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Intro: Riverside Healthcare puts the health and wellness information you need well within reach.

Terry Streetman (Host): Welcome back to Well Within Reach, presented by Riverside Healthcare. I'm Terry Streetman, Marketing Communications representative. And we are joined today by Riverside Plastic and Reconstructive surgeon, Dr. Alec Fisher, who's here to discuss our plastic surgery services, including our new cosmetic procedure options. Thanks for joining us, Dr. Fisher.

Dr. Alec Fisher: Thank you so much. Happy to be here.

Host: We're so glad to have you. Before we jump into our questions, we'll take a quick break for a message about myChart.

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Host: Okay. We're back. Dr. Fisher, you are new-ish to Riverside. Can you explain your background and your role here?

Dr. Alec Fisher: Absolutely. Excited to be here. I'm a plastic surgeon. I do plastic reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. I started in medical school at Dartmouth. And then, I did my residency. I did a comprehensive integrated plastic surgery residency at Cooper University Hospital, which is right outside of Philadelphia, it's a big level I trauma center, as well as an MD Anderson Cancer Center. And I was able to run a cosmetic clinic my senior year there. So, a lot of experience in those three domains, and I'm very happy to bring comprehensive plastic surgery here to the Riverside community.

Host: We're so glad to have you here. So, let's get right to the meat of the matter. What are the new cosmetic services that you'll be offering here in our community?

Dr. Alec Fisher: So, I'll be offering all the gamut of cosmetic surgery services, including adominoplasty, anything which means a tummy tuck, or any abdominal contouring, as well as like abdominal contouring after weight loss as well as the back. I can also do any cosmetic breast surgery, breast augmentation, which means putting in implants, breast lifts, as well as breast reductions. And then, I also do facial cosmetic surgery, including like a nose job or rhinoplasty, facelift. I can also make the eyes look more youthful with what's called a blepharoplasty.

I'm really excited to bring a whole comprehensive array of cosmetic services to all patients. And I'm happy to have the discussion with patients as well.

Host: We love that. We're really glad to have you here and have that whole range of services here in our community. So, I think one of the things that's most important with this kind of service is how these procedures can help patients' confidence and quality of life. Can you talk about what you see in that with patients?

Dr. Alec Fisher: Yeah, absolutely. I think there's a nice marriage between the reconstructive work I do and the aesthetic cosmetic work I do. Because ultimately, when somebody suffers, let's say an injury, they don't feel comfortable in their skin. They may not look normal walking down the street. And it's my job and my absolute pride to try and make people look more normal.

And on the flip side, in the cosmetic space, people may not feel comfortable with the way they look. They may not like the way they look in a mirror. Something may be really distressing to them. And it brings me a lot of joy to sort of talk to patients and see what it is that's bothering them and how I can help them.

So when I started this whole training thing, I thought cosmetic surgery had a bad rap, that these cosmetic surgeons were a little greasy, wanting money, things like that. But the more I got into cosmetic surgery, I saw it was this beautiful practice of really helping people feel more comfortable about themselves and really, really enhancing people's quality of life, allowing people to be more confident and go out and achieve their dreams in some ways. So, I've really fallen in love with the patient care side of cosmetic surgery, and I really enjoy that whole care process and walking that line with patients.

Host: That's great. Yeah, I think people have this concept from like Nip/Tuck and the reality TV shows, and that's not really what you're doing here. So, that's great.

Dr. Alec Fisher: Yeah, totally. And I grew up in Los Angeles, so I was surrounded by plastic surgeons who were on like TV commercials saying like, you know, "Come to me, we'll make your breast larger," or whatever it was. And I always thought, "Oh, I'm never going to be that." Here I am, but I think I have maybe a different approach than some to it because I really believe that cosmetic plastic surgery should be something that you really want, that makes sense, that's safe to do, and something that's going to make you feel more comfortable and happy with how you look.

Host: Love that. So, you sort of listed off that full range of services a minute ago. Which procedures are you most excited to provide?

Dr. Alec Fisher: I'll be honest, I know the facial procedures seemed to be more glamorous. People like to talk about the facelift, especially after the whole Kris Jenner facelift media explosion or nose job. But really, my favorite is an adominoplasty. I think, I do a really nice job of making the abdomen more youthful, slimming the abdomen, particularly after maybe a woman has babies or, even males, I do a lot of male tummy tucks as well. And I think I can make people feel really good about the way they look so that they can wear a swimsuit in the warmer months or whatever it is. People seem to really find the most joy and confidence in doing that.

