My Story

I started my blog for many reasons.  One of the main reasons is to cut through all the hype and misinformation in the Beauty and Cosmetic Surgery Industry.  I hope to educate my readers on how to separate fairy tales from the truth. With so much competition and social media, it’s not an easy task.

My mission is Safety and Education in Beauty. Be Beautiful, not Botched!!  My passion stems from over 20 years of  experience in the beauty industry  as a Beauty Industry  insider,  plastic surgery publicist, consumer and patient.

As a patient I’ve had good results, bad results, and mediocre results. I’ve been given excellent information and misinformation about treatments. I’ve had  an allergic reaction to HA filler, encapsulated filler, lumps and a scar caused by the Pearl Laser, a resurfacing treatment. As an early adopter to Botox injections (prior to FDA approval), I’ve been both over-Botox-ed and under Botox-ed.  I’ve been treated by celebrity docs, newly trained dermatologists, thought leaders and top plastic surgeons and dermatologists.   Despite this I’ve had duck lips from lip injections, horrible bruising from under the eye fillers, lumps, redness, sever swelling, and poor filler placements.

My real big eye opener about how misled patients are came from my traumatic facelift experience. Being in the industry I knew many of the top surgeons. I spent months researching and going  on consultations. I had pretty much made up my mind, when a colleague suggested I go to see a plastic surgeon with a Park Avenue address in New York who frequently operated in  California. He was licensed in both New York and California. Based on her industry knowledge and her high recommendation I went to see this surgeon and gave him my deposit, without any further research. My biggest mistake- I trusted she would not mislead me. What I did not know at the time was that she was getting a financial kickback for the referral, which by the way is illegal. Though practices call it “marketing”.  My surgeon had the right profile, good PR, media presence, published papers, and even wrote a book. I thought I made a good decision. However, my husband who was upset that I was having a facelift did not like him from the first time he met him. But I had already put down my deposit and scheduled my surgery date. My 55th Birthday present.

The first red-flag was that I was the last patient on a Friday and my surgeon had flown in from New York.  Though at the time, I did not give it a second thought. The second red-flag was that he did not have my pre-op photos, the nurse could not find them. Did he study my case before my surgery? I doubt it because he did never saw the pre-op photos to develop a surgical plan.  His assistant took new photos in the OR and hung them up.

I was staying a local hotel close to his office with a registered nurse. Post-op the first night, my head was bleeding so badly that the pillow in my hotel was soaked in blood. Even my experienced post-op nurse become concerned and called the surgeon. But he forwarded his calls to his wife who was his practice manager in New York.  She told the nurse that I should relax, take a valium and add pressure. She said that I was making the bleeding worse by my anxiety. The bleeding eventually stopped during the night.  The next morning, I went to see my surgeon. He said he did not know where I was bleeding from, that everything looked fine, but as a precaution he would put in an extra stitch. I can’t say for certain but I think one of the stitches became loose or he missed a spot.  After that it it was all downhill.  I could tell right away that my neck was not going to be tight, which was why I had the facelift. I also had upper eyelid surgery and it looked like he removed too much skin .I added the eye surgery as an after thought, which was the wrong decision. My earlobes did not the same as they were prior to my surgery. I never had earlobes, now I had one ear with a small lobe.  Within three months my neck fell and jowls returned. When I spoke to my surgeon about this at a post-op appointment, he told me to go get some Botox or a Thermage treatment that he would not do a revision. I left the office crying. Wrote letters, called the office however, I did not get any call backs. I went for a second opinion to one of the top plastic surgeons in the world. He took photos and showed me how I should have looked. I cried. The surgeon basically said that my surgeon did the best he could given his skill set. That was a hard lesson to learn.

Not all surgeons are equally trained or skilled.

The final straw was when  I saw him again and confronted him about what he said regarding a revision, he lied saying he never said that.  I never did get the revision, and instead vowed to help others find the right plastic surgeon, minimize their risks by personally vetting plastic surgeons and coach them through their journey.  I also promised that I would never take any referrals fees ever.  The NipTuck Coach was born.

I continue to use modern technology and treatments to stay looking as good I as can. I’m happy to be living in an “age” of medical cosmetic  wonders.

As a patient advocate and plastic surgery coach, I hope I can prevent other patients from experiencing bad plastic surgery. It’s a very unpleasant emotional roller coaster ride.   Through education, collaboration with the medical community and aesthetic companies we can strive for a safer industry.

After all these years, I still get mad at myself for being so naive and trusting. But, I am rewarded by helping others throughout their plastic surgery journey.

Please visit my website The NipTuck Coach for more information about my practice and aftercare and nutritional services. Here is a link to download my updated version of Be Beautiful Not Botched.

Please listen to my podcast  The NipTuck Talk Show  for the latest information and hot topics in Beauty and Aesthetic Medicine featuring experts from around the globe.  It is available to download on iTunes.

Follow me on Instagram @niptuckcoach, Facebook and Twitter. You can email me at hello@niptuckcoach.com.

Thank you for visiting.

Michele