Her Breast Lift Just Made People Magazine

Dr. Chang (00:04):
You are listening to Secret Services, where we discuss the procedures nobody admits to, but everyone's curious about. I'm your host, Dr. Christopher Chang. Here we're back talking about your favorite things in plastic surgery. I'm Dr. Chang.

Jackie (00:18):
Hi, I'm Jackie.

Dr. Chang (00:20):
All right, Jackie. So we have a slightly unusual episode today because the story we're going to talk about is one of our own patients who went viral this week and People Magazine covered it. So we'll talk a little bit more about that. But when you saw Darcy's post blow up, what was your reaction?

Jackie (00:41):
I think it's so awesome. It's also just so crazy to me how much you're seeing influencers in daily life now. To cover an influencer on people, I thought that was kind of crazy too, right?

Dr. Chang (00:56):
Yeah. People magazine growing up was something you saw in the supermarkets every week. Just like US weekly, we would have celebrities that are just like us or Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant or something. These famous movie stars were on the covers all the time with paparazzi pictures and stuff. But I think as media has shifted, they've definitely picked up a lot of pop culture through social media. So it's super cool. It's cool to be shouted out and then sort of see people that we interact with, patients who are also influencers on there, and it's been cool.

Jackie (01:33):
Her result looks awesome. So it was definitely a proud moment for me when I saw that. I'm sure for you.

Dr. Chang (01:44):
Yeah. We'll dive into that a little more because working with Darcy and an influencer has been great and interesting in its own way, kind of a unique perspective. But her procedure that she talks about was a breast lift. So we do have a classified anonymous question that came in and starts with, "I'm 26 years old. I've wanted a breast lift since I was 22. Every time I get close to booking, I talk myself out of it because I think I'm too young or I should wait until after kids, or maybe I'll regret the scars. I've been going in circles for four years and how do I actually make this decision?" You've been around a lot of patients in pre-op. Tell us about the ages and the patients that you've seen.

Jackie (02:28):
Well, I do think especially for breast lift or reduction, we do see a lot of younger patients, especially the breast reductions. If you've had large breasts since you hit puberty, you've had that long enough to know in your early 20s that this is not how I want to live my life. So I'm always very happy for these patients because you're carrying those around for 10 years and you're finally doing something about it. So I'm always super excited for those patients. I think they're always very happy with their results, and I just think it's a really big life changer for them. Another thing this person mentioned was the scars, which when I first started working in plastics and I started seeing these breast reductions, breast lifts, I was always taken aback by the incision. But now that I've seen so many patients years later that have beautiful scars, you barely even notice. And so I say that to a lot of people I know that have been considering it. I'm like, "I know it's a lot, but you can really see great successes with this. "

Dr. Chang (03:35):
Right, right. I think there's two things you touched on. I think healing is individual for each person. So that has to do with a little bit of the surgical technique, but also the biology. Each person heals a little differently. Some people who have darker scars, lighter scars, some people have raised scars. The important thing is to go to a plastic surgeon who understands how to manage your skin and healing and scar tissue and things like that. And although we can't control everything, if you have enough experience and treatment options, you can really try to improve things and make sure they're as good as they can be. And our goal is not to make as many scars or as big as scars as we can, but to really give you the best shape and result as possible. And then the other thing you mentioned that I think is interesting is patients and their satisfaction and when they know they might need it and the age thing.

(04:31):
Interestingly, we were talking a little bit about training and board certification and exams that we take. In plastic surgery, one of the things that comes up is patients that want to have a breast reduction that are under 18, is it ethical to do that for essentially what we think legally is a minor? And of course you need parent permission, but yes, but for patients that are 15 years old with very large breasts or we call macromastia, it is certainly acceptable, at least by the board of plastic surgery to do that because they've gone through puberty. They already have a lot of the symptoms of back pain or breast hypertrophy and enlargement that can really be difficult for them physically as well as emotionally and socially. So it's certainly a very acceptable thing to do and ethically appropriate in American plastic surgery at least.

Jackie (05:26):
Okay. So the other thing that this patient brought up was, do I wait until after kids? And I know that comes up a lot. What do you tend to say to patients when they raise that concern?

Dr. Chang (05:39):
It is very individual. It's very personal depending on your life goals, timeline, and that kind of thing.

Jackie (05:44):
Yeah, that makes sense. So when you're talking to a patient in a consultation, how can you tell the difference between someone who is just genuinely not ready at all for surgery versus someone who just has the normal anxieties?

Dr. Chang (06:00):
I think that the issue that we find is patients that are well-educated are usually ready to proceed. So if you don't know much or you hear things for the first time, the incisions, the risks, the time off, the recovery time, where it falls in your life plan for having a family, if you're hearing those things for the first time in that consultation, it's very unusual for you to say, "Okay, I'm ready, sign me up."

Jackie (06:26):
Yeah, let's do it.

