Medical Weight Loss in Bellevue
Pacific Sound Plastic Surgery prescribes GLP-1 medication for weight loss. It is a small part of the practice, and it exists for a specific reason. Some patients arrive wanting body-contouring or skin-removal surgery at a weight where an operation is not yet safe. The medication gives them a way to work toward that goal with the practice alongside them, month by month, until the surgical conversation can pick up where it left off.
It is also available to patients who want medical weight management from a surgical practice, with a physician who evaluates candidacy, writes the prescription, and sees you every month. No surgery is required, and none is assumed.
This is prescription care. Whether it suits you is decided at a consultation, and the medication, its side effects, and your progress are reviewed with Dr. Day at every visit.
Your surgeon
Dr. Kristopher Day is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Board of Surgery, and is fellowship-trained in craniofacial surgery.
Meet Dr. DayThe treatment
Non-surgical care in a plastic surgeon's practice.
GLP-1 medications are a class of prescription drugs that act on appetite and on how quickly the stomach empties. Here they are prescribed for weight loss to patients who are medically suited to them, taken by mouth, and prescribed month to month rather than as a single long course. Which medication, at what dose, and on what schedule is decided at the consultation and reviewed at each visit.
The prescription is one part of the care. The rest is the follow-up. Each month Dr. Day reviews how you are doing, how the medication is agreeing with you, and whether to continue, adjust, or stop. That cadence is deliberate. Side effects are most likely to appear early, and a plan that is checked monthly can change before a problem grows.
What the medication does not do matters as much as what it does. It does not remove loose skin, tighten skin, or change the shape that remains after weight comes off. Those are surgical problems, and this practice treats them surgically. For the patients who came here with surgery in mind, the medication is the first chapter and contouring is the second.
How it works here
Four steps, in order. Nothing is prescribed before the first one.
Consultation
A medical history, your current medications, your goals, and a frank conversation about whether a GLP-1 medication suits you. Eligibility is decided here, and some histories rule it out.
Prescription
If it suits you, the prescription is written for a medication taken by mouth. Dose, schedule, and the side effects to expect are explained before you start, and the office goes over the cost first.
Monthly follow-up
Each month you are seen again. Progress, side effects, and whether to continue are reviewed, and the next month's prescription is written only if it still makes sense.
The surgical pathway
When your weight is stable and you are ready, the conversation turns to body contouring or skin removal, planned as a staged sequence, with the medication paused before each operation on the surgeon's schedule.
Is it right for you
Two groups of patients belong on this page. The first came for surgery and were told their weight put an operation out of safe reach for now. For them the medication is a bridge: a way to reach a weight where surgery is safe, with the same practice following them the whole way, so the surgical plan is waiting when they arrive. The second simply want medical weight management from a surgical practice, and they are welcome without any surgery in mind.
Whether the medication suits you is decided at consultation. Your medical history, the medications you already take, and certain medical conditions all bear on it, and some rule it out. Dr. Day will tell you plainly if it is not the right tool. Nothing on this page replaces that conversation.
It is not a substitute for surgery. Medication changes weight. It does not lift, tighten, or remove skin, and it does not change where the remaining shape sits. If loose skin is the problem you are trying to solve, the answer is on the body-contouring pages, and the medication is at most the step that gets you there.
What to expect
Side effects are part of the conversation before you start, and again at every visit. With GLP-1 medications they are most often digestive, and most often early. Report them. The monthly visit exists so the dose can be adjusted or the medication stopped before a side effect becomes the reason you stop on your own.
Weight change on this medication is gradual, and it differs from person to person. This page makes no promise about how much or how fast. That answer depends on you, and it belongs at your visits.
If surgery is the goal, the practice will tell you when your weight has been stable long enough to plan it. The medication is paused before any operation under anesthesia, in line with anesthesia-society guidance, on a timeline the surgeon sets and coordinates with you. Whether to resume it afterward is decided with the surgeon as well.
Patient Voices
Individual results vary. Quotes are verbatim excerpts from reviews published by patients.
“Dr. Day's knowledge, compassion, and attention to detail made all the difference in my recovery process.”
“He took the time to listen to my concerns and desires, ensuring I had a clear understanding of the procedure, expected outcome and healing process. … I think he's a very skilled and precise surgeon.”
“I have always gotten the realistic results I hope for.”
Questions, answered
The rest belong in a conversation. Consultations are unhurried by design.
Which medication is it?
A prescription GLP-1 medication taken by mouth. The specific medication, the dose, and the schedule are decided at your consultation, and they can change as the prescription is adjusted at your monthly visits.
Is this a substitute for body-contouring surgery?
No. The medication changes weight. It does not remove loose skin, tighten it, or reshape what remains, and those are surgical problems. For patients whose weight currently rules out an operation, the medication is the bridge to it. The surgical plan is made when your weight is stable.
Who is eligible?
That is decided at a consultation, and only there. Your medical history, the medications you already take, and certain medical conditions all bear on it, and some rule it out. Dr. Day will say so plainly if the medication is not the right tool for you.
What are the side effects?
They are discussed with you before you start and reviewed at every visit. With GLP-1 medications the common ones are digestive and tend to appear early. Monthly follow-up exists so the dose can be adjusted or the medication stopped promptly if you are not tolerating it.
Do I have to stop the medication before surgery?
Yes. GLP-1 medications are paused before any operation under anesthesia, in line with anesthesia-society guidance, because they slow the emptying of the stomach. The surgeon sets the timing, builds it into your surgical calendar, and decides with you whether and when to resume afterward.
Is it covered by insurance?
No. The practice does not bill insurance for this service, because the diagnoses insurers require for coverage are not ones a plastic surgeon makes. Patients pay out of pocket. The cost depends on the dose, and the office explains it before anything is prescribed. There is no insurance approval to wait for.