Not what I'd hoped for.

I've waited well over two years to post this in order to give a fair account of my results with Dr. Yoo. Unfortunately my primary rhinoplasty experience with Dr. Yoo wasn’t what I’d hoped for.
Right when I first set foot in the clinic I already felt dismissed. The make up-caked receptionist glanced up at me irritatedly like she was sick of patients coming in to interrupt her banging away on her cellphone. Following that, she could scarcely locate my appointment. This slight air of snootiness and disorganisation seemed to pervade the clinic. I experienced a similar attitude with one of Dr. Yoo's assistants. She had a similarly cold, annoyed vibe as the receptionist, which made me feel uncomfortable and unwelcome.
Following that, I had a very short pre-op consultation with Dr. Yoo and it seemed like he didn't truly consider my opinions. It felt like I was going along a factory conveyor belt where Dr. Yoo is the QC guy that picks you up, takes a cursory glance at yoir flaws, and tosses you back on the belt with the others. Sure, everyone has their own aesthetic, and I’m more than happy to hear recommendations, but I expected Dr. Yoo to be more receptive.
Moreover, I did not have unrealistic expectations or a crazy laundry list of requests. I simply said I wanted to maintain my Asian identity, lift the bridge slightly and refine the tip. He had his own ideas, of course, and stated that my eyes were too far apart so he wanted to raise my radix (dipped in bit where the forehead meets the top of the nose) considerably to make my eyes look closer together. He said it so matter-of-factly, like it was a universal truth I should accept. I like the wide-set eye look so I immediately expressed concern. I wanted to keep some slope between my eyes but he seemed unimpressed by my request. I felt patronised to be honest and by now I was having serious misgivings. Even the before and after photos he showed me of his previous rhinoplasty work started to look rather unnatural and homogenous. Does this guy only know how to do one type of nose? What have I gotten myself into, I thought.
As for his bedside manner, Dr. Yoo is certainly professional albeit in a robotic way. The best way to describe how I felt is like he assigned a number to me and looked at me like that the whole time. Fair enough, I suppose, because he sees so many patients for a multitude of reasons that we must all become one big blur.
Anyway, the morning of my rhinoplasty was uncomfortable for me as well. The nurse that brought me to the operating theatre was surly and unsmiling, acting like I was inconveniencing her--but by this time I had come to expect that from Yoo's staff. I informed her that I’ve always had problems with IVs being put into the veins of my arms as I've got difficult, narrow veins that "roll," so I suggested that perhaps the veins in my hand might be easier. She looked at me deploringly like I'd said that most moronic thing in the world then insisted on poking me for a good minute, aggressively searching for a vein, until I started to hurt. She even had to call over one of the other nurses to help her. After this unpleasant interaction I felt like running out of the room to freedom but I was already lying on the bed—trapped.
The surgery and recovery went well but, I’m sad to say, I'm unhappy with the results. I'll stress again that I've patiently waited over two years now so I could be free of any residual swelling and give a truthful assessment of my final result.
First of all, I don't like the harsh shadows that appear on the sides of my widened bridge now. It looks thick and clumsy. There’s also more fullness in the left side of my nose so it looks slightly asymmetrical. At more than two years post-op residual swelling should no longer be an issue. When the left side is viewed in profile it also looks like the tip is flatter and more curved than from the right side.
My tip is also chunkier and not as projected or refined as I'd like. I know there are limits to how refined your nose can become, especially when you have fairly thick skin like I do. However, my nose has an odd flattish tip, despite its increased length and projection, which I don't believe is wholly down to my skin's thickness. Furthermore, instead of a smooth, sloping transition from my forehead there’s also a weird break from the top of the radix so I have a pretty clear line where the nose bridge ends and the forehead begins. I can't help but think that my request to maintain some of that original slope between my eyes tripped Dr. Yoo up. I suspect that he had a difficult time because he's so used to only performing the few things in he has in his aesthetic repertoire.
While I wouldn't exactly say that Dr. Yoo's got the "cookie-cutter" approach to rhinoplasty, it's pretty darn close because he has this clear aesthetic preference for strong, tube-shaped bridges and meaty nasal tips no matter what your facial features are.
I feel rather disillusioned at this point and expected more finesse and refinement from Dr. Yoo. I was also totally sold on the fact that he uses analogous tissue to build up the nose. In my mind I hoped it would look harmonious and more customised than silicone, but really it's not much better. In fact, the diced cartilage-wrapped-in-fascia technique Dr. Yoo employs can look bulky and vulgar in my opinion. The grafts he used to lengthen my nose were possibly excessive as I’ve got this rounded, heavy tip now. I can’t help but think of the eggplant emoji when I look at my nose. It looks big, round and blobby in photos when it never did before. When I smile now the chunky tip hangs down more. It’s slightly witchy looking and it even seems to have aged me.
Dr. Yoo promised that he’d give the impression of a refined nose by building it up but it ended up looking chunky and the tip looks a touch flattened. This flattened area gives an unpleasant curve to the tip of my nose, which I'd say is bordering on a pollybeak, especially when viewed from my troublesome left side. I still get a bit sad and frustrated when I think of my old nose and how foolish I was to go through all of this.
Also, please be aware that once you're out of the clinic, living far away, and on your way to recovery, there will be no follow-ups initiated by Dr. Yoo. No checking up in six months to a year's time via Skype or something as one would expect. Nothing. At least not in my case.
I came to Dr. Yoo with the hopes of some refinement while maintaining my Asian characteristics. Too bad I've come away disappointed. While I do see some improvements here and there, they don’t outweigh the problems for me. Despite my unhappiness, I'm still contemplating if I should just live with my nose rather than go for a revision because I'm scared that a secondary procedure could make things worse.
To anyone thinking of getting rhinoplasty, there are no guarantees that things will markedly improve for the better, even with a surgeon you trust and who has a decent track record. In fact, you might just be throwing money down the drain and giving yourself more trouble than it’s worth.