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*Treatment results may vary
Past the one year mark, very disappointed
It's been 1 year, 5 months since my surgery and I am very displeased. My nose is still over projected, with a large, ugly bump on my bridge, the left and right sides of my nose are uneven, the top is still bulbous and my whole facial balance has been thrown off. The lower blepharoplasty Ghavami performed has aged me 10 years so I'll now have to start using fillers regularly so I look like I am getting sleep at night. I plan to do a revision and get fillers or fat grafting at this point because I am beyond embarrassed and feel hideous. I recently found pics of myself before surgery and broke down, I was so much better looking before Dr. Ghavami got ahold of me. He also charged me $17,500 out of my pocket, then charged my insurance over $30k, I was initially quoted at $22,500 for EVERYTHING... So I plan to go to the medical board and file a complaint. DO NOT GO TO THIS MAN, HE WANTS YOUR MONEY AND WILL RUIN YOUR FACE.
Actually
Just remembered I hadn't eaten the night before surgery at all, only lunch the day before! Gosh I was fully the model patient- and still, somehow saliva got into my lung on his operation table.
Will definitely keep you guys updated- I plan to post pics at one year, he said that was the time marker to expect for the results to really show so I'm keeping my fingers crossed...
So far, still waiting and hoping.
Will definitely keep you guys updated- I plan to post pics at one year, he said that was the time marker to expect for the results to really show so I'm keeping my fingers crossed...
So far, still waiting and hoping.
First of all, I am very easy to please. Secondly,...
First of all, I am very easy to please. Secondly, I really knew I wanted this surgery before I knew what Dr. Ghavami was going to do to my face. Thirdly, let it be known that I followed his work and thought good and hard about this before I took the plunge. I am still fighting to be optimistic about the results but in all honesty, I look worse than ever.
Let me also mention that I did not expect to end up with a lung abscess, $50k+ in hospital bills, an apathetic surgeon, AND Rose scamming my insurance company for an extra $25k when the initial quote for the "entire procedure" was $22k, 90% of which my policy would have covered if Dr. Ghavami had not demanded $17k out of my pocket first... So that's a $22,000 procedure that *suddenly* became $42,000, crazy right? ($17k from my pocket + $25k from my insurance company that thinks they are covering most of my procedure) But I digress...
Let's focus on the actual procedure and results.
When I went in for my initial consultation, everything seemed great. Dr. Ghavami said all the right things, he was pleasant, Rose was pleasant. I had had a previous rhinoplasty about 4-5 years prior but had been involved in an accident that had damaged my nose and caused a deviated septum which aside from being ugly, had also complicated my breathing.
I just wanted it straight, and smaller if possible- Dr. Ghavami suggested I use my health insurance on account of the breathing issues. (In retrospect, I see why he did that, clever clever. $$$)
The day of the procedure, the girls in the office were very sweet, Dr. Ghavami was kind of pushy and abrasive but I didn't take it personally, I know the guy is busy and I'd be stressing out if I had to cut someone's face open too.
Well, the procedure was fine, he was pretty brutal with my face but I was a model patient, I slept upright every night as instructed, drank lots of fluids, ate very healthy (mind you, I run, workout, eat clean and drink water regularly, I've always led a very healthy lifestyle), took my medicines, vitamins, etc as directed- I did EVERYTHING he told me to do.
Well, 6 days later, I go in to have the cast removed. The girls were great, they got everything off and I eagerly peeked at myself in the mirror. It looked chubby and swollen and strange but I shrugged it off, I knew from my previous rhinoplasty that it would take time for everything to heal into place and I had nothing but patience and optimism. I noticed that there was now a strange bump on my nose and it was very long, very skinny, and rather disappointingly disproportionate. I had expected a surgeon who claims to be of such a high caliber to be a master at sculpting but, well, I realize he isn't God so, moving on...
The very day after my cast is removed, I start to feel a strange sharp pain in my chest, right behind my right shoulder blade. I figured it was just a stomach ache gone wrong or perhaps the medication? To be safe, I rested in hopes it would wear off.
It didn't wear off, and by that evening, it felt like I was being stabbed repeatedly in the lung by a massive spear. Now, again, I'm very healthy and athletic, I rock climb, I skateboard (and have taken many a fall), I do weight and intensive core training, I'm really really TOUGH. But this was the most unbearable pain I've ever felt in my life, like my lung was burning alive in my chest and every breath only increased the stabbing pressure.
