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So Far, So Great
It's been a few of months since my revision rhinoplasty with Dr. Le so I thought it would be a fair time to post a review. I'll be happy to post additional updates as more time goes by, because you really don't see your final results for awhile with a revision.
For background, I had a primary rhinoplasty with a local ENT/Plastic Surgeon about 2 yrs ago to correct purely cosmetic issues. It was the only surgeon I consulted with, and the online Google reviews were all good (I did not know of this site). My fault for not taking it seriously enough. What I hope to impart to readers is that at the end of the day, you are operating on a functional part of your body - - the apparatus with which you breathe. Unless you absolutely need it, or feel 100% comfortable with your surgeon, don't mess with your nose. I did not have a good outcome. 6 months later I could not breathe out of the right side of my nose, it was dripping non-stop, and aesthetically, it got worse over time. When you come out of surgery and even with the cast on, your nose is extremely crooked, that is not a good sign of things to come . FYI: He used cadaver cartilage because I was told I wouldn't have enough of my own nose cartilage due to a prior deviated septum surgery. But this review is about Dr. Le, so moving on...
I would NEVER risk a revision unless it was absolutely necessary, and in my case it was for cosmetic and functional reasons, but I was so paranoid after that 1st experience that I took a long time in researching surgeons. This site helped tremendously in narrowing down that search. I saw a world renown Park Ave surgeon. He saw me for 15 minutes, told me he wouldn't know what went wrong until he got inside during surgery, but based on my history, he would need to use my own rib for revision. It was very expensive, and I was so bummed about the rib diagnosis. I live in the NYC area and work 5 minutes from that office, so it would have been the easiest solution. I opted to go see Dr. Le in Ellicott, MD anyway due to the reviews I read (and I read every single one of them to get good perspective).
First of all, I don't understand all the criticism about his consultation. I paid $350 to see the NYC surgeon for 15 minutes, with no clear understanding of what i needed, and with a Dr. who was annoyed I was asking questions. I spent $450 for 3 hours of in-depth discussion with Dr. Le. Do the math on that hourly rate... Yes, Dr. Le will ask A LOT of questions, some of which are designed to weed out surgical candidates with body dysmorphia. I completely get it and agree with that approach. Good for him that it's a two way street - you choose the surgeon, he chooses the patients. If it's a match, it has the best possible outcome. He also made me really think about exactly what I wanted from this revision. By the time we were done with that consultation, and the one I had before surgery, we had fine tuned the plan and I knew of all the risks, and that helped drive the plan (there are risks and trade offs with all aspects). That was 100% more information than I had before the 1st surgery and I really felt like Dr. Le really knows the nose! I'm not kidding. That was the biggest factor in choosing him. He is an expert and artist of the nose.
My only hesitancy was with the length of surgery. I'm a healthy middle aged woman who has had no issues with anesthesia before, so I was a good candidate. In the end though, he gets the results that he gets because he takes his time and is so meticulous.
My surgery took approximately 8 hours. The only downside was that I am skinny, boney gal, which in this case, was not a good thing! I had a bed sore for a few weeks that was more painful than the nose surgery but went away completely. I opted to stay overnight in the hospital because i had a long drive home. Great decision. The nurses were wonderful. That was comforting to me too - - to have that surgery in a hospital. The other surgeon wanted to do the surgery, with the rib extraction, in his Park Ave office.
Before the surgery, I was told that the optimal cartilage sites for the grafts I would need, in order of preference, would be my own nose, then my ears, and then my rib. Based on Dr. Le's examination of me and what he knows about nose anatomy, he thought there might be a chance that I would have enough nose cartilage to do the new grafts, and that he would likely have to use ear, but as a last resort, would do the rib surgery. The best surprise I had when I woke up was that Dr. Le was able to harvest enough of my own nose cartilage that no secondary surgical site was necessary. This was HUGE. That takes an expert. My first surgeon went straight for cadaver because he probably didn't have the expertise or experience, and the Park Ave Dr. would not even consider other options aside from rib. That in and of itself, convinced me I had made the right decision. Also, I had very little bruising with this surgery. Completely gone by the time I went back to work 10 days later. With the first surgery, I had residual noticeable bruising for over a month.
So a few months later, I can now breath completely out of the right side of my nose again, it is much, much straighter than before, and it looks nice. There is still some residual swelling inside and in the tip so it will take a bit longer to see the final results. The good news is that I never think of my nose anymore. I can breathe, it looks fine, and I'm happy. Absent something catastrophic happening at this point, I will never touch it again. I don't have a perfect nose, but I never did. It looks natural and I'm happy with it and it goes with the face. For those of you going back under to correct minor imperfections, I just would not risk it. I had so much anxiety with this revision, worrying that I could mess it up further, it's just not worth it.
In summary, I cannot say enough good things about Dr. Le and his staff. I know I made the right decision, and believe me, I agonized over it and wanted to back out at the last minute. I found him to be kind, extremely knowledgable, and a true craftsman. I got taken in by the fancy office with the first surgery. I think the Park Ave doctor may have worked out fine, but the fact that I never needed the rib surgery was a huge bonus. Plus, Dr. Le's surgical fees were 1/2 of those of the NYC surgeons, and I thought very reasonable. All in all, I am extremely pleased.
If I can figure out how to block out identifying features, I'll be happy to post before / after pictures down the road once more time has passed. Best of luck to all of you. Take these surgeries seriously, because they are.
