Center For Regenerative Cell Medicine - Dr. Todd Malan

Ashley Perona _{on Google}

Jan 29th, 2021

Overall Timeline:
June - July 2019: Wanted Lipo / Consult
August 2019: Procedure
January 2020: Potential Revision (decided against it)
If you’re considering Dr. Malan for precise body contouring, read this first, because I was botched. At the time, I was 33, weighed ~123lbs, am 5'5", and went in to have ~13 stubborn areas lightly lipo’d that diet and exercise didn't work on.
My main issues are as follows:
Online Reviews & Gag Order:
I went to him due to 5 star Google reviews, but feel they are misleading. Especially when I was asked to sign a gag order prohibiting me from speaking or writing about my experience/results after he agreed to do a revision on me. I doubt I’m the only patient that’s seen this piece of paper, since it was readily available for me to sign.
Results:
A few areas came out nicely, but I was left asymmetrical in 3 areas - my outer thighs, sides/flanks, and banana roll area.
My entire left flank wasn’t even touched. There was 0 bruising or discomfort. And trust me, after lipo you know exactly where the doc went, because it looks and feels like you were beat with a baseball bat. When he was unable to find the incision point under my left flank, he told me he went from my upper abs, up over my side, and down my back into my flank. I couldn’t feel the cannula path over my rib cage at all. Lastly, when a revision was discussed, he marked up my entire left flank to revise. The right side wasn’t much better. He took a chunk out of the middle of my right flank without blending it in. I'm left with small bulges of fat above and below the line of scar tissue which makes it hard for another doc to revise.
Lastly, Dr. Malan destroyed my banana roll area, which has caused hip dips and an elongated buttock. I didn’t have this previously. My gluteal fold needs to be recreated now. Recently, I underwent a revision Lipo + BBL procedure, and some of the transferred fat migrated into what looks like an under butt. Upon researching, I need to have an infragluteal butt tuck/lift done where excess skin/fat is cut and my gluteal fold is recreated via sutures in order to fix it. Not ideal and scary after all I’ve been through.
Bedside Manner:
One word. Unacceptable. Fortunately, I wasn’t working during this time, but I would’ve been 10x more upset if I called in from work, drove all the way there, and experienced the below. My very first apt, Dr. Malan was unable to attend due to personal reasons. Understandable. Unfortunately, this became a recurring theme. One time, I got there and he was attending a conference. They informed me he decided to stay longer and needed to reschedule after I already arrived. Another time, I waited over an hour to be seen. During my potential revision consult, I was sitting in the lobby for 45 minutes, and was about to walk out until the receptionist grabbed Malan and finally brought me back. Not all were this bad, but majority were.
Do your research when considering lipo, consult with multiple docs, go to someone board certified (he isn’t), and spend the money and be willing to wait for the right doc. Research the various lipo techniques and technologies out there. I was super hasty in my decision making, and I’m still paying the price - monetarily, physically, mentally, and emotionally. I’ve spent $20k+, had a revision procedure and am still asymmetrical, and have spent 10 months of my life recovering from this botched procedure. In all honesty, I probably need another 1-2 procedures to get it to where I want to be, but I’ll never be 100%.
I just don’t want this to happen to anyone else. I learned way too much after the fact. Dig deeper than Google reviews. Please be careful. It's the worst feeling like you looked better prior to your surgery.

Sonjah Patti _{on Google}

Nov 21st, 2020

Over a year ago and I can still walk and stand without knee pain. I was afraid I’d have to quit my job because of the long hours of standing. The only other option the orthopedic surgeon recommended, was a total knee replacement. I had 6 other surgeries before. My solution was to use my own natural body processes to heal my knee and get back to work. I am very happy with my decision. Thank You!

Betsyaida _{on Google}

Dec 3rd, 2020

This was 6 months ago so I am not sure how it is now. Terrible communication after surgery. I had a lot of questions and the follow-up appointment was with a nurse. She is a sweetie but she couldn’t answer most of my questions. So she passed on notes to the doc with my questions and they had me email questions and that turned out terrible for me because the doctor didn’t have the context nor a pulse on my tone and he took nearly all my questions negatively even though I was very happy with his service. The relationship deteriorated beyond the point of no return since I couldn’t get time with him either on the phone or in person to ask my questions.
HOWEVER, Dr. Malan is one of the best fat transfer doctors I have come across. He beautifully corrected a few areas on my face where a previous fat transfer was not done right. The adjustments he made were so precise and very natural, he made me look at least 5 years younger. The cheek and upper lip work he did was so subtle they had a dramatically positive impact. I am extremely thrilled with all the results. I wanted him to do future corrections on areas on my forehead where the previous doc really did a bad job… but when I tried asking him about it he took it as me not being happy with his work which was the exact opposite of what I was saying.
I was flat as a table before going in to see him and now I have a gorgeous set of A cups. Which is huge for me because I didn’t have a lot of fat to work with. He also gave me IV stem cell therapy at a very discounted rate because he wanted to help me with my lyme symptoms. I believe the IV helped me a lot with being able to recover quickly after having 4 dental implants removed and cavitation surgery. I do believe the IV stem cell has enhanced my immune system. I am glad Dr. Malan was my doctor, albeit briefly, and feel blessed to have made his acquaintance. It is really hard to find a doctor with the proper skills and experience to perform fat transfer properly.

Mary Greenway _{on Google}

Aug 18th, 2020

I have been diagnosed with Arachnoiditis and was intrigued about the story told of the woman who also had arachnoiditis, in a wheelchair, and after therapy was walking! Astonishing! I had visions of me being without pain rather than admitting that it would only get worse. So, I went on the website and completed the form to request contact. Heard nothing, so I then called asking for a return call from Dr. Malan or one of the other doctors to answer a couple of questions. Heard nothing again. I began my quest to contact Dr. Malan on October 2nd, via phone and Facebook, and to this day, after 8 attempts, I have still not heard back from anyone! Eight times! So, I guess I will have to try to find someone else that is actually interested in helping people (sigh!).