Archive for the ‘Operation Room’ Category
Your Plastic Surgeon is not your Parent
Tuesday, March 13th, 2012Many patients visit me at Yager Esthetics looking for answers to their cosmetic concerns. They want to look better, have heard good things about my office from friends, family, other doctors, or on television, and they see me for a consultation. What surprises some is that I do not make any of the decisions, I leave them to the patient.
To clarify, this does not mean I do what the patient asks of me regardless of what it is. It is my job to educate you, give you the benefit of my experience, and review the risk and benefits of your options with you. I will let you know if I disagree with your choice, and explain why it may not be your best option as well. I am not your parent, I am your experienced guide and teacher, a partner in care who will help you decide what the best choice may be.
I hear stories of consultations in other offices where the doctor pops in, looks at the patient, and tells them what they need, and leaves it to his staff to answer questions and try to make you commit to surgery. I do not think this is adequate. Each patient is unique, and just because you plastic surgeon is partial to a c-cup, this might be either too big or small for your taste. One size does NOT fit all.
I encourage you to come to my office for an education on your safe options for improving your appearance. I will do my best to guide you through the process so that we may come to a mutually agreeable decision as to how to realize your esthetic dreams.
The Best Facelift Compliment I Have Ever Received
Tuesday, February 28th, 2012As a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon, I try very hard to make each patient happy with their result. I also try to make myself feel proud of the work I have done. In all cosmetic plastic surgery, but in facial surgery in particular, you must make sure to achieve a great result without it looking fake or overdone. I will share with you a favorite patient story.
I had the pleasure of taking care of a lovely Cuban woman in her early sixties. She was happy in life, always smiling and vibrant. She wanted to have a facelift in order to look her best for her son’s wedding. It was to be 3 months later in Miami, and she had not seen him for nearly 10 years due to Castro.
I performed the operation, and healing was uneventful. We were both happy with the results, and off she went to Florida with the promise of returning with photos of the event. I eagerly awaited her return (and the reviews from her family).
She came to see me at Yager Esthetics 2 weeks after the event with the pictures in hand and a smile across her face. After listening to the story about the trip and the service and the family, I had to ask what her son thought.
She grinned, and told me that her son was so thrilled to see her. He hugged her, cried, stepped back and stared at her in amazement. He then said “Mom, you look the same as you did ten years ago. You just never change.”
A better compliment than that, I can not receive.
Sweating the Small Stuff
Tuesday, January 10th, 2012I always liked the saying, “Don’t sweat the small stuff”. It was a good way to put things in perspective, and not get hung up on things that are really not that important in the big picture. Since I became a plastic surgeon, especially a cosmetic plastic surgeon, my views have been altered.
Everything I do is about small stuff. Every fraction of a millimeter, every fat cell, each hair follicle is important in making my patients 100% happy. I can remove 5000 cc of fat from someone, and drop them 6 dress sizes, and they would be dissatisfied if their pants fit differently on one side then the other, even if it had nothing to do with my surgery. It could drive you insane.
Now, I think only of the after results, not what they looked like before. Everyone seeks perfection, and they do not care about how much of a change was made if the reflection in the mirror is not the ideal. I have found a way to deal with it to make myself and my patients happy.
I have decided to only focus on 100% satisfaction of my patients, no matter if the criticism is fair or not. If I see something that can be done to improve the results safely, even if the procedure was done perfectly, I just offer to do it. While it might be small stuff to a surgeon, it is majorly important to the patient.
So at Yager Esthetics, I will sweat the small stuff for my patients so that they don’t have to.
Dumbo Deformity – When Your Ears Stick Out
Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012When I was doing my plastic surgery training at Columbia, one of my favorite procedures was correction of prominent ears. It was usually done on 5 year old children before they started grade school so that they wouldn’t get teased by classmates. I enjoyed it because the incision was hidden behind the ear, and you could reshape the structure of the ear just like in sculpting.
Each case was a little different, and so you could be creative with the solutions. I could use sutures to form the curves, or weaken the cartilage with small nicks to make it bend the way I wanted it to. Sometimes cartilage was rotated or removed to achieve the desired outcome. The results were immediate, and the patients (and their parents) were very grateful and pleased.
In my private practice at Yager Esthetics, it is rare to see little children. I still do ear surgery, or otoplasty, a fair bit on teenagers and adults. The beauty of operating on older patients is that we can use local anesthesia, and show the patient the new shape in a mirror as we create it. If they want the ear a little closer to the head, we can adjust it on the spot to insure a happy patient at the end of the procedure.
Otoplasty can change your life. Pulling your hair back is an option, shorter styles are no longer taboo, and you can be confident that no one will tease you about your ears again.
Anesthesia, Operating Rooms and Plastic Surgery
Monday, June 20th, 2011
Sometimes we do all of our homework and select a board certified plastic surgeon who does the procedure we want well and often, and really connects with you. The office is beautiful, the staff is nice, and the fee is agreeable. All done? Not quite.
Where is the procedure being done and who is giving the anesthesia? This is the key question patients forget to ask. This question is also among the most important for patient safety. If your surgeon doesn’t do a good job, you can have it fixed or see another doctor. If the operating room is substandard, or there is no board certified anesthesiologist, you can die.
Make sure your procedure is being done in an accredited ambulatory surgery center or hospital. Your doctor’s office may be legal to operate in, but if it is not certified by AAAASF or JCAHO or AAAHC, it is not inspected or held to the highest standards of safety. All members of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons must only operate in certified centers, so if your doctor does not, he is not a board certified plastic surgeon. Ask to see the current certification if you want to be certain.
Make sure you have a board certified anesthesiologist, who is an MD with specific certification in anesthesia. A Nurse Anesthetist is a nurse with additional training in anesthesia, but the y can only do so under the supervision of an MD. Your surgeon is not an anesthesiologist, and is not likely to be helpful in the event of an emergency.
Ask to see the operating room before booking a surgery. Make sure it is clean, modern, and geared to plastic surgery. Some centers do very few cosmetic cases, and the staff is not expert in postop care for these types of procedures. Ask.
Please be safe and check all the necessary credentials, not just the doctor.