Dr. Chang (06:28):
It's if you've thought those things through, "Okay, I need this much time off. I need to make sure I get a medical clearance." If you have your ducks in a row, you've thought about it and planned it out, then you're more intentional with going through with it. And I think that's important. You have to be educated a little bit about what it takes to do the surgery and to heal.

Jackie (06:45):
Exactly. All right, so let's get back to Darcy. All right. So Darcy McQueeny, she's a 24-year-old influencer with 700,000 plus Instagram followers. I think she has two million TikTok, something crazy followers. She posted her breast lift before and after this week at three weeks post-op, calling it the best decision of her life. People magazine picked it up. The post went viral. Her comments are filled with women asking for her surgeon's name, and that is this guy right here, Dr. Chang. So walk us through Darcy as a patient. What brought her in? What was the consultation like? And why did you think she was a good candidate at age 24?

Dr. Chang (07:27):
So what's interesting is that I've had people approach us before to collab Instagram people or other social media influencers. And Darcy came in, actually when we look back, she was just sort of talking about maybe doing breast surgery because something she wanted for a while. And she talks, she's very open because as an influencer, she shares her life and her experience and her interests. So she's been very open talking about doing that for a while on her page. And she set up consultations and went around and visited. So she came into us and I had no idea who she was, to be honest with you. And so she came in and we just did a regular consultation. She just asked if she could sort of get some footage or something while we were discussing. And then afterwards, after she decided to go with us, she decided to sort of say, "Well, I'm going to vlog the whole thing and talk about it. " And so she's been an incredibly good patient to work with. Just from a patient success standpoint, I think she's done a really good job. She's been extremely focused on what she wanted. We spoke at length about her goals and what the recovery process would be like.

(08:48):
And the good part is that she's been very detailed and sharing and it's just kind of like she does with all the things in her life with her dog, her move, her engagement, her house hunting. And she's been sharing with all of her followers what the experience has been like. And so that's been very helpful for us. And I think that the influence of her culture is super interesting because people want to hear what it's like before they do it. And so those people that are willing to share on social media are very valuable to the community.

Jackie (09:22):
So she videoed in the pre-op, literally while we're putting her to sleep.

Dr. Chang (09:29):
Oh yeah, yeah. I remember this.

Jackie (09:30):
Yeah. Was kind of a hilarious video because she was like, let me try to count down.

Dr. Chang (09:35):
She tried to beat the anesthesia, but the anesthesia won.

Jackie (09:38):
We win every time. And then-

Dr. Chang (09:41):
If you haven't seen that one. Go back to her page and find it.

Jackie (09:43):
Yeah, go check it out.

Dr. Chang (09:44):
It's hilarious.

Jackie (09:44):
It's a really good video. And then her in the recovery room and then just her at home afterwards. So as a surgeon, what is your reaction to someone documenting everything like this?

Dr. Chang (09:59):
It's really interesting. Back in the day, it would've made us very nervous. People recording you, you feel like it's a gotcha thing. Yeah. Think about the people who are in protests or working with ICE agents or things like that, or at TSA and they're recording people. It's all to gotcha and to document it or even police pullovers. It automatically creates a confrontational environment. But in this case, we're working together. Again, I've said this in multiple episodes, but we want a great result. She wants a great result. We're all working together to make a happy patient, a beautiful outcome, and to share that experience to demystify it for you, the listeners, and for her, the followers. So it's been a really good experience and it takes a certain level of comfort and confidence and buy-in from the office. And I think it's very valuable though. And of course, she's got a great personality. She makes it fun. And part of that's why people follow her because she's got a very attractive personality and a very magnetic kind of charisma to her. So that's a very important aspect of it.

Jackie (11:21):
I loved it too. I also think it's super awesome for our patients. They could go watch that video and just kind of see, okay, this is what the place looks like. This is how I'm going to get ready when I show up and I have to change into my gown and do all these things. So I think it offers an insight that a lot of people don't have before the surgery. So I think it's kind of cool to set expectations. And I think it can help future patients with their nerves to visualize what they're going to be walking into morning of surgery.

Dr. Chang (11:57):
Yeah. It's the details that you can write down on a piece of paper, but wearing loose fitting clothing with buttons or zippers in the front is one way, or you see her actually getting dressed and you say, "Okay, that's what I'm going to wear. A little cotton hoodie that's got an easy zipper. It's very loose." People are very visual and I think that helps a lot.

Jackie (12:21):
So she shared her three week results, looks great, but it's not a finished outcome. So what do you think about where her results are right now versus where they'll be? And is that an important thing to keep in mind when you're looking at social media?

Dr. Chang (12:36):
Yeah, I think she's doing great. She'll probably share more details of her own experience, but at the time of this recording, she's about three or four weeks out and she's doing well. I mean, three, four weeks is very early for healing in terms of scar healing. Most of the major healing is done. The bruising has settled, the swelling has gone down, any kind of redness has usually faded and that kind of thing. But scar tissue continues to soften, becomes more like natural tissue, nerves are starting to heal a little bit and start to get normal feeling back. So that's a normal process for anybody's surgery, whether it's breast surgery, time of surgery, arm or leg surgery, facial surgery. It takes time to recover and three weeks is certainly really early in the process.

