wish I had done one more surgeon consult before going with his practice. He was my second.
The surgery went off without a hitch, but my experience as a client declined in the weeks and months of the post-op phase. Patient experience was good, client experience, not so much. I am now under the impression with this office that once your money is taken and the procedure done, you are no longer a primary concern. For example, my follow-up exam was a week from the surgical date. (I must note that this physician performs a traditional tummy-tuck using two drains. This antiquated approach would become a problem once I discovered I could not secure an adequately timed appointment to have them removed.) The practice nurse suggested we email her my drainage totals from the day of our appointment to the next one, and she readily assured us that I could be seen as much or as little as we wanted post-operatively if we had any concerns. So, we told her Friday of the following week would work for our follow-up. She spoke as if the appointment wouldn’t be a problem. However, much to my great discomfort, and with virtually no communication from them in the meantime, I ended up having to keep my drains in for 3 miserable weeks due to not being able to get an appt in the second week as she had assured me I could. The drains stopped draining on day 10!
A tummy tuck is an extensive and painful procedure. The pain control measures were also antiquated and inadequate. I was given only Percocet for pain and Phenergan for nausea. When I asked for a muscle relaxer for the pain due to the abdominal plication (I had muscle repair), I was offered Neurontin and told I needed to just walk more. Neurontin is often prescribed for nerve pain in diabetics with peripheral neuropathy or other conditions that involve chronic nerve damage. Studies on Neurontin have not been proven to be a worthy treatment for post operative pain. Furthermore, it doesn’t agree well with me personally. Also, this practice does not use the drug Exparel, which is widely used for post operative pain and would have made a tremendously painful several days of post-op far more tolerable. Exparel is an anesthetic block injected into the surgical area during surgery that will give several days of pain control post-operatively. As a client paying $12,000 plus for an elective surgery, I expected far better concern for my post-operative comfort and a far more luxurious experience overall. Exparel should be included in this physician’s formulary for mine and any other client’s comfort, and the fact that this surgeon chooses not to use it says a lot about his practice. Many plastic surgeons see Exparel as essential for such a painful procedure. My surgeon did not.
Overall, as a nurse, I feel this practice is lacking in client comfort and post operative care. In addition to all of these issues, every time I called the office, I got a different nurse. I communicated with this surgeon via email about my difficulty with the practice nurse and her manner early in this process and received no response from him whatsoever. Eventually, I opted out of communicating with his practice nurse any further due to her short and overbearing demeanor. As a result, this made continuity of care at this practice virtually impossible as it seems this is a surgical center that has a frequent turnover of nurses.
Long story short, I paid for a procedure with subpar post op care. This was my experience, and I am currently 4 months post op. I have since relied on very informative YouTube plastic surgeons and the platform RealSelf for most of my post op recovery information. My last visit to the practice was with the P.A. Sasha, who I believe no longer works there. Sasha also removed my drains at 3 weeks. She was pleasant to deal with, and was one of the few highlights of what was otherwise a harrowing and unpleasant experience overall. While I do recommend this doctor for his work, I do not recommend him for the overall experience and lack of up-to-date practices to insure patient comfort.
felacia's provider
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