You could do a lot worse. He's probably one of the better plastic surgeons anywhere in the Valley. He is finally now charging what he's worth, so his prices have nearly doubled since 2020.
Dr. LaBarBERa is very friendly, funny, assuring, and NOT snotty. I suspect he came from humble beginnings and/or went through some hard knocks.
But I'll tell you who IS snotty are his Staff -- but that is true at ANY plastic surgeon's office. Often a plastic surgeon's staff member gets discounts on procedures on themselves. Therefore, they look fantastic and are a walking billboard for their plastic surgeon's office. Just ignore their snottiness. You are there to fix something about your body and at least you know that YOU won't suddenly get snotty afterward (unless you already WERE snotty -- I can't help you with that).
Another common thing at most plastic surgeon's offices that you needn't concern yourself with, is the likely hanky panky that goes on between him and certain members of his staff. But I believe Dr. Labarbera is a Christian, so...
Knows how to draw a straight line (a lot of surgeons DON'T even bother, it seems). It's very IMPORTANT to know how to draw a straight line -- no one wants a crooked scar.
You can pay 10% down and freeze your quoted price for 12 months.* It's in the paperwork, but they rarely mention it for obvious reasons.
I had an Extended Tummy Tuck, Abdominal Muscle Repair, and Lipo to the Flanks. He also repaired a Double Incisional Hernia WITHOUT MESH.
I got the hernias due to an Appendectomy that was performed at Banner University Medical Center at McDowell & 11th St in Phoenix by a Colorectal Surgeon. The incision became infected, weakening my abdominal wall tissue, causing the incisional hernia.
I needed this plastic surgery after my Gastric Sleeve because of loose skin from losing a lot of weight -- which I carried mostly in my lower belly. Dr. LaBarbera is an ARTIST. He does his surgeries in a way that will heal with an aesthetic result. A few years after losing 70 lbs with The Sleeve, the weight loss shots came out. During the in between time, I had the TT. The shots took off another 70 lbs, putting me at my Goal of 160. My Tummy Tuck by Dr. LaBarbera still looks beautiful. IOW, he did a good enough job that the results weren't marred by losing another 70 lbs. Dr. LaBarbera should really put his signature on the bottom right side of each surgery.
A lot of Plastic Surgeons apparently used to work with the 4077th MASH. They perform their surgeries in a fast, rudimentary manner with crooked incisions and disappointing results that affect self esteem going forward. They put no thought into planning for an attractive result.
He says he will do a free Revision (F needed) around the 1-Year Post Op mark, but realize that does NOT include the separate FEE that North Valley Surgery Center charges. They always bill for NVSC themselves, which simply means they collect the money at the plastic surgeon's office (then they give the money to NVSC). The part that's free is the plastic surgeon's own fee, which would be much more than the NVSC fee.
I don't know if he is STILL maintaining 3 Locations. That's a lot of wasted gasoline flitting about the East Valley. That's 3 lease payments, 3 groups of Staff members, 3 phone systems, 3 computer systems, 3 sets of office furniture, exam tables, giant mirrors, 3 night cleaning crews, etc. SOMEBODY's gonna pay for all that -- and it won't be him.
Always remember that with any plastic surgery performed by anyone, that if you see odd colors in your incision, swelling, redness, pain or fever, to go to a Wound Care Clinic ASAP to make an appointment. Every major hospital has one. Plastic Surgeons have an aversion to admitting an incision is not healing correctly. If you see yellow or black, it could be flesh eating bacteria. You could develop "tunneling" holes in your body. You could develop system-wide infection called Sepsis and die. Your actual intestines could breach the abdominal wall and incision. So EVEN IF your plastic surgeon says the area looks "normal" and is healing well -- if something looks off to YOU, take your arse to a Wound Care Clinic anyway. read more
