Not a throwaway review--please read if you're considering BREAST REDUCTION with DR. ROVELO.
I hope this helps others considering this life-altering decision.
To start with a few positives:My scars are healing nicely, my post-op breasts are relatively even, and Dr. Rovelo & her team have a warm bedside manner.
That said, I am now 1 year and 4 months post-op and feel deeply dissatisfied.
Before surgery, I met with Dr. Rovelo to discuss my goals: relief from back pain, ability to buy bras in regular stores, no shoulder grooves, improved confidence, etc. We also discussed size. I was a 30HH/30I, aiming to become a 30D. I showed her a 3D rendering from another surgeon that reflected my size goals. She confirmed that look was achievable. We reviewed a few other photos together, so I had both verbal and visual confirmation that "D" was possible.
After surgery, Dr. Rovelo again told me she'd gotten me to a "'D." I was elated! Though I still had back pain - they said to start PT. 6 weeks post-op, Dr. Rovelo said to get measured for a bra. I went to a shop and asked for a 30D. "There's no way you're a D." Turns out, I was a 30G (a size at which many women seek out a reduction). I assumed swelling, but Dr. Rovelo's office said swelling wouldn't affect size at that point.
3-months post-op, I sobbed in Dr. Rovelo's office and asked why I was still FIVE cup sizes larger than expected. Her answer? "You're a 38D." Any woman who wears bras knows this is not the same as a 30D. Cup size scales with band size. Dr. Rovelo knew my band size going into surgery and had examined me in-person. To this day, I can't understand why anyone would assume getting me to a "D-cup" would mean 38D when I am a 30 band size.
I asked if there was a medical reason I wasn't reduced further--she said no. That she removed the required amount of tissue, thought they still looked large, removed more, and then "everyone in the room said they looked good," so she stopped. That was devastating to hear.
After that, Dr. Rovelo became cautious in her wording--no admissions of fault, only "I'm sorry you feel that way"-type language. She said she avoids talking in cup sizes, yet she used cup size both before & after surgery--and in official medical notes. I asked if she'd do a revision with me covering the anesthesia and facility fees (which many surgeons offer). She said no.
I spent the next 9 months emotionally wrecked. I react poorly to anesthesia and couldn't fathom doing this all over again. But after months of PT, I still have back pain, have to shop for specialty bras, get shoulder grooves, receive comments about my large chest... all things I hoped this surgery would resolve.
At the 1-year mark, I decided to pursue a revision. I learned Dr. Rovelo would no longer accept insurance in April. This started an extremely stressful 4-month scramble to get insurance approval.
Two reasons it was so hard:
1. Dr. Rovelo's office refused to budge on this cut off date--despite knowing insurance approval can take months.
2. I'm now stuck in a no-win situation: too big for my problems to be resolved, but "too small" to meet insurance criteria for another reduction (which is based purely on grams removed, not symptoms).
In the end, insurance denied the revision. I feel incredibly frustrated as I wouldn't even be in this position had Dr. Rovelo reduced me to the size we discussed. I also feel that her team gaslit me throughout to avoid accountability. I sent a final email simply requesting written acknowledgment that I was leaving this process unsatisfied. They wouldn't even do that. No apology. No accountability. Just placing blame on insurance.
My advice?
Find a surgeon who will support you through revisions if needed.
Find one who won't make you feel crazy when you ask why you're still FIVE CUP SIZES larger than planned.
That surgeon is not Dr. Rovelo. read more