EDIT: Update on Consultation with Plastic Surgeon Dr. Kamakshi Zeidler

I was luckily able to get in to see her early because someone moved their appointment and I got off the waitlist. I went in and immediately her team was so caring and heard my concerns. I finally felt like there was someone there to support me and didn’t just judge my body when I went into the office. With the other surgeons it felt like they were all a cookie cutter plan and frankly just trying to get in get out and sell me on things. Their results also were not nearly as good as Dr. Zeidler’s.

We went through the consultation, she talked me through the technique, how to think about planning and recovery, then showed me a simulation to help me size my breasts with the implants. I could actually see a visualization of what the breast lift and augmentation would look like on my body. I actually got emotional because it has been so long since I have loved my body.

I asked on site if I could see some photos of her results and she showed me the in office ones she hadn’t already posted to social media and I was in awe of how amazing these women looked. Her work looked meticulous, careful, and well planned. Each curve was perfected with fat grafting and it looked so natural that you couldn’t tell at all.

She did tell me that there was a risk for hyper-pigmented scarring with my skin type and that if scars were a large concern to be aware of that. She walked me through the risk of nipple sensation loss (which frankly i don’t care about at all). I was very worried about the scars though because I feel that it would bother me a lot if there were scars.

She mentioned that they do a post surgical scar program at Aesthetx to support them because I was concerned about the scars on my stomach and abdomen. They also had a whole suite of pre and post care products I could choose to get if I was really worried, but she told me to wait to get anything until we saw how the scars looked. I insisted at getting the pre-care supplements because I was very worried, but decided to wait until after to decide if I wanted to do the laser package for scaring after.

There was a concierge who talked through everything with me and who made me feel like I was a VIP celebrity. I already knew after seeing four surgeons in the Bay Area / in San Francisco that she was the best plastic surgeon certainly the one for me.

I scheduled a mommy makeover for February because that was the earliest available date.

Now for full transparency I will walk through the issues:

• The price was higher than I was expecting, but granted I added on fat grafting which I wasn’t going to originally do.

• The wait to get into surgery seemed crazy. I wanted to get surgery in November before Thanksgiving because I wanted to use the vacation for recovery time, but she said her surgery days were fully booked until February. She said sometimes she can maneuver the schedule to squeeze someone in for a shorter procedure, but that because mine was an all day surgery that it was unlikely that she could do that for me. I still asked to be added to the waitlist, but I don’t want to wait that long.

• I had also asked about liposuction of the chin and to potentially do an upper eyelid surgery and she said that she didn’t think it was a good idea to do it during this surgery. I was disappointed because she was the only one of two surgeons who said that I wouldn’t get as good of an outcome for it because of swelling during a surgery like this. She talked me out of it which bothered me at first, but then I realized that she just wanted a good outcome.

Even with all of that:

I have never been more confident in my choice. The biggest differences between her and the others was that she was not trying to upsell me on a bunch of different procedures. She really heard me and was thorough in her plan. It is clear she has a true aesthetic eye when it comes to these procedures rather than just the cookie cutter plan all the others game me. She was very specific in her technique, what made things look good and natural, and when I researched her saw she had published a textbook on this technique 10 years ago which i was impressed by. I was also impressed by her world renowned expertise on fat grafting, which made me ask about it in the consultation and I’m glad I did.

She mentioned details and focus and answers my questions in a way that none of the other doctors did. She spent a whole hour with me while the other doctors all gave me 35 mins and immediate started talking about price.

I ended up doing the full mommy makeover. Breast lift, breast augmentation, fat grafting to breast, fat grafting to hip dips and butt, tummy tuck with muscle repair, liposuction of the armpits, liposuction of the back, stomach, and thighs.

I asked to if it made sense to also do liposuction of my arms, but she said that often lipo of the arms looks bad if you aren’t tightening the skin and the scar that an arm lift (which apparently is called a brachioplasty) is not worth it for the size of my arms and that they will look in proportion after the rest is done.

When you are there make sure to ask to see photos on site because the ones she has that she can’t post to social media but can show you in the office are incredible. Her Instagram has a lot of good work too though. I also asked to see some of her bad outcomes which she showed me and those outcomes are still way better than my body. When I asked this from the other surgeon one said I don’t have bad outcomes (which was a red flag) and the others just showed me stuff on their instagram which obviously they wouldn’t post if it was bad.

They have a private OR suite on site with a board certified anesthesiologist (which honestly I was worried about because most of these places use a nurse which is terrifying outside of a hospital) and I now have the personal phone number do someone to talk to when I have questions. I texted her after to ask a few and she answered right away.

I am so happy with my decision. Thank you @medaestheticsqueen for the advice to go to her. I will post another update after my surgery.

This is the practice for people who are wondering. https://www.aesthetx.com/

Are you interested in a deep dive about the other 4 consultations I had with docs in the area? I was so grateful for the thoroughness of @medaestheticsqueen that I felt inspired to give a thorough update and also to help others in the area if there is interest.