The Confident Choice Podcast – Episode 2 Dr. Roberto Garcia

Transcript

You’re listening to The Confident Choice Podcast with me, Dr. Roberto Garcia, a double board-certified facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon. Honest conversations and expert advice about the decisions that make you feel your best.

Welcome everybody to Episode Two of The Confident Choice. I’m your host, Dr. Roberto Garcia from Contoura Facial Plastic Surgery in sunny and warm Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

Our first episode launched, and we’re really excited that we’ve had a lot of positive feedback about it. One of the things I wanted to follow up on from our first episode is the mystique surrounding what happens during a consultation and what one can expect during that experience.

I can’t tell you how many tens of thousands of consultations I’ve done in my career. I’ve been doing this for going on 21 years this year — 21 years is a long time. It used to be that a patient came into a consultation with very limited information about the doctor, the practice, and the overall process. Now, with the internet, social media, and all of the tools patients have at their fingertips, patients are far more informed when they come in.

I’ve narrowed the consultation process to focus on the first major decision we have to make: do you need surgery, or do you not need surgery? If I’m able to solve a patient’s concern with a non-surgical option, then I’m probably going to try that first. I’m not a surgery-happy doctor who immediately jumps into the operating room because that is not always the appropriate way to ameliorate a patient’s concerns.

The second question we address during a consultation is whether this surgeon is the right fit for you. By this point, you’ve probably seen before-and-after photos, visited the website, and read reviews. You already have a good idea about the practice. During the consultation, you’re determining whether everything you’ve seen online matches what you experience in person.

As the patient, you’re trying to find out: does this physician see what bothers me? Can they correct what I see? And will they be there afterward if things don’t go exactly as planned? Because that does happen.

Any surgeon who tells you they’ve never had complications is not being truthful. An honest surgeon will say, “I’ve seen this before, and this is how I’ve corrected it.” The real question you should ask yourself is whether you trust your surgeon to be there afterward if a problem arises.

After surgery, I bring my patients in very close follow-up because that is when patients need their physician the most. Surgery is not the hard part — the hard part is the aftercare. Patients don’t always understand what they’re seeing during healing, and it’s our responsibility to guide them through it.

From a physician’s perspective, my role is to determine whether a patient’s request is reasonable and whether I can truly help. A common mistake physicians make is believing they can correct something when they cannot, which ultimately leaves patients feeling disappointed and harms the entire process.

Another major concern patients have is wanting to look natural — like they never had plastic surgery. I often describe it like a Navy SEAL mission: you go in, complete the mission, and leave without anyone knowing you were there. I never want someone to say, “That’s a nice facelift — who did it?” Instead, people should simply think you look fantastic without being able to pinpoint why.

Natural results are a major component of what we do, and in future episodes I’ll explain anatomically how we achieve that.

Recovery is another important topic. Patients need honest expectations. You’re not going to heal in a week — it’s physically impossible. I cannot undo 20 years of aging in one week. Recovery today is not like the five-month recoveries people remember from decades ago, but depending on complexity, recovery can range from two weeks to a month and a half.

Patients often confuse active recovery and passive recovery.

Active recovery is the first couple of weeks when bruising and swelling are present and you may not feel socially comfortable. Passive recovery is when you’re functioning normally again. Most of my patients return to work within 10 to 14 days. By two weeks, swelling is often reduced to about 20%, and even with that remaining swelling, patients typically already look better than before surgery.

Pain management is also frequently discussed. Facial procedures are generally not very uncomfortable, although everyone heals differently. We also review possible complications and discuss realistic expectations. Consultations typically last about an hour and often begin with my patient coordinator gathering information and photographs so we can realistically evaluate what can be corrected.

Many patients arrive with multiple concerns, but I encourage focusing on the primary issue first. Nine times out of ten, once that main concern is addressed, patients forget about the others. The goal is to help patients fall back in love with their face, which allows them to feel better about themselves and interact more positively with others.

Over the years, consultations have evolved into conversations rather than interviews. Early in my training, consultations felt like job interviews, with ego on both sides. I shifted toward creating an educational conversation where we learn about each other — your expectations and goals, and whether I am the right surgeon for you.

This must be a comfortable experience because it is not easy to admit there is something about your face you want to change. Driving across town to discuss that with someone is a humbling experience, and patients deserve empathy and understanding.

One final note before closing is the importance of patience versus haste. We always promote thoughtful decision-making. These decisions should never be rushed.

It’s got to be really hard. I first learned that when I was in college taking a botany class that was extremely difficult. I think only six people finished the class by the end of the semester. I remember my professor telling me, “If it was easy, everyone would do it.” The fact that something is hard is what gives it value.

That lesson has carried into every facet of my life. If medical training had been easy, it wouldn’t have been valuable. The difficulty is what made me the surgeon I am today. If marriage were easy, I probably wouldn’t still be married. The fact that it’s hard makes you fight for it.

Today, many people choose the easier path by default. They don’t want to be challenged or pushed. If I can pass along any advice, it’s this: when faced with two choices, choose the one that challenges you the most. Especially for younger people, choose the harder path. Fewer people take it for a reason, and when you reach the top, you’ll understand why it’s often a lonely road — because of the hard work required. But it is always worth it.

I hope to continue sharing wisdom that was passed down to me. For a first episode, this turned out pretty good, and I think this is going to be fun. We may even move to an outdoor venue next week.

In Episode Three, we’re going to talk about what happens during the consultation itself — that primordial and extremely valuable moment where we spend 20 to 30 minutes getting to the core question: why did you come in? Why did you drive across town? What deeper reason brought you here to change something about yourself?

Good decisions come from good information.

I hope you have a wonderful week. We’re always here to answer questions or concerns. If you leave questions in the comments, we’ll answer some of them in the following episode

And remember — good decisions always come from good information.