POSTED UNDER Rhinoplasty Reviews
It Cost over $25,000 and a 6-Hour Revision Surgery to Fix significant cosmetic and functional problems
ORIGINAL POST
It Cost over $25,000 and a 6-Hour Revision Surgery to Fix What Dr. Desai Did to Me.
I underwent a primary rhinoplasty with Dr. Shaun Desai in April 2023, and my experience has been deeply disappointing. While I understand that no surgeon is perfect, the issues I endured were far beyond what I ever expected. After my initial surgery, my nose was left with significant cosmetic and functional problems: a short, upturned shape with a hanging columella, a dent on one side, a deviated bridge, mild pinching at the tip, a harsh line on the right side of the bony vault where a fracture had been made, difficulty breathing during exercise and sleep, and a worsened sense of smell. Dr. Desai failed to address a congenital issue on the left side of my nose, which worsened because the cartilage was not properly reattached to the bony vault after rasping down the hump.
My experience was bad from the moment I woke up from surgery. In the first 7 days after my surgery, I was in an inexplicable amount of pain, shaking from agony due to improperly placed nasal stents. Despite the severe pain, I was not provided adequate relief. In contrast, my revision surgery, which involved harvesting rib cartilage and was far more extensive, was nearly pain-free even with just acetaminophen and ketorolac. When the time came to remove my cast, Dr. Desai’s fellow, in his absence, ripped it off with no care, as if removing a pore strip. This rough treatment added to an already traumatic experience. Adding to my distress, 5 days post-op, I experienced wound dehiscence—a stitch popped open, leaving a flap of flesh hanging off. Dr. Desai was on vacation, and none of his emergency contacts could provide help. I was eventually seen by Dr. Jason Nellis, who inspected the issue but couldn’t intervene other than to put a slab of antibiotic ointment on the dangling flesh and tuck it back up. The situation eventually resolved itself (other than having a ball of cartilage sticking out inside my nostril where the stitch popped, though it was not visible from the outside), but the lack of immediate care by Dr. Desai’s immediate surgical staff was unacceptable. A few months after surgery, I began having difficulty breathing, especially during exercise or while lying down. My ability to smell deteriorated significantly; I couldn’t even detect strong perfumes, leading people to assume I had COVID.
Throughout the year following my surgery, Dr. Desai oscillated between gaslighting me about my results and acknowledging that "minor tweaks" were needed. He eventually referred me to a surgeon at Stanford, for which I was initially grateful. However, during my consultation, that surgeon dismissed my concerns and even accused me of being mentally unwell. This interaction left me questioning what Dr. Desai might have conveyed to him beforehand. On the other hand, another highly reputable surgeon in the Bay Area who reviewed my case remarked that my nose was "a B- at best"—a disheartening assessment after investing so much in my initial surgery. Several doctors with whom I consulted could not believe that my surgery was done by Dr. Desai (I guess they’d encountered him at conferences) due to the obvious mistakes that had been made.
Thankfully, my revision surgeon was able to fix the lack of projection, tip support, and sidewall support, restoring both function and aesthetics. My breathing and sense of smell are now better than ever—even better than before my first surgery. However, the revision cost me several times the amount I initially spent with Dr. Desai and required a 6-hour surgery involving rib cartilage transplantation. I had to have my septum re-lengthened, bilateral spreader grafts (particularly on the side of the large dent), LCSG, extensive perichondrium grafting, and a revision of the turbinate work.
While I acknowledge that no surgeon can guarantee perfect results, it is devastating to feel like a case of substandard work. My experience with Dr. Desai left me physically and emotionally scarred. Throughout this experience what upset me the most is how unsure Dr. Desai seemed of the solutions of fixing my issues, both before my surgery and after when it became clear that I had problems. I’m not sure if my nose was a particularly tough case, but I wish I would have found a surgeon with better technical knowledge and skill to begin with. I expected more from a surgeon associated with one of the best medical institutions in the world.
My experience was bad from the moment I woke up from surgery. In the first 7 days after my surgery, I was in an inexplicable amount of pain, shaking from agony due to improperly placed nasal stents. Despite the severe pain, I was not provided adequate relief. In contrast, my revision surgery, which involved harvesting rib cartilage and was far more extensive, was nearly pain-free even with just acetaminophen and ketorolac. When the time came to remove my cast, Dr. Desai’s fellow, in his absence, ripped it off with no care, as if removing a pore strip. This rough treatment added to an already traumatic experience. Adding to my distress, 5 days post-op, I experienced wound dehiscence—a stitch popped open, leaving a flap of flesh hanging off. Dr. Desai was on vacation, and none of his emergency contacts could provide help. I was eventually seen by Dr. Jason Nellis, who inspected the issue but couldn’t intervene other than to put a slab of antibiotic ointment on the dangling flesh and tuck it back up. The situation eventually resolved itself (other than having a ball of cartilage sticking out inside my nostril where the stitch popped, though it was not visible from the outside), but the lack of immediate care by Dr. Desai’s immediate surgical staff was unacceptable. A few months after surgery, I began having difficulty breathing, especially during exercise or while lying down. My ability to smell deteriorated significantly; I couldn’t even detect strong perfumes, leading people to assume I had COVID.
Throughout the year following my surgery, Dr. Desai oscillated between gaslighting me about my results and acknowledging that "minor tweaks" were needed. He eventually referred me to a surgeon at Stanford, for which I was initially grateful. However, during my consultation, that surgeon dismissed my concerns and even accused me of being mentally unwell. This interaction left me questioning what Dr. Desai might have conveyed to him beforehand. On the other hand, another highly reputable surgeon in the Bay Area who reviewed my case remarked that my nose was "a B- at best"—a disheartening assessment after investing so much in my initial surgery. Several doctors with whom I consulted could not believe that my surgery was done by Dr. Desai (I guess they’d encountered him at conferences) due to the obvious mistakes that had been made.
Thankfully, my revision surgeon was able to fix the lack of projection, tip support, and sidewall support, restoring both function and aesthetics. My breathing and sense of smell are now better than ever—even better than before my first surgery. However, the revision cost me several times the amount I initially spent with Dr. Desai and required a 6-hour surgery involving rib cartilage transplantation. I had to have my septum re-lengthened, bilateral spreader grafts (particularly on the side of the large dent), LCSG, extensive perichondrium grafting, and a revision of the turbinate work.
While I acknowledge that no surgeon can guarantee perfect results, it is devastating to feel like a case of substandard work. My experience with Dr. Desai left me physically and emotionally scarred. Throughout this experience what upset me the most is how unsure Dr. Desai seemed of the solutions of fixing my issues, both before my surgery and after when it became clear that I had problems. I’m not sure if my nose was a particularly tough case, but I wish I would have found a surgeon with better technical knowledge and skill to begin with. I expected more from a surgeon associated with one of the best medical institutions in the world.
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