tomie

My surgery is booked for may, but I may cancel my trip because I fear the quarantine will still be ongoing and I can't afford to spend 14 days + another 15 days for surgery.

 

Thank you for sharing this information! They should've immediately offered at least a partial refund from charging for surgeries they never even performed, but a full one one after the botch! Even after all the evidence, they still refuse? You're already losing money from needing reconstruction and it's impacting your university classes. I feel awful for you, this is crazy and thank you for bringing April31's insane malpractice to light.

 

messaged

 

Hey, everyone, updating on my surgery progress as it’s been a few months so most of the swelling should be gone by now (had things done in June 2019).

Feel free to message me and I’ll send you a couple photos of my face before and after these surgeries, but request that they please not be shared around or posted anywhere. I’m not adding them to this post for fear of them ending up on google images.

I had my eyes revised at MVP, and it's still not really what I was hoping for. I showed a photo of Irene’s eyes to Doctor Seo and he only really glanced at it before nodding and being done with looking at it lol. The middle part of my eyelid looks a bit heavy and I was hoping for it to be higher. To me, it looks a little wonky and is most noticeable without makeup. I do think it is an improvement from my previous surgery (which basically turned into monolids) and I’m satisfied with how even they came out but I do wish they could have been a bit higher and shaped a little different. That being said, I won't change my eyes anymore for several years.

I had philtrum reduction and cupid's bow lip line done at hyundai. I'm very very disappointed in cupid's bow surgery, because it hardly changed my lip line at all. The only thing is that the dark wavy scar in the middle of my lips gives a bit of illusion of it being that shape, but my actual lipline is still basically flat. Don't really notice much difference in my philtrum at all too.

As far as scarring goes, I have very minimal scars for all surgeries. However, I tend to not scar much.

I think I'm done with surgery for the next several years. The only other ones I would consider sooner are Buccal fat removal and genio. Prior to any surgeries, I was really insecure and unhappy with my looks and sought the first round of surgeries to help fix it. Although I do feel a little less insecure going out now and appearing in photos, internally I still have many issues I want to work on before opting for any other surgeries for the sake of my mental health and doing irreparable damage to my face.

 

I'm going from June 14-25 would be happy to meet up with anyone going around the same time

 

I skimmed too fast and misunderstood your previous comment, I'm sorry ! And thank you so much for the encouragement~

 

Thank you very much! Getting one procedure at a time is really good advice, thank you again for the kinds words~

Thank you, that's so nice of you to say and I'm really really happy my experience was able to be helpful! I'm getting in a better headspace, but non-invasive first is such a smart idea and I hope things go smoothly for you.

 

@iwantoprettyyy @Hautelady Hi! I can definitely understand the skepticism but I'm not a shill. I did hear about MVP offering gift cards to patients to send photos and/or write reviews or something, but I was never given or offered any gift card or monetary compensation for writing my review~ To be fully transparent: during negotiation I did tell every clinic I visited that if I got surgery with them I would write an honest review (I was planning on writing a review anyways to give back in a tiny way for all the help I got haha) but none of the clinics said that it would have to be a good review or contain only positive things (including GNG, though I've heard others have had different experiences so I can only speak for what was said to me). When I signed the contract, there were 0 indications of what should be said in the review, if it should be updated etc. Actually, they really didn't talk to me about me writing a review much at all beyond me saying I would do it haha. I came back to post updates because a big thing for me was wondering what the swelling and healing process would look like, so I thought updating might be useful for others since my initial review was so early post-op. I apologize if my review came off as insincere though!

Also, in regards to only going to Doctor Seo, I'll try to explain since I agree that normally it's not a good idea to get a surgeon to all your surgery just because he/she happens to do other procedures you want. I knew from other reviews and before and after photos that I loved what I saw from his work on both eyes and nose. After consulting, I felt he really understood exactly what I wanted for both, and had complete trust in him for those. The chin implant was so last minute and at the time I thought because it isn't genioplasty I would be fine since Doctor Seo seemed to really know both what I wanted and what would fit my face. I saw one of Doctor Seo's fields is square jaw reduction and I believe chin implants are fairly common in fc so I knew Doctor Seo would be able to do it. While I 100% stand behind my eye and nose choices, I can see why the chin implant decision seemed risky, or even dumb. I'm beyond happy with the way my chin turned out too, but I do agree it was more of a gamble than if I went to a fc specialist for that.

