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
Yesterday I had to cancel a case. This patient was having a tummy tuck and I do not do tummy tucks on smokers. She showed up for her surgery and confessed that she indeed had not completely quit smoking but was only smoking about 5 cigarettes a day. Even that relatively small amount of nicotineContinue reading…
Today, October 1, 2015, is the day that doctors have to switch from ICD-9 to ICD-10 diagnosis codes. Up until today, we doctors had to rely on a mere 18,000 ICD-9 codes to describe patient diagnoses. Doctors rely on these mandatory codes for reimbursement from insurance companies. Years ago, when I was doing a lot of insurance work,Continue reading…
Financial Issues, Government and Politics, This Makes Me Cranky.
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.
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.
Yet another bogus TOP DOC award I could hang on my wall but won’t. Here is the cut and paste of an email I received today from one Daniel Singh. “You Have Been Nominated – Join the Top Breast Surgeons in America Only 5 Plastic Surgeons will be chosen per state to be showcased www.AmericasTopBreastSurgeons.comContinue reading…
@lisalynnsowder