Finally it got to a point where I couldn't tough it out anymore (I tried so hard), and I called Dr. Ghavami hoping maybe it was just an allergic reaction to the antibiotics or something, I was in need of any information that could help ease the pain. The girls said Dr. Ghavami was in surgery when I called, but they went up to ask him what to do. If you are in my shoes, in a desperately painful situation and you need help, don't count on him to be available, he's too busy focusing on the next dollar to really worry about his patients after the surgery. Sorry in advance.????????
The receptionist left me with the advice, "He says to relax and take deep breaths." Word-for-word.
So I tried.
I took a hot bath, I rested in bed, I drank lots of water to flush my system... Again, I have a very high pain threshold, but by 9pm that evening, I was in tears because the pain was so intense. Remember, this is only a week post-op.
By 2am that night, I was in the ER.
Apparently I had a small, infectious mass in my chest.
I was prescribed antibiotics for ten days to treat what was believed at the time to be pneumonia.
When the antibiotics didn't help, and my chest pain persisted, I sought a second opinion. At this point, I didn't realize that I had a lung abscess growing in my right lung, and since they are so rare, they are difficult to diagnose.
I had been confined to my home, since what I had was thought to be pneumonia, I took every precaution to avoid cold weather, I drank gallon upon gallon of water (no joke, I was determined to kick this thing's bum), but my symptoms persisted. And then they started to take a strange turn- I started coughing up a disgusting smelly green flem, which seemed odd, as I had thoroughly researched pneumonia but hadn't seen a similar symptom listed.
Two days after going to the second doctor, I went to the ER at UCLA Medical Center, where they detected what had become a now very visible large black mass in my chest- definitely not pneumonia.
I was involuntarily admitted to the hospital, the staff all confused at what exactly was growing in my chest. It was suspected to be Tuberculosis- so that meant three days of captivity in solitary confinement while they pricked me with needles 5-8 times a day/night, I was not allowed to leave to eat, use the restroom, etc.
They had to hold me in solitary confinement by state law until they could prove that what I had in my chest was not TB through my blood and mucous cultures.
The infectious disease specialists asked me if I had had any recent surgeries, and upon my answer being yes, they informed me that while they had the hold me for TB, they were certain I had developed a lung abscess due to carelessness during my operation.
Um, yikes?
See, somehow although I hadn't eaten anything prior to the operation since 8pm the night before, SOMETHING had ended up leaking into my right lung while I was under anesthesia- likely saliva from my mouth, which means I was inadequately protected through my operation from such a mishap, and therefore had spent the greater part of the month of December sick, in excruciating pain, and confined to my home... Now confined to a hospital... All for someone's carelessness during what was supposed to be a very exciting surgery for me. Talk about a merry Christmas and happy new year.
So now you're asking... Well was it all worth it at least!?
Well guess what, I was such a fan of Dr. Ghavami's work that I decided to wait it out and see... I felt like, well, I went through hell and back for this nose, and after all this, at least I have THAT, right? I mean, I'd only been planning the surgery for 3 years.
Well, it's been almost ten months now, and my nose actually looks worse. I really hate admitting that, I feel like such an idiot for believing in Dr. Ghavami, I was really willing to take all that nonsense and just chalk it up as well, that sucked, but at least I got a great nose out of the deal!
But no. It's now very thick on the bridge, it is very "fake" looking, the tip and all cartilage are still chubby and disproportionate, in fact now the bump(s) are even more visible now that the swelling has gone down... And I have a nice big scar that refuses to heal right between my nostrils where he made a thick incision to open my nose during the procedure. No vitamin E or coconut oil has minimized the crooked scar yet.
Now trust me, I'm so easy to please, it's sad. And I'm still trying so hard to be optimistic because well, now I'm stuck with this big, ugly nose on my face and permanent damage to my right lung where the abscess was. (Fun fact, once you've had an abscess once, you are forever at a much higher risk of another, in addition to a multitude of other lung infections.)
Now, I know you don't want to hear this, but I really poured over reviews before I took the plunge. I read and studied everything I could about this procedure, I saw the negative reviews and thought "well they are different, or too picky, or have unrealistic expectations, or maybe they don't realize that a rhinoplasty or revision rhinoplasty will yield subtle rather than dramatic results..."
