Awful Outcome from Surgery and Post-op Experience.

I had read the negative reviews on this site prior to proceeding with my surgery but choose to ignore them - primarily because Mr. Malhotra seemed friendly and knowledgeable in person. I wish I had paid a little more heed to the negative experiences of others and paused for a moment to imagine how they must feel instead skipping over them and focusing on the positive reviews.

Prior to surgery, no one wants to imagine a poor outcome, however, from the position I find myself in, I conclude that perhaps the worth of the surgeon (or any person, in fact) is not so much in his or her success cases but how they behave when results are less than desirable.

I was the last operation on the day of my procedure (either the 5th or 6th as I recall). My operation was very late in the afternoon and Mr. Malhotra had been operating since the morning.

Immediately after surgery, while still in the hospital, I noticed that one of my eyes appeared a very different shape to the other....I'm not sure of the surgical terms, but to a layperson, me, it looked like one eye had been sewn together too much at the outer corer making it appear smaller. I had so much swelling, however, I hoped that this was temporary...it was early days. Swelling reduced but continued to persist for several weeks - there came a point, a few weeks after surgery where swelling was actually quite beneficial to my appearance...it plumped up the under eye area as if I'd had a vat full of filler...I looked 10 years younger! Unfortunately, not only was this a temporary improvement caused by temporary edema, it was concealing to some extent and detracting from, the poor outcome of the surgery.

Approx two months after surgery, swelling had reduced to such a level that it revealed my final result...at this stage, I realised with a heavy heart that the difference between the eyes was unlikely to miraculously resolve....I had probably known this all along, but so wanted a good result I had been in denial. Also, by nature, I am a people pleaser and don't tend to find flagging up problems or voicing dissatisfaction easy.

I emailed Mr. Malhotra attaching photographs - one of which is below taken between 6 - 8 weeks post-op. Please ignore the bruising, this has lingered for a longer-than-average amount of time and is simply one of those things. My email requested an appointment with Mr. Malhotra as I had concerns and just wanted to check everything was okay....I don't feel that was an unreasonable request given the photographs which, in my opinion, clearly show that the result warranted at least a brief glance from the surgeon to check that all was well. Mr. Malhotra replied that I should just leave things to settle....his secretary offered me a consultation in December (almost two months ahead at that time). I felt I had been palmed off and that most surgeons, on seeing the photos I sent, would have insisted on checking the patient whether the patient wanted an appointment or not.

I didn't relish the thought of feeling in limbo, not knowing what was causing the issues for two months so I booked second opinions with other ocular plastic surgeons. In the meantime, after some pestering, Mr. Malhotra agreed to see me...he stated that there were issues but that these 'appear to be related to scar contraction' (also written in his consult report from that appointment). I didn't inform Mr. Malhotra that I had sought second opinions at that stage or that I had been informed by them that the issues in no way related to scar tissue....I felt too uncomfortable to do so. If I hadn't had the means to seek second opinions, I can't help but wonder whether I would still be sitting here today patiently waiting for things to resolve. Poor outcomes do happen however I feel foremost, a patient is entitled to transparency.

When I finally informed Mr. Malhotra that I had sought second opinions and their advice was that scar tissue was definitely not causing the issues he denied ever telling me that it was, despite the quote above that the issues 'appear to be related to scar contraction' being taken directly from the written consult report that his secretary sent me.

To the ladies (or gentlemen) who wrote reviews detailing their poor outcomes and treatment from this surgeon afterward - I'm sorry I didn't heed your advice. I know writing a negative review takes some courage, especially since one negative review of this surgeon was responded to by the surgeon and included personal information about the patient. These reviews were quickly followed by a barrage of patients claiming to have had positive results from Mr. Malhotra...I view that with a skeptical eye (albeit a wonky one!!) and wonder if my review will be.

Well, this is my eye this week.....
I will be undergoing a revision with a different surgeon next year which will involve, in layman's terms, cutting the eyelids apart to open the eye back up again to it's normal horizontal length. Apparently, once this is done...it is unlikely that my eyelashes will grow back along that section....but, honestly, I hope I get to the point where a little bit of lash loss is my only concern.,,,I'm sure I could use false lash sections or, possibly, in the extreme, consider an eyelash transplant (I didn't even know that was thing until recently!). My main concern is correcting an eye that to the casual onlooker, appears sewn partially shut and if this can be done successfully, then to me, eyelashes are neither here nor there,