I wish he had warned me of the risks of revision surgery

I had revision surgery with Dr. Kotlus in 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic. I felt comfortable with Dr. Kotlus because he took measurements and was not pushy with procedures. However, despite his great demeanor, I was disappointed with the results.

I had a history of three blepharoplasties at the time. I was generally happy with my eyes and wanted to correct some minor residual asymmetries. I wish Dr. Kotlus had warned me of the risks of revision surgery, and that the results could turn out worse than before. I feel like he did not properly assess and diagnose my problem. He was aggressive with my blepharoplasty and ended up overcorrecting my eyelid so that there was a peak. I think he had taken out too much tissue and skin. It looked really surgically overdone.

When he saw the final outcome, he agreed that my results had been overcorrected, but just dismissed it and told me that not many people would notice. My eyes looked very angry and harsh as a result of the surgery. I deeply regret the surgery and wish so much that he had warned me of the risks before going in. My mind has gone to very dark places as a result.

He scheduled a follow-up to offer additional help, but given that he made the initial problem worse, I really didn't have faith in him. He isn't a bad person by any means, but I don't think he knows his own expertise or limits. He will try to do whatever you want, even if he might not be able to do it correctly.

Sometimes you need to let a patient know that you can't improve a surgical outcome. That is ok and ethical. I am not accusing Dr. Kotlus of being unethical, but just unaware. Maybe I should've asked more questions, but I believe it is also his duty as a surgeon to warn patients of potential risks. In the end, surgeons are playing with lives. A poor surgical outcome is devastating to us. I wish surgeons understood this.

I know many people have trouble believing negative reviews, but my experience is genuine. My review is brief because I'm still dealing with the devastating emotional effects of the surgery and have little motivation to do anything. I don't want to post photos because I'm already ashamed enough of my appearance as is. I just needed to say this to warn people who were in my same place. Don't seek perfection. You could end up like me.

I requested operation files from him and he claimed that he warned me of all potential risks, like overcorrection, under-correction, asymmetry, and scarring, which was simply not true. He had warned me that the scarring would stay the same (not get worse) and did not mention anything about overcorrection, under-correction, or asymmetry. If asymmetry was a risk after surgery, then why would I have gone through with the surgery in the first place if that was my main concern? It's incredibly insulting that he wrote that in the operation files.

He also claimed to have provided me with alternative options, but that's a lie too. He never mentioned any risks or alternatives.

During the consultation, he suggested that he only operate on half of my eyelid. I asked him before surgery if there would be any difference in depth between my old and new incisions, since he only wanted to operate on half of the crease, and he told me no. There was a very obvious discrepancy and depth difference between where the old crease ended and the new crease started. The shape of my crease also changed, which was not a side effect he warned me about.