Posts by rowdyfalcon35

Betty Edwards22 said:You’re probably talking about the surgical consent form. You know, the one where you agree to take on the risks of general anesthesia.

I got handed my paperwork literally a minute before surgery. They told me it was just the consent form for the procedure and the risks of general anesthesia. But since I didn't get a copy for myself, I have to know—does that fine print say they aren't liable if something goes wrong during or after the operation? Thanks for any help.

Quick question for anyone who’s had surgery at a private clinic: can someone tell me exactly what's written on that consent form the doctor hands you right before they go in? Thanks!

Betty Edwards22 said:It’s pretty obvious that the people posting here are mostly unsatisfied folks for "just because" reasons—they haven't actually dealt with their own issues.

Look, I pop in here specifically to find solutions to my problems. I don't see what the issue is. This is a forum. Why would anyone post just to say everything is perfect and wonderful when it clearly isn't? Once you accept that things aren't perfect, you start looking for the best way to fix them and get back to normal. If it bothers you that people who haven't fixed their problems are checking in and getting trashed, then honestly, go ahead and start your own forum where everyone only shares positive experiences and nobody mentions side effects. Personally, I wish I had known all this sooner. Nothing is going to force me into surgery.

rapidbadger7 said:did you check your sinuses?
how's your breathing after the surgery (is the headache intensity tied to how clogged you are?)

My CT scan showed healthy sinuses that were basically destroyed by the surgery. Now I’m breathing through congestion because my nose is way too narrow and drooping, plus the mucosa is ruined. There are other nasty complications, too. I didn't even have headaches before the operation.

rapidbadger7 said:Has anyone dealt with headaches a month after nose surgery? Just this dull ache, feels like sinus pressure or a bad cold because my nose is totally stuffed up.
My nose is constantly blocked. I’m basically breathing through my mouth 24/7 and I have zero clue if this is even normal!!!

I started getting them right after my surgery and they haven't stopped for a year and a half. The intensity just fluctuates. Sometimes it gets so intense I honestly wish I could just rip my head off. And don't even get me started on running—I used to be such a runner, but now I'm physically limited. It's been a nightmare. Seriously, watch who you trust with your face. If you can avoid the surgery altogether, just do it.

wanderingnomad13 said:Yeah, I guess I’m some kind of millionaire just because I saved up for my own surgery. I don't want to gamble on government doctors, even though I pay into Medicare and supplemental insurance. It's my health, my face, and my nose we're talking about here.

That has nothing to do with it. I was just as naive, thinking that paying would mean getting better attention or that they wouldn't just wing it. I went in mainly for the functionality. Now I'm paying the price for it in every possible way—the consequences have been a total disaster. People, please, use your heads and don't let them cut you open.

Please, if anyone knows someone who has used a silicone button or found any other way to fix a septal perforation (that hole in the septum), DM me ASAP!!! Also, if you know how fast it grows, that would be huge. It’s been 8 months since my surgery and it has grown quite a bit. Is there any way to stop it from growing too fast? It is literally eating through my cartilage and mucosa, and breathing feels absolutely terrible. Thanks.

Sarah Cox66 said:You’ve got my support too... I won't pity you, because that wouldn't help a thing or change your situation. Just keep your head up and move forward. I really hope justice prevails!!🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂

