Your Surgeon: What if Something Goes Wrong?
The information in this section is made available through the generous support of Dr. Grant Stevens.
When interviewing a plastic surgeon there is a very important aspect of your care that most of us ignore: What if something goes wrong?
People do not want to think about the unthinkable. What if something - God forbid - goes wrong? Will you be able to talk to your plastic surgeon? Will they understand? Will they help you? Or will they leave you in the lurch? It has been our experience at BreastHealthOnline that most surgeons are amazing, but, there are doctors out there who leave their patients without proper answers and attention. We would like to help you avoid this.
We implore people to ask on the front end: What if I have a complication or a catastrophic result - what happens then?
What if you leave me too big, or bigger than we agreed upon, and I am still in pain from heavy breasts - will you stand behind your work? What if you take far too much? What then? *please see note about this at the end.
What if I have a problem that is not your fault? What if I have healing problems that are unique to me and nothing you did? How is that handled? What if I develop a scarring problem and need a scar revision? What will you do? Is there any other situation I should know about?
People NEED to ask these questions up front at their consult appointments with prospective plastic surgeons. Surgeons may seem great on consult day but not be attentive for the duration. You need to ask these questions.
This does several things for you:
1. It lets the plastic surgeon know you mean business.
2. It lets you know the integrity of the plastic surgeon.
3. It helps you choose the right plastic surgeon.
4. Last but not least, once you do choose a plastic surgeon who has the integrity they should have, you'll have the peace of mind that you will be taken care of in the unlikely event something does goes wrong. A good plastic surgeon will answer these questions with aplomb and respect you for asking them and for thinking ahead.
While it may be difficult to even think of something going wrong, much less ask these questions during an interview, it is a whole lot easier than finding out after the fact that you have a problem AND are going to have to fight the plastic surgeon at the same time. Please do not put yourself in this position.
This is very, very important. Don't sell yourself short.
*Please note there are other aspects to being left 'too big or too small' that will need to be taken into consideration. If you're reading this and are in one of these positions after your surgery, you will need more information to determine if this is actually true. Many people awaken from surgery and underestimate what that change will look like. It takes time to adjust from an instant change. Additionally, you may not see your final results for the first several months to a year. You can look too big or too small, but in the end it usually settles out. Join the forum and get the information you need about this before you go blasting your surgeon over your results, particularly if you are newly post op.