Choosing a Plastic Surgeon

We were given the cards for three plastic surgeons that have priviledges at Primary Children's Medical Center. I don't remember the names of two of them, what I do remember is that their cards had websites on them for more information, so I immediately looked them up as part of my research. I was concerned by both of the websites, as they didn't list any information regarding children at all. They dealt mainly with breast augumentation. I wanted my baby to be seen by someone that focused on children, so we choose to make an appointment with Dr Faizi Siddiqi, who didn't have a website, but whose clinic address was either at the University of Utah Medical Center - attached to Primary Children's, or at Primary Children's Hospital itself. We made an appointment for about a month out.

Will took time off to go to the appointment with us, so that we got the same information. We waited for what seemed an excessive amount of time, almost an hour after our appointment. For those of you that know me, you know that is an extremely dark mark for the doctor. I don't like people making me wait. However, as we were sitting in the waiting room, a mother came in with her daughter and sat across from us. People at the hospital, we have found, are more than happy to talk to you and discuss doctors, procedures, what they have been through, etc. This woman was no different. Her daughter's skull had fused too early, and Dr. Siddiqi had been the one to fix it. She said that she had never been to an appointment where she didn't have to wait, but that he was well worth the wait. It gave us another something to consider.

We were finally taken back to an exam room, and Dr. Siddiqi came in. Addison was 2 or 3 months old at this time, and because it was summer, she was wearing a short outfit. Upon entering the room, Dr. Siddiqi sat down across from us and said, "Oh, I see the problem. This is how we will fix it. We will use tissue expanders to grow her own skin, then graft it in place of the nevus." He was very confident and reassuring. He then asked, "Now, what questions do you have that I can answer." We asked a few general questions, not really knowing what we should be asking. Dr. Siddiqi informed us that the best time to start would be when she was two, and asked us to check back in a year. When he was sure that we didn't have any more questions, he thanked us for coming, apologized for the wait, and left the room. It was then that we realized why the wait was so extensive, and were comforted by it. This doctor truly cared about the patients he was seeing, and their families. We had made the right choice.