Bad result & no help - I'm more self-conscious than ever

I had Dr. Roth do regular liposuction on my entire abdomen, waist and around the back. It was not laser assisted. It was done in a surgery center under general anesthesia. I had never been really overweight, just about 10 to 15 pounds over my ideal weight. I was not more than 10 pounds over at the time of surgery. It had become mostly around my waist after menopause. I had never had children, so I didn’t have any stretched or loose skin. I looked very normal except for that extra chub around my midsection. I am including pictures with this review to show how bad this turned out.

The recovery was brutal, but I think that's to be expected. At the first 2 follow-up appointments I had seromas with a lot of fluid buildup that bulged out around the bottom of the areas suctioned. The nurse, Stacy explained to me that if they didn't suck it out it would solidify (or harden) and then it couldn't be sucked out. She had to insert a very large syringe to suck out the fluid. It was quite a bit, probably 6 to 8 ounces each time. She had to empty it into the sink and then stick it back in again a couple of times. At the third follow-up appointment I felt like there was still some fluid, but Stacy decided it didn’t need to be suctioned out again. Now those areas are still bulging out and hardened. I’m sure that if Dr. Roth had inserted drains at the time of the surgery the seroma problem could have been avoided.

By the 3rd follow-up appointment, I was expressing myself about not liking the result. Dr. Roth kept saying “it looks really good” and “it turned out great” when it obviously wasn’t. It was a very uncomfortable situation. In addition to a couple of bulging areas where the seromas were, one side of my waste is very indented and the other is straight; my belly button is lopsided, and I have some lumpiness and denting in other areas as well. I do have a scoliosis, but before the surgery you couldn’t see any crookedness looking at me from the front, only if you looked at my back you could see that my spine was crooked. But my waistline looked totally the same on both sides.

Stacy, the nurse explained to me that, if necessary, the doctor would do “a revision” it but that I would need to pay for the surgery center and anesthesiologist. I wasn’t happy about it, but I could accept that if it was necessary. Dr. Roth insisted that I wait a full year before they decide if I needed a revision. After a year I complained about it again, and he then insisted I wait another 3 months before we even talk about it because I had gone through a hysterectomy 6 months after the liposuction, and he thought my body had been through a lot. At about 16 months post op I told him I was still very unhappy so he said they would send me an estimate to have it done again. (I was assuming it would be considered a ‘revision’).

I waited a couple of weeks and never got the estimate. I called and asked again, and they finally sent it. The estimate I received said it was for: “A surgery to improve the cosmetic appearance of my abdomen by suctioning excess fat from under the surface of the skin.” So, it was being described as a new surgery to improve the appearance, rather than a ‘revision’ to a previous surgery. The charges would be $1500 for the operating room, $600 for the anesthesiologist and $900 for the surgeon fee, for a total of $3000.

In addition to being upset about the idea of going through the whole thing over again, I was especially upset Dr. Roth was going to charge me an additional $900 (for himself) to fix a poorly done surgery.

I called and asked if there was anything else that could be done to make it look better without doing the whole thing over again. He said I could try CoolSculpting. I was never told if they thought that could work on the bulging lower part of my stomach that had the hardened residual seroma. I asked how much that would be, (hoping they wouldn’t charge me because it was to fix a mistake). They replied that it would be “400 per treatment.” And they said that the result would be “very subtle” 25% max.

It's been a couple of months since then and I’ve now given up on working with Dr. Roth anymore. I’m way more self-conscious of my abdomen than I ever was, and I feel like both front and back sides of me look just horrible. Please see the included pictures. I never want to write a bad review, but I wish I had known this could happen before I did it. Dr. Roth comes across very nice and attentive, and spends time talking to you, but at the follow-up appointments when he kept suggesting it turned out great etc. I realized more and more he was always giving me a lot of bs.