FAQ / Resources
When should I arrive for my first visit?
Plan to arrive at UW Medical Center 30 minutes before your appointment to check in with Clinic Registration, where the staff will prepare your medical chart and process your insurance forms. Please bring the following to your first appointment at the Plastic Surgery Clinic:
- The completed patient information form
- A list of medications you are taking
- Your insurance card or current medical coupons.
What will happen during my first visit?
The Surgical Specialties Center is a large clinic with more than 20 surgeons. Please tell the main desk staff you are a new patient for the Plastic Surgery Clinic. During your visit, you will meet with your plastic surgeon who will evaluate your condition and talk with you about your potential surgery. Expect your first visit to the Plastic Surgery Clinic to last up to one hour.
Common Medical Terms Used at the Plastic Surgery Clinic:
TRAM (Transverse Rectus Abdominus Myocutaneous) flap: Flap of abdominal skin and its underlying tissues (including fat, muscle, and blood vessels), which is moved to the chest to create a new breast mound.
DIEP flap: The Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator Flap (DIEP) is a significant advance over the TRAM flap. THe DIEP is the same tissue of skin and fat from the lower abdomen (belly) but does not sacrifice the abdominal rectus muscle. Though the operation is longer and more complex, there is much less pain, less hernia risk, and the muscles are left intact afterward.
Free flap: Piece of skin and its underlying tissues (including blood vessels and muscle), which is completely separated from the body and transferred microsurgically to another body site in order to close a wound
Microsurgery: Operation involving delicate reconstruction which requires a microscope
Blepheroplasty: Correction of excess skin in the upper or lower eyelids, which often occurs with aging.
Rhinoplasty: Correction of congenital or acquired deformities of the nose. This can be done to improve breathing or just the outward appearance, most often done to remove the lump on the nose or to make the tip more delicate in appearance.
Rhytidectomy: A facelift, designed to remove excess skin and fat from the lower face and neck to result in a more youthful appearance.