Top 10 Reasons To Have Your Surgery Here

When you elect to have Fox Valley Plastic Surgery (FVPS) perform your surgery, you have a choice of many facilities for your operation. However, we prefer to operate downstairs at the Theda Clark Surgery Center – Oshkosh (TCSC). We do not have any ownership in TCSC, and picked our favorite solely on its merits. Here are the top 10 reasons why we should perform your surgery at the Theda Clark Surgery Center:

1. Privacy: The Renaissance Center building, where FVPS and TCSC are located, is designed with privacy concerns at the forefront.  Our former office was on the site of a hospital.  It was discomforting to watch patients leave the hospital in a wheelchair across a frozen driveway and get into a cold car.  Essentially they were exposed to prying eyes and inclement weather.  The Renaissance Center facility is designed for privacy with privacy hedges around the parking lot and back, and a single private heated garage where one can be picked up at the end of the procedure.
2. Pre-Operative Warming: When patients are asleep under anesthesia, they lose the ability to shiver.  The room temperature washing solutions used in the operating room cool the patients significantly.  A cold patient has more pain, and a higher risk of infection and coagulation disorders.  Because operating rooms are kept cool, we use warming blankets in the pre-operative phase to keep our patients toasty throughout the procedure, and to reduce the risks of complications at TCSC.
3. Early SCD’S and Lovenox®: One of the greatest risks in a surgery such as a mommy makeover is blood clotting that subsequently goes to the lungs.  A pulmonary embolism can be life-threatening.  Because we have a Vein Center at Fox Valley Plastic Surgery and a full-time sonographer, we have studied blood flow at the groin as we tighten the muscles of the lower abdomen.  Interestingly, the blood flow velocity goes up because the size of the vein decreases as we tighten the muscle.  We do everything possible to avoid the formation of blood clots in our patients.  We start sequential compression devices (SCD) on patients’ legs in the pre-operative phase instead of post-operatively.  SCD’s stimulate the release of a natural anticoagulant called antithrombin III into the bloodstream.  The stockings do not work as well after the patient is asleep, so we put them on before the operation while the patient is awake for added safety.  Dr. Janssen uses a blood thinner called Lovenox® as a single pre-operative injection for patients who are having the muscles tightened in a formal abdominoplasty.  Muscle tightening is optional in a tummy tuck. With these precautions, FVPS has not had a lethal complication of pulmonary embolus in over 27 years.
4. E.R.A.S. Protocols: The trend in medicine is to avoid the use of narcotics in patients whenever possible.  We follow the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (E.R.A.S.) protocol where we use acetaminophen to deal with pain, Celebrex® or Mobic to deal with inflammation which is really the cause of pain, and gabapentin to down regulate the nervous system in our patients.  Combined with the prudent use of local anesthetic, our patients frequently do not require any narcotics after surgery.  Subsequently, we have few problems with nausea and constipation after surgeries. The E.R.A.S. protocol allows us to even operate on previous addicts and patients who are intolerant of narcotics.
5. T.A.P. Blocks: When we tighten the stomach muscles, we want our patients to get up and moving right away after surgery because it hastens recovery and reduces complications.  Using an ultrasound and a three-day long-lasting local anesthetic called Exparel®, Dr. Janssen places a Transversus Abdominal Plane (TAP) block at surgery. The block allows patients to wake up essentially painless, and have a positive experience recovering from surgery.  Dr. Janssen has published and lectured on this ground breaking technique at the Northwest Society of Plastic Surgeons, and has demonstrated the T.A.P. Block in videos on Realself.com.
6. Drainless: Drains have historically been used post-operatively to drain away fluids, such as pus, blood, or other fluid, that build up in areas of the body. Any person, who has had a drain, will say that was the worst part of recovery.  Imagine having fluid leaking from a drain tube in your body!  We have adopted the ability to do drain-less abdominoplasty.  By following the teaching use of others, and using progressive tension sutures to close the upper abdominal flap down onto the muscle wall, we have done away with the use of postoperative drains in most abdominoplasties.  This is relatively new for us, but is working well, and our patients love it.
7. Accreditation: By choosing an accredited surgical facility, you can be assured of getting qualified, trained and experienced support staff, fully qualified anesthesiologists, and clean and fully equipped operating rooms.  There are several different accreditation bodies for plastic surgery facilities.  The most difficult is the Joint Commission, which is the accreditation body for this facility.  Earning the Gold Seal of Approval® shows dedication to improving health care quality and safety. TCSC is audited and inspected on a regular basis, and has only received praise from the regulators because they do it right!
8. Anesthesia: It is a surprise to most people, but there is little evidence that using an M.D. anesthesiologist is any different from using a nurse anesthetist for healthy patients.  In spite of that, we occasionally run into situations where we are fortunate to be working with M.D. anesthesiologists for ALL the cases at TCSC.  That experience on the front line with difficult cases makes us much more comfortable working with patients here.  With the Neenah Association of Hospital Anesthesiologists administering the anesthesia at TCSC, FVPS has not had an anesthesia event of significance in any patient at the Theda Clark Surgery Center – Oshkosh.
9. Experience: The board certified surgeons at FVPS have significant experience,and have operated on or cared for more than 40,000+ patients in the Fox Valley over the last 27 years.  Patients fly in for their procedures!   David Janssen and Dr. William Doubek are both members of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons® and the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery®.  They are educated and certified by the best!
10. The Staff! We saved the best for last.  Our staff gets it.  Many patients pay full freight for a 5 Star customer service experience.  Having staff seem like they do not care or a nurse rushing to get patients out the door is not how we work here.  We have a long-standing series of 5 Star reviews for service at TCSC and FVPS.  The staff and nurses understand both healthcare and concierge service.  No one is on commission or sales goals, so any services that are recommended come from patient need instead of profit motivation.  We have your best interests as our top priority, and would stack our quality and customer service against any other facility or business in any industry without hesitation.