A Certain Connection 2...

 

As a plastic surgeon in private practice, I meet many people in the clinic. Sometimes I come across heartwarming stories that become long-lasting ties, but there are also times when things are regrettable and upsetting.

Recently, there was a regrettable case. After much hesitation over whether it would be appropriate to share this story with the people who visit my blog, I decided to post it for several reasons.

 

This happened less than a month ago.

A close relative of someone who had previously received revision zygoma surgery from me came for a consultation because, based on that person’s strong recommendation, she had become interested in facial contouring surgery.

She booked surgery on the day of the consultation, but canceled the reservation the next day for reasons that were not convincing.

I thought there might be some other circumstance and forgot about it, but about three weeks later, she contacted our hospital again. She said she had undergone surgery at another place, but it seemed to have gone wrong, and asked whether she could come in because she was deeply discouraged.

At first, I was somewhat taken aback, but then I thought about how desperate and anxious she must have been to contact our hospital again, so I readily agreed.

 

As soon as she came into the consultation room, she cried and told me what had happened.

After booking surgery at our hospital, she had coincidentally met a woman through a private message on an online community. That woman said she was also very interested in facial contouring surgery, had looked into several hospitals, and that the hospital she had decided to go with was the best one, with various issues at other places, and strongly recommended it. She then actively urged her to have surgery together on the same day.

She even said that because she had come up from the provinces and had no place to stay, it would be fine to stay at her grandmother’s house after making the surgery reservation before heading back to the provinces, and treated her very warmly and kindly.

Because of those stories and that kindness, she canceled her surgery reservation at our hospital and had surgery at the hospital her online community friend had chosen to go to together.

 

On the day of surgery, she checked and saw that both their names were listed on the surgery schedule, but after actually undergoing surgery, the friend who had said they would have surgery together was nowhere to be found, and she alone had surgery and woke up in the recovery room.

 

She cried so bitterly, saying that because she had been ignorant, she had completely fallen victim to a bad broker, and I was in a sweat trying to calm her down.

I comforted her by saying, “That friend may not have been a broker, but may really have had an urgent situation and been unable to have surgery together. What matters right now is your condition, and those other details may not be that important.”

However, in her view, she told me that various circumstances made it certain that the friend was a broker.

In any case, the important part was the condition of how the surgery had turned out, so I checked it.

Nineteen days after surgery, her appearance did not have any major problems, and even on the 3D CT taken after surgery, there were no significant issues except that the completion of a few parts of the surgery was somewhat lacking.

So I said this to her:

“Even if you ended up going there because you were led by a broker, the doctor who performed the surgery seems to have done their best. So there is no need to worry right now. Once enough time has passed, the swelling has gone down, and everything has settled, if there are still areas of your face you would like improved, it would be better to check the progress again and then talk about it.”

But she earnestly told me that she wanted revision surgery from me right away.

In the end, even the director who had consulted with her came to me and asked whether I could perform revision surgery since she was pleading so desperately.

So I said this:

“Once some time has passed and the swelling in the face has gone down to some extent, the facial shape will likely have improved compared with before surgery. At that time, if there are still areas that seem somewhat insufficient, rather than going through the difficult process of revision surgery again, it may occur to you that it would be better to supplement with somewhat simpler procedures first. So it would be better to wait for now.”

After a long effort of persuasion, I sent her away.

But the next day, she contacted me again via KakaoTalk.

Feeling anxious and upset, she had left our hospital and gone to another hospital for a consultation, where she was told that her face already looked saggy and that the sagging would only get worse over time, so it would be better to lift and fix the zygoma immediately through a scalp incision. She said she was now considering revision surgery.

Furthermore, that hospital told her the earliest possible surgery date was about five days later, sometime the following week.

I felt dumbfounded and very sorry, and sent a reply.

“Since you’ve already had a big experience, I truly hope you won’t have to suffer any more. Please trust what I’m saying and wait patiently a little longer. Even so, if you are still anxious, you are always welcome to come back to me.”

After that, she came to see me two more times.

I believe she has probably returned home safely by now, and I hope she is spending peaceful, comfortable days with a settled mind.

 

There are two main reasons I decided to share this story.

 

The first reason concerns brokers operating around plastic surgery.

When she came to me and told me her story, the hospital where she said she had undergone surgery was one I had never even heard of.

What I later found out was that it had recently become famous through word of mouth, and that the so-called brokers in the plastic surgery world were calling themselves “dealers,” and there was a woman working there who was a manager overseeing those “dealers.”

It is regrettable that these “dealers” are running wild across all kinds of online communities, spreading rumors and temptations. I hope the people who visit my blog will be very careful.

Of course, I suppose many of these “dealers” will have visited my blog in one way or another as well...

The second reason is that when people consider revision surgery and go around seeking consultations, the situation can easily spiral into something even more confusing.

In my experience and common sense, it is simply incomprehensible to recommend revision surgery through a scalp incision to someone who is deeply discouraged and has not even reached three weeks after surgery, especially when the zygoma has been fixed and there is no concern about nonunion.

 

I wonder what the readers of my blog think about this story.