I Had a Very Unhappy Experience in Tijuana

My face looks terrible. The scars in my eyebrows now pucker. The are very dominant and cannot be covered by makeup. I really hate what she did to me. I do NOT recommend her for anyone. Please make sure that you go somewhere else. Plus, she left stitches that were supposed to be absorbable in my head. I have to go back and have them surgically removed. My ears are deformed, and I have no sideburns. She is a butcher. I will add more photos later.

I arrived at the LAYYN Medical Group in Tijuana on July 21st in the morning with the expectation that the preclinical work would be done in the morning and my surgery would be in the afternoon. The driver was prompt and helpful. When I went into the clinic/healing house, I went into a waiting office. The two yellow and white cushions to sit on were filthy with dirt. The nurses got me tested for the surgery. Then, I was told that the surgeon would be late and my surgery would be postponed until the next day. Well, that meant I had 2 paid days in her "healing house" where I could have spent at a nice hotel the first day because the 2nd was in the hospital. This cost me $170/day. You can stay in the finest hotel in Tijuana for that much and have a divine food buffet. The room that I stayed in was more like a utility closet with a hospital bed. The floor was filthy with a huge build up of dust on the bottom of the floor. There were open electrical cords all over the floor. The rooms are right next to the port of entry to the US and is super noisy. Then there is a disco or something else at night nearby. The air conditioner was off when I cam in the room and turned it on. It triggered an asthma attack because of the dust. I had to open the window but the window's opening was at the top and the blinds were pull downs, so I had to sleep with the blinds up. There was a ton of light that came in. I put the pillow over my head to block out the light. Even with the blinds down, a ton of light came in because the blinds were not room darkening. There was a little kitchen, an open uncovered linen storage in the hallway, and a bathroom that was filled with all kinds of products and shared by staff and other guests alike. There were 3 rooms for healing. My nurse, Sandra, was amazing though. I am grateful that she took care of me. The food was substandard and consisted mostly of chicken soup with a lot of rice in it. There was also cabbage soup too. I made my own coffee in the mornings. I asked for fresh fruit fir healing (pineapple, avocados, and papaya) and eggs. They did make food when I asked for it, but said that the fruit and avocados were too were expensive. Finally, they did order some. In the evening approximately 8PM, a day and half later, the surgeon, Dr. Yuliya Nikonova shows up. She must have come straight from her airplane. Apparently, she does her surgeries with her husband and that is who owns the other half of the practice. He was there too. The reason I was given for her delay was that there was a storm in the town where she lives and has another practice. Then, she reviews what she is doing for me with the surgery. First she understands there is a face lift. I had also requested for a nose surgery revision, just a very minor one. She completely forgot. She said my rhinoplasty should be a separate but said my face would look better if I got a blepharoplasty with it. I told her I didn't think I really needed it. I told her I didn't mind the wrinkles around my eyes. But she said with a face lift and the wrinkles that I had, I would look much nicer. I said okay, but that I did not want to look like an alien or unlike myself. She said she understood I just wanted to look refreshed and just like myself. Then she asked me where I wanted the stitches for my facelift, between the hairline and face or hidden in my hair. I chose hidden in my hair to minimize scarring. What happened though is that above my ear where there is a natural sideburn or area where little tendrils come, is completely bald now and it looks super weird. I can't pull my hair back. She asked me how I wanted my earlobes. She said she did her husband's earlobes. They were unattached. I said I prefer attached earlobes like hers because that is how my mom's are. IMy eyears are still healing and the stitches are still not disolved, so I am not sure what they will look like, but one ear is definitely unattached. I did have one tiny little protrusion at the base of my nose and asked if she could at least just remove that since it bothered me. It is from a stitch from the original rhinoplasty. She said that would be no problem. Then I went in for surgery.

The hospital had good service and took good care of me. It was clean. I slept all night, but early in the morning I was told I needed to leave and they got me ready to be taken back to the healing house. I was kind of disappointed because the hospital sleep was cut short and I finally had a comfortable rest. I am used to a surgeon or hospitalist visiting me in the hospital after surgery before discharge. Dr. Yuliya never came and I didn't see anyone else before discharge.

