A ^Retired Plastic Surgeon's Notebook

Welcome to my blog. I am a retired plastic surgeon in Seattle and was in private practice since 1991. I've seen more than a few interesting faces and cases through my years spent in the exam room, the operating room and the emergency room. And I have an opinion on just about everything relating to plastic surgery (and a lot of unrelated stuff). If you like my blog, let me know. Thanks for reading! Lisa

Category: General Health


Lawn Mower Safety

July 18th, 2017 — 11:42am

Seattle Plastic Surgeon (and mother of three) Dr. Lisa Lynn Sowder you about lawn mower safety. It was such a wonderful thing to get some yard work out of my offspring once that they were old enough to mow, rake, sweep, weed, water, trim, edge, poop scoop, etc.  As much as I loved the smellContinue reading…

Gardening, General Health, Trauma

Breast Feeding and Breast Implants

June 24th, 2017 — 8:56pm

In a perfect world, women would wait until they were done childbearing and breast feeding prior to having breast implants, mostly because pregnancy and breast feeding can really change the breast.  In the real world, many young women opt for breast enhancement long before having children. I am often asked what effect childbearing will haveContinue reading…

Breast Implant Illness, Breast Implants, General Health

Driver’s side skin damage. Check this out!

June 8th, 2017 — 8:12am

Got sunscreen in your glove box?  You should!  This is an ABC news report written by Serena Marsh and edited for length by me.  This was originally posted in 2012. Sunny Side Old: Pic Reveals Sun’s Aging Effects William (Bill) Edward McElligott is two different ages, 66 and 86 yeaars old.  If you look atContinue reading…

Aging Issues, General Health, Now That's a Little Weird, Skin Care, sun damage

Breast Implant Illness – a seasoned plastic surgeon’s humble opinion. Updated October, 2017.

February 28th, 2017 — 2:24pm

Warning:  This is a long one.  A really, really long one. I recently counted up all of my operations for 2016 and I removed more breast implants than I put in.  Last year I removed implants from 44 women. Twenty-seven of those women had removal for the usual reasons:  “I don’t like them anymore, they make me lookContinue reading…

Breast Implant Illness, Breast Implant Removal, Breast Implants, General Health, This Makes Me Cranky.

Placebo and Nocebo Effect : The Power of Positive and Negative Thinking

February 6th, 2017 — 12:18pm

I’ve been doing some interesting reading lately on the mind/body connection in preparation for a presentation I am giving at the annual meeting of the Northwest Society of Plastic Surgeons this month.  I have been reading up on the “Nocebo Effect” which is the evil twin of the much studied and celebrated “Placebo Effect.”  Any oneContinue reading…

Breast Implant Illness, General Health, Now That's a Little Weird, Postoperative Care

Seattle Plastic Surgeon Saves Resusianne (for the umpteenth time).

March 14th, 2016 — 12:16pm

Resusianne saved once again by Seattle Plastic Surgeon.  Last Saturday I had my biyearly Advanced Cardiac Life Support review and examination.  After an excellent review of heart rhythms, various resuscitation drugs,  much studying and fretting and sweating bullets while taking the written exam, I was taken into a small room by a seasoned and tough-as-nails intensiveContinue reading…

General Health, Patient Safety

Do I have to cancel my surgery because of a common cold?

October 8th, 2015 — 9:14am

Fall is the time of year when we get a lot of questions about the common cold.  Murphy’s law dictates that about week before surgery, patients wake up with a sore throat and a runny nose and a sinking feeling that we will cancel their upcoming surgery.  Here are the guidelines my anesthesia and nursingContinue reading…

General Health, Patient Safety, Preoperative Care

Correct diagnosis is the cornerstone of proper treatment.

June 15th, 2015 — 1:27pm

I saw a patient this week that really drove home the importance of diagnosis before treatment.  In plastic surgery, diagnosis is usually very straight forward and can be made from across the exam room or sometimes even from across the street.  Common diagnoses in my practice include large breasts, saggy breasts, small breasts, asymmetrical breasts,Continue reading…

General Health, Ineffective, My Plastic Surgery Philosophy, This Makes Me Cranky.

Very effective sunblock blocked by the FDA.

June 10th, 2015 — 11:33am

  This is an article from the May/June 2015 King County Medical Society Bulletin.  It’s a little long and technical but just hang onto that attention span and read it! Packing a Sunscreen Souvenir Tourists Grab UVA Treatments Common Elsewhere, Illegal Here By Barbara K. Gehrett, M.D. Some international travelers are returning with pharmaceutical souvenirsContinue reading…

General Health, Government and Politics, Skin Cancer, Skin Care, This Makes Me Cranky.

It’s open season for celebrities in swimsuits.

May 28th, 2015 — 12:49pm

Recently I found myself waiting in a long line at the grocery store so I reached for the National Enquirer to catch up on the latest case of Spontaneous Human Combustion and Lizard Boy but alas, about half of the issue was devoted to mostly unflattering photos of celebrities in swimsuits.  It was a potpourriContinue reading…

General Health, Wardrobe Observations

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