November 5, 2025 • 23 mins
Most people assume that if you’ve ever had a blood clot, plastic surgery is off the table forever.
But is that actually true?
In this powerful episode of Plastic Surgery Uncensored, Dr. Rady Rahban sits down with Lori — a 60-year-old woman who survived multiple blood clots, including two pulmonary embolisms, and still safely underwent a tummy tuck.
This conversation dives into:
✨ If you enjoyed this episode of Plastic Surgery Uncensored:
✔️ Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.
✔️ Rate & Review—your feedback helps more people find us.
✔️ Follow Dr. Rady Rahban across all platforms for daily insights, behind-the-scenes, and patient education:
But is that actually true?
In this powerful episode of Plastic Surgery Uncensored, Dr. Rady Rahban sits down with Lori — a 60-year-old woman who survived multiple blood clots, including two pulmonary embolisms, and still safely underwent a tummy tuck.
This conversation dives into:
- The real risks of surgery after DVT or PE
- Why most doctors automatically say no — and why sometimes, that’s not the whole story
- How a true team approach between surgeon + hematologist can make previously “impossible” cases possible
- The emotional journey of choosing your own quality of life — even when others try to talk you out of it
✨ If you enjoyed this episode of Plastic Surgery Uncensored:
✔️ Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.
✔️ Rate & Review—your feedback helps more people find us.
✔️ Follow Dr. Rady Rahban across all platforms for daily insights, behind-the-scenes, and patient education:
- Instagram: @drradyrahban
- TikTok: @radyrahbanMD
- YouTube: @Rady Rahban
- Facebook: @Rady Rahban
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to another episode of Plastic Surgery and Centered. I'm
your host, doctor Roddy Rabon, and we have a fantastic
episode for you. Today. We're going to be addressing a
subject matter or a topic that I must get ten
DMS a month for, which is I have a history
of a blood clot can I have plastic surgery? And
(00:27):
that is a question, that's the sixty four million dollar question,
and we get that asked all the time and the
answer is it depends. And we're going to address that today.
And we're lucky and we're grateful that we have Lauri,
this beautiful young lady who is a patient of mine
who underwent successful abdominoplasty, successful tummy tuck, with a history
(00:48):
of a pulmonary embolas. So immediately you think to yourself,
pulmonary embulss, holy shit, you want to had cosmetic surgery?
Are you crazy? And so the answer is no, she's not.
There are ways in which we can go about doing things,
but it requires a team approach. And so what we're
gonna do is we're going to talk about everything there
(01:09):
is to know about whether or not one can or
cannot safely have plastic surgery or cosmetic surgery after having
had a blood lot. So let's start with welcome to
the show, Laurie, thanks for having me. Okay, awesome. So
we were so the basic skinniest. How old are you?
I'm sixty sixty and you had How long ago was.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Your surgery in February?
Speaker 1 (01:34):
So about six months ago? Yeah, so you had and
we did a tummy tuck, right, yes, and remind me
you have how many kids? I have two daughters, two daughters,
And you lost weight? Right?
Speaker 2 (01:48):
I lost thirty pounds and with age and losing weight,
my body had shifted and I was not liking the
new look of me, you know, after losing weight.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Right, And so what was it exactly that bothered you?
Because people might be thinking to myself, wow, you're sixty.
Isn't this past? And this brings up even another good
point within the point, which is, while this conversation is
about diver DVTs or blood clots, there is no right time.
Like if you're sixty and you feel sexy and you
feel vivacious and you want to you lost a ton
(02:27):
of weight, You're not like, well, is it might too old?
Speaker 2 (02:29):
No?
Speaker 1 (02:30):
So tell me what happened in what stimulated you to do.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
It so by losing the weight. And it wasn't like
I never wanted to have a tummy tuck. I just
didn't really think about it as as much because you know,
losing weight changes your body, sure, and so my clothes
didn't fit me. Right. If I were anything fitted, you
(02:59):
could tell I had skin.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Right, you had kind of a little bit of an apron, Right,
I had an apron.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
And so all my clothing I noticed I was wearing
everything so oversized to hide. And what really prompted me
was I was going to a wedding and I went
to try on clothes, dresses, and unless I got the
dresses way too big for me, I looked ridiculous. You know,
(03:30):
I have to wear something that was not fitted at all.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Right, So what happened is in what you bring up
is a great point. You had had two children. I'm
sure as a result of having your kids you had
some changes, loose skin, distasis, whatever. And then definitely losing weight,
and thirty pounds is not a small amount of weight
really pushes the scale over to the other side. And
in your instance, it wasn't just that you had some
loose skin. You actually had a significant apron, yes, and
(03:55):
not everybody develops that. It just depends on your anatomy,
and that apron can become very very cumbersome as you
experience it. Really just it gets in the way of everything, right.
