Training and board certification
Source for this section: appletonplasticsurgery.com
- Bachelor's degrees in chemistry and biology and a master's degree in public health, University of California.
- Medical degree, Rush University, Chicago.
- Six-year residency in general surgery.
- Two-year fellowship in plastic and reconstructive surgery, University of Kentucky, under Henry Vasconez, MD, founder of Medical Mission Ecuador.
- Board-certified plastic surgeon.
- Member of the Fox Valley, Wisconsin community for over 20 years; has served as a trauma call leader.
- Rotary International-sponsored mission trip to Ambato, Ecuador, with Dr. Vasconez and a surgical team, reconstructing congenitally missing or deformed ears for pediatric patients.
Eyelid surgery work
- Blepharoplasty. "Cosmetic or therapeutic removal of excess skin of the upper and/or lower eyelids." The page explains that when drooping upper-eyelid skin visibly cascades over the eyelashes and causes loss of visual field, insurance will often cover the upper-eyelid surgery; an optometrist or ophthalmologist performs a visual field test to confirm the defect, which combined with the physical exam determines medical-necessity coverage. Lower-eyelid surgery "is usually determined to be cosmetic only."
- The procedure is performed in-office under local anesthetic, or at an outpatient surgery center under general anesthetic; patients go home the same day, are seen at one- and two-week follow-up intervals, and are followed for 6 months to a year afterward.
- A separate blog post on the site walks through the same functional-vs-cosmetic distinction and the visual-field-test requirement in more detail (source).
The practice site has no eyelid before-and-after gallery page; the site's single /gallery page carries no eyelid-specific section or captions in its page source.
Other procedures
The Facial page also covers otoplasty/ear surgery, earlobe repair, lip enhancement (filler and surgical reshaping), and rhinoplasty, among other face, breast and body procedures listed in the site's main menu.
Insurance and cost
Upper blepharoplasty "may be covered when drooping eyelids interfere with vision and testing confirms functional impairment"; lower-eyelid surgery is usually cosmetic only. A visual field test, required by insurers as objective proof, costs $100 and is performed at consultation; the test itself is often not covered by insurance. No dollar price for the blepharoplasty procedure itself is published.