Your Plastic Surgery Consultation –
Where To Begin
Located in Raleigh, North Carolina serving patients in South Carolina, Maryland, Washington D.C., and all across the US.
You have decided to move forward in your plastic surgery journey and are ready for the next step. Where do you begin? You will contact our office and speak to one of our Patient Care Coordinators, who will then embark on this journey by your side and be available to answer any non-medical questions you may have.
1) What Is A Patient Care Coordinator, And What Is Our Role In Your Plastic Surgery Experience?
Patient Care Coordinators at Blue Water Plastic Surgery are team members specific to consulting and caring for plastic surgery patients. They will be with you throughout your plastic surgery journey and have worked with our patients for many years. Patient Care Coordinators are well equipped to answer most questions about the price of plastic surgery, the process, travel accommodations, and any other questions you may have. They are dedicated to the care of Blue Water Plastic Surgery/ Michael Law MD patients and will not be interrupted by incoming guests or tasks.
The relationship you will have with your Patient Care Coordinator is a friend, a cheerleader and a supporter. You have someone you can call any time. Maybe you have a non-medical question about what to wear after surgery, how to look your best in a photo or on Zoom right after surgery. We can help with that, and many other questions that may come up. You can ask anything. We are here to support you.
We will immediately find answers, or connect you directly with our team of plastic surgery nurse practitioners any time you have a question that is medical in nature. We will share in your excitement as you see your transformation, and we will celebrate with you when you see your before and after photos. Our goal is for you to feel supported in every way.
2) What Is The Consultation Process?
The consultation process starts with an email or phone call with a Patient Care Coordinator to learn and understand you, your lifestyle, and your goals. Our Patient Care Coordinators will listen and speak with you about how our practice can best help you achieve your desired outcome, and give you average plastic surgery pricing for the procedures that are of interest to you. This call is to prepare you for your consultation with a plastic surgeon.
Our Patient Care Coordinators at Blue Water Plastic Surgery do not offer medical advice. You can reach out to them at any time with any question. If your question is medical, they can physically walk to find a Nurse Practitioner who can answer questions herself, or who can arrange for you to see or speak with your surgeon.
Patient Care Coordinators are not salesmen and won’t try to “sell” you on surgery. Our consultations are about providing information and helping you to decide if you’re ready for surgery, and if this is the right practice for you. There is no pressure during a consultation at Blue Water Plastic Surgery.
We will not harass you after giving you a quote. We’d like to be sure you have an idea about ballpark pricing so you won’t be shocked upon receiving your quote. But if you don’t schedule surgery right away, we will not call you incessantly. We want you to choose when plastic surgery is the right time for you.
3) What Is The Plastic Surgery Consultation Cost?
Initial consultations with your Patient Care Coordinator are complimentary. To account for our surgeons’ time, when you schedule surgery after your consultation with your plastic surgeon, your inclusive-plastic surgery price includes your consultation fee. If you do not plan to schedule further with Blue Water Plastic Surgery, you will be charged for an in-office consultation visit, that your Patient Care Coordinator will discuss in your initial phone consultation.
4) Am I a Good Candidate for Plastic Surgery at Blue Water Plastic Surgery?
Good candidates for plastic surgery are generally healthy people with realistic expectations about what plastic surgery can do. Great plastic surgery certainly can be completely transformational and life changing.
It’s not essential to be at your perfect weight to have plastic surgery. But the closer you are to your goal weight, the more impressive your results are likely to be. Some people need surgery as the incentive to lose a few pounds. Others feel motivated to lose stubborn weight after surgery has transformed their body.
Calculate your BMI here.
Good health in general is important. When in doubt, check with your primary care physician, or a specialist if you see one, to ask if they feel like elective plastic surgery is safe for you. Many people with pre-existing conditions that are well managed and under control can be good candidates for aesthetic surgery.