A huge thank you. My head is up. I'm moving forward. There are complications, sure—it is what it is. I just hope everything works out eventually. Until then, I'll stay patient and try to hang in there for these six months until about 80% of the results are visible. Good luck to everyone heading into surgery. I'm rooting for you all. I hope that one day I can finally say I breathed deeply again, just like most of you, without that heavy, congested feeling in my nose that feels like breathing through a diesel engine. 🙂
From here on out, I'm cutting out the negativity and pushing ahead. If I scared anyone off, I didn't mean to. I was just looking for advice and wanted to warn people not to jump into surgery blindly. You have to think it through. Every surgery carries risks, and you never truly know what might happen. Honestly, if I had known this would happen, I never would have agreed to these procedures, let alone any cosmetic stuff. Things wouldn't have gone to these extremes if I hadn't been pushed, even if it wasn't by my choice, but it is what it is now. I can't turn back time or undo my mistakes. I actually miss my old nose. It wasn't perfect, but at least it had some structure. I could wear glasses without them constantly sliding down because my nose is now too thin and drooping. At least before, it looked like it had lived a life, not just traces of a surgeon's work. 😂
Also, just because the doctor messed up my case doesn't mean he's bad at his job for everyone else. He actually has plenty of successful cases. I wasn't hunting down his other failed patients; they reached out to me personally for similar reasons. Regardless, it doesn't matter. I just wanted acknowledgment and for things to be stated clearly. I think as a patient, I have a right to that. That's why I was so angry and upset. But whatever. I'm going to step away from the forum for a while to focus on passing my exams and just trying to live my life.
Since some doctors actually read these forums, if my words push even one doctor to stop treating patients like numbers or cash cows—and I know there are doctors like that out there—then I've achieved my goal.
p.s.—Huge thanks to Whisper and Oblak19. You ladies are absolute gems!
Kisses to everyone and 👋

copperwalker18 said:That feeling when you finally take your tampon out and can actually breathe again... seriously, the amount of air you get back is unreal!!!
😁

I am living for that day! 🙂)) thanks everyone for the support.

Elizabeth Collins5 said:rowdyfalcon35, I saw the photos and "shocked" doesn't even cover it!! I am so incredibly sorry this happened to you. Reading your posts about his attitude just makes my blood boil—I can't imagine how you feel. And that comment about you just being "unlucky"? I'd slap him silly. How does that man have no shame?!
Does he have any actual plan or solution, anything? The bare minimum would be giving the money back.
I really hope this doesn't end without a lawsuit. Maybe you could send those photos to some news outlet or something?

I've got all the pre-op records and the post-op results right here. I went to see the top specialists in the country and they all agree: it was botched. I won't even be able to breathe properly until I undergo a secondary open rhinoplasty, which is going to be a long process and will only fix part of the mess. Even after all that, he’s still making excuses and refusing to admit to a mistake that's obvious from a mile away—not to mention how bad it looks from the inside. I won't go into every single detail because I don't want to scare people, but let's just say things are bad. It takes six months to see 80% of the final result. Well, I'm not stopping. Not for myself, and not for everyone else who's been screwed over like this. If I have to, I'll team up with others and take this to the media. I believe there's justice left, even in a corrupt system like ours. I worked my tail off for this, and my parents are basically eating through their retirement savings—they've already maxed out credit cards just to pay for an operation meant to fix my breathing. Instead, the deviation wasn't even fixed, and everything is worse now. Letting that guy walk away with my hard-earned money after he completely massacred my face would be an insult to me and my parents.

restlessfox3 said:Why don't you just post a photo?
Look, I agree here. I didn't realize the full situation, and honestly, it's the same story for everyone when it comes to that stuck skin flap. It failed for you, and I get that it might look different than expected...
Your case is rare, though. For people considering surgery who already know there's a risk, it isn't fair to just say it looks ugly and scare them for no reason...
I remember your nose specifically because the difference before and after was huge...
You went under the knife for aesthetics and breathing issues.
And I'm really sorry this happened to you...

I'm not trying to scare anyone. That's not my goal. My goal is to find a doctor here in the States who is actually willing to fix this, because everyone else keeps turning me away and telling me I'm a lost cause. I know doctors read these forums, and I’d love it if someone would just recommend a specialist they trust. I'm speaking from experience. I'm just telling others: don't jump into anything unless you are one hundred percent certain. I wish someone had warned me about all the possible complications. I thought surgery would be simple. It is anything but. Go ahead and get the surgery, but listen to your gut. That's all. Listen to your intuition. Mine was screaming at me, and I ignored it. Don't be afraid, but listen to that inner voice. If it's telling you something, listen. That's it.

restlessfox3 said:Look, I think you're exaggerating a bit. That should be enough.

Lucky you... like I said, it all depends on how much and where it's stuck. In my case, it's right where his nose basically fell apart—where the bone and cartilage are decaying. It was clean there, but after the piercing, everything just collapsed, so that's why it looks like this. The skin is red and stuck on both sides. I'm sure yours isn't like that, but don't speak for me. I'm just speaking for myself.

hiddenseal14 said:Honestly, I think some people really overreact and have totally unrealistic expectations. I know so many people who throw fits claiming their nose is a disaster just because one nostril is a millimeter wider than the other or something.