You can't just you know, you have to figure out
a way to manage this apron with every outfit, every event,
everything that you were dealing with exactly. So here you are,
you're sixty. Good for you, you got into good health.
(04:18):
You have this apron, and you're like, oh, wait, shit,
I have some serious medical problems here. It's not like
you just walk in here and you're a thirty year
old woman who's in great shape and just did a triathlon. Right,
what are some of the medical problems that you have?
Speaker 2 (04:31):
I developed blood clots a couple of years ago, first
to my leg, right, you got three blood clots, and
then six months later I developed clots in both my lungs.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Right, So the blood clots in your leg, it's called
a DVT. Yes, I have been as thrombosis. Right, And
then they treat you for that, right, they give you
blood thinners. Yes, And you got those blood thinners, and
then you said that at some point you're good to
go blood. You know, everything's working, and then you flew
to the East coast.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
I flew to visit my daughter in Connecticut, and when
I got when I flew back home, I realized I
was having.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Trouble breathing, short of breath.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
I was short of breath, and I knew something wasn't right.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Okay, so what did you do?
Speaker 2 (05:22):
I went to the hospital. I went to the hospital
and they did a cat scan and the doctor who
saw me said, you know what, you have two pulmonary embolisms,
one in each lung.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
You're very lucky, lady, right, because a single pulmonary embolism
can kill you. Right. What happens is that a clot
travels usually from a leg, Yeah, goes up through the
blood system, through the heart and straight to the lungs, right,
and it lodges into the area of a lung and
then you don't get any blood flow and or oxygen
(06:05):
in that area, and it can be it can be fatal.
Then you get two of them and you manage to
make it. And it's very common to get those during
flying because you're sitting, your legs are flexed, your hips
are flexed, and then you get up and you start
walking and then boom those blood clots trigger. So here
you are in this horrific condition. I'm assuming they treated
(06:27):
you with blood thinners and all kinds, and they.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Told me to go back to see my hematologists because
after he was done with the with the treating me
for the blood clot to the leg, we stop the
blood thinners, right, And so back I went to him,
and now I'm permanently on blood.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Pinners all right. So and during the work up, I'm
sure they found that that you're predisposed to having blood clots. Right,
you have a you have a we call it a
hyper quag meaning high level of coagulation hyperquaggable condition, and
your body has a propensity to make these blood closts. Okay,
So here's that baseline. In addition, if I'm not mistaken,
you have other things, right, you have a thyroid issue.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
I have a thyroid issue.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
I also blood pressure.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
I had high blood pressure, which I'm being managed on
medication for that. And I also had breast cancer, breast cancer,
and so I'm also taking medication for that.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Right. And breast cancer, by the way, puts you at
risk for blood clots. Yes, okay, So here you are
you're managing all these things. Definitely, as you lose weight,
those things, many of those things improve, right, And blood
pressure for sure improves as you lose weight. And here
you have these things, and here you are getting healthier. Right,
you're losing weight and you're getting healthier. And your gift
for getting healthier is this apron Yes, right here you go.
(07:56):
Good for you, You're done good. Yeah, and you're like, well, baby,
what the fuck now? I gotta deal with this thing.
So the first thing that's fascinating and awesome is that
you still had the desire. Despite managing blood clots that
nearly killed you and these medical conditions and breastcat and
all these other really serious things, you're still like, no,
(08:20):
I don't like the way I look, because a lot
of people would just give in and be like, you
know what, this is my destiny. I guess I should
be lucky to be alive. I'll be okay, I'll just
manage and they'll be unhappy. They're not going to just
be okay with it, but they'll be too afraid to
even consider the idea of doing something cosmetic.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Yes, I mean I gave it a great thought, and
my family was really against it my daughters and you know,
other family members. They were again because of my history,
and I wasn't going to let that stop me because
(09:08):
it was something I wanted so bad.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
And so first thing that people have to grasp about
this concept is the patient themselves has to be on
board as you were. It can't be willy nilly about this.
This is a big decision. This has massive potential risk
associated with it, So you have to be on board.
So then did you see did you come to me only?
(09:31):
Did you see a few people? What was your problems?
Speaker 2 (09:33):
I only came to you. I had already you had
a patient of yours that I consulted with. She had
the mommy makeover, and so I questioned her about it,
you know, how you did things and stuff. And then
I started really paying attention to all your podcasts and
(09:56):
your Instagrams, and you know, I started really paying attention,
and I'm like, well, I'm going to meet him. I'm
going to meet you, doctor Rabon, and let me make
a decision.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Okay. I didn't want to.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Go to this person that I don't know anything about them,
right right? I think usually word by mouth, or usually
have a gut feeling about things.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
So you decided to do it. And one of the
things that you did, which was really important. I'm going
to teach you all about if you're at home and
you're listening, and the key was that you said, Okay, wait,
so I want to do this. Everyone's against it, understandably.