 

I also wanted to add that something I did not prepare myself was the mental aspect after surgery. I thought I understood how I would feel, but it's a lot different actually living it. I flip flop from being so happy that I look better than I used to, to feeling really bad about the fact that I changed so much. Then I go from wishing I had done more procedures like eyelid skin excision or tipplasty, to wishing I had done less or not done surgery at all. Sometimes I just look in the mirror and honestly don't even feel like myself anymore. I know not everyone will go through this, but I think it's worth taking time to prepare for or think about before surgery~

 

It's been a few months post op, so I thought I'd check back in and update on my PS journey~ I'm happy to send updated pictures to anyone who would like to see via DM!

All in all my face looks basically the same as it did a few months ago, with some minor positive changes from the a lot of the rest of the swelling going down.

*Nose*
My nose looks less "fake" overall. A concern I had during swelling was that my bridge seemed a little too high, and slightly off center, but now it evened out and looks a lot more natural and is what I wanted. I didn't get any of my tip reduced so my nose is still kind of bulbous, but I think it suits my other features better than a thinner one might have.

*Eyes*
For anyone who saw my previous photos, my eyelids are pretty much the same except the crease dropped ever soo slightly and they look less "deep"(?) and more natural. There's a tiny scar line but it's not noticeable at all unless you're like 1 inch away from my face, and if I'm wearing makeup it's basically not there hahaha. I find tiny creases with bright eyes really pretty. For that reason, even though my eyes don't fit most people's aesthetics, I'm highly satisfied since it's exactly what I asked for.

*Chin*
I heard somewhere that a lot of chin implant patients get their implants removed so I was pretty concerned about this. Honestly, I've had 0 issues with my implant so far, I usually forget it's even there.

 

Other things during healing: The first few days I always woke up with soo much gross sticky stuff covering my eyes? Took forever to clean it out so I could see. My nose was very excessively runny, my chin felt very tight the first few days, and it was so hard to sleep at the 45 degree angle on my back at night.

Tips: -Go with a friend to consults and ask for discount by doing procedures together. Actually, even though I didn’t get surgery at one of the clinics they still let my friend have the discounted price (she paid a deposit first though).
-Figure out your wifi prior. My phone was locked to my carrier, so when I was trying to use the SIM card it didn’t work! (Had to call, meet requirements, and then it was unlocked by my carrier later during the trip). There’s wifi in lots of places in Seoul, on many streets even, but it was still very very difficult to navigate without wifi/data (for me at least since I suck at directions/navigation).
-Bring a portable charger. My phone is pretty old (iPhone 6) so the battery dies so quickly and having a portable charger on hand saved me so many times when I needed battery for maps, taking photos, etc
-Bring straws and extra q-tips

All in all I am happy I decided to go with MVP and doctor Seo! It’s only been about a week post op and I can see a huge improvement in my face already.

I will keep this updated as I continue to recover, so far could not be happier though

 

I got a ton of help from this forum so I thought I’d share my experience and hope it can also help someone else.
**Please message me if you’d like to see photos, I’m more than happy to share them but I'm still early in the recovery period so keep in my mind my results aren't final yet **

Procedures done (all primary): Incisional Double eyelid surgery, ptosis correction, medial and lateral epicanthoplasty, silicon rhinoplasty (septal cartilage for tip), nose hump shave, osteotomy, chin implant. All with Doctor Seo btw

I’ve always disliked my eyes in that they looked dull, tiny, and lifeless. I wanted bright eyes but with a tiny crease (think eyes like IU kind of). I also really didn’t like my nose because it looked like a blob on my face with no shape (actually my bridge itself wasn’t extremely flat and my nose hump was not really noticeable but the front view was very off-putting). Actually, going to Korea I was also considering asking about a philtrum reduction because in photos the space between my nose and lips in comparison to my lips and chin looked sooo long and I hated it. I ditched this idea after learning about the scar and it can’t be done with rhino anyways.

*Basically, I wanted to see a significant change, but with more natural looking results.