I'm not saying that's the case for redlady. Sadly, it is. It would be better if it wasn't. But I'd love to see a photo so I can judge if it's actually that bad.

I sent you the photos, so judge for yourself. I'm definitely not the type to make a mountain out of a molehill—actually, it's the exact opposite. I could even live with the way it looks if it were just about aesthetics, but the function hasn't been fixed; it's actually worse now, and the look is getting worse over time too. A lot of stuff was done without my permission, things were kept from me, and that's just not okay for a patient. Period.

A skin graft is a skin graft. Some people think it looks better, some don't. For me, it looks way worse because it's stuck onto this super thin, almost invisible cartilage, which just makes the whole thing look even uglier. To someone else, maybe it doesn't look that bad. But at the end of the day, a skin graft is just a skin graft.

Kate Taylor59 said:What's it look like though... my doctor didn't say a word about massage.

How does it look? Ugly.🙂

hiddenseal14 said:So, did your doctor actually explain how you're supposed to massage your nose?

I don't remember everything perfectly, but I know mine explained exactly how to do the massage. I've been doing it several times a day, really hard—like, to the point of pain. I did exactly that and my skin didn't get stuck at all. That’s literally what the massage is for.

From what I can tell, it doesn't stick for people whose skin wasn't stuck right after surgery. For me, it's been stuck in two spots for three months now, and no amount of massaging is separating it.

restlessfox3 said:I feel so bad for you... I went to see Glusca and honestly, I was having such a hard time breathing before. I had a 1.4 inch polyp and now I can breathe perfectly. He told me it would get even better in a while, but I’m already feeling great right now.....
My nose didn't get too swollen either. In fact, he actually told me he didn't want to narrow it too much because he wanted to prioritize my breathing...
I can't really comment on how it looks aesthetically yet since there's still some swelling...
Really hoping everything turns out just right.

I think I saw what your nose looked like in those photos
If you sing,
If that was your nose, it ended up looking really nice later on... at least for me...

That swelling and redness looked okay at first, but once it went down, you could see more and more that the upper part was red. After the piercing, that top section collapsed, and now you can barely tell how thin it is.

Hannah Roberts66 said:Redlady, reading this just breaks my heart for you. Since you don't have the cash for another surgery right now, my advice is simple: sue that guy for what he did.

A lot of lawyers, once they see the damage he caused, will take the case on contingency. You won't even have to pay them upfront.

Sue him for enough money to get you over to the States to see a top-tier specialist who can actually fix his mess. This is horrific.

Don't you dare just accept this and move on, looking for someone else to patch up his mistakes. Hospitals aren't going to step up to fix some private doctor's disaster.

It’s just not right to forgive and forget here. I'm a believer and I truly believe in forgiveness, but not in this situation. That man disfigured you and messed with your health.

Don't let this slide. While you're waiting for your nose to heal, find a lawyer. Tell them everything. Plenty of them work on commission.

Our legal system can be a mess, but damn it, in a case like this, they should rule in your favor and make him pay a decent settlement.

Then you grab plane tickets from $2000 to the US and book an appointment with a world-class surgeon who can actually help.

THERE IS TOO MUCH UNPUNISHED EVIL IN THIS COUNTRY! If that guy doesn't know how to do his job, why the hell is he doing it?

Forget all those "successful" surgeries—one single mistake like this can ruin a life! And if he fails this badly, he has to answer for his "crime."

Believe me, that guy makes plenty of money to pay out a massive settlement.
What's a few thousand dollars to him compared to fixing you up in America?

Find a lawyer. Try to settle out of court first, but if he won't budge, go all the way. He has to own up to his mistakes! Who else is going to do it if not the person who caused it?

The guy easily pulls in $5,000 a month, so he can certainly afford to pay for the mess he made.

It won't break him.

Do not listen to his empty excuses about how everything is fine.

If he won't admit he's wrong nicely, then force him to. Don't let his arrogance or ego shake you.

People like that always have weaknesses, trust me. Let him face the consequences. If he can't fix it himself, he needs to hand it over to someone who actually knows what they're doing.