What about smoking? Smoking constricts blood vessels, can prevent healing, and in some cases, it can cause necrosis, or death of tissue. Smoking is a big no-no. But, we’ve had many plastic surgery patients stop smoking in order to have plastic surgery performed. This is no easy task, but we love seeing patients who have stopped smoking and go on to experience great results with surgery.
It may seem like we have some pretty strict rules about who is a good candidate for surgery. That may be true. It is because we want our patients to be happy and healthy.
5) How Do I Really Know Which Plastic Surgeon Is Right For Me?
Many of our patients feel like they are ready to proceed with surgery before even having a consultation with their surgeon. Why? The board certified plastic surgeons at Blue Water Plastic Surgery in Raleigh have shared their philosophy about plastic surgery on their websites and social media platforms. Their training and education is described in detail, as is information about their facility and their medical team. All of this information is very easy to access. We are proud of the training, experience and philosophy of our surgeons, and we love showing off their results.
The number of before and after images is also an indication of how regularly particular procedures are performed. Looking for results that you can’t find might indicate that this practice is not where you will find the plastic surgeon best suited for you.
View our gallery of over 2,000 before and after photos for every body type.
Ultimately, the best way to really know if a plastic surgeon is right for you is with a consultation. By taking your time, viewing before and after photos, and watching videos, you can get a strong sense of the abilities of a surgeon, and of their demeanor.
6) What Happens During My Consultation with My Plastic Surgeon?
Your consultation with your plastic surgeon is all about YOU.
During this consultation, a Patient Care Coordinator will be with you for the duration of the appointment. You may also bring a friend or loved one if you wish. When your surgeon arrives, you will first discuss some goals, and share a little bit about your lifestyle before the physical examination begins.
The physical examination, depending on the desired procedure, may include requesting you to pull back your hair, disrobing privately, or marking with removable ink to see where incisions will be made. During this portion of your consultation, you will be made aware of where, for example, face lift or neck lift scars will be hidden, or how long to wear compression garment after chin lipo.
Related Article: Pictures of Facelift Scars
Your surgeon will take a few minutes to determine the length of the procedure. Your quote will be based on the amount of time in the operating room. No two bodies are exactly alike, and our surgeons do not perform cookie cutter surgery. That is why we don’t have generic plastic surgery pricing for surgery. Some procedures take longer than others.
At the conclusion of the meeting with your plastic surgeon, you will meet with your PCC. We will present you with the price for your plastic surgery procedure, and we will help you to find a time to schedule surgery if you’d like to do so.
7) How Long After My Consultation Is My Plastic Surgery Procedure?
You will be scheduled for a pre-operative appointment where you will meet your surgery Nurse Practitioner and meet with your plastic surgeon again. You may bring a friend or loved one along to this appointment. All instructions and information will be provided to you to take home. If you will require a garment, we will take measurements and order a medical garment specifically designed for the procedure that will fit your body perfectly.
During your pre-op appointment, all post-operative appointments will be scheduled. Appointments are scheduled regularly, and for a full year. Should you ever have a question or a concern, you may schedule additional appointments at no charge. Your Nurse Practitioners, and your Patient Care Coordinators are available to you before and after surgery. Next – The day of surgery!
8) The Day Of Surgery
On the day of surgery, you will arrive at the surgery center where you and your caretaker will arrive through a private, first floor entrance. You will be greeted by your pre-op nurse. Your pre-op nurse will take you, and if you wish, your caretaker back to the pre-op area, and will make sure you are comfortable.
Your board certified plastic surgeon will greet you, as will your board-certified MD anesthesiologist who will have reviewed your medical chart for any allergies or anything noteworthy. Your anesthesiologist and plastic surgeon together will work together to be sure you are safe, comfortable, and free of nausea.
Your OR nurse and a first assistant will take you from the pre-op area to the Joint Commission and AAAASF accredited OR. By this time, the anesthesiologist will have administered something to make you feel very happy and comfortable. You will likely not remember the trip from the pre-op area to the OR.
9) Who Is In The Or With Me During Surgery?