Why yeah, let me go talk to my hematologists before
I go see doctor Rabon. Which was brilliant, right, because
you're like, if this guy is like, hell no, then
(10:47):
I don't want to waste my time and money and energy,
so let me go see. So you did something that
was really smart, which is you preemptively.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
I preemptively went to go see my hematologists, and I
asked him, point blant, can I have a tummy tuck?
Will I be feasible to do this right medically? And
he thought about it for a few seconds and he
said he looked at my chart and he goes, you
(11:16):
know what, Yes, yes, I've been you know kind of
even keel. I hadn't had any problems. I did have
thyroid surgery a year before, so you.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Had successfully had a surgery since And how long ago
was the blood clots in the pomin anbulist? How long.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
It's been two years?
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Now, okay, So I think that's really the key, and
I'm going to circle back to this, because that hematologist
is the is the key to this pyramid. There is
the patient, there is the surgeon, me, and then there
is our consultant or medical specialist, and that medical specialist
is the hematologist. If he or she puts the kabba this,
(12:01):
oh hell no, then neither you nor me should trump
that right, because I shouldn't be operating on you because
I'm some greedy surgeon who doesn't give a shit. You
shouldn't be so foolish that you're like, I need this,
I don't care if I die it right, And so
we have to we have to tip our hats off
to this hematologist, which I'll elaborate for because had he
(12:25):
said hell no, or wasn't even willing to have the dialogue,
you and I wouldn't be sitting here. So you went
and said he said yes, and you came and saw me.
So I examined you, and I said, listen, let's put
all that other medical stuff aside on examination. Good for you.
I don't care if you're sixty, I don't care if
you're seventy. I don't care if you're eighty. From a
physical standpoint, you had lost the weight, and as a
(12:46):
result of losing the weight, you had this excess skin.
And I knew that I could help you by removing
this excess skin, which would then hopefully liberate you from
this agony of every outfit, every event, everything. I said,
But we're going to need to have a dialogue with
that hematologist now. So this is where this is very important.
(13:06):
This gets super super relevant. If you have a medical problem,
it's a large one, your surgeon, your plastic surgeon, and
your doctor specialist must be in direct dialogue. This notion
that neither of them speak and yeah, yeah, yeah, you're
out on an island. So I said, I'm willing to
(13:28):
consider your operation, even though the fact you get to
pulmonary ambili and I could be operating on you and
I could be responsible for something horrific, worst case scenario,
you dying. I'm willing to consider it so long as
I have a dialogue with your hematologist. Since that hematologist
was open minded. Now, nine out of ten specialists don't
(13:49):
want to deal with this. They're going to say to
you right out of the gate, Laurie, are you crazy?
What the fuck? What do you need this for? You're
sixty years old, doblembli, Go live your life. Don't be
so vain. Because they're sub specialists, they don't understand the
purpose of this, and to be honest with you, they
don't want to deal with the havoc of you potentially
(14:10):
dying on them, so they'll just say no, flat out no,
and then you, as a patient are stuck unless you
go find another hematologist. So I give this hematologists great
credit because they could have he could have just completely
put the cabash on it. Then on the flip side,
your surgeon has to be willing and open minded and
give a shit enough to have a dialogue with him.
(14:30):
So I called him up and I said, hey, doctor Smith.
It wasn't doctor Smith. So I have Luri here. We're concerned.
What's your plan, because what's the issue. The issue is,
in order to have surgery, I need you off of
your blood thinner correct why because you will bleed. You
will bleed during surgery. In order for you not to
(14:53):
die from a blood clot, you need to be on
your blood dinner. You see that, You see how that's
a problem right there? The problem is I need you
off and he needs you on. And so without us
coordinating and really thinking this through, how many days can
you be off well? How many days are you worried
about bleeding? What can we do in the interim? So
why I meant this is such an important topic is
(15:16):
with a rare instance, you can have surgery for almost
any condition so long as your team mates, your team
players and people are really invested in your well being.
So I got on the call with him and I
gave him my needs and he told me what his
needs are, and we came up with our specialized plan.
And everyone's holding their breath because they want to know
what it was. And it's not relevant because it's tailored
(15:39):
to you and that doctor. So what are the things
that we make you do? We make you walk early
because that prevents blood clots. We would do that if
you had no blood issues. We give you leg squeezers
in the surgery, which we would do for anyone whether
it was a blood clot. And I give you a
blood thinner, which I do which most surgeons don't dure surgery.
