Announcing our partnership with the magnificent Surrey Hotel

Dr. Devgan is pleased to announce her partnership with the exquisite Surrey Hotel, the only Relais & Chateaux hotel in New York City and one of the finest boutique luxury hotels in the world.

Patients of Dr. Devgan who book surgery after November 1, 2013 will have the option of recovering in style at The Surrey, nestled in a discreet corner of the Upper East Side. After surgery, you will be whisked to the hotel in a private car service. The full service staff of The Surrey will then pamper and attend to all of your needs with the utmost level of discretion and care.

You will enjoy healthy, thoughtfully prepared in-room dining, crafted by the Michelin-starred restaurant Cafe Boulud-- the culinary gem of renowned Chef Daniel Boulud.

You will luxuriate in a plush bath robe and use personal care amenities provided by English beauty brand Mitchell and Peach. Depending on your recovery needs, a private duty nurse will be arranged to stay with you overnight.

If you would like a bit of extra pampering, a massage, manicure, pedicure, or other spa service will be arranged for you, as is appropriate based on your post-operative needs. For many services, the luxurious Cornelia Spa can accomodate you in the privacy of your hotel room.

Dr. Devgan will check on you the morning after surgery, paying a house call directly to your hotel suite. As with all patients, Dr. Devgan will be personally on call for you 24 hours a day during your recovery period and beyond.

For questions regarding this magnificient partnership, or to book surgery with an overnight recovery in The Surrey Hotel, please email Dr. Devgan's office at info@LaraDevganMD.com.

Dr. Devgan recognized with "Top Plastic Surgeon in New York Award"

We are honored to announce that Dr. Devgan has been recognized with the "Top Plastic Surgeon in New York Award" in the HealthTap Top Doctor Competition, Summer 2013.  This award was presented "for demonstrated expertise, excellence, and care" by Founder & CEO Ron Gutman and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Geoffrey Rutledge. This recognition underscores Dr. Devgan's committment to excellence in patient care and surgical outcomes.

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Top Plastic Surgeon in New York certificate, issued October 2013

Dr. Devgan supports the Guggenheim Museum

Image credit Global Art Magazine

As an avid supporter of the arts, Dr. Devgan is pleased to be part of the Acquisitions Committee of the Young Collectors Council of the Guggenheim Museum. In her role on the Acquisitions Committee, Dr. Devgan helps to select works of art by emerging artists, to be purchased for the museum's permanent collection. 

Image credit Wikipedia

As an artist who brings a classically trained aesthetic eye to her plastic surgery practice, this role helps Dr. Devgan keep abreast of new trends in art.

Image credit Wikipedia

Click to learn more about the Guggenheim Museum

Check out our beautiful new web traffic map

We just added a beautiful watercolor web traffic map to the Contact page of this website, and we are thrilled to report that we have already received visitors from 6 continents and 21 countries.

Click to see the map in its official home, on our Contact page.

This web traffic map was commissioned from the talented San Francisco firm Stamen Design, exclusively for Dr. Devgan. It is updated monthly based on the geographic locations of logged IP addresses.

Thank you to our friends in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, England, France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Egypt, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, India, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Australia. [Update: additional IP addresses from Portugal, Germany, Hong Kong, and China have been added.]

As always, we are committed to bringing you the best of modern technology-- in surgery and beyond.

Moving personal essay on skin cancer

This is one of the most touching personal essays I have ever read about skin cancer. 

Featured in the New York Times, sports journalist Tim Layden writes lyrically about the basal cell carcinoma on his nose and what it took to repair it. I encourage everyone to read it-- as a piece of literary writing, and equally importantly, as a wake-up call about the devastation that can result from a casual disregard for sun protection. As Layden writes:

 How did I get myself into this mess? The same way that Hemingway’s Mike Campbell went broke in “The Sun Also Rises,” “Gradually, then suddenly.'’

Click to read Tim Layden's full piece.

Skin cancers are tricky because they often don't play by the rules, but they do have some classic features. 

Basal cell carcinomas are pearly pink, sometimes with an area of bleeding or ulceration, or a central crater, and sometimes with just a subtle area of redness. They are usually found on the nose, ears, face, and neck. These are the most common skin cancers; 30% of Caucasian people will get a basal cell cancer in their lives. 

Basal Cell Carcinoma. Image credit medicinenet.com

Squamous cell carcinomas usually begin as a small reddish plaque. Often they don't have any symptoms, but they can bleed, ulcerate, and change over time. They are common on the lips, face, hands, scalp, and ears, and they metastasize throughout the body. 

Squamous cell carcinoma. Image credit symsys-molemate.com

Melanomas are less common than the other two types of skin cancer, but they are the most deadly because of their aggressive tendency to metastasize. They are usually on sun-exposed areas, but can be found anywhere at all, including the eye, the fingernail, and even the bowel. The are usually pigmented, irregular, and evolve over time. The ABCDE nmemonic was developed for melanomas.

Melanoma. Image credit dermatology.org

The ABCDE of Melanoma. Image credit Loreal Paris. 

Much of my practice focuses on the excision of suspicious lesions and the reconstruction of skin cancers, so I am especially passionate about this topic.

Make sure you are vigilant about any new freckle, spot, mole, lump, or bump on your body. Skin cancer can happen to anyone, of any skin type-- not just the fair-skinned. When they are caught early, skin cancers are much less disfiguring and much more survivable. Get regular skin checks by a dermatologist. And wear zinc/ titanium based sunscreen everyday.