I went back to the healing house and I was taken good care of by Sandra, the nurse. I looked wretched and couldn't open my right eye, but was told that was normal and that the swelling would go down. They provided ice bags the kind filled with something else but not water (never enough and it would have been nice to have a bag with real ice cubes since the packs that they had never seemed to last very long).

Sandra seemed to be the only one taking care of all 3 of us patients there and then a brother and sister ended up sharing a room so there were 4 patients and 3 rooms. She was running from patient to patient. She was also the one who cooked me eggs and cleaned my room when I asked if a custodian could clean it. I told her that it wasn't right she had to do everything. I hated to ask for anything, because she would end up being the person doing it. The rest of the girls there stood around and talked a lot. The night shift nurse did a good job too.

I continued to sleep poorly but finally requested a face mask so I could shut the window. I was provided treatments with a red LED light, a couple of ultrasound treatments on my face and a couple of massage treatments.

Dr. Yuliya did not come to visit me in the healing house until the following day after surgery and it was late in the afternoon. She said I looked great. When I went home, the nurse, Sandra, gave me hand written instructions on what to do--how to take my medications and perform wound care. She told me that I needed to practice kisses in the air for therapy and to buy an LED light to use at home to promote healing. I was also told to use an arnica gel under my eyes with the massage. When I went home, I did as instructed. I did not have any infections which I am grateful for. I have consistently sent the doctor photos and informed her about how I was not healing with the swelling and how I had concerns about my right eye in particular. She said it was swelling and I told her that I believe she damaged the nerves because my eye is much smaller and I cannot open it like the other one. I also told her how unhappy I was that she reduced the space between my eyebrow and eye crease, taking out the beautiful natural curves I had in my eyebrows and flattening them out. She also reduced the amount of space I had on my actual eyelid. I used to be able to have fun with makeup and now it is too small and I look stupid putting eyeshadow there. She also left huge noticeable scars in my eyelid and didn't tell me anything about how to care for them. Luckily, I purchased scar gel and have been trying to reduce the scars there with that. I am 2 months post surgery and I told the doctor I think she botched me. Of course, she didn't like to hear that, so she sent me photos of other patients she did surgery on as if to say she didn't botch me. She told me to get a Lancome product for the swelling under my eyes. I worked for dermatology at a medical school and know that for this kind of swelling Lancome is not going to help. She also suggested I get some herbal "lymphatic support" droplets. I did and this seems to be worthless. I did research on best evidence for nerve ending damage and am doing that along with massage and as I can afford, ultrasound. The doctor said I could come back and get PRP (plasma rich platelets). I asked her why she didn't tell me I NEEDED it when I was there. She merely suggested it and is now telling me that I NEED it. She said I can come there and get it, and thinks it is easy to come up with the money and time to leave and get the therapy. I left in the disposable stitches as she recommended and took out the staples and other stitches.

Dr. Yuliya then tried to blame me as if it was my skin or my lack of following directions which created the nerve damage, the continued swollen lower eyes, and the misplaced scars in my eyes. I also have an unusual curve in my lower left eye that makes my eye look older. It pulls down and more away from my eyeball instead of being up tight and a nice smooth curve. I also don't know if it is normal or not, but I have a LOT of loss of sensory feelings in my face. I was never informed of these possible consequences before surgery. I am now looking for a surgeon who can look at my disfigurement and see what they can do to help me.

My friends, children, and other family members agree that my neck and lower face look good, but that from my nose on up, I look like an alien. I told Dr. Yuliya I am getting a second opinion. She said she would come here to go with me and that she wanted to talk to whomever I was getting a second opinion from. I think that is just plain strange.

I have experienced major surgery in Thailand because of a boating accident, had a mommy make over in the Dominican Republic and stayed in a healing house there, and had my stomach stapled a year before in Tijuana. I can honestly say this is my WORST experience and I am really sad that now I have to save up another thousand years to get repair done so I can look like me again and get rid of this ungodly swelling below my eyes. I was told it may take up to 3 months but who knows. I am really concerned.