Botched Nose

In July 2024, I had rhinoplasty with Professor Palma. I was 59 years old and had a large nose with a hump - I had been bullied a bit because of it in my teens and youth, and had complexes about it all my life. I also had broken it in a sports accident in my youth and it was left slightly deviated after, which I wanted to get fixed. After careful research I decided to go with Professor Palma - I hadn’t seen any seriously bad reviews. When I met him he seemed nice and confident that he will be able to deliver - he promised that my nose will be straighter than before from the front after the surgery. Anyhow, the surgery in Milan went ahead. When he took of the cast 8 days later I could see straight away that my nose was deviated from the front - it kind of looked okay from the side. He quickly taped my nose up - telling me to leave it taped for another week and then to tape it myself over night for the next 4 weeks. When I removed the tape, I could clearly see that the nose was deformed - I was praying that it was just the swelling but kind of knew it wasn’t. When I mentioned it to him on Whatsup - with pictures- he kind of brushed it aside - stating it’s just swelling. It was hard for me. It didn’t get any better. It’s horribly - the top of the bridge is uneven - on one side higher than the other - there is an uneven hump which adds to the bent look - it’s not in the center of my face and after the bony part, the cartilage veers to the left. The nose is wider than before and the nostrils are much wider too, especially when I smile. Furthermore when I lean my head to the left the cartilage moves with it. It was straighter and looked better before the operation. I feel disfigured. At the 6 month follow up, Professor Palma took some pictures which he didn’t want to show me or make available to me. He kept stating that there have been some improvements - he never suggested anything that could be done to improve the outcome - although I had asked. Before the surgery he had stated that he would offer free revisions if necessary. When I suggested that shaving down the uneven hump may make the outcome better - he said there would be a massive risk of getting an inverted V deformity and advised against it and also advised and warned me against any other intervention. I got some other opinions from two different surgeons and both stated that they can’t see any risk of this occurring. One actually stated that most of the deformity would be solved by such an intervention - the other one thinks I need a full revision with a cadaver graft to fix it properly (very expensive). Professor Palma had gaslit me and had been very unhelpful until I asked him for a refund. After this he suddenly was willing to discuss revision procedures - telling me I should come back to Italy to discuss these with him (with warnings of possibly making things worse) - I mean, I had only been there for my six month post-op and believe he knows what I look like - he has the photos, that he won’t show me. Now, the other surgeon, I had consulted wants the operation notes - I have requested these and I’m still waiting for them. I have also requested the 6 months post-op photos again as the other surgeon I saw, told me that it’s personal info and that I have a right to it. I understand that things can go wrong and that I wasn’t an easy case, but it is the way that a surgeon deals with things that is important. And Professor Palma dealt with things very badly in my opinion - making out things that weren’t true, and gaslighting me. I dread having to have another intervention - I’m an active person and hate the ‘down time’ - but I really hate what I look like now - I hate all selfies and cringe whenever I look into the mirror. It really has now completely destroyed my self- confidence.