Your surgery team really is a team. The team starts with your board-certified plastic surgeon, and board-certified MD anesthesiologist. You will have a pre-op nurse caring for you before surgery starts. In the OR, you will have your plastic surgeon and your anesthesiologist by your side. In the OR will also be a first assistant to the surgeon and a circulating nurse. Some cases will also require a certified surgical technologist.
A very important part of the team is a certified sterile processing technician. This professional is responsible for the sterilization of instruments that takes place in our two onsite sterile processing rooms.
The OR at Blue Water Plastic Surgery in Raleigh is set up like a hospital OR, and boasts a Joint Commission accreditation, like hospitals. The difference is, we have no sick people, and our plastic surgeons hand pick all equipment and hand pick, and personally train their amazing team.
10) What Happens After My Surgery & What Post-surgery Support Can I Expect?
At Blue Water Plastic Surgery, your care does not end in the operating room. Our all-inclusive pricing includes highly-monitored post-surgery care.
Outside the OR, we will have our surgery Nurse Practitioners available to communicate with your caretaker. These NP’s will be available at all times during your post-operative journey. They are part of the team so that surgery patients can have questions answered immediately after surgery without waiting for their surgeon to finish in the OR, or finish with clinic. Nurse practitioners can call in prescriptions, remove sutures and administer a great deal of medical care. All of course, with the oversight of your plastic surgeon.
After surgery, you will go to the post-operative area where a PACU nurse will manage your care under the supervision of your plastic surgeon and anesthesiologist. Both your plastic surgeon and anesthesiologist will check on your safety and your comfort. Most people wake up pain free with no nausea and a smile on their face. When it is time for you to leave, your caretaker will park in a spot just a few feet from another private door. The trip to your vehicle is just steps away. You will never be in a public area. Our medical staff will be with you and you will see no member of the public.
Should you have any questions or concerns, you can call the office, or the on call number to speak directly with a surgeon or NP from our office. The night of surgery, your plastic surgeon will call to be sure you are comfortable. Your first post-operative appointment will likely be two days after surgery, with a series of appointments scheduled during the important first month after surgery. When you return to the office for your visits during the first week or two after surgery, you will again enter through a private first floor entrance. You will never be in a public lobby or elevator.
Post-operative appointments may include application of camouflage makeup, lymphatic drainage, or laser treatments to accelerate the healing of incision sites, and to prevent scarring. We have a fully integrated medical spa, Blue Water Spa, where we provide many add-on services not available at other plastic surgery offices, which assist in the healing of many procedures. The advantage of this approach is that all individual aesthetic needs can be met in one location. You have a complete surgery team giving you 100% of their attention. Traveling for plastic surgery? Out of town patients may elect to schedule appointments, other than immediate post-op visits virtually.
11) Revision Plastic Surgery
If you are considering a plastic surgery revision, we understand the unique challenges and frustrations you may face. Dr. Michael Law regularly sees patients who have had surgery elsewhere that require a revision. These patients will sometimes travel across the globe for his expertise. The most common revision surgeries he performs are gynecomastia surgery revision, complex breast implant issues that require revision and facial rejuvenation revision such as facelift revision.
The revision process is often a true process, sometimes requiring a series of surgeries. The price of revision surgery is almost always higher, sometimes, considerably higher than the original surgery. For those who are prepared for this journey, we are ready to help, and we look forward to being a team you can count on and trust.
Learn more about revision plastic surgery at Blue Water Plastic Surgery.
12) How Much Does Plastic Surgery Cost?
The price of plastic surgery varies considerably. There are variables from patient to patient – depending upon the extent of the surgery. But there are also variables from practice to practice.
At Blue Water Plastic Surgery in Raleigh, we do not offer discount pricing, or sales on plastic surgery. We are very transparent with pricing, and the costs required to make surgery happen safely. To start, our surgeons have top notch training.
Schedule a consultation to learn more about plastic surgery pricing at Blue Water Plastic Surgery.