What doctor seo suggested/did:
-Immediately after seeing my profile photos (I don’t usually look at my profile since I hate it) I saw how short my chin looked in comparison to my face so I also asked about a chin implant. I actually was not considering a chin implant prior to coming to Korea, but lord did I need it. Now (even though it's early) I love my chin! Actually, it doesn’t look obvious in person at all, which was a huge concern for me, even when I smile. It balanced out my face so much more from both the front and side (def realized it was not a philtrum reduction I needed) and actually made my face look slightly less fat and round. Actually, one of my friends asked if I lost weight in my face when she saw me.
-He showed me eye heights, what my eyes would look like the lateral and medial epi, and explained the ptosis correction. I’ve actually seen some people comment that Doctor Seo does too low crease lines, but when he was showing me different crease height options again before surgery I actually requested the lowest one he showed. He gave me a warning about possible hooding, and I accepted. I’m really happy with the eyelid symmetry and height (though it’s only been about a week so there’s still some swelling), tbh I didn’t notice a huge difference from medial and lateral epi.
-I thought my nose looked pretty boring and shapeless. He also noticed the tiny hump on my nose and that my nasal bones were slightly wide, so he said osteotomy would be optional but he would for sure shave my hump before putting in a ~3-3.5mm silicon bridge (ended up doing 3.5 since I wanted a straight nose with a slight curve). It’s actually hard for me to comment on my nose since they didn’t take the cast off until right before I left, so I’m waiting for my tip to drop and everything to settle still, but I can already see it’s an improvement from before.

*Consultations*
Namu: I actually requested a specific doctor (Kirk) prior to the in person consultation, and though they said the arranged for it to be with him, it was a different doctor in person. The place looked clean, it wasn’t too rushed, but I didn’t feel my desires came across well as they actually kept saying I only need the tip of my nose done, and that nothing at all would be done to the bridge. They also said it would be open rhino, which I was sad about bc a big reason I consulted at Namu was bc I thought they specialized in closed.
*During online consults, I was almost positive I was going to go with Namu. After face to face they were off my list pretty quickly. So glad I didn’t make deposit, just a reminder of how important it is to go in person to many consults before booking. Also, not that Namu doesn’t seem good at what they do, just not the clinic for me
GNG: (Doctor Hong, and I forgot the eye specialists name lol) I was actually really late to this consult since my last one went long, traffic was so bad and the taxi driver was really confused so I felt really bad! I liked what the doctors said, they were hands on and explained that the skin in my nose was thinner so they wouldn’t use a large implant, and also suggested fat grafting. They were the only one who did a CT scan, and he noticed some asymmetry that he said he wouldn’t be able to fix, which was understandable.
Opera: (Doctor Kwak) They didn’t take any photos, and it all felt a bit rushed. They had the most amount of locals in the waiting room. They actually quoted me the lowest prices, the surgeon and consultants were very nice. Actually, I brought up chin implant multiple times, but even though the consultant agreed it was a good idea. I brought it up again during the chat with the surgeon, but I don’t think it was translated because he never replied to my question on it. Aside from MVP, they were still my other top choice.
MVP: (Doctor Seo) The waiting times at MVP were quite long, but it was worth it in the end. Doctor Seo seemed to understand exactly what I wanted, even though I had a hard time explaining it right. He explained what was possible, and I felt like I could trust him the most to do my surgery.
I came back a second time to further consult and discuss the price, and I ended up booking surgery and paying in full that same night (actually I only paid in full because my bank was having issues so it was easier to just pay it all than to keep calling my bank again a second time).

I also chatted with Dream and Hyundai online, but decided not to consult in person with them.

*Surgery day* : My surgery was actually delayed a bit because the doctor was doing broadcasting or something? I didn’t mind because I was spending the time texting my friends and family and I was in no rush haha. When they started strapping me down I started getting really scared, but Elizabeth (the consultant) was there helping calm me down and and the next thing I knew I was out. They did twilight and then were going to do the rest all under local, I didn’t feel any pain from start to finish (actually didn’t even really notice when they injected me and I’m a baby with needles), all I remember is feeling very very drugged, to the point where the room started to shift and the doctor and nurses were warping. I remember hearing Doctor Seo say open and close eyes, but I can’t even remember if I actually did it lolol, don’t remember anything at all about rhino or chin, pretty sure I fell asleep during those or something even though I was only under local.

I remember waking up in the recovery room and feeling very sick and nauseous, so they injected me with something and then I tried to stay awake but it was very hard. Once I was feeling better, Elizabeth handed me the after care bag (medication, eye cooling mask, gauze, face mask, etc), arranged a time to come in the next day, and helped me call a taxi.

(On a side note, my Airbnb hosts waited up for me and greeted me right away when I came home, and I felt a lot less lonely. I also was so braindead I left my phone in a taxi and they worked so hard helping me through the night and drove me to the police station in Itaewon at around midnight to get it back!! Staying in a private room with such kind hosts made the process 100x better. Just make sure not to tell specific clinics you're going to etc. to make sure they aren't brokers.)

