I am a gastric bypass patient and after a year of weight loss my breasts were large, saggy and they hurt. I decided it was time to get a breast reduction. I went to Dr. Raffi for a consult and he suggested that it was medically necessary for me to have a breast reduction. I was scheduled within a month, which was fast for me, I was thinking more like a few months to process that I was going to get this done.. I was a nervous wreck at first but after surgery I felt much better about it. To see the difference in the before and after pictures is amazing. It has been 6 months since my surgery and I am very happy with the outcome of my breast reduction. I am no longer in pain and my breasts are lifted so they no longer sag.  I would recommend Dr. Raffi to anyone who needs this type of surgery done. 

To say Thank You would be an understatement.  There is no amount of thanks that can be given to Dr. Raffi Gurunluoglu for the procedures that he and his team performed on me.  I first met Dr. Raffi after Dr. Moore performed an ostomy take-down.  I needed a skin graft, which Dr. Raffi performed.

Dr. Raffi thoroughly explained what my options were going to be moving forward in my recovery and put a basic timeline in place.  Any questions that my father or I had were answered and explained in detail.  This really made all that I was going through much easier to handle.  Another thing that I liked was Dr. Raffi’s bedside manner, by this I mean, I as the patient was always involved and considered before anything was done. (Patient comfort was priority one with Dr. Raffi).

Living two hours from the hospital would mean a lot of time to be spent on Route 25, driving back and forth.  While I was recovering the Dr. needed to see me for updates, Dr. Raffi took into consideration the distance I would be traveling and had me email weekly pictures of my progress.  This was a nice feature to be offered.

With all that I have been through and all the Doctors that have been involved Dr. Raffi is one of the top in professionalism.  There were quite a few Dr’s that would have their team come in do an evaluation and report back for instructions.  With Dr. Raffi it was different; he would come in during rounds and stay fully involved with any and all decisions.

I am grateful for all the doctors that were involved over the last two and a half years.  I can honestly say Thank You for all that has been done and these are not just words, but there is no way for me to show how appreciative I am for all that was done, because if it had not been for technology and the teams of doctors I would not be here today.

"I just wanted to take a moment to write you in reference to my experience with Dr. Raffi Gurunluoglu over the past year and a half because I would love for him to receive the recognition he so greatly deserves.  I’m certain that I’m not his only satisfied patient but one can never receive enough praise for one’s brilliance, right?

"A bit about me:  I was diagnosed with Stage 2, Grade 3 invasive ductal carcinoma with underlying DCIS, discovered by my PCP during a routine breast exam.  Devastated as I was, I chose to take my ... coverage and receive my medical care at Denver Health due to your undisputed reputation of excellence.

"Despite the fear and sadness that accompanies such a diagnosis and consultation, I knew immediately that I was in the right hands and that these two doctors would be one hell of a dynamic duo.  It was decided that my best chance of survival would be a bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction (an excellent call as Pathology later discovered that I also had undiagnosed bilateral Paget’s Disease of the Nipple).  During my 2^nd consult, officially my first with Dr. Raffi, he spent an entire hour with me (which is like, what?  6 hours in doctor time?), going over every single reconstruction option, explaining exactly how my breasts and nipples would be removed & reconstructed, how the areola micropigmentation works, everything I ever needed to know about the awful situation I now faced, all the while keeping his very unique and quirky sense of humor alive and managing to make me smile despite myself.

I had my surgery... and was inpatient for 4 days after.  Between friends, family and my students, I had over 100 visitors come to wish me well over that time span but the most unexpected was Dr. Raffi, who came walking into my room in jeans and a polo shirt, visiting me on his day off to make sure I was recovering well.  Now THAT is going above and beyond the call of duty, my friends.

I saw Dr. Raffi about every 4 weeks after that as I went through chemotherapy, as he filled my temporary saline tissue expanders 75cc’s at a time to make room under my pectoralis major for my final implants to come in February.  I was always excited for my appointments with Plastics because they were always fun and full of laughter, between Dr. Raffi’s excellent bedside manner and the extraordinary nursing staff in the surgery clinic (Greg Gomez and Jeannie, particularly).  My permanent implants went in without a hitch...   The micropigmentation was particularly fun because I waived anesthetic (the nerves in my chest wall have yet to regenerate so I saw no need for meds when I already lacked sensation there) so I was wide awake on the operating table, talking and laughing with the techs and PA, and got to hear Raffi sing along with Total Eclipse of the Heart on the radio as he tattooed my areolas back on.  Or maybe it was Endless Love… either way, it was a magic moment!

All joking aside, now that I’m finished with all of my plastic surgery, I stand in awe of Dr. Raffi’s skill, raw talent, and brilliance in his field.  I may be slightly biased in this opinion but I’m pretty sure I have the best-looking reconstructed breasts in the history of breast cancer!  My scars are fading, my implants are perfectly proportioned, my nipples look seriously real, and the pigmentation is nearly identical to the color nature had given me.  They seriously could not possibly look any better, considering what I’ve been through.  I’ve heard that Raffi is a perfectionist in all that he does and I am so very grateful for that because I could not be happier with the care I’ve received over the last 18 months and the beautiful end result.