Authentic
Plastic Surgery

Dr. Stachowicz does personally communicate with all patients. There is no intermediaries or a “front desk”. All consultations are by appointment only, they take as much time as it’s needed without time limit. Flexibility of scheduling means that each patient can be seen mornings, evenings and on many weekends. Moreover, special arrangements can be made for anyone wishing to initiate the process remotely (when patient resides out of town, for example), obtain all the information and quote, schedule treatment and then complete in-person visit at more convenient time or just before surgery to minimize travel times.

We will go over the recovery in detail with every patient. In general, surgery like a tummy tuck will have about 6 weeks of restrictions which gradually decrease as that time progresses, breast augmentation or lift at least a month, and some surgeries like liposuction may have fairly minimal restrictions providing that compression garments are worn.

First of all, traveling after invasive surgery is potentially dangerous.

When price is the sole factor for decision making then it is likely to result in a surgery being performed in “factory” like settings with minimal contact before or after surgery with qualified staff. Many questions come up in weeks after surgery or even some minor issues, when those can be addressed promptly - they are just an inconvenience. I see often patients who returned from their surgery trip and were effectively on their own with limited options and difficulties contacting their surgeons. This means delays and extra problems when only options are a random ER visit or finding and paying for the services of a new surgeon.

Bottom line - do ask questions (if something sounds too good, ask more) and do your surgery where you can stay for at least a month close to your surgeon.

I have in the past accepted some options like Care Credit just to realize that they take huge percentage out of the payment to the office and that many offices quote higher prices in those cases.

Decision was simple - reduce admin time / cost and offer best price with full transparency.

Before surgery hospital and anesthesia is paid about 10 days ahead and surgeon fees can be paid ahead or morning of surgery.

Important fact is that when 2 or more things are safely combined my hospital discounts each additional procedure by 50% and I discount my fees as well by minimum 25% (very rare in the industry).

What hospital setting has to offer are resources that are greater than office or surgery center and that means better safety. What is surprising, despite marketing promoting dozens of centers, larger scale does translate into less cost since overhead costs are more spread out. 

Unlike traditional practice with expensive office and multiple employees, APS has focused on eliminating unnecessary expenses by sharing consultation spaces with other medical or skin care professionals. In addition to that, all surgeries are performed at main Minneapolis hospital where hourly facility and anesthesia rates are lower than any surgery center while providing maximum in up to date operating room environment and MD based anesthesia services. All this translates into significant savings while providing safety of a modern hospital.

Each quote should include at least these components:

- facility (operating room cost);

- anesthesia cost;

- any supplies or implants cost;

- surgeon’s fee.

​

When comparing its pays to ask specifically about each component and when it comes to implants or supplies to double check what type is quoted or advertised.

​

For example, best implants that I would typically use are $2600 where a sailine implants can be less than $800.

As a doctor, I love second opinions!

It is perfectly OK to reach out to another doctor to ask same questions again and get different perspective. Since usually consultations are free then one can look at it as another option for educating oneself.

The beauty of running a patient oriented practice is that it is flexible from the start.

Some prospective patients prefer traditional “visit first” approach, but even here I offer creative scheduling. It may mean very early visit before work, lunch time or maybe weekend if taking time from work is not possible for a patient.

Some questions do need an in-person visit first due to complexity of the concern or previous surgeries. Occasionally, due to very rigid schedule of the patient, the in-person visit is planned to consist of introduction and exam (5 to 10 min) and the rest of the consultation, planning and price quote is discussed later over the phone when time is not a constrain.

Finally, others prefer submitting preliminary photos after a phone introduction, then discussion can follow and even scheduling. The confirmatory in-person visit follows when convenient, especially helpful for out of town patients.

Did you know that in US any private establishment can call themselves “plastic surgery clinic” and any doctor, chiropractor, dentist can run that establishment regardless of their training background? Many use deceptive wording like “we are board certified” without specifying the specialty. Research into doctors qualification can be tedious, BUT if a doctor has Admitting Privileges at a local hospital, then that homework is done for you. Hospital only allows doctors to practice within their scope of training.

So it is wise, as part of consultation, to ask your doctor:

“If after surgery I need a higher level of care, what hospital will you admit me to?”

If answer is: “Go to any ER, and they will take care of you” … then one should go somewhere else.

Every patient will have different post operation needs and that’s why follow ups are dictated by individuals recovery progress. This means that some checkups can be a home visit by Dr. S or a nurse, video or photo updates and office visits as well.

During the recovery, when questions arise, a quick text is best and Dr. S or Jen RN will call or text back. We discourage waiting and being worried or over-utilization of “Dr Google”.

​

​

​

​

American Board of Plastic Surgery awards their certificate after arduous standardized training is completed and after series of exams are passed and when continuous education is maintained.

Unfortunately, in North America anyone can claim to be a plastic surgeon as long as they don’t have hospital affiliation and work out private practice. One way to find out quickly is to ask your surgeon what hospital they have admitting privileges at in case I have to be admitted for additional treatment, etc.?

Finally, it’s important to point out that American Board of Medical specialties recognizes only one Plastic Surgery certificate, others like “Facial surgery”, “Aesthetic Surgery” or “Body contouring” are not certificates.

“Buyer” be ware!

Any “new” and non surgical devices promising a lift, weight loss, fat removal, skin tightening, etc. have very limited potential at best.

So one has to ask the following: Is my goal to have a tested and predictable outcome treatment once (even if I have to go to sleep) or do I chance multiple treatments with little or no result outcome likely?

My favorite example: cool sculpting or similar.

I do see patient often who have spent upward of 15 or 20 thousands to get some degree of improvement (or not) while they could have spent less than 8k to treat abdomen, sides, maybe chin - ONCE - recover and move on with life.

Surgeries can be performed in many settings safely. Some practices have their own operating rooms, some surgeons perform surgeries in “surgery centers” and some in hospital setting.

When location of surgery is properly staffed by Anesthesia MD, CRNA, nurses and surgical technicians - then it is a proper environment for safe surgery.

As we know, sometimes, rarely, after surgery recovery process can have difficulties which occasionally requires further care, tests, evaluation and in rare cases a hospital stay (for example, brief course of IV antibiotic to prevent an infection) - in other words, a hospital. When surgeon has no privileges at a local hospital, the patient is at a merci of nearest ER where no one knows them or what surgery was done.

When your surgeon has privileges at a local hospital then he or she can immediately arrange for your care without the time wasted in the ER waiting room and use consulting resources as needed.

You just need to text or call one of the two numbers:

​

612-770-1995 Dr. S

651-278-9578 Jen RN