So I ignored my better judgement, and here I am. I'm just another one of his displeased, botched little Frankenstein monsters. Please don't be as foolish as me, I now have a sagging face because he cut up my nose pretty bad to the point that at 25, I have smile lines and sagging cheeks. I have an even uglier nose now, one that is big, dispoportipnate, crooked, wide and bulbous. I have scars, a month of my life was gone, and he still wants $25k from my insurance company. (Rose even went so far as to infer that I had taken the check for myself and cashed it, alerting me that that is insurance fraud... Uhhhh hello? You want to accuse me of stealing after what I went through because your husband couldn't keep saliva from leaking into my lung during a procedure he boasts to be an *expert* at? Okay...)
There are dozens of surgeons all over the world that can and will do so much better for you, please don't risk your face or your lungs with Dr. Ghavami, he's not worth it.
Let me also mention that I did not expect to end up with a lung abscess, $50k+ in hospital bills, an apathetic surgeon, AND Rose scamming my insurance company for an extra $25k when the initial quote for the "entire procedure" was $22k, 90% of which my policy would have covered if Dr. Ghavami had not demanded $17k out of my pocket first... So that's a $22,000 procedure that *suddenly* became $42,000, crazy right? ($17k from my pocket + $25k from my insurance company that thinks they are covering most of my procedure) But I digress...
Let's focus on the actual procedure and results.
When I went in for my initial consultation, everything seemed great. Dr. Ghavami said all the right things, he was pleasant, Rose was pleasant. I had had a previous rhinoplasty about 4-5 years prior but had been involved in an accident that had damaged my nose and caused a deviated septum which aside from being ugly, had also complicated my breathing.
I just wanted it straight, and smaller if possible- Dr. Ghavami suggested I use my health insurance on account of the breathing issues. (In retrospect, I see why he did that, clever clever. $$$)
The day of the procedure, the girls in the office were very sweet, Dr. Ghavami was kind of pushy and abrasive but I didn't take it personally, I know the guy is busy and I'd be stressing out if I had to cut someone's face open too.
Well, the procedure was fine, he was pretty brutal with my face but I was a model patient, I slept upright every night as instructed, drank lots of fluids, ate very healthy (mind you, I run, workout, eat clean and drink water regularly, I've always led a very healthy lifestyle), took my medicines, vitamins, etc as directed- I did EVERYTHING he told me to do.
Well, 6 days later, I go in to have the cast removed. The girls were great, they got everything off and I eagerly peeked at myself in the mirror. It looked chubby and swollen and strange but I shrugged it off, I knew from my previous rhinoplasty that it would take time for everything to heal into place and I had nothing but patience and optimism. I noticed that there was now a strange bump on my nose and it was very long, very skinny, and rather disappointingly disproportionate. I had expected a surgeon who claims to be of such a high caliber to be a master at sculpting but, well, I realize he isn't God so, moving on...
The very day after my cast is removed, I start to feel a strange sharp pain in my chest, right behind my right shoulder blade. I figured it was just a stomach ache gone wrong or perhaps the medication? To be safe, I rested in hopes it would wear off.
It didn't wear off, and by that evening, it felt like I was being stabbed repeatedly in the lung by a massive spear. Now, again, I'm very healthy and athletic, I rock climb, I skateboard (and have taken many a fall), I do weight and intensive core training, I'm really really TOUGH. But this was the most unbearable pain I've ever felt in my life, like my lung was burning alive in my chest and every breath only increased the stabbing pressure.
Finally it got to a point where I couldn't tough it out anymore (I tried so hard), and I called Dr. Ghavami hoping maybe it was just an allergic reaction to the antibiotics or something, I was in need of any information that could help ease the pain. The girls said Dr. Ghavami was in surgery when I called, but they went up to ask him what to do. If you are in my shoes, in a desperately painful situation and you need help, don't count on him to be available, he's too busy focusing on the next dollar to really worry about his patients after the surgery. Sorry in advance.????????
The receptionist left me with the advice, "He says to relax and take deep breaths." Word-for-word.
So I tried.
I took a hot bath, I rested in bed, I drank lots of water to flush my system... Again, I have a very high pain threshold, but by 9pm that evening, I was in tears because the pain was so intense. Remember, this is only a week post-op.
