“I had abdominal separation after having three children, and I also had loose skin after losing a lot of weight,” Shannyn Palmer, a digital artist, told Newsweek.
Palmer said the surgery itself went well. However, due to a “careless and preventable mistake” on the part of the nurse, she left Mexico with severely burned hands, resulting in a partial amputation of one of her thumbs.
What is a Mommy Makeover?
A “mommy makeover” is a set of cosmetic procedures designed to address the physical effects of childbirth. While the name is cute, the surgery is extensive.
“Mommy makeover surgery is [a] big surgery,” David Stoker, MD, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Los Angeles, told Newsweek. “It involves a tummy tuck, liposuction and breast surgery of some type. [It] typically lasts a minimum of four hours, sometimes eight hours or longer, depending on the surgeon.”
The procedure is also risky, as is any other surgery—cosmetic or otherwise.
“There are cumulative risks to everything that a surgeon does,” Stoker continued. “I think it’s important for consumers to know that they’re taking a big risk with not only their outcome but [also] with their life, and [all] body parts unrelated to what they’re having treated with surgery. And those risks are going to increase a lot when you go into a relatively unregulated area.”
One of those risks, as Palmer discovered, is getting burned.
“Getting burned is not a risk that was discussed or that I even imagined could happen in any surgery, let alone the mommy makeover procedure,” Palmer told Newsweek.
So, What Happened?
Palmer said her doctor didn’t cover her fingers during surgery, so her hands got cold. The nurse placed hot saline bags on Palmer’s hands to warm them up, but the saline was too hot and burned Palmer’s cold fingers.
“Operating rooms (ORs) are kept within a narrow range of temperature and humidity to provide the optimal conditions for surgery,” Joseph A. Mele, MD, FACS, a board-certified plastic surgeon in California, told Newsweek. “The commonly accepted range is 68-75 degrees with 50-60 percent humidity, and these are documented in all US-accredited ORs. This might not seem that cold, but when a significant amount of skin is exposed, it can cause hypothermia.”
To prevent this, Mele covers all areas of a patient’s body that he’s not operating on.
“In other words, the abdomen is kept covered during the breast enhancement, and the breasts are covered during the tummy tuck. In addition, a heated OR table cushion is used to keep my patients warm. When the operating table is not heated, forced warm air blankets (Baer Hugger) are used,” Mele said.
Mele said that “keeping patients warm is not just a matter of comfort.” Stoker added: “It’s a big deal if [the] temperature is not controlled correctly or optimally—it increases the risk of many different complications.” Case in point: Palmer’s hands.
“The hands and feet are furthest from the heart, so they are the first places to get cold, but the real problem is a decrease in core temperature,” Mele explained. “When the core temperature drops, the blood vessels to the extremities constrict to decrease heat loss. (Think frostbite).”
But to address the problem of cold hands, Mele says that “the entire body needs to be warmed.” Unfortunately, Palmer’s nurse chose to warm Palmer’s hands while Palmer was still under anesthesia.
“Because the patient was anesthetized, [she] was unable to say, ‘Ouch, that burns,’” Stoker said. “The patient has no ability to respond.”
Newsweek could not confirm the conditions of Palmer’s operating room. We have reached out to Palmer’s surgeon for comment.
The Aftermath
Palmer had 14 blisters on her fingers when she woke up from surgery.
“I woke up with excruciating burning pain in my fingers. I was so confused about what happened,” she told Newsweek.
“The day after I flew home, I had an appointment with the burn center in Portland, Oregon, and I was told that I would need skin grafts on a few fingers and partial or full amputations on others,” Palmer continued. “My surgeon [made the decision] to partially amputate my thumb after seeing bone damage from the burns.”
She’s also undergone daily hyperbaric oxygen chamber treatments for the past month.
“I honestly think that helped the fate of my fingers and also helped with the success of the skin grafts,” Palmer said.
Palmer says she still can’t straighten her fingers, and she will soon undergo physical therapy to regain full use of her hands. In a few months, she’ll begin looking into getting a prosthetic for her thumb.
“Not being able to use my hands for anything for weeks has been humiliating and depressing. I need help with everything…my husband had to take family and medical leave to be my full-time caregiver,” Palmer said. “I’m sad that this is my reality…I have to live with this disability for the rest of my life.”
Doctor’s Warning
Palmer said she researched her plastic surgeon before scheduling an appointment with him. She said he’s board-certified and that she “followed him on social media for months and didn’t hear of any complications from previous patients.” However, Stoker says the doctor’s credentials aren’t the only credentials that matter.
When you’re doing a complex or significant surgical procedure, it’s not just the surgeon that matters—it’s the entire team and facility as well," he said. “If there is any weak link [or] if anybody drops the ball along the way, it can result in a complication such as [Palmer’s].”
As a general rule, Stoker also warns against seeking a “substantial discount.”
“If you’re getting a bargain on a surgery, you’re likely receiving a diminished level of care,” he told Newsweek. “If something doesn’t make sense and it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is too good to be true.
“Your best bet is to make sure that you go to an experienced, board-certified plastic surgeon in the United States, [who has] a good reputation in the community and excellent credentials.”
