Dr Sanguan - Breast Lift & Small Implant Replacement -Thailand, TH

Day 6 Post Op

I finished my courses of meds today, antibiotics, muscle relaxants, pain relief, anti inflammatory & Still no pain!

Ok a little pain but I REALLY mean a little, I spent the whole day out walking around kata town. I did take it easy & checked in with myself often so as to not overdo it, I'm very aware that any cosmetic surgery, is still major surgery & also went to the dentist, which allowed me a little lie down.

My breasts look much the same & I will post a pic I took last night.

I LOVE my new size. What I love most & can't wait to experience again is fashion. With the 410cc low swingers, most clothes & bikinis were a no no & fashion was off limits to me.

After 3 operations I can only conclude that finding the right PS really is so important & difficult. Choosing the surgeon for my first 2 surgeries was my responsibility. I chose the surgeon who was then the chairman of the British association of aesthetic & plastic surgeons. I had watched a documentary where he revised BAs that other surgeons had botched plus he has been teaching plastic surgery for 25 years. And yet my spidey sense should of starting tingling when both my consultations lasted no more than 15 mins! No sizers, no comparison of actual implants just a measurement of my breast width, a quick look at my breasts to tell me i had a little droop & a brief reference to a manufacturers chart stating the 290cc implant was THE one for me. I really believed from all the BAs I've seen in the media that it was a relatively easy procedure & my PS told me one lady managed her pain with a couple of paracetamol! Well I wasn't that lady!. My incisions were on FIRE as were my breasts after surgery, red, swollen, sore for 3 weeks & took 5 weeks to heal. The 2nd operation was UNBELIEVABLE on a pain scale & the pain was awful for 4 solid weeks, didn't heal for 8-12 weeks & the incision sites still hurt 9 months on.

Dr Sanguan was referred to me via a company called lotus medical which was set up by an ex nurse who reviews & views all her surgeons work personally & will only work with a handful of specialists. Understandably though stepping into the unknown i was super scared going in for my 3rd surgery. I sent photographs & had a basic online consultation but it was the morning of the surgery that i had my first in person consultation. My surgeon spent 40 mins measuring EVERY aspect of my breast anatomy, & drawing out everythinincliding where my nipples 'should' sit which turned out to be about an inch further up my breasts than they were last week (before surgery). After all my angst I discussed complete explant & he advised that he would do his absolute best but would like to decide in surgery whether to use a 175cc implant to achieve the best result. I was in surgery for 5 hours! Which I was very pleased about, I think it shows care & attention to detail.

I was assured he is the best surgeon for complex revisions & his care & stitching ability is without comparison! When I saw my breasts on the day after surgery there was no bruising, very little pain & THE neatest, smallest stitches round my nipples. I have virtually no bruising & virtually no pain.

Tomorrow I go for my follow up so I can see everything & will keep posting.

Follow up consult week1

Stitches out today - everything looking beautiful so pleased.

FINAL PAYMENT FIASCO
The payment procedure has been fraught with difficulty. Initially I paid a deposit to lotus medical to secure surgery along with their fee.

No problem there; deposit paid, lotus medical fee paid. Quote from the surgeon agreed.

The quote for surgery changed dramatically on the morning of surgery because my procedure changed dramatically & my surgeon provided new quotes for full breast lift with no implant replacement & for full breast lift with implant replacement. They were expensive but I was confident in his skill thanks to the experiences of hundreds of prior surgeries that the lotus medical team could share with me & we proceeded surgery.

However when I came to pay the balance at my follow up consultation the whole process got a little weird. The prices quoted were exclusive not inclusive of my deposit which was never stated or written or explained, so at the very last minute I am presented with a fee of $280 & when i questioned this a rather officicious lady appeared to tell me in no uncertain terms that the surgeon had no right to give me a quote & i was lucky she had decided to honour it, and furthermore between my initial inquiry & my surgey the prices had increased & i was lucky to be paying what i did. That the quote excluded the deposit & that was that.

But I had never been quoted for breast lift & implant before the morning of surgery & the cost on the PIAC website for lift & implant is approximately $7100. The need for the lift was decided on the morning of the surgery, she then repeated that the surgeon had no right to quote any prices & that I was lucky she had chosen to honour his quote ($8200). It made no sense. I know a lift with revision & replacement implant is more complex, but $8200 doesn't seem like it warrants 'counting myself lucky'

Plus everyone started to get a bit pissed off with me because I still didn't understand why the deposit wasn't included in the surgical quote, but I was getting nowhere & the attitude was pay up, shut up & count yourself lucky. Not the nicest way to finish my experience.

My surgery is very very impressive but my payment is equally impressive so more clarity & less attitude would be appreciated PIAC. Especially as this is the hospital that put my credit card through for payment four times telling me it hadn't worked an hour before my surgery (stressed much?!). When I called my issuer to find out what had happened the payment had been processed the first time & had the funds been available it would have been processed all four times & I would have paid $20,000.