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After losing 100 pounds ten years ago, Danielle found herself with a new and different set of issues she hadn’t expected—and that her bariatric surgeon hadn’t prepared her for.
Opening up about her motivations and the obstacles she’s overcome, Danielle shares the realities of her life after significant weight loss, including the need for multiple procedures, the importance of realistic expectations and a strong support system in recovery.
Her path to feeling comfortable in her skin is nothing short of remarkable. After her gastric bypass, Danielle started with a tummy tuck with Dr. James Vogel. She then worked with Dr. Houssock for a full body makeover, including a thigh lift, mons lift, 360 lipo, and BodyTite. Later, she addressed her arms and chest with an arm lift, breast lift, and finally breast augmentation.
Find out:
- Danielle’s top recovery tips for the best results
- The importance of scheduling downtime into your busy life
- How she’s feeling about her results today
- Why weight fluctuations between surgeries are normal—and her advice on managing them
- The value of a supportive medical team
Transcript
Dr. Houssock (00:04):
You are listening to another episode of Perfectly Imperfect. Hi Danielle.
Danielle (00:09):
Hi, Dr. Houssock.
Dr. Houssock (00:11):
Welcome to the Perfectly Imperfect podcast.
Danielle (00:14):
Thank you for having me.
Dr. Houssock (00:16):
Ladies and gentlemen, this is a very special episode of Perfectly Imperfect. We are absolutely honored to have Danielle Green here today. She is an absolute superstar and we in the practice, we’re so blessed to be able to experience, basically Danielle’s entire journey. And so Danielle is a patient of ours, but I feel like the word patient just does not do it justice because we’ve really gotten to know Danielle through the years, and so she’s really part of our team in a lot of ways. But she is technically a patient. She’s been coming to the practice even before I started in this practice, and so there’s no one to tell her story better than Danielle. So Danielle, how about just a little bit about yourself, just a basic who you are, and your little bit of your beginning of your story.
Danielle (01:09):
Well, as you said earlier, my name is Danielle. This has really been my journey since I’d say 2014, if we’re talking about when I really started it. But I’ve really struggled with weight for all of my life through my teenage years. And then after my pregnancy, which was when I was 19, it became more of an issue and a lot harder to try to maintain. So I decided, which I don’t really know how old I was in 2014, but I decided around that time that I wanted to be healthy and bypass surgery or weight loss surgery, I guess in general, was I think they were talking about it more probably around that time than I had ever heard. And there were a couple of different options that you could do at that time. And I chose to go with the actual bypass versus a sleeve or the belt, and that’s really when it started. And I was very ignorant at that time with really what it was going to be like. I think I thought that I was just going to lose all this weight and then my life was going to be great and I was going to be where I needed to be. And then I realized once I started losing the weight, that there was a whole nother side of the process.
Dr. Houssock (02:29):
That is so crazy because it’s the truth about this with most people. Right? We think in medicine, we as doctors think we are so thorough with preparing our patients for whatever they’re going through. Whether you’re talking about pregnancy, whether you’re talking about delivery, and then when you’re talking about weight loss. And I would say we do an absolute injustice when it comes to preparing women and men who are undergoing weight loss. It’s absolutely true, and it’s so frustrating because I think there might be, I think of it’s innocent. I honestly think that it’s just not the priority thought when patients are being put into that category of it’s time for a weight loss procedure. They’re thinking about making your life better in the sense of maybe curing their diabetes if they have it, hypertension, high blood pressure. They’re thinking about real medical problems. Right? But I would argue that the overall outcome of going through weight loss like you did and then not knowing that you would end up with an extensive amount of excess skin left, it’s almost, it puts you into a state of okay now what?
(03:37):
And there have been studies that have been shown multiple times, many, many times, where it is the absolute truth that a patient will keep their weight off if they then undergo a skin removing surgery after significant weight loss. And I don’t know if you would explain this, Danielle, but other patients have explained it, and you can tell me if you agree with this. There are points where before patients undergo those procedures or even think about the affordability of those procedures, because they’re not covered under insurance most of the time, they’ve considered gaining their weight back because they almost felt that, they almost had a new problem that was more challenging in some ways than just being a little bit heavier. Does that make sense?