(16:00):
We would have done that anywhere. What we did that
was different for you is that we gave you the
blood that leg squeezers at home, and we started you
on a regiment, a blood thinner that was light dose,
not so strong dose that would allow you to maybe
not make a clot, but not enough to make you bleed.
That recipe was something that we created together as me
(16:24):
and hematologists. So you must find providers clinicians who are
on board and willing to communicate. But I will tell you,
and I said it over and over again. I give
great credit to your hematologists because if he had said
hell no, then there's no way I can. I just
(16:45):
would have said, listen, Laurie, I would love to help you,
but unfortunately I can't take that responsibility alone. So you're
now five months out, You're alive, you look alive, and
I'm assuming it was worth it.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
It was worth it so much. I can't even tell you, you know,
I just have you know, I'm sixty years old, and
I just I don't feel like my life is done yet,
and so I like wearing cute clothes and stuff like that,
and I don't have to hide anymore. So you know,
(17:23):
it's important to me and I feel good about myself,
and that's what it's about.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
It is because you're right, sixty sixty is nothing. I mean,
let's say, let's say you live a solid ninety years.
That's not unreasonable. It's ninety years old. It's not unheard of.
Today the average the average female lives to be eighty four.
So ninety years. Shit, that's thirty years of being unhappy.
(17:49):
And the reality is that you would have been unhappy
because clearly, for you, looking good and feeling good it's
a big part of your journey as a person. Some
people maybe they were like four hundred and fifty pounds
doesn't bother them, But for you, it bothered you. And
so the idea that you were able to get free
of that apron and I mean that metaphorically and literally,
(18:10):
is it's such a great uh, what a great gift
that you were able to get for yourself. But it
started with you having the courage, started with you being steadfast,
started with you going to your clinician. It started with
him having the willingness to play this game. And it
(18:32):
required a surgeon who is willing to take on all
that responsibility. And as a totality, here you are, I know, and.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
I feel so good. I mean I I felt healthy before,
but I feel like like good inside.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Yeah, well, you look at I mean, you look you
look very very good, and I'm happy for you, because
that's what this is about, right. We do these things
so that people can sit across from you and put
a smile on their face and say, wow, that was well,
that was worth it.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
It was well worth it. I'm not a vain person,
so it wasn't so much of what I was going
to be how my outward appearance would appear to other people.
It was what was appearing to me inside.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Yeah, so.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Yeah, this was extremely important.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
You know, it's interesting. We talk about this on one
of our other episodes. I'll probably end up repeating it
from here on out. It is very common for the
outside world who loves you to judge you, and to
judge you in the following way. The judgment is you
look fine, you're grade. We all love you. It's not that,
and they try to and it's well intended, but the
(19:50):
idea would suggest that somehow that this is that you're crazy,
or it makes patients who are looking to improve their
quality of life that makes them feel bad when the
people who are around them understandably are concerned. Yeah, but
they often make them kind of gaslighted about like, you're sixty,
(20:11):
why would you just why would you do this like
with such a sort of a level of contentiousness, And
it's like, what does that matter? So what I'm sixty?
What does that mean? I mean, I'm it's just a number. Yeah,
you know, for all you know? Are you married?
Speaker 2 (20:28):
No, I'm widowed?
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Yeah, for all I know, I may fall in love
again and meet another great guy you know who. You
don't know where the hell I'm going to be in
the next five years. So I think it's really again,
really good that you were able to surmount whatever obstacles
that were there. And I think the episode is very
helpful because for a lot of people, it's easy. They're healthy,
they're young, Okay, it's just a matter of money and whatnot.
(20:51):
For you, it was like, Wow, I could stay behind
this apron forever and I have a legit medical problem,
and yet you were able to and do the orchestration
of a group of people get to where you need
to be. And I think that that's a message that
everyone can consider. I'm not saying that everyone can have surgery.
Irrespective if you've had eighteen shunts, four stents, you know
(21:14):
your heart is on a bypass machine. Well, yeah, it's
too risky, but you know this is a scenario where
many people would have just folded.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Yeah, but I really felt confident with what my hematologists
said and your reaction with him, the both of you
working together, made me confident that this was going to
be okay, that this was going to go well. Well.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Your attitude was outstanding. I will tell you A lot
of patients would have generated a tremendous amount of nervous energy, right,
and that would have bled into the whole soup. You
were very cool, cucumbered. You were always like I made
this decision, I'm excited. You've always been positive, and you've
(21:59):
always been sort of smiley and bubbly through the whole process.
Even when we were about to have surgery, You're like,
I have patients to have absolutely no reason to be nervous,
and there I got to peel them off the ceiling.
You had every reason to be nervous, and you were
just like, all right, let's do this. And I can't
tell you how important that attitude is because it emanates
into the people who are taking care of you. So
(22:21):
you were a very easy person to take care of.
