Horrendous Bedside Manner and Results!!

Full disclosure:
I was a massive weight loss patient, having lost 190 pounds, so yes, I had a lot of loose skin. But, Dr. Zienowicz obviously knew this at my consult. I originally went in thinking I needed a full 360° lower body lift/tummy tuck, combined with FDL incision. I also wanted implants and a lift. Dr Z. advised against the 360° incision and said he could achieve a tight, flat look with just a “regular” FDL TT. I was thrilled with this suggestion, as the idea of healing from a 360° incision scared me. I told him I wanted to be a FULL D/DD breast size- perky, with upper pole fullness. I’m 5’9”, so I felt I needed larger breasts to balance out my frame. I also made a special request for the exparel injection for pain, which he doesn’t typically do or offer but he assured me he had used it in the past, so I paid an additional $900 for this medication to be administered. Total cost of my surgery was $32,000 and the second, revision surgery which was SUPPOSED to fix the lump of skin below my breast, AND the abdominal puckering above my belly button was an additional $3500. Fast forward to me waking up from my original surgery: My surgery was supposed to be outpatient but I had to be admitted overnight to the hospital because, per the doctor at the hospital, Dr. Z injected the Exparel too close to my femoral nerve, causing my entire right side, from my hip area down to be numb and paralyzed. I couldn’t feel or move my right leg, at all. This was terrifying, and was the beginning of my awful recovery. I wasn’t discharged until late afternoon, the day after surgery. Because I was completely numb, they had to insert a catheter because I couldn’t urinate on my own. In addition to this not going as planned, when i took a peek inside my compression garment, just below my breasts, I saw surgical tape, straight across my sternum. This was NEVER discussed as being a possibility and I never would have consented to this. I didn’t WANT a reverse tummy tuck, as I didn’t want that ugly scar in my cleavage area. (In hindsight sight, I guess it doesn’t make a difference because I don’t HAVE any cleavage; you could park an RV in between my breasts!). Dr Z DID text me the night of the surgery to check in, but it was almost 9pm and I was sleeping. He texted me back the next morning around 6am, while I was still in the hospital. He said, “Everything went perfectly. Sorry the block leaked towards your leg. It happens occasionally. Hope you are comfortable.”
This was typical of his nonchalance. The surgery went perfectly? You gave me a reverse tummy tuck with a tiny incision above my pubic area, NOT the desired hip to hip incision we agreed upon before surgery, AND I was admitted to the hospital. If this is his version of “perfect”, I’d hate to see anything less. The recovery was rough. I had a TON of post op pain, he refused a refill on my pain medication, as he seems to treat everyone with a “one size fits all” pain regimen. I originally had 3 drains. 2 were removed relatively soon after surgery, but the third remained in place for 5.5 weeks! Mind you, his post op care states you cannot shower until your drains are removed. I asked again during my after care if I could shower. I was told no by his PA, Jessica. Despite having that third drain for 5.5 weeks, I still developed a seroma, which had to be diagnosed by my lymphatic massage therapist, because Jessica didn’t notice it. Let me reiterate that: at my 2 week post op appt, I met with Jessica, she changed my surgical tape and said everything looked great. I drove to my scheduled lymphatic massage appt, and SHE saw the seroma. She took a video on her phone and sent it directly to Jessica, as she is familiar with the staff at Dr. Z’s office. Jessica had me drive BACK to his office and sure enough, she had to drain 70ccs of fluid from my back. Had my massage therapist not seen this, who knows what would have happened? This seroma ended up needing to be drained three weeks in a row, at which time Dr. Z injected a steroid to the area and it did finally go away. Over the course of the 6-8 weeks post op, I obviously asked about the lump of skin below my breasts and the ugly puckering above my belly button. Initially, Jessica told me it was swelling and would subside, and then, further along in my recovery, she said I just needed to “have realistic expectations”. I’m sorry, what? I paid $35,000+ for this surgery, a surgery I didn’t consent to, and that’s your feedback? There’s so much I could say in this review, but it would take pages. At 5.5 weeks, my drain was finally removed. Because it had been in so long, I developed cellulitis at the drain site and also a deep abscess, which both were diagnosed during a necessary ER visit. I needed IV antibiotics, followed by oral ones at home. Dr Z was clearly bothered by the fact that I sought care at the ER, because when I saw him a few days later for followup, I asked him a question. You tell ME if he was bothered. At this point in my care, it was more than clear that I needed a revision to remove the skin below my breasts which was very uncomfortable wearing a bra 24/7 because that lump of skin was directly on the bra line. And I also wanted the puckering fixed. He originally suggested I have this revision done in the office, under local anesthesia. I was wary of this suggestion, as I’m a nervous person, in general, and it seemed like ALOT of skin to be removed in the office. So, I said, “are you sure this can be done in the office, I’m kind of a nervous Nelly?” I’ll never forget what he did. He was sitting in his little chair on wheels and he wheeled up close to my face, and said, “I don’t know. Maybe I should ask another doctor.” This was obviously a direct dig at me going over his head by going to the ER. Backstory: I knew I had an infection at the drain site and had emailed the photos to Dr Zienowicz. He DID prescribe antibiotics. When I saw the red, hot area spreading, rather than getting smaller, I texted him again with more photos. I waited an hour to hear back before just deciding to go to ER. When he responded about an hour and 15 mins later, I let him know I had just gone ahead to the ER where they confirmed cellulitis and also an abscess. This was 9pm on a Saturday night. He didn’t respond that evening, nor did he send a message the following day until 4:30pm. I sent him the screen shots of the ER diagnosis and treatment and told him they advised me to followup with him to see if he wanted to drain the abscess. As mentioned, I conveyed this info to him on a Saturday evening at 9pm, I followed up that Sunday around 9am and received a text from him at 4:29pm. Did he advise me to call the office for an appt? Nope. He simple said, “ Thx”. For the record, I obviously have all these text messages saved. Everything I’ve stated is true. I don’t want this review to be any longer than it already is. The photos obviously speak for themselves. My breasts are small, saggy, wide set, with NO upper pole fullness. My belly button is a sad slit, and I have puckering above it. He performed a procedure I didn’t consent to, and the incisions below my breasts, and way into my armpits are horrendous. In a nutshell, his solutions to these issues at our very last visit because I refuse to see him again: “Get yourself a good, racerback, underwire bra to bring the breasts together and stand up straighter to get rid of the puckering.” RUN, don’t walk!!