Tummy Tucks in Fort Myers and Southwest, Florida

Tummy Got You Down?

There used to be a time when women who gave birth viewed their stomachs afterwards and concluded there is nothing they could do about the residual skin and stretch marks. Similarly, women (and men) who lost weight and ended up with loose skin and stretched abdominal muscles had the same problem. Last year, however,  more than 150,000 American women and men had abdominoplasty surgery. 95% of those who had it said it was “worth it”, according to realself.com,  Abdominoplasty is also known as a tummy tuck. It is not an “instant fix” or replacement for weight loss. It is important to lose the weight first.  You should be in good health before having any surgery. The more weight you lose, the trimmer you will look. It's important after surgery to have a good dietary regimen in order to control your weight. It is common to think  you’ll be bedridden recovery for days after surgery. But, as a plastic surgeon, I recommend getting up the day after surgery to promote circulation. This encourages the area to receive much needed blood to promote healing. This also helps you feel better after surgery and gets you back on your feet. Within six weeks, most patients are able to do cardiovascular exercises like running and elliptical machine exercise. Caution: weight-lifting requires too much exertion and could strain the sutures and incisions. If you’re unsure of whether or not a tummy tuck is right for you, look at before-and-after photos either on my  website or on a patient education site like www.surgery.org. Tummy tuck photos can show you pictures of individuals who might have a similar body type and their results after surgery. Of course, the most important patient safety tip is: see a board-certified plastic surgeon.

How to tell if you are about to have a stroke

I guess we are truly in the digital age but more specifically “the smart phone” era.  

Now there is a new sign for potential stroke victims.  It seems incoherent, garbled text messages may be a sign of impending stroke.  

My wife has to wonder about me because I often text in a hurry and it comes out garbled.  Oh well! 

This new phenomenon is called;  you guessed it, “dystextia”.  Something new to add to your lexicon.

Dr. Brueck on the radio

I was pleased to be interviewed on our local radio station. The subject was plastic surgery in Fort Myers .

Here's a link so you can listen in. Please let me know how I did. Was I informative? Friendly?

Thanks for your support

ttp://www.ghostshow.net/aae/AAE_031213_to_air_031613_FINAL.mp3

The light at the end of the tunnel...

Sometimes the light is very small - very distant. But it is there. And it gets ever closer.

In this case, the light is a potential cure for cancer.

Scientists at Stanford Univerity have found a drug that has killed or shrunk every kind of cancer tumor it has been used against — a new anti-cancer weapon of remarkable potential
 

The drug blocks a protein, CD47, produced by cancer cells. The protein keeps one’s immune system from fighting cancer tumors. By disabling CD47 production, the new drug renders cancer cells vulnerable to the body’s natural immunity. 

 

Tests found that several kinds of human cancer cells transplanted into mice, including breast, ovary, colon, bladder, brain, liver, and prostate tumors were killed by the mice's immune systems.
 

“We showed that even after the tumor had taken hold, the antibody can either cure the tumor or slow its growth and prevent metastasis,” said Stanford University School of Medicine biologist Irving Weissman of in an interview with Science Magazine.

 

The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may lead to clinical trials in humans as early as next year, according to a statement appearing on Stanford School of Medicine's website.
 

The new research is an outgrowth of earlier studies by Weissman which found that leukemia cells produce higher levels of CD47 than healthy cells, Science Magazine reported. In recent years, Weissman and colleagues discovered that blocking CD47 with an antibody cured some cases of lymphoma and leukemia in mice by stimulating the immune system to see the cancer cells as invaders.
 

But the new research goes further, Weissman said,.suggesting CD47 is important against every kind of tumor tested so far, 

 

This is spectacular news of a very small light that may eventually shine a bright new future for millions who are otherwise fated to suffer from cancer. For me, as a Fort Myers plastic surgeon, it can't happen fast enough.