Thank you, Yes, Well, We're grateful that you came on
the show because I think this is a very important
subject matter and everyone is happy for you, and we're
grateful for your participation in today's podcast. Thank you, doctor
Rabon my pleasure. All right, guys, that wraps up yet
another fantastic episode. If you enjoy the show, go write
(22:46):
something nice. Everybody likes to go online. We have people
who work here and see oh wow, they wrote that
they liked the podcast. That makes everybody feel good. And
then if you enjoy the show, share it with loved ones.
You never know, wow, today's episode may pack someone's life
in a positive way. So if you enjoy the show,
share with the people you love and then yeah, that's
a rap. As always, I'm your host, doctor Rody Raban,
(23:09):
and we will see you next week on Plastic Surgery Uncensored.
Welcome to another episode of Plastic Surgery and Centered. I'm
your host, doctor Roddy Rabon, and we have a fantastic
episode for you. Today. We're going to be addressing a
subject matter or a topic that I must get ten
DMS a month for, which is I have a history
of a blood clot can I have plastic surgery? And
(00:27):
that is a question, that's the sixty four million dollar question,
and we get that asked all the time and the
answer is it depends. And we're going to address that today.
And we're lucky and we're grateful that we have Lauri,
this beautiful young lady who is a patient of mine
who underwent successful abdominoplasty, successful tummy tuck, with a history
(00:48):
of a pulmonary embolas. So immediately you think to yourself,
pulmonary embulss, holy shit, you want to had cosmetic surgery?
Are you crazy? And so the answer is no, she's not.
There are ways in which we can go about doing things,
but it requires a team approach. And so what we're
gonna do is we're going to talk about everything there
(01:09):
is to know about whether or not one can or
cannot safely have plastic surgery or cosmetic surgery after having
had a blood lot. So let's start with welcome to
the show, Laurie, thanks for having me. Okay, awesome. So
we were so the basic skinniest. How old are you?
I'm sixty sixty and you had How long ago was.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Your surgery in February?
Speaker 1 (01:34):
So about six months ago? Yeah, so you had and
we did a tummy tuck, right, yes, and remind me
you have how many kids? I have two daughters, two daughters,
And you lost weight? Right?
Speaker 2 (01:48):
I lost thirty pounds and with age and losing weight,
my body had shifted and I was not liking the
new look of me, you know, after losing weight.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Right, And so what was it exactly that bothered you?
Because people might be thinking to myself, wow, you're sixty.
Isn't this past? And this brings up even another good
point within the point, which is, while this conversation is
about diver DVTs or blood clots, there is no right time.
Like if you're sixty and you feel sexy and you
feel vivacious and you want to you lost a ton
(02:27):
of weight, You're not like, well, is it might too old?
Speaker 2 (02:29):
No?
Speaker 1 (02:30):
So tell me what happened in what stimulated you to do.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
It so by losing the weight. And it wasn't like
I never wanted to have a tummy tuck. I just
didn't really think about it as as much because you know,
losing weight changes your body, sure, and so my clothes
didn't fit me. Right. If I were anything fitted, you
(02:59):
could tell I had skin.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Right, you had kind of a little bit of an apron, Right,
I had an apron.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
And so all my clothing I noticed I was wearing
everything so oversized to hide. And what really prompted me
was I was going to a wedding and I went
to try on clothes, dresses, and unless I got the
dresses way too big for me, I looked ridiculous. You know,
(03:30):
I have to wear something that was not fitted at all.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Right, So what happened is in what you bring up
is a great point. You had had two children. I'm
sure as a result of having your kids you had
some changes, loose skin, distasis, whatever. And then definitely losing weight,
and thirty pounds is not a small amount of weight
really pushes the scale over to the other side. And
in your instance, it wasn't just that you had some
loose skin. You actually had a significant apron, yes, and
(03:55):
not everybody develops that. It just depends on your anatomy,
and that apron can become very very cumbersome as you
experience it. Really just it gets in the way of everything, right.
You can't just you know, you have to figure out
a way to manage this apron with every outfit, every event,
everything that you were dealing with exactly. So here you are,
you're sixty. Good for you, you got into good health.
(04:18):
You have this apron, and you're like, oh, wait, shit,
I have some serious medical problems here. It's not like
you just walk in here and you're a thirty year
old woman who's in great shape and just did a triathlon. Right,
what are some of the medical problems that you have?