Day after: I woke up in really bad pain, I took the medications and just slept. The pain lasted through most of the day, they gave me an injection, laser, and cleaned the areas when I went in. The pain went away that night and never came back, but I finished all of the medication they gave me. They provided extra meds for just in case, but so far I haven’t needed to take them.

The next few days I went out walking (I think walking helped a lot with my swelling) either alone or with other forumers to take advantage of the little time I had left in Korea. It was a distraction from being scared of the swollen monster in the mirror and also just really fun.

Stitch removal: Actually, I was expecting this to hurt a lot, esp since I have very low pain tolerance, but it didn't hurt much at all. A few times there was a sharp pain, comparable to being snapped with a rubber band or poked with a toothpick, but not nearly as bad as I expected. Rather than the stitches, it was them removing the packing from my nose (the day after surgery) that was the most uncomfortable part.

Healing time: The first three days I was soo swollen. After stitch removal (day 5), my swelling went way down the same day and I started looking relatively normal. I stayed in Korea for two weeks but actually only had a week of recovery (surgery on Thursday and left Korea the following Thursday). I still have some bruising and swelling, but I look human enough to feel comfortable returning to classes this Monday.

 

Thanks for your review! I'm so sorry you had to experience the pain during surgery, that's so scary! Which clinics are you thinking about for revision, and if you don't mind me asking how much did your rhino at dream cost?

 

Hey! By droopy eyelids, do you find yourself often raising your eyebrows a little to make them more open without realizing? I think if you already have double eyelids, ptosis correction will give you the change you're looking for since the idols you mentioned don't have high creases but very open looking eyes. http://itemcliniceng.com/plastic-surgery/eyes/ptosis-correction/ I wouldn't necessarily recommend item, but they explain it pretty well.

While you are right about Asians and Caucasians having different eye types (which is why I am going to Korea instead of getting it done by a doctor here in America) things can go wrong in any surgery. Eyelid surgery, esp in Korea, is one of the extremely low risk ones even though it is important to understand possible consequences. You mentioned yourself eyes are important for expression, so many people will understandably want to improve. It's a very safe procedure, and as long as you find a very skilled doctor you trust even the risk of uneven eyelids will be lessened. Although, unevenness is often unavoidable since most people's eyelids are not perfectly even to begin with. Most cosmetic surgery is in no way necessary, but for self improvement. I know several relatives who got double eyelid surgery before it was even popular and their eyes aren't damaged or anything.

 

Hi! By cutting method do you mean incisional? Sorry I haven't heard it referred to that before, but I think loosening of the fold with incisional is due to weak muscles in the eyelids, not as much as what the person does. On the other hand, suture methods do loosen more from daily life and all the things we do without thinking though. My aunt did suture method and hers loosened eventually because she blinked a lot the doctor said. I think your best options if you had incisional would be filler if you want to avoid the invasive surgery. If the ptosis was done non-incisional you could get the sutures removed but it's better sooner than later due to formation of scar and adhesion of skin and muscle, but that's requiring surgery so you may want to avoid anyways. So sorry to hear about what happened, I hope for the best for you

 

Hi! I'm going alone as well in March. Most clinics will have an in-house translator, so to me, docfinder wasn't really necessary. If you're scared of using the subways, taxi's are a really easy option. If you're nervous and feel Docfinder will help you feel at ease, I'd say for for it as long as you know you likely won't get much negotiating room as you would without them.

Sorry, I'm not doing a deposit or staying in a hotel (I'm staying in an airbnb) so hopefully someone else can answer those questions Good luck!

 

I'll be going alone March 10-22, if anyone wants to meet up or support each other etc. message me

 

If you don't mind, could you PM me photos of B & A? I'm considering dream but haven't seen many reviews here

 

I'm also going the same time as you for first procedure (DES and rhino) do you have kakao?

 

Please add me : tomiiee

 

Sorry to reply to an old post, but I think it is a bit extreme to say you will for sure need the implant replaced. Of course there are complications that can come later on, but from what I've seen the implants last a long time for the majority of people (though it really has not been around long enough to give an accurate say of whether it will last until death). Most of the revisions with the implants (that aren't L shaped) seem to be because they don't look right for them personally rather than infection etc. I personally am thinking of opting for the No-plant rhino at GNG as I have had a friend who had amazing results with it.

 

Are infections a matter of the fault of the surgeon or just something that may happen regardless of precautions taken? I'm very worried about infections