Breast Implants, bottomed out, revision

In my final appointment with Dr Gabbay in April (4+ months after revision), I felt he was dismissive of my concerns. He said he never promises perfection and 'they aren't twins.' He also said it's his job to point out when patients are noticing flaws that no one else would notice. He also said he considered this a ‘good outcome.’ You can look at the pictures and decide for yourself if this is a good outcome. I disagree with his assessment & think the left side is worse than before the revision.

There's nothing medically wrong though, so I don't want another revision. I don't have any plans to go back to Dr Gabbay.

In the same appointment I had planned to mention that I still had occasional, sharp pain and more than half my right breast was numb. I didn't bother and Dr Gabbay didn't ask. How can he speak to the frequency of side-effects if he doesn't ask simple questions like that? The numbness has reduced since then, but 11 months after my revision I still can't feel 1/3 of my right breast. Also my scaring around my nipples from the lift is very light, uneven & raised. He didn't comment on that.

I hate looking at them without a bra on. Even looking straight down, the indent is obvious. I can't wear unstructured swimsuits or bras because the shape is clear through the fabric and creates a noticeable shadow. Really low cut tops also show the shadow. I feel messed up/deformed when I look at myself naked. Touching the bottom of either breast I can clearly feel the implant and the rippling. It's been 11 months since my revision, so I expect this is my final result. Not the result anyone wants after 2 surgeries and $17k.

Overall, I'm still happy I got implants. They look great when I'm fully clothed and only my fiancé sees them in their full, weird, messed up 'glory' and he doesn't care. I wish there was a magical way to know if choosing another surgeon would have given me a better result, but there's not. For all I know, it could have been worse.

TLDR: Both implants bottomed out after my initial surgery. My revision surgery in November 2020 cost $4,600 for a total of almost $17k. After revision… my left implant is still bottomed out.

Why do implants bottom out? A lot of reasons and of course no one can say for sure. I feel the pocket for my implants may have been created too low and that I maybe didn't need the small lift with my initial surgery, but there's no way to know.

After my 3.5 month appointment where Dr Gabbay said I needed a revision, I waited to hear more. All I got was an invoice for $4.6k and scheduling emails. I booked for late November to take advantage of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Finally, 5 days before my surgery I asked if there would be a preparation call. Given how short my meeting with Dr Gabbay in September was, I thought someone would walk my through the surgery plan. For my initial surgery the consult was almost 2 hours long and Dr Gabbay personally walked me through the details. This time the service level was very different. Kelly (an assistant, not medical afaik, but very nice) called me 2 days before surgery and gave me the very basic description of placing the mesh and what it is intended to do.

The day of surgery, I was really nervous & overall sad/upset to need a second surgery. It was at a different location in Beverly Hills, not far from Dr Gabbay's office. The waiting area was 4 beds separated by curtains and very close together. The nurse was disinterested (forgot to give me the surgical underwear, barely spoke to me) and the anesthesiologist was a nightmare.

Dr Ming, the anesthesiologist took my initial nervous-ness and terrified me. In the pre-op area, he casually chatted about affirmative action and how it disadvantages Asians for med school, along with how Americans don't know what a true dictator is and should look to Taiwan and Chiang Kai-shek. He was very flustered by my family history of malignant hyperthermia (which was in my record & should have been noticed before that morning). I've never had an anesthesiologist say anything other than it was good to know & they'd be extra careful. Dr Ming started googling the symptoms, chastised me for not bringing my previous surgery records (huh?), then told me I'd be very nauseated after surgery because he'd have to use more opiates than normal (I wasn't nauseous at all after). Three times he approached me to 'size' my throat for intubation, eventually putting a tube right next to me to 'eyeball it.' That doesn't instill confidence…

The worst part of Dr Ming was once I got into the OR. I was silently crying because I was so scared. He noticed and decided to 'joke' that he was taking really good care of me by giving me the same medication that killed Joan Rivers. But I shouldn't worry because 'her surgeon didn't have an anesthesiologist.' Then he adds it's also the same medication that killed Michael Jackson, but only because he misused it. How is that comforting?? Weeks later I told Dr Gabbay about this experience. He said he'd never worked with Dr Ming before, wouldn't again, and apologized that I went through that.

I woke up in the same pre-op area with multiple beds. Recovery this time was worse than my original surgery. I had strong mental fog for at least a week, fatigue, and way more pain. The pain was strong for about a month and lingered off and on for 4+ months, especially on my right side. I was off work for a week again and probably should have taken more time.

Part 3 with my final appointment is to come.

The photos with my first update are loading weird & cropped. Trying this again…