horrible - traumatizing

My surgery took place on 2/28, and was performed by Dr. Roger Stuart Collins.

I had an initial consultation with Dr. Collins after speaking with Stevie King, on 12/30/2024. At my consultation, we discussed Tiny Tuck, liposuction of the full legs (interior thigh, knees, and calves). At my consultation, we ultimately decided that a TT wouldn't be the best option for me, seeing that I am 30 years old with only one child and wanted more future children. I paid the $1895 fee to book a surgery date on 12/31. After my initial follow up, I had more correspondence with Stevie with multiple questions. We ultimately decided that a virtual consultation with Dr. Collins (2nd consult) would be the best option to address any concerns and questions I had. At the consultation, which took place on 2/19, we discussed that I wanted more children and therefore a TT wasn't a good option (again). I also corresponded with Stevie via text message and she told me: "If you are positive you'll have another baby when I would wait on the Tiny Tuck and then worry about that later if you do a full tummy tuck or something similar. Arms are an excellent choice to replace it with. Adding laser there is a great idea too. Together they total $6K, which means we would owe you $1K back. If you add your front bra rolls in too then it's an even swap!" I did decide to add on front bra rolls and arms, and take off the TT. After the consultation I booked my surgery for 2/28 with a 7:30 arrival time.

I arrived to the clinic at 7:30 with a plan to proceed with inner thigh, knee, and calf liposuction with skin tightening, arm lipo with skin tightening, and upper/lower abdominal/pubic liposuction. I wasn't placed in a room until after 8:30. Dr. Collins came in the room with the nurse to do skin markings, and immediately said "oh you won't be happy without the tiny tuck, it's going to look horrible if we just do lipo." He said I really think a tiny is the way to go, it can't be that much more to add that on, let me go see if Stevie can get that fixed for you. He then left the room before I could say anything, and returned with Stevie. She showed me pictures of abdomen and pubic lipo without a tiny and told me it looked even worse, and she said "for another 2Gs why would you not do it." Dr. Collins then returned while she was in there and I asked how the TT would change my recovery, because I only took a few days off of work with the intention of only having liposuction. Stevie and Dr. Collins assured me that it "wouldn't be that bad." I also asked how long the incision would be, and Dr. Collins said "maybe 5-6 inches, no bigger than a c-section scar." I ultimately proceeded with signing the docusign and paying the additional fee for the TT add-on. I was assured that the procedure would be minimally invasive, and pain would be well-controlled with Tylenol and ibuprofen.

I was also told multiple times in my consultations and in preop that I’ll be awake through the whole procedure and I shouldn’t feel any pain, it’s more like a vibration or like a tickling feeling. They gave me Xanax and 1mg of Dilaudid IM before I ever laid on the table in the OR. I also told him multiple times I wanted to prioritize my legs because that’s the main thing I wanted and literally the only reason I wanted to have the surgery in the first place. I knew I had a lot of things that got added on, but I again made sure to tell my nurse that I wanted my legs done first and foremost. It actually wasn't until the morning of the surgery that my nurse told me there was a chance it had to be split into two surgeries. Dr. Collins still chose to get started on my abdomen numbing me up with the lidocaine solution. They punch holes through your belly button and insert a long rod under the skin and it instills the numbing solution. They pull it out a little and reposition it again and again to instill fluid all the way around. At this point, I had zero pain relief and I could feel all of it and was immediately in 10/10severe pain. They gave me another 1 mg of Dilaudid IM and gave me laughing gas. I remember hyperventilating into the laughing gas tubing and sobbing out loud saying I don’t think this is doing anything. I would cry out every time he moved that rod. Eventually, my abdomen numbed, but not all the way. Despite all of that I could feel him and hear him cutting me and all I could do was hysterically cry. I distinctly remember picking my head up during the surgery and I could see a large chunk of my skin and fat that had been removed and was just sitting out on the table across the room. That image is still burned into my head. I must eventually passed out from the pain and even though I could feel everything, I couldn’t respond to the pain other than tears. I remember crying and being in and out of consciousness and telling my nurse that I wanted my legs done. She tried to tell him to prioritize my legs and he immediately moved onto my arms after he did my abdomen. Which I felt every single bit of. I never got even the slightest bit numb on my arms or thighs. Dr. Collins also left the room in the middle of my surgery multiple times. One of these times was to do a consultation for one of my friends (the one that was coming to pick me up). Why would a consultation be booked for a surgeon when they're in the middle of a surgery?

It wasn't until I was in the recovery room waiting for my friend to arrive to pick me up that I was told he didn't finish my legs. I was sent home without any pain medication and was in excruciating pain. I could barely move the rest of the night, and couldn't function at all. Dr. Collins called me at 10pm that night, and left me a voicemail saying he was "just checking on me." He also texted me, but I was in and out of sleep at that point and missed the call. At 3am I woke up and texted him back, telling him that I was in excruciating pain. He immediately responded and said that I "was more tender than most" and said he'd send in narcotics. He also confirmed via text message that he did NOT complete my calves or bra rolls. He also said that he "may have stretched it quite a bit."

The next day, 3/1 I had a friend over and she was helping me to change my dressings as they hadn't been changed since the surgery. It wasn't until then that I saw my abdominal incision, and it was from hip to hip. I texted him at 1842 and said "Dr. Collins... I finally saw my abdominal incision while changing the dressings. I wasn't expecting it to be as big as it is. Why is it from hip to hip.. I thought it was going to be like a c section." He then responded with "had to be a little longer to avoid dog ears but it will be great. Just give it time." I also still have dog ears on the sides of the scar.

I had to take almost an entire month off of work, which was extremely unplanned. I experienced SEVERE depression because of all of this. It was NOT supposed to be this way. And I'm left with disproportionate legs because my calves were not completed, not to mention the mental aspect of knowing I have to endure this all over again for another procedure.

My nurse called me the day after the surgery and was basically crying on the phone. She said she felt so helpless watching me cry for 4 hours straight. She wanted to cry with me. She was upset, you could hear it in her voice. She said she spoke to the regional manager about me and my case and what happened. She told me that the regional manager would be contacting me. By Tuesday of the following week I had not heard back from the manager, so I reached out to my nurse again via the number she called me at. She said she'd reach back out to the manager again, but I NEVER heard from anyone to discuss anything.

I’m completely traumatized. I feel lied to, cheated, and severely taken advantage of. Not to mention being completely mistreated and physically and mentally tormented.