For background, I had a primary rhinoplasty with a local ENT/Plastic Surgeon about 2 yrs ago to correct purely cosmetic issues. It was the only surgeon I consulted with, and the online Google reviews were all good (I did not know of this site). My fault for not taking it seriously enough. What I hope to impart to readers is that at the end of the day, you are operating on a functional part of your body - - the apparatus with which you breathe. Unless you absolutely need it, or feel 100% comfortable with your surgeon, don't mess with your nose. I did not have a good outcome. 6 months later I could not breathe out of the right side of my nose, it was dripping non-stop, and aesthetically, it got worse over time. When you come out of surgery and even with the cast on, your nose is extremely crooked, that is not a good sign of things to come . FYI: He used cadaver cartilage because I was told I wouldn't have enough of my own nose cartilage due to a prior deviated septum surgery. But this review is about Dr. Le, so moving on...
I would NEVER risk a revision unless it was absolutely necessary, and in my case it was for cosmetic and functional reasons, but I was so paranoid after that 1st experience that I took a long time in researching surgeons. This site helped tremendously in narrowing down that search. I saw a world renown Park Ave surgeon. He saw me for 15 minutes, told me he wouldn't know what went wrong until he got inside during surgery, but based on my history, he would need to use my own rib for revision. It was very expensive, and I was so bummed about the rib diagnosis. I live in the NYC area and work 5 minutes from that office, so it would have been the easiest solution. I opted to go see Dr. Le in Ellicott, MD anyway due to the reviews I read (and I read every single one of them to get good perspective).
First of all, I don't understand all the criticism about his consultation. I paid $350 to see the NYC surgeon for 15 minutes, with no clear understanding of what i needed, and with a Dr. who was annoyed I was asking questions. I spent $450 for 3 hours of in-depth discussion with Dr. Le. Do the math on that hourly rate... Yes, Dr. Le will ask A LOT of questions, some of which are designed to weed out surgical candidates with body dysmorphia. I completely get it and agree with that approach. Good for him that it's a two way street - you choose the surgeon, he chooses the patients. If it's a match, it has the best possible outcome. He also made me really think about exactly what I wanted from this revision. By the time we were done with that consultation, and the one I had before surgery, we had fine tuned the plan and I knew of all the risks, and that helped drive the plan (there are risks and trade offs with all aspects). That was 100% more information than I had before the 1st surgery and I really felt like Dr. Le really knows the nose! I'm not kidding. That was the biggest factor in choosing him. He is an expert and artist of the nose.
My only hesitancy was with the length of surgery. I'm a healthy middle aged woman who has had no issues with anesthesia before, so I was a good candidate. In the end though, he gets the results that he gets because he takes his time and is so meticulous.
My surgery took approximately 8 hours. The only downside was that I am skinny, boney gal, which in this case, was not a good thing! I had a bed sore for a few weeks that was more painful than the nose surgery but went away completely. I opted to stay overnight in the hospital because i had a long drive home. Great decision. The nurses were wonderful. That was comforting to me too - - to have that surgery in a hospital. The other surgeon wanted to do the surgery, with the rib extraction, in his Park Ave office.
Before the surgery, I was told that the optimal cartilage sites for the grafts I would need, in order of preference, would be my own nose, then my ears, and then my rib. Based on Dr. Le's examination of me and what he knows about nose anatomy, he thought there might be a chance that I would have enough nose cartilage to do the new grafts, and that he would likely have to use ear, but as a last resort, would do the rib surgery. The best surprise I had when I woke up was that Dr. Le was able to harvest enough of my own nose cartilage that no secondary surgical site was necessary. This was HUGE. That takes an expert. My first surgeon went straight for cadaver because he probably didn't have the expertise or experience, and the Park Ave Dr. would not even consider other options aside from rib. That in and of itself, convinced me I had made the right decision. Also, I had very little bruising with this surgery. Completely gone by the time I went back to work 10 days later. With the first surgery, I had residual noticeable bruising for over a month.
So a few months later, I can now breath completely out of the right side of my nose again, it is much, much straighter than before, and it looks nice. There is still some residual swelling inside and in the tip so it will take a bit longer to see the final results. The good news is that I never think of my nose anymore. I can breathe, it looks fine, and I'm happy. Absent something catastrophic happening at this point, I will never touch it again. I don't have a perfect nose, but I never did. It looks natural and I'm happy with it and it goes with the face. For those of you going back under to correct minor imperfections, I just would not risk it. I had so much anxiety with this revision, worrying that I could mess it up further, it's just not worth it.
In summary, I cannot say enough good things about Dr. Le and his staff. I know I made the right decision, and believe me, I agonized over it and wanted to back out at the last minute. I found him to be kind, extremely knowledgable, and a true craftsman. I got taken in by the fancy office with the first surgery. I think the Park Ave doctor may have worked out fine, but the fact that I never needed the rib surgery was a huge bonus. Plus, Dr. Le's surgical fees were 1/2 of those of the NYC surgeons, and I thought very reasonable. All in all, I am extremely pleased.
If I can figure out how to block out identifying features, I'll be happy to post before / after pictures down the road once more time has passed. Best of luck to all of you. Take these surgeries seriously, because they are.
Provider Review
Board Certified Facial Plastic Surgeon
4785 Dorsey Hall Dr., Ellicott City, Maryland