Win five dozen roses @Dr. Brueck's Facebook page

As a friend of this blog, you may want to "like" my Facebook page.

If you do, you will be entered to win a dozen roses delivered to your address in Lee, Collier or Charlotte County every week in December. That's five dozen roses, one dozen delivered each Wednesday. All you need to do is go to my page at

http://www.facebook.com/DrBrueckMDFortMyersPlasticSurgeon
and indicate that you "like" the page.

Thank you.

PS: You also can look me up at http://www.Beauty-by-Brueck.com

I have mixed emotions when I receive thank you notes. I one hand, I am thrilled to know that I made life easier for someone. On the other hand, I am concerned that sharing the note will be perceived as immodest. Nevertheless, if telling you, dear reader, about someone else's successful surgery can help you decide whether or not to go forward with one you are contemplating, I think it is worth the possibility of appearing to be full of myself.

So, here are two recent thank you notes I received. Both were delivered in hard copy, so I had to have my staff transcribe them. I hope you find them interesting.

"Dear Dr. Brueck:

Thank you very much for removing a cancerous growth from my forehead last month. You did excellent surgery and I am truly grateful." - LC

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And VKM wrote:

"Re: Reconstructive breast implant surgery performed on me due to a double partial mastectomy 30 years ago. During those years the appearance of my breasts as well as the condition of the implants deteriorated. My right breast changed shape and shrunk due to implant leakage. My left breast was just the opposite. It was swollen and enlarged due to implant leakage and old blood. Over time I was affected mentally because of the way I felt about my looks and day to day pain. (It was becoming very painful in my side and back.)

About 15 years ago, I was in a Doctors office for eye care and this very nice man came in and introduced himself. I later found out this man was a plastic surgeon and honored for being the best many times. I remembered that meeting and I'm glad I did. To make the story shorter, the appointment was made and the procedure was completed. Not only did he correct my physical looks 1000 percent. He also changed the way I feel about myself tremendously.

There is something to be said about a Doctor's personal demeanor and bedside manor (sic), this particular Doctor has it all. I just had my yearly physical and my primary Doctor was very impressed.

I would like to profoundly thank you, Robert John Brueck MD FACS, Board Certified Plastic Surgeon."

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Thank you for allowing me to share these with you. Both will be posted to the Testimonials page on my Fort Myers Plastic Surgery website.

Botox Sales are Rising

Dr. Brueck sends items of news and interest from his Fort Myers Plastic Surgery practice.

Botox sales in the second quarter of 2011 were up a solid 16% for the quarter, the dollar volume was $418 million. I think sales of Botox/fillers are up because in a weak economy they are more affordable. Also younger patients are now coming in, in their 20’s 30’s to start Botox.

Diet Update

This is another in Dr. Robert J. Brueck's blog postings about health. Dr. Brueck MD is a Board Certified plastic surgeon in Fort Myers FL. In this message, he reports progress on his new weight loss program.

I have now been on the PhenTabzRX diet for about 6 weeks.I am terrible when it comes to exact dates, but so far so good.

I have lost about 15 pounds and counting.

Over the past few weeks several people have noticed and commented on my weight loss. That is really a shot of adrenalin to keep me going forward. I have to confess I still cheat a little. I had that terrible Ben Jerry’s ice cream one night. It was so good. But that’s ok. I still try to go to the gym 4-5 times a week. It is not a social hour for me but a real honest to goodness workout. I really work up a sweat.

I would like to get down to about 200 lbs. to see where I go from there. I know it would take a lot of weight off of my ankles, knees and hips. Boy, getting old is not easy.

But Oct 1, I can get back on my drugs - my drug of choice is Celebrex. I had stem cells and PRP into my ankle so I have had to curtail my Celebrex, but Oct 1^st is just around the corner.Yea baby.

I’ll be giving periodic updates. If you would be interested in this program you can call the office and schedule a consult. The initial consult is $100 and the Phen/Tabz RX cost $80 per month.

A new look. A new body. What is it worth?

PRESSURE FOR KELOIDS

Dr. Brueck MD reports from his Fort Myers Cosmetic Surgery practice

A study was done by a group of physicians in Mannheim Germany headed up by Dr. Gregor Bran. The keloid was resected – corticosteroids were injected, then a custom made pressure device was put on each ear. The patient was instructed to wear the device for a minimum of 5 nights until the scar level matched the level of surrounding skin or until 2 consecutive adjustments produced no change or improvement. The device was held in place by magnets. This is why pressure is so important in the treatment of keloids particularly if they involve the ear lobe.

FORECLOSED ON? STRESSED OUT?

Dr. Brueck MD blogs here on matters of health. He is a Board Certified plastic surgeon in Fort Myers, Florida.

I have always felt that “stress” is truly America’s silent killer. Yes there’s asymptomatic high blood pressure or the silent building up of plaque in our arteries but stress, in my opinion, trumps them all.

I recently read an article in the Wall Street Journal (8/31/11) discussing the effects of the rash of home foreclosures on our health. I found it interesting, but really no surprise.

The research was conducted by Janet Carrie of Princeton and Edel Tekin of George State. They studied the health of patients’ in several states hit hardest by the foreclosure crisis – Arizona, Florida, New Jersey and California. They could have thrown in Nevada for good measure.

Through their collaborative efforts they found that an increase of 100 foreclosures resulted in a 7.2% rise in emergency visits and hospitalization for hypertension and an 8.1% increase in hospitalizations for diabetes in the 20-49 year old age group.

They also found visits to the doctor for “anxiety” increased by 12%. There were other negative side effects as well. Again, the results are not surprising.

Buyer-Beware

Another blog message from Fort Myers Cosmetic Surgeon, Dr. Robert J. Brueck MD

BEFORE/AFTER PHOTOS – BUYER BEWARE

The highly competitive market place for cosmetic surgery procedures creates somewhat questionable practices. No other area is as susceptible as so-called "before and after" photos.

With all the newest technologies – new vendors – new software programs such as Photoshop by Adobe systems - "after" photos can be altered to give that “WOW!” effect. These altered "before and after" photo’s can be changed to the point where a prospective patient says, “Wow, I want that."

A case in point of deception is found in a widely-aired television commercial for a trademarked surgical procedure.

The "after" photo’s reveal a result that would be impossible to obtain with this one procedure.

At the bottom of the post-op photo is a disclaimer wherein the producers of the commercial state that other procedures also were done. How many people will see let alone read the disclaimer?

Legal? – yes. Deceptive? – for sure.

I have always told my new patients – "when you become my patient, you get total honesty and I treat you like a member of my family."