I'd been following The Maercks Institute's "Facial Balancing" transformations on Instagram for…read moreyears, and the before-and-after results always left me amazed. I promised myself that if I ever moved beyond Botox, it would only be with Dr. Maercks.
So when my boyfriend asked what I wanted for my birthday, without hesitation I blurted out, "Facial Rebalancing!" He obvy had no idea what I was talking about, and once I explained, he was definitely not on board. But I persisted, and eventually he agreed. When I scheduled my consultation, I went ahead and booked the procedure too, treating the consult as nothing more than a formality. THAT'S how certain I was about this!
The day of the virtual consultation began with Dr. Maercks' very sweet PA asking about my medical history and what I hoped to achieve. I told her I'd been avoiding fillers because I was terrified of looking puffy, overdone, or not like myself, but in recent years I'd lost noticeable volume under my eyes, and I really wanted to restore that. While we were at it, I mentioned a couple of other small areas I might consider addressing. She reassured me I was in the best hands and then brought Dr. Maercks onto the call.
Here's where things went left. As soon as the doctor appeared on the call, he seemed extremely impatient, constantly glancing at his phone, his watch, or papers on his desk, but rarely at me. I felt rushed, like he couldn't be bothered.
I had sent in photos of my face a few days before (front and profile), and he opened with: "Okay, I hear what you want. We can go two ways. The first is what I would do if I were you, the most natural, best result, longest lasting. The second is the compromise if that's too much for you."
I was still curious, still excited to hear the options until he looked me dead in the eye and said the best choice for me, a just-turned-47-year-old woman who's never had filler, was a full deep-plane FACELIFT & oh yeah, prices started at $30,000. Ummmm...
Mind you, I assumed he'd reviewed the notes from his PA stating I'd avoided fillers because I was terrified of looking overdone, puffy or unnatural and his "expert advice" was to jump straight from me wanting a little under-eye filler to recommending a full surgical facelift?!?! I honestly felt sick.
When I told him that was absolutely not something I was comfortable with, he shrugged it off and said, essentially, "Fine, then fillers." But when I asked how much, his version of "Facial Rebalancing" required 16-22 vials. For context, based on my own research, I had expected maybe 3-4: one vial under the eyes (enough for both sides), another, maybe 2 for the nasolabial folds, and perhaps one more for chin balance. But 22?!? His number was outrageous.
The whole time, his demeanor SCREAMED apathy & impatience, like I was wasting his time. Certainly NOT what one would hope for with a medical professional. It was such a horrible, disheartening experience! Thankfully, I'm confident in how I look and was clear about what I did & did not want. But I kept thinking: if I had been more insecure, he could have easily convinced me to spend $30,000-$50,000 on procedures I didn't need. And that's terrifying.
Needless to say, as soon as we got off the call, I called his office back to cancel my procedure appointment .
After some more research, I finally settled on the absolute angel that is Dr. Shasa Hu at UM Dermatology. Dr. Hu's is a queen & I look EXACTLY how I had hoped & will strictly be going to her for any facial needs.
