What seemed like a easy fix turn into multiple problems

Provider Review

• 5 Jun 2018

Before I give this review I want the audience reading to know I NEVER post reviews. I have had close to a year to reflect on pre and post surgery experience. I want the audience to know that I am neither coming from a good or bad place at this point but I do feel like I need to give a review on my experience. I came to Dr.Cole two years ago because I had a very poor lower blephraplasty and for those of you do not know it is a fancy term for dark circle/bag surgery. Apparently the previous doctor removed too much skin which then made the eye retract or better yet make my eye shape look sad and/or droopy. I was very unhappy with the results and barely recognized my once handsome eyes. I sought out the best. I came to Dr.Cole and discussed my issues and concerns. I felt very comfortable with him and I felt a sense of sincere concern. I followed up with a couple more consults and we came to the conclusion that were several things that needed to be done to correct the issue. I am going to list to you the things done and why. My main focus was to rejuvenate the entire eye area. He was a eye plastic surgeon so I trusted him and believed he knew best. To correct the previous lower blephrasty we had to use a technique called Canthoplasty. It would be used to pull the lower eyelid back into its normal position. Cheek implants would be used to smooth the undereye area while giving a better aesthetic. He suggested as well to do a midface lift which would return my cheek pad back to its normal position. We decided to lift the corners of my brows back onto the brow bone. I also decided that I wanted to strengthen my jaw line countor with a chin implant to masculize my face. We went with a chin implant, platysmaplasty (neck tightening), and liposuction around the contours of the jaw and chin. All this seems a lot but I was rest assured that the procedure would go over well. I stressed that I wanted this to look very natural and most of all masculine. I set on a course to save up for this procedure. When the funds were finally available for the procedure I made the date for the surgery. It was a week after my 30th birthday. It was a treat to myself and a very big deal. I want to make something very clear up until this point. The entire process was smooth and great experience. Great communication with the staff and the doctor. I will try to post all the photos throughout the entire process. Pre surgery I was very healthy and I was very active in the gym lifting weights. I weighed 185lbs and was probably in the best shape of my life. The events that follow post surgery will forever scar me. Dr.Cole said the surgery went fine and there was not any complications. Some minor scar tissue in the right cheek area but nothing to worry for the end result. I was very swollen and I understand I had a lot done but nothing prepared me for how I was going to look. Two days later I developed a hematoma on the right side of my cheek area. The right cheek implant was exposed from the introral incisions made to place the cheek implant. I was notified that the hematoma could not be drained until the following Monday. Note that I was supposed to be back at work that Tuesday. The hematoma was drained that Monday and I postponed going back to work another week. A month later after a lot of the bruising and swollen subsided I began to see results of the surgery. One brow was higher than the other. The cheek implants were entirely too big for my face and were malpositioned. The lower eye lids were not corrected and still had a "pulled down look". The chin implant was malpostioned as well and too wide. The muscle cords around the neck and specifically under the chin area were exposed. My entire midface was numb along with my nose and upper lip. My mouth movement was paralyzed and I couldn't smile because the entire right side of my mouth would not move. There was a lot of fluid on the problematic right cheek. Constant fluid leaking from this area. I expressed my concerns to Dr.Cole and he agreed to do a revision on the left brow, both eyes, adjust the chin implant and the right cheek implant. He assured me my motor function of my mouth would return and the numbness would subside. After the revisional surgery the brow looked more even, but it seems two different techniques were used on both eyes. The cut mark on the left eye was very elongated. The chin and cheek implant asymmetry did not look any different. I reached out to the on call nurse to express my concerns. She was very pushy and very insincere with my concerns. Later did I receive a text from Dr.Cole. The once very sincere and nice Doctor became very ill and mad with me. Using a curse word to stress that I was not following instructions and that I was taking advantage of him and his staff's time. After that text I knew I had chosen the wrong doctor and that I needed to seek out a second opinion. Dr.Cole did suggest later that he would remove the chin and cheek implants free of charge but with a facility charge. I decided after long thought that it was better for me use another doctor. After three months of looking for a doctor. I found a doctor that would remove the XL malar cheek implants and then found a very bad infection on the right side when he removed the implant. Removed the wide and malpositioned chin implant and replaced with a narrow chin implant that also improved my profile. I still have to follow up with the doctor to have fat transferred to the right cheek area and the right side of the chin. There is significant permanent fat tissue loss in these areas. I will have to have the scars removed from the temple area, chin area, and a big scar near my left eye. I was recommend to a doctor in Beverly Hills, California who specializes in retracted lower retracted eye lids. In final conclusion I am still experiencing numbness in my midface area and upper lip. My smile is still lopsided. The intial surgery with Dr.Cole was $17k. To fix all the damage done to my face cost me another $16k. I will see the oculoplastic surgeon in California and that will cost $18k. All in all I can say this has been a learning experience and for most this would be a nightmare and devastating. I was never depressed but more so angry and confused. I wish I was treated with the respect I deserved from start to finish but most of all I wish I had gotten what I had paid for and not have to fix even more problems.