Breast Enhancement and Tummy Tuck with Mediocre Results Requiring Several Revisions

My experience with Dr. Turk was very mixed. Dr. Turk provides good medical care and has a wonderful staff. He was willing to revise botched surgical results, but spend a lot more time congratulating himself than listening to my wishes and concerns. He made statements he later flatly denied, and on several occasions made inappropriate, sexist comments. When his procedures did not turn out as hoped for, he simply blamed the botched results on me, the client.

I received a tummy tuck and breast enhancement surgery from Dr Turk in summer 2018. I mentioned numerous times that I did not want my breasts to be any larger than a mid-sized C cup, but was told by Dr Turk and two other surgeons I had interviewed, that most women wish they had “gone bigger” after the surgery. (I since concluded it’s more likely the men that wish this). I tried hard to point out that I am not “most women.” At the pre-op appointment I was shown the insert and told this would be the right size for me. It seemed large, but I was pushed to go with it, with the comment that I could always change it later if I didn’t like it.

The surgery itself went well. However, after recovering enough to look at myself in the mirror I was horrified by the size of my breasts! Of course, I realized I would be swollen and sore, but even accounting for that they were dramatically bigger than I wished. At the post-op appointment a few days later, I voiced my concern and requested that the implants be exchanged for a smaller version as soon as possible. Dr Turk dismissed me and stated he would not do a revision until 6 months after the original surgery at the earliest. He insisted that I would “get used” to my breasts and like them! After a few weeks I realized that I had been given incomplete information about exchanging the inserts to a smaller size. Since the large inserts extended the skin a reduction now would translate into an additional disfiguring scare from the base of the breast to the nipples! Now, 2 ½ years later I still dislike my clearly D sizes breasts and wish they were smaller, but I don’t want to add another scare to my body.

Another big concern after the surgery was the tummy tuck scar and the belly button. The latter was an ugly brown ring, about 1 ½ inches in diameter and looked like I was shot in the belly with a shot gun, even after several months of healing. I was asked to wait a year and offered a free revision. The revision improved the tummy tuck scar a lot, but the belly button barely changed and remained a bad eye sore. My request to leave the stiches in longer to prevent widening was flatly dismissed. When we first interviewed Dr. Turk he boasted that his belly buttons were amazing! Now, instead of apologizing or expressing sympathy Dr Turk chose to blame the botched results on me being bloated. Dumbly, I first felt guilty, but later I talked to several other women who all shared that they are often bloated too. It seems a skilled plastic surgeon should anticipate and be aware that a stomach changes shape several times during the month and even during the day, and learn to work with this to achieve even results. A second revision of the belly button was done a month ago, removing the ugly scar tissue and attempting to keep the stiches in as long as possible to prevent it from becoming too wide again. The results as not pretty, but so far much better than before.

The last concern with Dr Turk is the often dismissive tone Dr Turk addressed me with. After the original surgery he exclaimed, “hubba hubba” when he looked at my body, congratulating himself on the surgery results, even after I had expressed my concerns. He called me “sweetie” and generally treated me like a child rather than an adult. On at least two occasions he made statements which he later flatly denied, stating the opposite instead. These were not important events, but certainly did not improve my sense of trust in him.

In conclusion, while Dr Turk is probably a capable surgeon in many ways and has a wonderful staff, I now wish I had gone with a different doctor.