Danielle (04:22):
Yeah. I think that it probably has a lot to do with the why they chose surgery in the first place. For me, I was very lucky. I didn’t really have any health issues. I didn’t have diabetes. My BMI was obviously way out of line, but it was a lifestyle decision for me and I wanted to be able to play with my son. He was younger and I couldn’t keep up, couldn’t keep with him. And I didn’t want to be that mom that went to the school to pick up their kid and felt embarrassed or my kid felt embarrassed that this was their parent. I know that sounds very superficial, but the why behind it for me was a little bit different. It wasn’t as much from a medical, like I was ill or I had any type of underlying diseases. It was more because I needed to be there for my children and I needed to feel better about myself.
Dr. Houssock (05:18):
And those reasons are no less important when it comes to making a decision like that. I mean, ultimately our physical and mental health are combined and we want to be able to do the things we want to do and we want to be healthy. And ultimately that means in mind as well. And so I get that. And so it sounds like really what pushed you over the edge was a lot of the more functional things, especially when it came to your son, and then just the overall feeling good in your own skin. When you first decided, all right, I’m diving in. How did you decide on the doctor that you were going to have do it? How did that happen?
Danielle (05:52):
I did a lot of online research. I’d say my first procedure, I think with, oh my gosh, for the life of me, I can’t even remember his name, that was originally here.
Dr. Houssock (06:05):
Oh, Dr. Vogel. Yes.
Danielle (06:06):
Vogel. Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I couldn’t remember him. I did a lot of, I was working in Westminster, so truthfully I was trying to find something that was local for me from a work perspective to try to fit into my lifestyle, but also had really good reviews. And the practice just had the best reviews. And honestly, the biggest thing for me was that it had the in-house surgical center, because it was a one-stop shop for me. And having a young child and already commuting to work, because I was commuting really far to Westminster at the time. It seemed to be a great solution. Just to be able to do it all in one place, have one billing for it, you’re not getting bills from anesthesiologists and from nurses and from the physician. It just felt like a really, really easy process I guess if you could say. And that was why. And he had really, really great reviews too online. So I felt comfortable.
Dr. Houssock (07:06):
And I mean those are all good reasons. You want to look for a practice that, number one gives you the convenience that you need, whatever it might be. You want it to be reputable. The pro of having a surgery center is just, it’s insurmountable because it’s so, for us and for the patient, not only it’s certified, so just like the hospital gets certification on a yearly basis, we in our surgery center have to have that. You have to be board certified in order to have that certification for a surgery center. So it kind of clicks boxes for patients because it allows them to feel a little bit safer in that environment because they know that if somebody has what’s for us, it’s called a quad A certification. The things you worry about, board certification being safe, all of those things are just out of your head because someone’s already done that for you.
(07:54):
And we appreciate that too. We love that everything is right here, so it’s streamlined for us too, for patient care. And I joined the practice in 2017. I was at the time before that I was a resident at Hopkins and Dr. Vogel and I got to know each other. And then I was lucky to join him in practice and eventually take over this practice. And so for Danielle and I, we met through her first procedure with Dr. Vogel and she certainly didn’t have to continue with me. She could have gone anywhere else, but we met and she was able to vet me just like she could vet anyone else. And so we also continued the journey together. And I would argue that’s pretty straightforward and happens a lot with Dr. Vogel’s patients because if anybody knows Dr. Vogel, we do have a very similar surgical way. We were trained the same, we were trained in the same place. He also was a Hopkins grad. We have the same values. We are different in the sense that he’s a guy and I’m a girl. But other than that, I would say patients who did come for Dr. Vogel, a lot of patients then transferred to me as he retired because we, we’re very similar. Would you agree with that? How was your transition from Dr. Vogel to me after you had your first procedure?
