A ^Retired Plastic Surgeon's Notebook

I saw a patient recently who would benefit a lot from having a breast lift at the time of implant removal and that was what I recommended.  She had read on Dr. Facebook that it was safer to delay the lift.  This launched me into a discussion about the blood supply to the breast, whichContinue reading…

On Monday I testified in front of the FDA General and Plastic and Surgery Devices Advisory Committee on breast implant safety.  I think I surprised a lot of people in the room when I stated that I wasn’t crazy about breast implants.  Let me clarify a bit. For the flat chest woman who could beContinue reading…

Over the years, I have done a bajillion implant revision cases.  This comes with the territory of being in practice many years (27 years and counting as of this blog post!) and also with showing and voicing an interest in revisional surgery.  Implant revision is a fact of life.   Breast implants are not life timeContinue reading…

Recently I received this email from a former breast implant illness patient.  I am sharing it with her permission but she has asked me to protect her identity.  I will call her Celeste because I love that name.  I have made no changes except for correcting a few typos. Celeste:  I read your blog postContinue reading…

I’ve now been doing fat transfer to the breast for over seven years.  I remain enthusiastic about this procedure in patients with favorable anatomy and realistic expectations.  One FAQ relates to changes in the breast with weight changes.  So here is what I have observed so far in my practice: If patients lose weight, theContinue reading…

Liposuction-augmentation mammaplasty has been on my radar since I stumbled across an Instagram video a few months ago of a surgeon sucking the fat out of a perfectly full breast and then inserting an implant to make up for the lost volume.  I started humming Ozzy Osborn’s Crazy Train!  The rational for this procedure isContinue reading…

My last blog discussed the difficult and frustrating problem of capsular contracture of breast implants.  As with just about every problem known to mankind, prevention is the best approach. But despite doing everything correctly pre-operatively, intra-operatively and post-operatively, a small number of patients will experience capsular contracture. First a little history:  Way back when theContinue reading…

Capsular Contracture 101 Anyone who knows my practice well knows that I am not a big fan of breast implants.  I much prefer fat transfer and/or breast lift to get a breast looking nicer.  But sometimes only a breast implant will get the patient the size and shape of breasts they desire.  Implants have manyContinue reading…

I see many, many women for implant removal after years of being unhappy with their breast implants.  Many of these ladies consulted a plastic surgeon for sagging of the breasts and instead of ending up with a breast lift, ended up with breast implants.  Often the explanation for this is that the patient did notContinue reading…

My husband and I went to Blade Runner 2049 this past weekend at Seattle’s wonderful Majestic Bay Theater.  I am a big fan of the original Blade Runner thus the bar was very, very high for 2049.  IMHO, Blade Runner 2049 was too frenetic, too convoluted and the only characters I really cared much aboutContinue reading…