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POSTED UNDER Facelift Reviews

Burn and necrosis after my facelift surgery

ORIGINAL POST

Burn and Necrosis

TaurusJ
I am from the UK but had face/necklift surgery with Dr Timothy R Miller in California. At the consultation I got talked into having a chin implant in addition to an upper and lower blepharoplasty and buccal fat removal. My surgery was carried out on October 11th 2023. Red flags were present from the start from being pressured into a chin implant to not being shown the type of implant when I asked to see a sample, Dr Timothy Miller seemed offended that I had even asked. As this was our first meeting in person and I had flown all this way to have surgery, I was left to simply 'trust him' so I made it clear that I did not want a U or extended chin implant but annoyingly this is what I ended up with. I also did not think I needed a lower eye lift but again, he suggested it and I put my trust in this surgeon's opinion. I do not see any difference with the lower eyelids and it doesn't look or feel like I've had any buccal fat removed but I will reserve my judgement on that for now.
It was due to the positive reviews and the marketing about surgery with minimum scars that persuaded me to travel to the US and book with Dr Timothy Miller. I now regret being persuaded by the sales pitch from him and his personal assistant, Sandi.
After surgery, I was very bruised on my neck, (dark purple bruising on my trachea) and weeping which I initially thought was from the chin incision, but this was actually from my neck because I HAD BEEN BURNT. The burn, I can only presume happened from the lipectomy in the neck area which went white/yellow as can be seen in the photo but Dr Miller never told me what had happened when I asked, only saying that the surgery went well, yet despite this, he applied ointment to my neck when I saw him in the follow up appointment. I also kept telling him how stiff my neck was and how sore behind my ears had become but as always, he dismissed any issue and said I am still recovering. Behind my ears became so painful that I got my son to take a photo and that's when I noticed the necrosis, (black weeping skin). I tried telephoning Dr Miller's office, leaving voicemails and I emailed Sandi about the necrosis and put 'URGENT' in the title email but no one from Refreshed bothered to get in contact with me. The aftercare has been extremely poor and, in my experience, neglectful. As a result, I ended up having to go to Urgent Care at an additional expense. The emergency doctor was shocked that my surgeon had left me like this and prescribed antibiotics for the necrosis and said I needed to see my surgeon urgently the next day. The next day, I continued to telephone Dr Miller's clinic and left messages for anyone to call me, but they would not because I have a UK +44 mobile number I was later told. I also did not receive a reply to my urgent email. It was late afternoon that someone eventually answered my call, I said I needed to speak to Dr Miller, which was initially refused, I began to complain that Dr Miller needs to contact me before I leave for the UK, I think he and Sandi were hoping I had left for the UK due to their slow response. When I got to speak to Dr Miller on the phone, he continuously tried to talk over me when I told him I had gone to see an emergency doctor, he simply did not want to listen and tried to blame me for getting necrosis! When I did see him for a follow up he belittled the emergency doctor as the "lowest rank in the medical profession" and how "Sandi was not about" and how I must be "doing too much resulting in getting necrosis". It was shocking to hear all the excuses. At no point would he admit that something went wrong with my surgery, yet he decided to give me ointment to apply 4 times a day, which I now understand is for burns. He should have initiated a burns protocol from the outset, instead of just sporadically putting ointment on me when I saw him.
I have been botched not just from the burn but the aggressive lipectomy and neck lift which has left a skeletal neck and prominent bands as can be seen in the photo. He should have been upfront and told me what had happened so I could have been properly treated for what is a second-degree burn. Since I have not been properly treated, the burn has now become a hypertrophic scar, just like that red scars I have from the necrosis behind my ears, which he failed to address. I feel very upset about this whole experience because Dr Timothy Miller has given me more scars than I ever imagined and I have contracture scars and neck bands which are stiff and painful. The tightness feels like a noose around my neck. I emailed Dr Miller about everything and asked for the chin implant to be removed which I was told at our first consultation was a 'quick procedure'. Sandi is the one who replies with no compassion whatsoever and only seeks to divert blame onto the patient. Despite addressing my email specifically to Dr Miller, he clearly does not care and has not bothered to contact me personally or have a video call, he is content for Sandi to draft a nonsense response to say that I have been 'doing too much', and how this must be from 'too many walks' and using a 'face cloth'. This response is shocking because it is clear that I have suffered a burn in the surgery, and he should have been upfront about that and offered to help asap. The mark of a good surgeon is not just in surgical skill but how they deal with complications, this means owning up when things have gone wrong and putting them right at no expense to the patient. I feel extremely let down by Dr Timothy R Miller.

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Timothy R. Miller, MD

Timothy R. Miller, MD

Board Certified Facial Plastic Surgeon

4.9 | 151 Reviews
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Replies (2)

January 7, 2024
January 10, 2024