Host: That's great. So before we move on to our next questions, we'll take a quick break to talk about the importance of primary care.

Consistency is being able to count on someone to be there when you need them. At Riverside Healthcare, your primary care provider is dedicated to being in your corner, helping you and your family stay healthy and thrive. Find the right primary care provider for you at myrhc.net/acceptingnew. From annual screenings to well checks and everything in between, having a primary care provider that you can trust makes all the difference.

Okay. So, we will go on with our questions here. for people who are looking into these procedures, what does that process look like, the scheduling, appointment-making procedure process?

Dr. Alec Fisher: For the cosmetic side of things. If you have a purely cosmetic interest or consult, the way it works is you can just call our office and schedule an appointment. There is a copay or a consultation fee to see me and sort of talk about these cosmetic things, and that fee comes out of whatever cost would be associated with the procedure.

So, that's money given back if we decide that surgery is right for you or if you decide that you would like a less invasive procedure like Botox or filler, which I also provide, those consultation fees are removed from the services. So, the way it works is you just call and make an appointment and I'll see you as soon as possible. I see patients on Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Host: Okay. Awesome. That'll help people, I think, with that process. We kind of talked about some of this just in terms of that perception of plastic surgery, but can you dispel any myths or misconceptions that people have about this kind of service?

Dr. Alec Fisher: Yeah, I think one of the big myths or misconceptions about plastic surgeries that somebody will look "fake" after getting plastic surgery, and I think that's how you look after bad plastic surgery. The best plastic surgery should be whispers. People should say, "Oh, did they have something done? I can't tell." That's good plastic surgery when somebody, "Oh, you look more awake, you look more refreshed today." That's what I aim for and that's what I go for. We don't want your friends all to know that you had plastic surgery unless you tell them.

Host: Okay. Well, that's great. So as we get toward the end here, I think, what should patients know when they're considering these procedures? What would you tell patients as they're beginning that sort of journey?

Dr. Alec Fisher: Yeah, absolutely. There's two things that I talk about during the consultation that I think all patients should know. First and foremost, I'm not selling like a hair dye or something like that. This is real surgery, and surgery has risks. And I don't have a crystal ball. I can't make all risks go away, but I have a very open discussion with everybody that, "Hey, here are the risks. Here's my guess at a percentage of the risk based on your health." But, you know, I encourage everyone to be healthy, not smoke, maintain a good weight, eat well. And that does reduce your risk with these surgeries, because they are real surgeries.

The second big thing, I think, patients should know and consider is that because this is a big real surgery, it does require recovery too. And you want to look your best after this surgery. So, that means giving your body a chance to heal following the surgery. And I think that's really important. And I think it's hard for some people who invest in the surgery in themselves and they expect to have the surgery and then just be done. But there is a recovery period that we have to get through.

Host: Awesome. Yeah, that's super helpful. And I think that transparency helps people, you know, put them at ease a little bit. Even though you're talking about risks, just knowing what you're in for I think helps.

Dr. Alec Fisher: Absolutely. And I think it's so important and a big part of my job is identifying these risks and trying to mitigate them as best I can.

Host: Well, great. And we know from your experience that you have the skills to make sure you understand those, so that's great. All right. So, we're at the end here. What is the biggest takeaway for our listeners? If they take one thing away from this episode, what should it be?

Dr. Alec Fisher: I think a big thing to take away from this is that I'm a board-eligible surgeon. I'm here trying to do safe surgery and take the best care of patients as possible. I think cosmetic surgery is something that should not be taken lightly. And even though it's what is considered elective surgery, I think this is real surgery, but it can really transform your life. And I hope that the community trusts me to guide them through that path and get them to what their goals are.

Host: Well, great. Yeah, we appreciate that. And, you know, giving people the opportunity, I think, you kind of said it just now to invest in themselves, and restore that kind of confidence. So, that takes us to the end of our questions. Thanks again for joining us today, Dr. Fisher.

Dr. Alec Fisher: Thanks for having me. This was awesome.

Host: To learn more about Riverside's Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Services, you can visit myrhc.net/plasticsurgery.

Thanks for tuning into Well Within Reach, presented by Riverside Healthcare. Please take a moment to rate and leave a review for Well Within reach on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. To learn more about Riverside, visit riversidehealthcare.org.