plastic surgery ?

I am scheduled for plastics next week and just received an email from someone who said "they wouldn't use my plastic surgeon" and urged me to "check his record". How does someone check to see disciplinary actions and such? Needless to say, I am EXTREMELY CONCERNED. I have spoken to a couple people who had him, and spoken to some people who know people. Any advice?

Your state board of Medical Examiners will have a record of any lawsuits and/or disciplinary actions. But I'm not sure how they process a request, it may be online as public knowledge, or you may have to contact them for a report and that may take awhile to get. Also, he may not have any formal complaints against him, but if he is that bad he probably will. If you have talked to people who have actually used him before, ask them about the specific allegations this person has brought up (if any). Did this person go into specifics or not? Good luck!

Thanks for the response Ali. There is nothing on file and I have sent emails to everyone I had talked to previously.

What about asking a nurse or two about him? They know who's who and may be able to advise you without defaming him--if you know what I mean. Try the nurses at your surgeon's office or at your pcp. If worse comes to worse, hang around the cafeteria at the hospital and ask around. If he has a bad rep, you should be able to find out. How scary!! Is the person who contacted you reliable? Just some ideas. Marian

Thanks Marian. No I don't know the person who contacted me at all. This doctor is on the east coast of Florida and I am on the west so it is a difficult thing to track. thanks for taking time to respond.

IMHO, the person that sent this unsolicited e-mail is on a personal jihad against the surgeon for some reason, likely less than desired results. I would ignore it, and trust my own instincts about the surgeon. Tek

Thanks Tek--as you can probably see by my response from Tooter, it wasn't a totally unsolicited email. There are a couple more wrinkles in the ointment so I am definitely going with my gut. Thanks for taking time to respond.

I'd have to agree with Tek. I've heard people who hate their PS when they end up with dog ears...even when the doc fixes them and even when they've been warned in advance that it's common with a TT. One gal warned people against her PS because her breast implants were about a 1/2 inch off from being perfect across. She didn't buy the surgeon's explanation (a reasonable explanation) that our breasts are not perfect to begin with and there is only SO MUCH a surgeon can do to make them look identical. It's unrealistic, but when you spend a few grand, sometimes your expectations are unrealistic and you get angered much easier. Sigh......anyway, what DOES your gut tell you?

Oh Tooter--my gut right now is feeling very queasy with fear. I have worried about this procedure much more than I ever did my wls. I know there are people who are unreasonable out there and I also know there are people who sing the praises of their docs even if, IMHO, they are incompetent. I really chose him based on the breast lift procedure he does--he uses the pectoral muscle as a sling to hold up the breast tissue--hence no need for implants. I emailed with a couple people who had signed his page on OH and met him originally at the OH conference in Orlando (we all know OH is no guarantee of anything except they are willing to pay money to sponsor). Regarding the "unsolicited" email. this is what happened--someone had posted on a mb regarding the cost of a lift with no implants. The conversation then evolved into various procedures and then to plastic surgeons in the Miami area. I posted about my doc and his procedure and she simply replied she wouldn't use him. So I and another person wrote back asking why not and she said to check out his "record". Of course I emailed asking for more info and she said he just doesn't have a good reputation in the area (she said "patients getting sick, complaints, etc" . I, being from the west coast of Florida, wouldn't know anything about that. Actually, I don't even know anything about plastic surgeons here either. I have plugged all sorts of search phrases into the web and can't seem to find anything. Really--sitting here thinking I am vain to want this procedure. My gut--I liked him, but I do wonder about the OH connection. Why would a successful ps need to be affiliated with OH. His credentials are excellent including chief ps resident at Stanford. Wish there was a way to research complaints. Talk about rambling--can you tell how jittery I am feeling?

hm lots of issues here to address. Yes, I too was way more nervous about ps than the RNY any day. For one thing, with the RNY if I died...well I was dying anyway - ya know? With the PS, I was basically healthy, thin, content in most ways and had SO MUCH more to lose. It took 2 docs to convince me it really WAS medically necessary for me to agree to actually do the surgery lol. I was my surgeon's second formerly obese patient requiring mass skin removal. A guinea pig of sorts - and while he is a highly sought after and skilled surgeon, I was nervous being only number 2. Yes, he has interned with another surgeon on the belt lipectomy, but still - this time he was alone. Ugh! Sorry, now I'm rambling lol. Why would an excellent surgeon need to be affiliated with OH? Maybe he enjoys the challenge of formerly obese patients (some ps's do) and finds this a good venue by which to connect with these special needs patients. I'm not sure, but I wouldn't discount him based on that. My RNY surgeon is an OH Sponsor and he's highly skilled, well liked in the WLS community, etc. How to research him. Contact your state medical board. Find out if he has any complaints registered against him. Post on the PS board here at OH and ask for emails detailing any experiences with him. Find out which hospital he is affiliated with and talk to them - find out what his infection rate is for YOUR surgery and for his surgeries in general. I hope this is somewhat helpful to you! Big hugs - I FEEL you in this. It's hard! Even when you're confident in your surgeon.