By 2am that night, I was in the ER.
Apparently I had a small, infectious mass in my chest.
I was prescribed antibiotics for ten days to treat what was believed at the time to be pneumonia.
When the antibiotics didn't help, and my chest pain persisted, I sought a second opinion. At this point, I didn't realize that I had a lung abscess growing in my right lung, and since they are so rare, they are difficult to diagnose.
I had been confined to my home, since what I had was thought to be pneumonia, I took every precaution to avoid cold weather, I drank gallon upon gallon of water (no joke, I was determined to kick this thing's bum), but my symptoms persisted. And then they started to take a strange turn- I started coughing up a disgusting smelly green flem, which seemed odd, as I had thoroughly researched pneumonia but hadn't seen a similar symptom listed.
Two days after going to the second doctor, I went to the ER at UCLA Medical Center, where they detected what had become a now very visible large black mass in my chest- definitely not pneumonia.
I was involuntarily admitted to the hospital, the staff all confused at what exactly was growing in my chest. It was suspected to be Tuberculosis- so that meant three days of captivity in solitary confinement while they pricked me with needles 5-8 times a day/night, I was not allowed to leave to eat, use the restroom, etc.
They had to hold me in solitary confinement by state law until they could prove that what I had in my chest was not TB through my blood and mucous cultures.
The infectious disease specialists asked me if I had had any recent surgeries, and upon my answer being yes, they informed me that while they had the hold me for TB, they were certain I had developed a lung abscess due to carelessness during my operation.
Um, yikes?
See, somehow although I hadn't eaten anything prior to the operation since 8pm the night before, SOMETHING had ended up leaking into my right lung while I was under anesthesia- likely saliva from my mouth, which means I was inadequately protected through my operation from such a mishap, and therefore had spent the greater part of the month of December sick, in excruciating pain, and confined to my home... Now confined to a hospital... All for someone's carelessness during what was supposed to be a very exciting surgery for me. Talk about a merry Christmas and happy new year.
So now you're asking... Well was it all worth it at least!?
Well guess what, I was such a fan of Dr. Ghavami's work that I decided to wait it out and see... I felt like, well, I went through hell and back for this nose, and after all this, at least I have THAT, right? I mean, I'd only been planning the surgery for 3 years.
Well, it's been almost ten months now, and my nose actually looks worse. I really hate admitting that, I feel like such an idiot for believing in Dr. Ghavami, I was really willing to take all that nonsense and just chalk it up as well, that sucked, but at least I got a great nose out of the deal!
But no. It's now very thick on the bridge, it is very "fake" looking, the tip and all cartilage are still chubby and disproportionate, in fact now the bump(s) are even more visible now that the swelling has gone down... And I have a nice big scar that refuses to heal right between my nostrils where he made a thick incision to open my nose during the procedure. No vitamin E or coconut oil has minimized the crooked scar yet.
Now trust me, I'm so easy to please, it's sad. And I'm still trying so hard to be optimistic because well, now I'm stuck with this big, ugly nose on my face and permanent damage to my right lung where the abscess was. (Fun fact, once you've had an abscess once, you are forever at a much higher risk of another, in addition to a multitude of other lung infections.)
Now, I know you don't want to hear this, but I really poured over reviews before I took the plunge. I read and studied everything I could about this procedure, I saw the negative reviews and thought "well they are different, or too picky, or have unrealistic expectations, or maybe they don't realize that a rhinoplasty or revision rhinoplasty will yield subtle rather than dramatic results..."
So I ignored my better judgement, and here I am. I'm just another one of his displeased, botched little Frankenstein monsters. Please don't be as foolish as me, I now have a sagging face because he cut up my nose pretty bad to the point that at 25, I have smile lines and sagging cheeks. I have an even uglier nose now, one that is big, dispoportipnate, crooked, wide and bulbous. I have scars, a month of my life was gone, and he still wants $25k from my insurance company. (Rose even went so far as to infer that I had taken the check for myself and cashed it, alerting me that that is insurance fraud... Uhhhh hello? You want to accuse me of stealing after what I went through because your husband couldn't keep saliva from leaking into my lung during a procedure he boasts to be an *expert* at? Okay...)
There are dozens of surgeons all over the world that can and will do so much better for you, please don't risk your face or your lungs with Dr. Ghavami, he's not worth it.
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