Clearly not a pro, considering how he's acting toward his own patient and pretending he hasn't done anything wrong—which is the easiest thing to do.

Thank you so much for the support, it means the world to me. Right now, my priority is finding someone to handle this and protecting my profession. People absolutely have to be held accountable for their actions. I won't stop there. I'm a believer too, and I can forgive, but I can't just overlook someone lying to my face and acting like I'm crazy for noticing. I respect everyone and I'm sure he's helped people before, but what happened to me was a criminal error. Everyone sees it—from laypeople to the best doctors in America. It wasn't bad luck; it was a botched procedure. He went to extremes without my permission, and that is simply wrong.

Kate Taylor59 said:Man, I don't get it. Did you go because you couldn't breathe or just for looks? Honestly, go see Dr. Davor Dzepina. He does exactly what you're looking for. He even worked on Mirko, though Mirko went and got punched again, so his nose is totally messed up now...

I went mainly because of breathing issues. It was causing huge problems with my job, plus I had constant inflammation and post-nasal drip. We agreed to do the aesthetic part too—though they didn't mention half of what actually happened—as long as my function stayed intact. That’s why I saw an ENT, Dr. Glusca. I trusted him not to mess up my breathing; he might screw up the looks, but the function has to come first. At the hospital, they told me I needed two separate surgeries. He told me he'd fix everything in one go. Said not to worry, that he uses a new method, no bruising, fast recovery, and that doing two surgeries would be too much trauma. He promised the drainage would stop, but the hospital staff said it wouldn't, and yeah, they were right. I was naive. I believed all the sales talk. "Nobody else is good," "this guy is too soft," "how can he breathe," etc. I figured it wouldn't happen to me, but it did. And it's worse. The worst part is when the one guy everyone recommends tells you he's never seen a nose this bad and it might not be savable. He said he didn't want to spend seven hours on something so risky with only a 10% success rate. Now, every doctor is turning me away, while he keeps insisting it's no big deal. I reached out to Dr. Dzepina, and thank you for the tip. I'll head in for a consultation as soon as I save up the cash.

My advice to anyone looking at surgery while dealing with breathing issues? Just go to a hospital. If anything unexpected goes sideways during the procedure, you’ve got a whole team of experienced doctors right there to jump in and help ensure everything turns out okay. Plus, you can usually negotiate any cosmetic tweaks, which actually saves you money. In a hospital setting, the surgeon isn't just left to fly solo. They aren't operating under some weird "cookie-cutter" logic where they give you one of those identical, upturned noses you never even asked for—just because they think it suits your small face! When they mess up the septum or over-reshape the nose, you're stuck. I was one of those people who thought paying a private doctor meant getting more attention than someone in a hospital. Huge mistake. And it's not just me; I see it all the time. That’s exactly why hospital staff get so frustrated with fixing mistakes made by private surgeons. They look at you like, "Well, you paid for that, so now you can deal with him fixing it." You end up feeling completely abandoned with your own pain.

Kate Taylor59 said:Oh man, reading this actually makes my nose ache. 😢 I feel so bad for what you're going through... Honestly, you should look into Dr. Davor Dzepin. He did the reconstruction for Mirko Filipovic and some guy who got in a fight... at least that's what I've heard.

The surgeon I went to also does reconstructive work for boxers and stuff like that. For me? Total disaster. She basically told me I just had "bad luck." If "bad luck" means picking a terrible surgeon, paying a fortune, and ending up looking worse, then sure, call it bad luck. I need a specialist who actually handles perforations and full nasal reconstruction. Money is tight, and every hospital I go to just turns me away. They look at me like I'm some lost cause. They say it's "too much work" because the surgery takes 6-7 hours, or they claim the success rate for closing the perforation is less than 10%. They even tell me there isn't a specialist for this, not even in all of America. Please, if anyone knows someone who deals with cases like mine, help me. I’m desperate and just mentally exhausted from all this. I went under the knife to fix my breathing, but now I can't breathe any better than before, and aesthetically, it's getting worse as my nose continues to drop. I regret the day I stepped into this nightmare. I'd give anything to turn back the clock and just trust my gut.