If youâ??re reading reviews, youâ??re likely trying to find a plastic surgeon who listens to your needs, is competent, and has a professional demeanor and office.
I visited Dr. Daniel about two years ago, having suffered muscle damage from pregnancy and two c-sections. My muscle damage was severe; I looked 6 months pregnant and had no control of my abdominal muscles. Dr. Daniel was very reassuring. I discussed in depth how important it was to me to have function and control over my muscles. I demonstrated that I could only control my muscles when leaning backward. I told him about the pain. He seemed to listed and also seemed very sure I would be a good candidate for a tummy tuck surgery. I also asked him what happens if results arenâ??t as planned, and he reassured me that it doesnâ??t happen often and if it does he will always make it right. I believed him and felt very sure he had my best interests at heart.
After my surgery, I noticed right away that my lower abdominal… muscles still protruded in the exact same way as pre-surgery. The skin was pulled much tighter, but the muscles were unchanged. My upper abdominals were tighter and my obliques were tighter, but the lower muscles (which hang out from my body and pull everything else down) were not. I told him my concerns right away but he told me I needed to heal. He also said I needed to â??do my part.â?? I assume he meant to lose weight, but he did not clarify when I asked. I am not overweight. As swelling went down, I also noticed that I had a noticeable sunken area below and slightly behind my hip incision. He was supposed to do liposuction right at the hip incision, but it quite obviously is not in the right spot. Itâ??s pretty ugly. It took a year of my repeating my concerns for him to listen and to admit that the lower muscles still protruded. However, he made it out to be my fault, was defensive, and often cut me off in the middle of my sentence. These are some of his comments. â??Your body healed weirdly.â?? â??You didnâ??t ask me the right questions.â?? â??Iâ??m sorry you didnâ??t understand my terminology.â?? I left each follow up appointment feeling belittled and devastated. On to his solutions, the â??always make it rightâ?? part. He said he would repeat the surgery at no cost, making sure I understood he probably couldnâ??t do anything to make the muscle not protrude. (If so, would have been great to know before spending $10k on the surgery, not to mention the lost wages for work and time not holding my young kids as I healed.) Also, he repeats the surgery at no additional fee to him. (As Stacey, his office manager, repeatedly told me, his time is â??very valuable.â?? I thought mine was, too.) The facility and anesthesia fees need to be paid again, at the cost of thousands. He also offered me a steep discount to CoolSculpt the areas that now protrude around the lipo mistake (which he insists was my body healing weirdly.) But even that is a costly repair because there is a fee for each area, and Iâ??m also concerned it would leave me looking off balance because my right side would be smaller than the left.
Iâ??d like to note that Iâ??ve since visited a highly regarded plastic surgeon in Portland. She believes that my protruding muscles can be fixed and also that the sunken area below my hip was a lipo slip, although she says it is a difficult area to maintain controlled placement.
If you need skin tightened or a simple procedure, I am sure you would be satisfied with Dr. Daniel. But if there are any issues, be prepared for a defensive reaction. It was really hard for me to sit and have him discount everything I was concerned about. He loves to whip out my â??beforeâ?? pictures and show me how much better I look. Well, at an expense of over $10,000â??my surgery went longer than expectedâ??one would certainly expect to look better.
Lastly, youâ??re likely seeing a review page called Real Patient Rating, noting, at this time, a high score of 92.6% based on 121 ratings. This is touted as the â??realâ?? reviews because they are anonymous and done by an independent firm. The sheet to log in and complete your anonymous review is given to you in their office shortly after surgery, along with a timeframe to complete it by. If you, like me, are suffering from issues, the last thing you are likely to do is put your experiences there because youâ??re hoping to maintain a good relationship so heâ??ll make the issues right. He can of course figure out who each patient is based on what they are saying. 121 rating is a pretty small amount given how many procedures he performed over the years, and Iâ??m guessing the satisfaction rate would be very different if everyone took the survey.
I hope you can use my experience to have far better results than me, whichever route you choose.
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