Speaker 2 (04:31):
I developed blood clots a couple of years ago, first
to my leg, right, you got three blood clots, and
then six months later I developed clots in both my lungs.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Right, So the blood clots in your leg, it's called
a DVT. Yes, I have been as thrombosis. Right, And
then they treat you for that, right, they give you
blood thinners. Yes, And you got those blood thinners, and
then you said that at some point you're good to
go blood. You know, everything's working, and then you flew
to the East coast.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
I flew to visit my daughter in Connecticut, and when
I got when I flew back home, I realized I
was having.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Trouble breathing, short of breath.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
I was short of breath, and I knew something wasn't right.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Okay, so what did you do?
Speaker 2 (05:22):
I went to the hospital. I went to the hospital
and they did a cat scan and the doctor who
saw me said, you know what, you have two pulmonary embolisms,
one in each lung.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
You're very lucky, lady, right, because a single pulmonary embolism
can kill you. Right. What happens is that a clot
travels usually from a leg, Yeah, goes up through the
blood system, through the heart and straight to the lungs, right,
and it lodges into the area of a lung and
then you don't get any blood flow and or oxygen
(06:05):
in that area, and it can be it can be fatal.
Then you get two of them and you manage to
make it. And it's very common to get those during
flying because you're sitting, your legs are flexed, your hips
are flexed, and then you get up and you start
walking and then boom those blood clots trigger. So here
you are in this horrific condition. I'm assuming they treated
(06:27):
you with blood thinners and all kinds, and they.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Told me to go back to see my hematologists because
after he was done with the with the treating me
for the blood clot to the leg, we stop the
blood thinners, right, And so back I went to him,
and now I'm permanently on blood.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Pinners all right. So and during the work up, I'm
sure they found that that you're predisposed to having blood clots. Right,
you have a you have a we call it a
hyper quag meaning high level of coagulation hyperquaggable condition, and
your body has a propensity to make these blood closts. Okay,
So here's that baseline. In addition, if I'm not mistaken,
you have other things, right, you have a thyroid issue.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
I have a thyroid issue.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
I also blood pressure.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
I had high blood pressure, which I'm being managed on
medication for that. And I also had breast cancer, breast cancer,
and so I'm also taking medication for that.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Right. And breast cancer, by the way, puts you at
risk for blood clots. Yes, okay, So here you are
you're managing all these things. Definitely, as you lose weight,
those things, many of those things improve, right, And blood
pressure for sure improves as you lose weight. And here
you have these things, and here you are getting healthier. Right,
you're losing weight and you're getting healthier. And your gift
for getting healthier is this apron Yes, right here you go.
(07:56):
Good for you, You're done good. Yeah, and you're like, well, baby,
what the fuck now? I gotta deal with this thing.
So the first thing that's fascinating and awesome is that
you still had the desire. Despite managing blood clots that
nearly killed you and these medical conditions and breastcat and
all these other really serious things, you're still like, no,
(08:20):
I don't like the way I look, because a lot
of people would just give in and be like, you
know what, this is my destiny. I guess I should
be lucky to be alive. I'll be okay, I'll just
manage and they'll be unhappy. They're not going to just
be okay with it, but they'll be too afraid to
even consider the idea of doing something cosmetic.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Yes, I mean I gave it a great thought, and
my family was really against it my daughters and you know,
other family members. They were again because of my history,
and I wasn't going to let that stop me because
(09:08):
it was something I wanted so bad.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
And so first thing that people have to grasp about
this concept is the patient themselves has to be on
board as you were. It can't be willy nilly about this.
This is a big decision. This has massive potential risk
associated with it, So you have to be on board.
So then did you see did you come to me only?
(09:31):
Did you see a few people? What was your problems?
Speaker 2 (09:33):
I only came to you. I had already you had
a patient of yours that I consulted with. She had
the mommy makeover, and so I questioned her about it,
you know, how you did things and stuff. And then
I started really paying attention to all your podcasts and
(09:56):
your Instagrams, and you know, I started really paying attention,
and I'm like, well, I'm going to meet him. I'm
going to meet you, doctor Rabon, and let me make
a decision.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Okay. I didn't want to.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Go to this person that I don't know anything about them,
right right? I think usually word by mouth, or usually
have a gut feeling about things.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
So you decided to do it. And one of the
things that you did, which was really important. I'm going
to teach you all about if you're at home and
you're listening, and the key was that you said, Okay, wait,
so I want to do this. Everyone's against it, understandably.
Why yeah, let me go talk to my hematologists before
I go see doctor Rabon. Which was brilliant, right, because
you're like, if this guy is like, hell no, then
(10:47):
I don't want to waste my time and money and energy,
so let me go see. So you did something that
was really smart, which is you preemptively.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
I preemptively went to go see my hematologists, and I
asked him, point blant, can I have a tummy tuck?
Will I be feasible to do this right medically? And
he thought about it for a few seconds and he
said he looked at my chart and he goes, you
(11:16):
know what, Yes, yes, I've been you know kind of
even keel. I hadn't had any problems. I did have
thyroid surgery a year before, so you.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Had successfully had a surgery since And how long ago
was the blood clots in the pomin anbulist? How long.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
It's been two years?