Danielle (09:10):
I love you, but if I can be completely transparent, Danielle had a lot to do with me still being here. And she had a lot to do with my initial decision because as a patient, I’m really interviewing my surgeon really. So my first consultation with him, I was like, it’s a little intimidating if Dr. Vogel, he does not hold back. He’s very forward thinking when he wants to tell you something he tells you. So she was definitely the ying to his yang, I think. And when I came back to the practice, a lot of it was because of my relationship with her and how she was there for me at the beginning of my surgery, and Danielle was there for me at the end of my surgery, and everywhere in between. So I came back really because of the care that I got probably from the team. And then you were here and I was coming back from my thigh surgery and she’s like, we have a new practitioner that she’s going to do your consultation. And when I met with you for my thigh lift, I was like, this is great. I mean, I was able to relate. You were just as forward as Dr. Vogel was in terms of telling me reality versus maybe what I thought the outcome should be. Very upfront with, listen, these are probably the results you’re going to see. And I felt like you were very honest and didn’t make me feel like I was going to get something that you may not be able to give me. And that was another big factor is you told me the truth and there’s nothing worse than thinking you’re going to wake up from surgery and look like a completely different person, when the reality is I’m where I’m at today because it was a lot of steps. I didn’t just go into one surgery and come out looking like the desired look that I wanted. It took a process.
Dr. Houssock (11:01):
Absolutely. And it does. So I always say, it’s so cliche and silly, but I always say that in three months when you have your results or your start of your results, I’m still going to be here. I’m not a traveling salesman selling knives. I ultimately am going to be here with you when you either are happy or not happy. And so it’s really important to be realistic because it’s not going to do either of us favors. If I over promise you’re going to be unhappy, I’m going to have to deal with that. And at the end, that’s just not the way you want to do it, and deal with patients who are trusting you. And I know that was how Dr. Vogel was and anyone who knows our practice, and if you don’t know our practice, Danielle is now the director of JEV Plastic Surgery.
(11:44):
She started here, she’s been here over 20 years. She started out as a assistant and she’s just worked her way up and knows this practice and knows patients. And she’s so talented. It’s not the kind of thing you can just go to school for. Her experience is just truly from over the years, really caring and really being invested in her patients. And I always talk about, Danielle’s going to be embarrassed. Danielle, our director, not Danielle who’s on here today, but I talk about her because I always say I knew her before I even joined the practice because I heard about her. She’s something that is very rare to a practice. Yes, your surgeon matters, but ultimately you have an entire journey that you’re going to go through and it starts from before the consultation, and Danielle is there for you the entire way. And so I’m not surprised to hear you say that. I mean, she’s so important to both patients and staff alike. And so it doesn’t shock me at all. So ultimately Danielle had a few surgeries here. She started with Dr. Vogel and started with a tummy tuck. And then do you want to talk a little bit about the different procedures that you had?
Danielle (12:54):
So the tummy tuck was my first procedure. I had a good amount of excess skin from my weight loss. The day of surgery I was 265 pounds. And the time to the point where I had had my tummy tuck, I was probably somewhere around like 170, 175. So I had lost a pretty significant amount of weight. So I definitely was still naive at that point and was like, this is going to fix all my issues, but when one area is looking better then you start to focus on other areas. And I kind of just started attacking the different areas that affected me most. Whether it be the way my clothes fit or how I felt in my own skin. So my next surgery after that was my thigh lift. And that is where mine and your journey began together. And we did a couple of things at the thigh lift point. You helped me with a revision on my tummy tuck, because quite a few years had passed. I think it was a three year time span between the two surgeries. So you went back and tidied up some things that had changed over the couple of years. We did, I don’t know what to call it, but the pubic area.
Dr. Houssock (14:08):
Mm-hmm, a mons lift or a mons plasty.
Danielle (14:12):
So that was another thing that was really important for me. So we did that. We did some lipo 360 on the back. We did some BodyTite at that point, I think at the same time we did my thighs. Because I’m all about throwing stuff in there.
Dr. Houssock (14:29):
You might as well do as much as you can in one round, right?
