Monarch mini lift caused problems including asymmetry

The Monarch Mini Lift pulled my earlobes down and this looked extremely odd. So, Dr. Hodge performed revision surgery to fix my pixie ears four months after the mini lift surgery. Unfortunately, one earlobe was sewn a quarter of an inch lower than the other one, and it still looked very pulled down and pixie ear-like. Dr. Hodge said it looked okay which confirmed to me that he has low standards. I had to convince him I would never be happy with the Mr. Potato head look he viewed as acceptable... and it took a lot convincing.

Dr. Hodge finally pulled out a ruler to prove his argument that the earlobes were even, but this backfired on him because they measured a one fourth inch difference, so he had no chose but to fix it. Eleven months after the mini lift surgery, he performed surgery on my left earlobe a second time. I admit the shape of it is much better, but two months after the surgery I pointed out that the incision did not look good. My opinion is that my body is rejecting the internal sutures and it is not absorbing them. So, the latest picture is what I'm living with and I'm not happy. The incision area is always inflamed and it's a mess. I would love to wear a ponytail, but I can't.

Something happened to the other earlobe, by-the-way. Almost six months after the pixie ear revision surgery some sutures at the very bottom of the earlobe came to the surface and eventually fell off. It seems Dr. Hodge sort of bunched up the skin at the bottom with suture material which gave the earlobe a temporary rounded look, but the shape of ear lobe changed once the suture fell out. Unfortunately, it sort of looks like a pixie ear again.

I must stress, I can't recommend Dr. Hodge as a surgeon on both skill level, aesthetic taste, high standards for details or bedside manner. Also, I read a review for Dr. Hodge that stated he isn't in it for the money but because he wants to help people. Curiously, it was posted soon after I posted my original review by an anesthesiologist he must know. I had to laugh at this because it must be a joke.

I have saved emails from his nurse Kimber reminding me of all the "free" services Dr. Hodge offered me when he attempted to fix my ears which he kept messing up. Translation: they couldn't charge me to fix mistakes he made, therefore dealing with me meant lost revenue.

Because of this loss of money to be made, I put up with a lot of excuses and I was made to feel like an inconvenience during my office visits. When I had a question about things I thought was odd or something was not healing well, I immediately got cut off by Kimber. I could barely finish my sentence because she was so quick to react and she had an excuse for everything. She is trained her well, and I bet she has had a lot of practice in this area.

The best example of this: During my pixie ear revision surgery Dr. Hodge showed me in a mirror my right earlobe after he did the first revision surgery. I was happy and I told him to match the left one just like the right one. He did the surgery on the left, and I thought it was odd because he quickly left the room. Kimber was cleaning me up and then handed me a mirror. The first thing I noticed was the left earlobe was much lower than the right one. Kimber blamed it on more swelling on the left side. I was not convinced, and it turned out, it was not swelling but unevenness.

After giving this experience some thought, I think Dr. Hodge noticed that the earlobes were not level and that's why he was quick to leave the room. Also, it was pretty par for the course that Kimber had that excuse ready. That's the way many of the post-op visits were. I'd question something odd and they had my $8,000 so they just wanted to move onto someone new who would pay more money.

Every time I see this inflamed scar, I am reminded of my last visit with Dr. Hodge when I expressed my concern about how this incision is healing. He smirked and nervously said, well I used dissolvable sutures. Then we did our usual stare down. Frankly, during most visits, I was holding back what I really wanted to say because I was trying very hard not to insult him, but in hindsight, both Dr. Hodge and his nurse insulted me during both the office visits and via email so why did I care about his feelings? His lack of concern about his patient's healing problems and low standards for overall results are a reason to stay away. The emails I received from his nurse as if they were giving me favors were insulting considering the amount I paid for their services and the nightmare they put me through.

The Monarch Mini Lift is a flawed technique, and Dr. Hodge does not make good on his mistakes. I've read on Real Self that other surgeons do not like this technique because of the way the muscle is pulled, and I have proof that it does not look natural at certain angles, especially from the sides. It will and has cost me additional money to fix many issues and mistakes. My advice is to stay away from this technique.