Jackie (13:30):
I don't know if you've seen her comments, but lots of people now want to get this done. So what would you say to her followers that are seeing this wanting the same procedure before they come in for a consult with us?

Dr. Chang (13:46):
First of all, thank you. Thanks for your interest. I think that there's a lot of people who are really good candidates for this. Like we were talking about earlier, your body is going to develop and change whether you have large breasts, small breasts, asymmetric breasts, low position. That's the same with all parts of your body, but the breasts, particularly women are very satisfied when you can restore the shape or change the shape and position. So if you're interested in it, certainly you can always reach out, find us online or send us a message in our DMs at congressional plastic surgery on Instagram and you can always call the office as well, but we certainly love to educate the patients ahead of time in order to prepare you for what you might need. We can review pictures and kind of tell you if that's really the appropriate procedure for you, and we'd love to see you.

Jackie (14:44):
Yeah. It looks so good, I will say.

Dr. Chang (14:48):
Yeah. She was deciding between getting implants or not. And ultimately after we had our consultation, we decided she really didn't want to be that much bigger. She just wanted to improve the shape and symmetry a little bit, and that's what we did. And we did something called an auto augmentation where we used her own breast tissue to give a little volume and a little bit of improvement of the fullness and shape, but not really augment.

Jackie (15:10):
Right. I think it was a nice use of your technique to keep a really good shape with the auto augmentation. I think that helped her get a really good result. And so people, if you're just one of her followers reading that article online, they might not know that. So that's why it's important in your consultation or the phone call beforehand to talk things out with our coordinators so they could inform you like, "Oh, we also did an auto augmentation here versus an implant to get that result."

Dr. Chang (15:46):
Right. So it is super common that we're doing a lot of breast lifts, whether it's post-pregnancy, mommy makeover, patients who lost a lot of weight, or patients who just genetically have a little bit of lower breast position and would like to reshape it.

Jackie (16:03):
All right. So when a patient goes public with a result that you created and you have no control over how she is portraying this to the world, what does that feel like as a surgeon?

Dr. Chang (16:16):
That is scary.

Jackie (16:19):
Yeah. You got to let go of all control.

Dr. Chang (16:21):
That's scary. I mean, yeah, whenever patients can say whatever they want and you as the doctor cannot defend yourself, you are totally at the patient's mercy. So you really just can't go in there and say, "Oh, well, the patient told me this or this, " or you can't reveal details as ... Let's say they were unhappy with the outcome or other people in the comments are criticizing the work. You are bound by privacy rules and confidentiality that you just have to sort of sit there and just-

Jackie (17:06):
Just take it. ...

Dr. Chang (17:07):
Take the beating.

Jackie (17:08):
Kind of like the Mormon wife, Jessi. Yeah. Her surgeon.

Dr. Chang (17:11):
You just take it. You can't say anything. And it's a very powerless feeling and helpless feeling. That's why you have to really build a good relationship with your patient and you have to feel that you and your patient on the same page. And if you just agree to anything and something that maybe you don't feel is right but the patient really wants, that can really expose you and you will never be able to defend yourself and say, "Well, that's what the patient asked for, those 3,000 CC breast implants or her eighth nose job or these giant clown shaped lips." You can't say anything while people say, "Oh, that doctor should be thrown in jail or someone to take that license away or something dramatic like that on Reddit comments."

Jackie (17:55):
Well, and the way social media is now, anything can happen. Anyone can be a content creator. So you could be operating on anyone who has 20 followers and they could post something about their surgery and boom, go viral overnight.

Dr. Chang (18:09):
Well, not only that, the commenters could be a 16-year-old boy in the eighth grade or 11th grade, I guess, if it was eighth grade, that'd be really bad. But yeah, I mean, you could be some high school kid just on a keyboard warrior inflaming the situation for what purpose really, with what credibility? I think the most important thing is that when you work with your doctor or the doctor's working with the patient that you are on the same page, that you have the same wavelength that you guys see eye to eye because you're going to work together. And again, I can't emphasize it enough, you're going for the same result. You want a successful outcome where both parties are very happy and felt like it was worthwhile and creates a great relationship. That's what you're really going for.

Jackie (19:04):
All right guys. Well, we have to go see patients, but if you want to come see us or you loved what you saw with Darcy, follow us, give us some comments like, subscribe. And then yeah, if you want your own breast lift, go to our website.

Dr. Chang (19:21):
Talk to you soon. Thanks for listening to Secret Services, the podcast where we see everything and say nothing except right here. I'm Dr. Christopher Chang, double board certified plastic surgeon located in Tysons, Virginia. Follow us on TikTok @CongressionalPsurgery or on Instagram @congressionalplasticsurgery. To send us a classified message or to hear more episodes, go to secretservicespodcast.com. Links to everything we talked about on today's show are available in the show notes. Oops, patient's here. We got to go.