Danielle (14:32):
Yeah, if I can get the most bang for my buck, I’m doing it. But with that said, there’s still, you guys were like, okay, we can only do so much at a time for your safety. So I tried to squeeze as much in as I could, safely. And then I waited another year or two in between because again, it’s a phase, it’s a process. It’s not something that’s going to happen in a year. And I came back and I said, I’m ready to do my arms. And I knew every time that I wanted to do something else. So you guys were great about setting me up with an expectation of what I can look for to now, listen, everything changes over time. We’re going through that now with just the price of goods. So obviously maybe what you quoted me three years ago isn’t what I ended up paying, but I always had an idea when I left here what my next procedure was going to run. So I was able to take that time to really plan and work up to it.
(15:26):
So the next one was my arms, which was the next biggest problem area for me. And I also decided to do the breast lift at the same time. Kind of all goes together really, if you think about it. So again, was trying to get a couple of things done at the same time. And I did want to do an augmentation at that point, but based on safety, and we’ve talked about that numerous times during this conversation, it just wasn’t the right thing to do for me during that procedure. So I ended up coming back and you guys did the implants for me after the lift.
Dr. Houssock (16:02):
And what you’re hearing her describe is a step wise plan. It’s just the way it is. And so why a lot of patients, and Danielle in particular has become more than just a patient here is because we really do become a part of your life when you have lost significant weight, usually have multiple areas that need to get taken care of. And just like she said, we usually suggest you go with what bothers you the most and you work your way through it and it just takes time. And the other thing about all these areas is that when you have lost that significant amount of weight, the skin doesn’t react like native skin reacts. It has been stretched over time. It may have stretch marks. So because of that, it’s nearly 100% of the time that you need some type of revision because the skin just doesn’t hold taut like native skin holds.
(16:55):
And that’s just a reality of weight loss. And again, important for us as the surgeon to prepare you for that because if I promise you you’re going to stay nice and tight one and done, then that’s what you expect. And so any weight loss patient is told, listen, you may need revisions. And so it’s even more important for us to wait for that first, that next step to let the first one heal. Because with Danielle, she had her tummy tuck and then there was something that needed to be revised in the tummy tuck, not because Dr. Vogel wasn’t an excellent surgeon, he was. But things do shift and change, especially with skin that has gone through weight loss. And so perfect timing, we could adjust what happened in her tummy and at the same time do her thighs and vice versa and whatever it is. And so it’s always nice to be able to have that opportunity to, like you said, try to kill multiple birds with one stone, revise the previous surgery at the same time during the next one.
Danielle (17:50):
If I can just be honest with you too, during the time that I had my tummy tuck with Dr. Vogel, I still fluctuated with weight quite a bit. So even during our time together, I’ve been up and down from a weight perspective for some time within, I’d say within 30 pounds, up and down 30 pounds. And 30 pounds actually is a lot to be up and down. So when I came back to you from my thighs, I wasn’t the same size as I was when Dr. Vogel did my tummy tuck. I had probably put on 25 pounds. So obviously things were different.
Dr. Houssock (18:26):
Sure, and that we do anticipate that. Do we anticipate that you’re going to go back to your original weight? No, we do want you to keep yourself within a certain weight, but fluctuations in life are absolutely anticipated. That’s just going to be life. And so we do anticipate that. And ultimately, we’re never going to ask you to stay at your fighting weight 24/7. It’s just not doable. But that being said, holding yourself accountable does help you to maintain this because you are investing a lot of time and money in it. And so we want you to succeed. And I do think you’re not giving yourself enough credit. You’ve done a really good job of that. I really do think that. I’ve never been disappointed by where you come in or anything like that. So you do your part, and that’s the other side of this, yes, when you count the surgeries that Danielle has had and that we as her surgeons have provided for her well and good, but the most important part of this is what you’re hearing is over a year’s time, Danielle has done her part. And a lot of that has to do with the post procedure things. You have to take care of yourself, you have to be able to maximize your healing. Talk about how you’ve been through multiple surgeries now. What’s some particular advice you would give to maximizing your outcomes as far as your recovery goes?
