Mark Henley, MBChB

I have been unhappy with my appearance since early teens having a double chin and heavy lower face. As I got older--I am now 70-- with weight gain and normal sagging of skin and underlying tissues my appearance in my opinion became even more abnormal and unbalanced. I considered myself unattractive even grotesque and disliked looking in mirrors to be reminded of my appearance and tried to hide my lower face behind a hand when talking or inside a large scarf. I was unable to fasten collars as the excess fat on my chin/neck made my neck larger than my blouse/shirt size and I was unable to wear necklaces as they would not reach around my neck. Aged 69 a legacy enabled me to afford surgery--previously I never felt I could justify the expenditure on myself. In my eyes now I feel within the normal appearance range for my age (70) when i compare myself with female contemporaries. I smile at my reflection and never consider how I look when in company--I have lost my self consciousness. No more need for scarves or covering hands and I can do up the necks of blouses and wear necklaces. I never wanted to look younger--only "normal" but a friend told me "It has taken 15 years off you" so I presume I must have looked 85 before ! my only regret is that I could not have had the operation years ago and had longer to benefit from it.

After researching breast augmentation and surgeons for years i finally felt ready to go for it, i came across Mr Henley and something just clicked that he was the surgeon for me. I am only 4 days post op but from the beginning of the process he made me feel comfortable, you get a real sense that he cares which is lovely, his secretary & nurse are also a credit to him. I had my surgery at the park hospital and I couldn't be happier so far, I have suffered very little pain. After wanting this surgery for so long and having many anxieties regarding it I'm so glad I chose to go ahead with Mark.

My decision to choose Mr Henley as my surgeon turned out to be a very bad one. He was recommended to me by another reputable surgeon and I blindly went with it. Obviously, with hindsight, I wish I had done so much more research and chosen more wisely.

I had a revision rhinoplasty but have ended up, in my opinion, worse than when I started off.

Unfortunately, Mr Henley did not foresee that he might need to use a graft from my own tissue so, as I had not consented, was unable to do so during surgery. In his own words, this would have allowed for more definition of the tip. When the plaster came off, Mr Henley described my nose as a 'bit lumpy and bumpy' and as 'not sitting straight on my face.' Both sadly true.

I have also been left with a scar on my nose, a lot of scar tissue in my nose, a septum that still bulges out which affects my breathing and different shaped nostrils. Also a polybeak deformity that the surgery was supposed to correct, still remains.

Of course, I must shoulder a lot of the blame for my poor choice of surgeon but this whole episode has affected my mental health and my personal and professional lives greatly.

I appreciate that mine was a difficult surgery and could have accepted one or two things going wrong but so many is hard to comprehend and something I now have to live with for the rest of my life.

Updated on 12 Dec 2022:
I jut wanted to add an update to say:

1. Although I have been trying to contact Mr Henley’s secretary since expressing my unhappiness with the surgery, she/they appear to be completely ignoring me.

2. I have now consulted with a few ENT surgeons, all of whom have expressed surprise at Mr Henley’s lack of foresight that he would have to use my own graft tissue in a revision rhinoplasty and at the general way he has left my nose.

Please don’t be as stupid as me and choose your surgeon wisely.

Dr Henley has all the right credentials on paper however in reality my eyelid surgery performed by him has left me with ripples of the skin around the outer edges of the eyelids and thickened skin on the inner part. I am now 6 years on and although they have faded slightly they are still visible...it wasn't a neat surgery at all and it is a constant bugbear everytime I look in the mirror.