Liposuction Surgery in Sarasota, FL With Dr. Robert Carlso

I was performing an abdominal liposuction surgery last week in Sarasota, FL and the patient was falling in and out of sleep as I sculpted her belly fat away. She had developed excess fat between her navel and her scar from her C-section, and regardless of what she did, she could not lose that irritating collection of fat. We had an interesting conversation that I’ll relay here.

She opened her eyes from her restful state and asked, “Do you find this procedure challenging?”

I smiled, and reflected on my over 25 years of surgery. “Well I have repaired ruptured aorta’s with patient’s close to death, and have performed heart bypass surgery on patients whom I brought to the operating room while doing CPR and had to “crash on the bypass machine” to save their life. I have reconstructed hearts that have been damaged by numerous heart attacks, so I would have to say that this procedure is actually not very challenging, but very enjoyable to me.”

“Oh,” she replied “How did you get from doing heart surgery on very sick patients to performing liposuction surgery?”

“I had performed over 4000 heart procedures but one procedure that most other heart surgeons didn’t like to do was to reconstruct chest walls after a patient developed a deep infection after heart surgery.” I replied. “I would reconstruct the chest wall with muscle flaps from the chest, and abdomen, as well as moving healthy tissue from inside the belly to fight the infection. This was not a common procedure fortunately, but because I enjoyed the challenges of this procedure, many surgeons would send their complicated infections to me.”

“Now that sounds like a big surgery.” She replied.

It is, and challenging as well, but the feeling of saving a patient’s life by repairing their chest wall and getting rid of a potential lethal infection made me appreciate the importance of what I did.” She then asked, “Did heart surgery prepare you for liposuction surgery?”

I replied, “My in depth understanding of the muscles and fat layers in the chest and abdomen, helped me be a better surgeon to remove unwanted fat collections and to also perform this using minimally invasive procedures with small instruments and small holes that heal quickly.”

She was quiet for a moment and I thought our conversation was over and then she asked, “What is it called minimally invasive surgery?”

Minimally invasive surgery is performing a surgery through the smallest holes, and using smaller less traumatic instruments and incisions. This makes the surgery less painful, the recovery quicker and the procedure still successful.

I began doing minimally invasive surgeries in the early 90’s with removing many gall bladders and appendices, using laparoscopy instruments through very small holes. The procedure was more challenging and difficult than the standard procedures, but the patients recovered so quickly. I loved the challenge.

I later performed numerous lung surgeries through very small incisions, as well as aortic valve, mitral valve replacement, and bypass surgery. I enjoyed the minimally invasive approaches, and bring my extensive experience to using a minimally invasive approach to liposuction, helping achieve excellent results, with minimal down time and pain.

She closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them again asking, “How do you know where to remove fat and how much to remove?”

“I really enjoy performing liposuction and consider it art work with careful sculpting of the fat to achieve the most beautiful results.” I replied. “ My experience sewing millimeter coronary arteries, bypass grafts that have to lay just perfectly on the heart, and the fine sutures placed exactly so that the bypass graft stays open for years. “

I believe creating a perfect bypass graft is an art form, and I challenge many plastic surgeons if they are able to perform such a meticulous procedure. It is truly fine art when the graft lays so perfectly. And the patient’s life depends on it. It is my expertise in performing such meticulous operations that makes my ability to create a beautiful liposuction result possible.

“Thank you Dr. Carlson, “she said. “I feel so comforted and confident that I am in the best surgeon hands possible. So I’m not going to disturb your sculpting of my tummy anymore.”

“You never disturbed me. I enjoy talking with patients throughout the entire procedure.”

And she fell back asleep.