Danielle (19:41):
I think you should always listen to your surgeon or your medical team because listen, we all Google everything. I mean, and I’m telling you, I have a family that I have to provide for and be accountable to. So going under a surgery that I’m choosing to do, I want to make sure that I go into it with the best I can so that I have the best results and I am here to live another day and be with my family. So when I googled all the bad things that could happen, it was probably most of the time it was because they didn’t listen to the instructions that they were given, like the smoking, not that I ever smoked, but stopping smoking or stopping medications or changing some of your lifestyle habits, it seems like such an inconvenience. But ultimately, I mean, I feel like I’ve had the best results because I’ve really taken that to heart and I’ve listened to everything and listen, there’s a lot of things I didn’t want to do that you guys asked me to do. I did not want to take my nails off. I’m just going to be honest. Of all the things of all the things, I didn’t want to take my acrylic nails off. I didn’t want to stop taking my birth control because I have breakthrough bleeding.
(20:57):
So all these things, they seem like such a small inconvenience, but I feel like doing what you guys told me to do and following the treatment plan that you gave me really was why I had successful surgeries. And even when we ran into some obstacles, like my last surgery with my lift, we ran into a couple of things that had nothing to do with how I treated myself or how the surgery went. But I mean, there was a lot of very detailed things that you told me that I had to do to ensure the success of what we were up against. And I’m telling you, I did it to the T. And because of that, my results turned out fantastic. I think well beyond our expectations, because I listened and I follow instructions.
Dr. Houssock (21:44):
It’s so funny. So there’s the baseline, what you need to do, and I would argue the same as Danielle, that if there’s a complication, that doing what we can to salvage is more even more critical. And if done right and if caught right, it’s important. And what Danielle is describing is that during her breast procedure, her nipple on, was it the right side? On the right side? Right side.
Danielle (22:08):
Right side, yep.
Dr. Houssock (22:09):
Yeah, it was chugging along. It looked like it wasn’t going to have a ton of good blood flow. And so during the operation, I decided not to put her implants in because I didn’t want that added pressure to the nipple. And so out of the gate, Danielle woke up with an unexpected thing, which was that she thought she was getting implants and didn’t, she handled it really well. I explained to her why it happened. I had to take them out for her safety. And then she was put through a very rigorous treatment protocol, which required creams and whatnot to keep that nipple alive, to maximize our opportunity to keep her nipple alive. And because number one, we have communication that’s really tight. We see you at 48 hours a week out too late and more if there’s something going on, I’m seeing photos. We’re texting back and forth.
(22:58):
I’m really involved because we do that. And if a patient listens, our chances of fixing a problem are skyrocketing and high. If you don’t have access to your surgeon, especially if there’s an issue, that is where things can go wrong. So you always want to make sure to ask that, what kind of access am I going to have? It’s probably one of the most dangerous things about people who travel for surgery. And it’s not that I don’t have patients travel to see me, but I would say I mandate they stick around for a while. If you travel somewhere and you’re getting back on an airplane the next day and you have a complication, that is going to be a very difficult thing to take care of. So again, connection between patient and surgeon when there’s an issue. And because of it, we succeeded. I mean, we got out of it and it turned out great and beautiful.
(23:44):
And that is the truth about surgery. Complications can happen regardless of how great you do things. You want someone who knows how to recognize a complication and knows how to treat it, and that’s a really hard thing to vet. But I would say the way you vet that is, again, what is their training and are they board certified? And chances are they’ve seen this stuff before and you’re going to have a better chance being taken care of if God forbid it happens. And it’s so rare. I mean, it’s not rare to Danielle. Danielle has had it happen to her when she had her breast surgery. So to her, it’s not rare to have a complication.
Danielle (24:16):
Truthfully, it’s the only complication I’ve had out of all of our procedures together. So I was expecting it to be just as perfect as the last three. But like you said, it doesn’t matter how well I listened, things are going to happen, sometimes.
Dr. Houssock (24:37):
You got it.