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Now, okay, So I think that's really the key, and
I'm going to circle back to this, because that hematologist
is the is the key to this pyramid. There is
the patient, there is the surgeon, me, and then there
is our consultant or medical specialist, and that medical specialist
is the hematologist. If he or she puts the kabba this,
(12:01):
oh hell no, then neither you nor me should trump
that right, because I shouldn't be operating on you because
I'm some greedy surgeon who doesn't give a shit. You
shouldn't be so foolish that you're like, I need this,
I don't care if I die it right, And so
we have to we have to tip our hats off
to this hematologist, which I'll elaborate for because had he
(12:25):
said hell no, or wasn't even willing to have the dialogue,
you and I wouldn't be sitting here. So you went
and said he said yes, and you came and saw me.
So I examined you, and I said, listen, let's put
all that other medical stuff aside on examination. Good for you.
I don't care if you're sixty, I don't care if
you're seventy. I don't care if you're eighty. From a
physical standpoint, you had lost the weight, and as a
(12:46):
result of losing the weight, you had this excess skin.
And I knew that I could help you by removing
this excess skin, which would then hopefully liberate you from
this agony of every outfit, every event, everything. I said,
But we're going to need to have a dialogue with
that hematologist now. So this is where this is very important.
(13:06):
This gets super super relevant. If you have a medical problem,
it's a large one, your surgeon, your plastic surgeon, and
your doctor specialist must be in direct dialogue. This notion
that neither of them speak and yeah, yeah, yeah, you're
out on an island. So I said, I'm willing to
(13:28):
consider your operation, even though the fact you get to
pulmonary ambili and I could be operating on you and
I could be responsible for something horrific, worst case scenario,
you dying. I'm willing to consider it so long as
I have a dialogue with your hematologist. Since that hematologist
was open minded. Now, nine out of ten specialists don't
(13:49):
want to deal with this. They're going to say to
you right out of the gate, Laurie, are you crazy?
What the fuck? What do you need this for? You're
sixty years old, doblembli, Go live your life. Don't be
so vain. Because they're sub specialists, they don't understand the
purpose of this, and to be honest with you, they
don't want to deal with the havoc of you potentially
(14:10):
dying on them, so they'll just say no, flat out no,
and then you, as a patient are stuck unless you
go find another hematologist. So I give this hematologists great
credit because they could have he could have just completely
put the cabash on it. Then on the flip side,
your surgeon has to be willing and open minded and
give a shit enough to have a dialogue with him.
(14:30):
So I called him up and I said, hey, doctor Smith.
It wasn't doctor Smith. So I have Luri here. We're concerned.
What's your plan, because what's the issue. The issue is,
in order to have surgery, I need you off of
your blood thinner correct why because you will bleed. You
will bleed during surgery. In order for you not to
(14:53):
die from a blood clot, you need to be on
your blood dinner. You see that, You see how that's
a problem right there? The problem is I need you
off and he needs you on. And so without us
coordinating and really thinking this through, how many days can
you be off well? How many days are you worried
about bleeding? What can we do in the interim? So
why I meant this is such an important topic is
(15:16):
with a rare instance, you can have surgery for almost
any condition so long as your team mates, your team
players and people are really invested in your well being.
So I got on the call with him and I
gave him my needs and he told me what his
needs are, and we came up with our specialized plan.
And everyone's holding their breath because they want to know
what it was. And it's not relevant because it's tailored
(15:39):
to you and that doctor. So what are the things
that we make you do? We make you walk early
because that prevents blood clots. We would do that if
you had no blood issues. We give you leg squeezers
in the surgery, which we would do for anyone whether
it was a blood clot. And I give you a
blood thinner, which I do which most surgeons don't dure surgery.
(16:00):
We would have done that anywhere. What we did that
was different for you is that we gave you the
blood that leg squeezers at home, and we started you
on a regiment, a blood thinner that was light dose,
not so strong dose that would allow you to maybe
not make a clot, but not enough to make you bleed.
That recipe was something that we created together as me
(16:24):
and hematologists. So you must find providers clinicians who are
on board and willing to communicate. But I will tell you,
and I said it over and over again. I give
great credit to your hematologists because if he had said
hell no, then there's no way I can. I just
(16:45):
would have said, listen, Laurie, I would love to help you,
but unfortunately I can't take that responsibility alone. So you're
now five months out, You're alive, you look alive, and
I'm assuming it was worth it.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
It was worth it so much. I can't even tell you, you know,
I just have you know, I'm sixty years old, and
I just I don't feel like my life is done yet,
and so I like wearing cute clothes and stuff like that,
and I don't have to hide anymore. So you know,
(17:23):
it's important to me and I feel good about myself,
and that's what it's about.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
It is because you're right, sixty sixty is nothing. I mean,
let's say, let's say you live a solid ninety years.
