Your Consultation
The short answer
Your Consultation explains the examination, discussion, and planning that happen before a procedure is recommended. It may suit patients preparing to discuss their goals, health history, options, limitations, and next steps. Dr. John Samas discusses candidacy, limits and recovery during a Northglenn consultation.
What actually happens in the room, what to bring, and what you should be asking.
In short
What else should you know?
A consultation is an examination and a conversation. Dr. Samas examines the area, listens to what you want changed, and explains what surgery can and cannot do for your particular anatomy.
You leave with a plan, an honest account of the trade-offs, and no obligation to book anything.
Before you come
Spend ten minutes thinking about the goal
The most useful thing you can do beforehand is get clear on what bothers you, in your own words. Not the name of a procedure, the thing itself. Patients often arrive asking for an operation they read about and leave having discussed a different one that actually addresses the concern.
For example, someone who wants the breasts to sit higher may be describing a breast lift rather than augmentation, because augmentation adds volume and does not lift.
Similarly, loose abdominal skin and separated abdominal muscle are not treated by liposuction. Only abdominoplasty with plication repairs diastasis recti.
What to bring
The practical checklist
None of this is busywork. Each item changes the surgical plan.
- A complete medication list, including over-the-counter drugs, vitamins and herbal supplements.
- Your medical history, including anything managed by another physician.
- Previous operative reports for the area being treated, if you have had surgery there before.
- Your history with nicotine in any form, honestly stated. It affects healing and it affects planning.
- Any family history of clotting disorders or anesthetic problems.
- A written list of your questions, so none of them gets lost in the conversation.
Ask any surgeon
Questions worth asking, here or anywhere
These are not gotchas. Any surgeon should be able to answer them without hesitation.
- Which board are you certified by, and is that board specific to plastic surgery?
- Do you have hospital privileges to perform this procedure?
- Where will the operation be performed, and is that facility accredited?
- Who administers the anesthesia and what training do they have?
- Where exactly will the scars be, and how long are they?
- What happens if I am unhappy with the result, and what does a revision involve?
- What is the recovery like week by week, and when do most patients return to work?
In the room
Examination, then plan
The examination is specific to the procedure. For breast surgery, where the nipple sits relative to the crease under the breast is the measurement that decides whether a lift is needed. For abdominal surgery, the questions are how much loose skin there is, where it sits relative to the navel, and whether the abdominal muscles have separated.
Dr. Samas will explain what the operation involves, where the scars will be and how long they take to mature, and what recovery typically looks like. Scar position is a real trade-off and worth understanding before you commit, which the scars and healing guide covers in detail.
If two operations could reasonably address your concern, the comparison is worth having out loud, for example tummy tuck versus liposuction.
Afterward
Take the time
There is no pressure to schedule at the consultation, and patients who go away and think usually come back with better questions. Cost and financing are discussed separately with the coordinator so the clinical conversation stays clinical.
If you are traveling in from outside the metro, the out-of-town patient guide explains how to sequence the visits, and financing covers the payment options the practice works with.
FAQ
Consultation questions
This page is general information. Candidacy, recovery and what to expect are discussed at your consultation.
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