Danielle (24:38):
Listen, your team, even outside of you, and I can’t stress that enough. You are great and you’re a great surgeon, but you’re only really as good as your team and your team is just, they’re fantastic. And my nurses, Val, she was checking on me to see how I was doing and probably didn’t even necessarily say to you, Hey, I’m going to check on Danielle to see how she’s doing because you guys, Nope. They do it themselves, both checking on me. So it’s really like the team in this building is just phenomenal, and they genuinely have a care for their patients. And I think that makes,
Dr. Houssock (25:14):
I got so lucky, Danielle, I can’t even tell you. I don’t make this stuff up, like every night I call my patients after surgery, they get a night of surgery call, and it’s 100% of the time they say what you said. They’re like, oh, it was good, but your people were amazing. And there’s nothing, it’s like, it’s like a mom with her baby chicks. There is nothing that I could be happier to hear than to hear that my staff treats you well. And I don’t beat them into oblivion to make that happen. I promise you. They genuinely just love what they do. And I don’t know how I got so lucky to have a staff like this, but none of them are ever allowed to leave me because they just make the best team. They all have their strengths and they’re all so good at it. And I know that because I hear this from patients, it’s easy for me to just think my people are great, but I hear that a lot from my patients and I couldn’t be more proud of them. I could not be more proud. So anything else that you can think of that if someone is now listening to this podcast and they’ve heard your journey, is there anything that you would like them to know that we didn’t talk about today?
Danielle (26:22):
Most people I think that are doing these type of things for themselves are probably very professional. They don’t want to miss work. So it’s like navigating how to incorporate some of this downtime into your normal schedule is something that I think that you need to get ahead of and probably figure out, how am I going to do this? So planning I think is huge. And then having a support group around you, whether it’s family, husband, children, coworkers, I think is also really important for your recovery because it definitely wouldn’t have went as well for me if I didn’t surround myself with people who were supportive to include the people that I work with every day. My coworkers, the leaders that I report to, they were all very, very supportive. And I think that made my journey a lot easier and gave me the confidence to continue to keep going. If it didn’t happen after the first procedure, I probably wouldn’t have done the second or the third or the fourth, and at some point I’m going to run out of stuff and then I’m not going to have a reason to come visit anymore, which is going to be really depressing.
Dr. Houssock (27:31):
She can just come hang out with us anytime. It’s fine. The door’s always open, that’s for sure. Now’s true. It takes a village. And that post procedure village is just as important. I love when they come to consultation, Val, my nurse gets on the phone with them and the patient the night before to make sure that everybody is mentally and physically prepared for what they’re getting themselves into. We like patients to walk in with their people and just have no questions, be ready to go, because it is a lot to ask. The whole family has to adjust for a short period of time. And we always say, as much as we love operating, you have got to do it at the time that makes the most sense for you and your family. If you have just tried to rush the whole thing, it’s never good.
Danielle (28:13):
And my support group is my spouse, and he’s been on this journey with me. And you would think that he’s been here as many times as I have with just the relationship over the time just being here by my side, the whole team here at Jev, he knows them by first name and vice versa. And it’s really been awesome for me to have the comfort and the support from him and him be able to even relate to the journey that I’m going through. I think bringing him along with me has been tremendous for us.
Dr. Houssock (28:47):
Yeah, absolutely. And it is so important because at the end of the day, if they’re on board with what you’re doing, it means ultimately a better result for you if they’re on board and they want you to be happy and you’re feeling that, it’s just like everyone’s motivation for you to just succeed. So we love you, Bill. You’re amazing. So yeah, I mean, this is the first time we have had a patient on. I hope you guys love it. Danielle would also, if there’s ever any questions or anyone would like to speak with her specifically about her journey, I know I’m not speaking for her. I know she would be willing to chat with anyone about questions, but we we’re so proud and excited to have her on, and we really appreciate it. Thank you so much for spending the time with us.
Danielle (29:35):
Thank you for having me.
Dr. Houssock (29:36):
Perfectly imperfect is the authentically human podcast navigating the realities of aesthetic medicine. JEV Plastic Surgery is located in Owings Mills, Maryland. To learn more about us, go to JEVplasticsurgery.com or follow us on Instagram @DrCareHoussock, spelled D-R-C-A-R-E-H-O-U-S-S-O-C-K, or just look in the show notes for links. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it and subscribe to Perfectly Imperfect on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you’d like to listen to podcasts.