When you’re a star of The Real Housewives franchise, you have to be prepared for even the most intimate parts of your life to become public knowledge. Dolores Catania, who joined the cast of The Real Housewives of New Jersey in the seventh season, has no problem being an open book, especially when it can help others. We chatted with her about her recent Sientra breast implants, why she’s so vocal about her cosmetic surgery and her experience with New York plastic surgeon B. Aviva Preminger, MD.
When did you last get your breasts done? What made you decide to get them done again?
“So I got my breasts done, I want to say, about nine years ago, I think. I wasn’t happy with the way they looked. They weren’t sitting on me right. They were sagging. The way they looked bothered me. And Teresa Guidice, who got Sientra implants and went to Dr. Preminger, looked so amazing. It was on my mind to get it done and then once I saw it was done right, and I checked into the doctor, and I checked into Sientra, I made up my mind to go ahead with the surgery and have them redone.”
Why Sientra? What’s the difference between Sientra and other implant brands?
“The most important thing, for me, is the safety because when you decide to have elective surgery, there’s a responsibility that comes with it that you have towards the people in your life and yourself as well. So the [great] thing about Sientra, there are so many different things, but first and foremost is their safety protocol—it’s unbelievable, bar none. They are so confident in their product that they give you a 20-year warranty where other companies give you 10. To me, it means a lot.
Also, they only supply to board-certified surgeons, so they’re watching out for their patients personally. They check the credentials behind the doctor, and that means a lot. That’s a true sign that they really care about their patients and clients. The other thing is that it’s a female-driven company. Having a lot of women work for them means that they’re listening to females and how they feel about things and what they go through. They are big into philanthropy, and their philanthropy means so much to me. They have a fund where they pay for women who need reconstructive breast surgery after a mastectomy, and after they go through breast cancer, that can’t afford to get the surgery. So that’s a big deal to me. I want to use a company that stands for everything that’s so good.”
How has having these new implants changed the way you feel about yourself?
“Well, my clothes fit better. My biggest problem with my last implants was that they came more to the side, and it was hard for me to wear clothes. There were certain outfits that didn’t look well. I didn’t like the way I looked on camera, and I was really hard on myself about it. So it’s changed me. I’m much more confident. They sit better. They’re shaped better. Everything about my experience at Dr. Preminger’s office was amazing. The recovery was pretty quick.”
Your attitude and openness about cosmetic surgery is so refreshing. Why do you think you’re so open about getting surgeries and your experiences? Has being friends with other women who received surgeries as well helped this?
“Well, I’d like to say I’m the pioneer of my friends for what I do. I’m open about it because I’m just honest. I think it’s only fair to be honest when you have a platform with people that are looking at you, and you know what you signed up for. So I don’t want people to think, ‘oh yeah, these are just my boobs,’ or ‘this is just my face’ or ‘that’s just my ass.’ I mean, it’s only fair to be honest with people who follow you and follow the show and reach out to you.
Plus, a bigger reason is because when I get something done I research the doctor, I research the product that I’m putting into me and I want to share it when I have a good experience so that people know where to go. So many people have botched surgeries because they don’t know the right doctor to go to. So when I experience something and I can tell them what I went through and how I experienced it, I feel like the right thing to do is to share it because in plastic surgery, you want to get it done right the first time.
A revision is very hard. A revision costs a lot of money. A lot of doctors don’t want to do it because they don’t know what’s underneath that scar tissue, and it’s a whole big deal. So, of course, you don’t want to do surgery more than you have to. So the trick is when you’re dealing with plastic surgery, get it done right the first time.”