That's not unreasonable. It's ninety years old. It's not unheard of.
Today the average the average female lives to be eighty four.
So ninety years. Shit, that's thirty years of being unhappy.
(17:49):
And the reality is that you would have been unhappy
because clearly, for you, looking good and feeling good it's
a big part of your journey as a person. Some
people maybe they were like four hundred and fifty pounds
doesn't bother them, But for you, it bothered you. And
so the idea that you were able to get free
of that apron and I mean that metaphorically and literally,
(18:10):
is it's such a great uh, what a great gift
that you were able to get for yourself. But it
started with you having the courage, started with you being steadfast,
started with you going to your clinician. It started with
him having the willingness to play this game. And it
(18:32):
required a surgeon who is willing to take on all
that responsibility. And as a totality, here you are, I know, and.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
I feel so good. I mean I I felt healthy before,
but I feel like like good inside.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Yeah, well, you look at I mean, you look you
look very very good, and I'm happy for you, because
that's what this is about, right. We do these things
so that people can sit across from you and put
a smile on their face and say, wow, that was well,
that was worth it.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
It was well worth it. I'm not a vain person,
so it wasn't so much of what I was going
to be how my outward appearance would appear to other people.
It was what was appearing to me inside.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Yeah, so.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Yeah, this was extremely important.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
You know, it's interesting. We talk about this on one
of our other episodes. I'll probably end up repeating it
from here on out. It is very common for the
outside world who loves you to judge you, and to
judge you in the following way. The judgment is you
look fine, you're grade. We all love you. It's not that,
and they try to and it's well intended, but the
(19:50):
idea would suggest that somehow that this is that you're crazy,
or it makes patients who are looking to improve their
quality of life that makes them feel bad when the
people who are around them understandably are concerned. Yeah, but
they often make them kind of gaslighted about like, you're sixty,
(20:11):
why would you just why would you do this like
with such a sort of a level of contentiousness, And
it's like, what does that matter? So what I'm sixty?
What does that mean? I mean, I'm it's just a number. Yeah,
you know, for all you know? Are you married?
Speaker 2 (20:28):
No, I'm widowed?
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Yeah, for all I know, I may fall in love
again and meet another great guy you know who. You
don't know where the hell I'm going to be in
the next five years. So I think it's really again,
really good that you were able to surmount whatever obstacles
that were there. And I think the episode is very
helpful because for a lot of people, it's easy. They're healthy,
they're young, Okay, it's just a matter of money and whatnot.
(20:51):
For you, it was like, Wow, I could stay behind
this apron forever and I have a legit medical problem,
and yet you were able to and do the orchestration
of a group of people get to where you need
to be. And I think that that's a message that
everyone can consider. I'm not saying that everyone can have surgery.
Irrespective if you've had eighteen shunts, four stents, you know
(21:14):
your heart is on a bypass machine. Well, yeah, it's
too risky, but you know this is a scenario where
many people would have just folded.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Yeah, but I really felt confident with what my hematologists
said and your reaction with him, the both of you
working together, made me confident that this was going to
be okay, that this was going to go well. Well.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Your attitude was outstanding. I will tell you A lot
of patients would have generated a tremendous amount of nervous energy, right,
and that would have bled into the whole soup. You
were very cool, cucumbered. You were always like I made
this decision, I'm excited. You've always been positive, and you've
(21:59):
always been sort of smiley and bubbly through the whole process.
Even when we were about to have surgery, You're like,
I have patients to have absolutely no reason to be nervous,
and there I got to peel them off the ceiling.
You had every reason to be nervous, and you were
just like, all right, let's do this. And I can't
tell you how important that attitude is because it emanates
into the people who are taking care of you. So
(22:21):
you were a very easy person to take care of.
Thank you, Yes, Well, We're grateful that you came on
the show because I think this is a very important
subject matter and everyone is happy for you, and we're
grateful for your participation in today's podcast. Thank you, doctor
Rabon my pleasure. All right, guys, that wraps up yet
another fantastic episode. If you enjoy the show, go write
(22:46):
something nice. Everybody likes to go online. We have people
who work here and see oh wow, they wrote that
they liked the podcast. That makes everybody feel good. And
then if you enjoy the show, share it with loved ones.
You never know, wow, today's episode may pack someone's life
in a positive way. So if you enjoy the show,
share with the people you love and then yeah, that's
a rap. As always, I'm your host, doctor Rody Raban,
(23:09):
and we will see you next week on Plastic Surgery Uncensored.
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