LAM FACIAL PLASTICS

Dear Dr Lam,
I am very interested in facial fat grafting and love your artistic eye. Would it be viable for a UK patient to come over for this proceedure or would that involve a very long stay with top ups etc?
Maybe you could recommend someone over here?
Kind regards
Louise

Hi Louise,
Believe it or not, 10% of my patients come from the rest of the United States and abroad. I just did a hair transplant on a patient from Italy yesterday and last friday I did a fat graft for a patient from Atlanta. Last week, I did a consult for a lady from Canada for fat grafting. Last month, the longest distance was from Hong Kong! I can't remember a week in the past 3 to 4 months that I haven't had someone come from out of state if not out of country.

That being said, fat grafting is the EASIEST procedure to have done and return out of country. I had a patient who lives in Dallas have the procedure done and she flew out the next day to the UK to visit her relatives. Because this procedure does not involve any incisions, sutures, bandages, knives, or cutting, you can generally return back to your home the next day. There really are no postoperative care instructions other than limiting salt diet and not bending over and straining too much. I would obviously still allow a week or more off work. As far as flying back to the UK, I would not allow it the same day since you are having an anesthetic and it would not necessarily be advisable the second day out because you will actually be the most swollen at that point. Generally, my patients either fly out the following day or wait until the 3rd to 4th day to rest up. You will not feel incapacitated and feel out of it but if you are flying such a long distance I generally recommend leaving a couple days afterwards although this is not necessary.

As far as travel arrangements, you should check out my "Flying In" section under the far right tab entitled "Contact" that will detail which airport (DFW) and which hotel (I recommend the Hyatt Place which is 2 minutes from the office and brand new with a medical rate of $99 and $89 on weekends [half price almost] or the less expensive Holiday Inn at $79 a night. You will see the contact info for the medical rate under the "Flying In" section. We can also arrange to have someone stay with you for the required 4 hours following a procedure if you are traveling by yourself.

I know it would be a lot easier to recommend someone in the UK. Understand it is not just a business decision not to do so. As you can see, facial fat grafting is not just a plastic surgery procedure, it is an art. You can obviously have it done by a lot of surgeons (okay, not that many but a few out there) but you must like the work. After all, it is only your face! I take a lot of pride in my work and I think my results speak for themselves. I am currently booked out 3 months in advance but have I believe 1 or 2 days left in December that should be gone within 1 to 2 days if not already. I will be out of town lecturing in St. Louis (on fat grafting) starting tomorrow night so if you want you can email marcy@lamfacialplastics.com to schedule consult, surgery, or whatever you should desire. I will try to check my blogs or emails during my absence.

hope this email helps,
sml

Dear Dr Lam,
Thank you very much for your informative and interesting reply. It is something I am going to seriously consider for next year.
Best wishes
Louise

thanks louise. i truly look forward to meet you and wold be honored to take care of you.
best,
sml