In February 2020 I had a "drainless" mini tummy tuck. That night I began to develop extremely large, liquid filled blisters that had to be drained again and again. I couldn't continue to be treated in office when Covid shutdown everything. I followed the instructions for care to the letter. The results of the mini tummy tuck were otherwise great. Thinking the complication was a fluke, I returned to Strax when I learned of a procedure to improve my breasts appearance without implants.
I went in for a consultation with a different doctor, Dr. Dean, who specialized in fat transfers to breasts. I learned that it would require liposuction to achieve the result I sought. I had surgery on August 1, 2023 and was happy with my results. I was instructed to get lymphatic massages fo the best recovery and final result. I purchased a package at the Strax Aesthetics. When it was time to change into a smaller compression garment that I was instructed to wear, the massage therapist insisted that the one the surgical center had sold me wasn't going to be small enough. Trusting her expertise, I let her help me into a small compression garment. By the time I got home, there were open wounds on my back from the rubbing of the garment. I followed instructions and expected them to heal. Instead they became painful hypertrophic scars. After months of recovery and countless more lymphatic massages combined with tools to improve results further and work on the scars on my back (peformed somewhere else), there was still a stubborn cirlcle of "donut-sized" fat around my navel. It even showed through my clothes. Dr. Dean said that was a very easy fix...that he could go in and remove that fat, under local anesthesia if I liked. He also said we could do a scar revision on my back, if the scar(s) were particularly uncomfortable or bothered me especially. He said only one scar could be done at a time, so I chose the largest most painful one, that impeded natural movement in my torso the most...I could also get the fat around my navel removed at the same time. I got revision surgery in February 2023, After the surgery I went home to recover. That evening, my stomach felt extremely hot. I removed my compression garment to see redness and swelling, that very quickly got worse and worse and developed into countless blisters. I reached out to Dr. Dean and sent him a picture. he said it was lipo burns. They were so painful and unsightly. I was heartboken. Dr. Dean assured me it could be "fixed". Again, I followed his instructions exactly. There was improvement, but I am still horribly scarred and some areas became hypertrophic. I continue to experience pain in the scarred area. In addition, the healthy skin and tissue above and below my navel have been displaced, so I now look quite lumpy from a side view. He suggested more scar revision. Side note: the scar revision is acceptable but definitely not great.
I went back to Strax Aesthetics for a consultation with Dr. Schwitzer. He told me he felt confident (almost cockily...which I didn't mind in a plastic surgeon) that he could remove at least 75% of the scarring with a full tummy tuck, but that it would leave the horizontal scar through my navel, as the other plastic surgeon mentioned. I was fine with that. Next, I met with Dr. Dean. He marked me up, and showed me where he wanted to do 2 separate surgeries to remove 2 small sections of the scarring where the hypertrophic scarring is most obvious. it would not would address the displacement of the healthy skin/tissue or the bulk of the dark scarring on my abdomen.
I went with the proposed plan from Dr. Schwitzer. 2 DAYS before surgery He told me was no longer confident that he could do my procedure successfully. He was afraid the result might be worse than it already is ...BUT he said that one of the colleagues, with more experience, Dr. Hamm was willing to do the sugery as planned if I wanted to proceed. I could speak to him right then. ABSOLUTELY NOT! I told him if HE was worried I was wayyyy more worried. I am grateful that he told me WHAT he told me, just not WHEN he told me. I am devastated from the pain, stress, rollercoaster of emotions, the inconvenience, personal and financial sacrifices only to to end up worse than I started. This has now been years and thousands of dollars. read more