I still need fillers to fill the ridges caused by the visible muscle pulling under my skin and obviously, the incision he made after my second pixie ear revision surgery is unacceptable. I question if Dr. Hodge actually used dissolvable sutures as he said. Maybe they are in a place where they won't dissolve. Whatever is causing the problem, it looks horrible, and after fifteen months, it should look healed. I did not appreciate his lack of concern for an incision that is healing horribly.

I also had a fat transfer at the same time as the mini lift. I have a lumpy temple because of it. I would never do the fat transfer again because of the lumpiness it can cause. ?I do not recommend it. Dr. Hodge did a second fat transfer to fix the lumpiness and address other issues. I agreed to pay for the supplies which were not exactly a bargain. I still have lumpiness and the other issues are still there, so it was a pointless waste of time and money.

Because Dr. Hodge was on the defensive regarding my bad results and often skirted the issue he wasted a lot of my time. I took multiple visits to get him to admit there were problems. I even had complications with him trying to fix the complications. I don't recommend him for a mini lift. I don't recommend him for a fat transfer. Both caused unnatural results. They are not as affordable as advertised... far from it when you add in the cost and recovery time, and loss of income due to time away from work. I found you require several procedures trying to fix problems that these procedures can cause. The fat transfer can work, but for the price, it's a big gamble if it will even take and the part that took on me made my jawlines asymmetrical because one side was injected with a lot more fat than the other. His nurse Kimber usually responded to my emails fast, however, she was VERY quick to make an excuse when I voiced a concern and would interrupt me during office visits as if is she is programmed and as if the philosophy is to dismiss your concerns rather than listen. I can only give one star because of my unhappiness with the outcome. I have a very thick visible scar under one of my earlobes after TWO earlobe revision surgeries. The scar is constantly inflamed even after nine months. I had the revision surgery in November 2017 and it is now August 2018. I have been constantly spitting internal sutures which according to Dr. Hodge were supposed to dissolve. When I voiced my concerned Dr, Hodge about the scar, he laughingly told me, "you insisted on having this revision surgery", as if the reason there is a horrible, visible raised scar is my fault. Really, Dr. Hodge? Because the first revision surgery was because you put too much tension on my earlobes during the mini lift surgery and I had bizarre, alien-looking pixie ears. This could have been avoided had you taken the precautions. If you read why this happens on this Realself website, plastic surgeons have written time and time again the pixie ears are avoidable. Then you agreed to fix the pixie ears, but you sowed one earlobe one-fourth inch lower than the other one, and for months you insisted it was an okay look. How can a plastic surgeon have such low standards for symmetry and aesthetics? Then you finally agreed to fix the too low earlobe, and now I live with a hideous scar. I believe my thick raised visible scar is because I have internal sutures that are not dissolving properly. These sutures are too close to the surface of my skin for my body to dissolve them. There was entirely too much foreign material used in a very small area causing a raised, constantly inflamed, crusty mess of a scar which I was told would be a barely noticeable tiny light colored line. After all these unnecessary complications and botches and after paying Dr. Hodge $8000, he has the audacity to suggest paying him more money... $800 for fillers every eighteen months for the rest of my life to help conceal the unnatural look of the mini lift. The reason: to correct the bad results caused by the mini lift and the ineffectiveness of the fat transfer which left lumps on in my temple areas. These procedures offered by Dr. Keith Hodge and Monarch Plastic Surgery are not something I would recommend. I understand complications happen, but complications to correct complications are simply negligent. Period! The constant attitude I got while at the office and the defensive responses from his nurse, Kimber, and notion that Dr. Hodge was being inconvenienced and losing money because of my situation are ridiculous, insulting and out of touch with reality. The arrogance was I put up with was excruciating, and I consistently bit my tongue during office visits because of the absurdity of some of the comments they fed me as a patient. I am botched and I can not show my ears. If you are considering a mini lift and fat transfer or other procedures in Kansas City, consider my case and go elsewhere.