je-cullerton

Thank you everyone!

So I went into surgery yesterday. Didn't feel a thing after general anesthesia.... But boy have I been feeling everything since I woke up.

My first surgery wasn't painful because my jaw and mouth was very numb. But, with the implants, I felt I lot of pain (I'm guessing this is due to us having to work around my nerves more.) It was like intense muscle cramping in my jaw for the first 4 hours (pain level at an 8 out of 10). Good thing is, I've been receiving pain killers consistently and it's been helping the pain subside. I also noticed less pain with the compression garment off... but I think i need to keep it on. Argh.

I was giving anti-biotics throughout the night as well. Doctor Lee checked up on me several times, something very different to my previous surgery. He checked how I was feeling, told me the results (I guess everything went as planned) and cleaned my wounds. The nurses have also been pretty great about making sure I'm okay. They bought my medicine for me, got me some liquid meals to drink, walked with me, and helped bring me water. I also received my ice-pack fairly early. This is much better aftercare than the last hospital.

I stayed over night and I'll be coming back for another check-up tomorrow morning. As of now, all I feel is a dull aching sensation in my right jaw. Its not bad - maybe a 2 on a pain scale.

I'm waaaaay more swollen than the last surgery and I most likely will be for 48 hours. I have to be very careful about keeping my wounds clean - so I'll be using mouthwash throughout the day now that I've been discharged.

Still crossing my fingers that everything goes according to plan. Best case scenario is my body accepts the implants and my chin comes out the shape I originally wanted it to be with my first surgery.

 

Got back from my consultation with Doctor Lee.

The clinic seemed a lot cozier/smaller than the last one. Got my bloodwork and EKG done. Filled out paperwork and paid.

Finally I was able to meet him in person.

We talked for a while about risks of this surgery. Apparently some of my jaw bone grew back (just a little though). This is something I didn't realize could happen, but we're going to work around it.

I was also informed that he would remove the implant for free if I suddenly had an infection. I feel a tad better knowing that.

Surgery is tomorrow. I'm beyond nervous and I don't think I'll be able to sleep much. I'm trying to remain positive though.

 

He's been really sincere and giving me as much of his time as possible. I'm not looking for perfection (my case is insanely complicated), just somebody who can perform this surgery as safely as possible.

 

Can you PM me the group information? I might join to share my experience with you all. (I'm really nervous.)

 

Hello again. So half a year ago I underwent v-line surgery with a very well-known clinic (you can check the other thread I started about it under my Profile). The surgery was badly botched as the doctor decided to shave past my nerve-line, leaving me disfigured and exposing my mandible nerve. Ever since then, I've been frantically researching ways to reconstruct my face. I landed on The Face Dental. I ended up picking them to fix my issues for a few important reasons:

-Korean doctors are more familiar with v-line than Western: Believe me, after my terrible experience in Gangnam I really didn't want to come back. I searched high and low for Western doctors that were familiar with extreme Asian jaw-contouring and capable of creating custom implants to mold around my defect. The few doctors I came across were either unfamiliar with the procedure or only used stock implants. (And the one Doctor I did find that understood both issues has way to many lawsuits against him.)

-The Face Dental Uses Titanium Implants: Silicon implants and anything porous ultimately scares me. I'd rather use something that's easier to remove in case of an infection.

-The Face Dental seems to have actual -real- reviews: The clinic that botched me has fake accounts on both Realself and Purseforum. The reviews seem to be written by their consultants (something they offered to do for me if I didn't want to write my own reviews). So far, the reviews I've seen from TFD appear to be written by actual foreign patients.

To be frank, I'm choosing them to ultimately get my life back. They're the only option I have.

I've been speaking to Doctor Lee for a while now (both on Facebook and Skype). He has been very honest about possible complications and what he can and can't do. He was actually the first doctor to point out my exposed nerve, informing me of the possibility that it had healed/adhered on to my muscle.

He's also made the implant fabrication process a lot easier than I expected (as I'm located in a different country.) He took the previous clinics CT scans and we built what I wanted from there. He listened to EVERY request I had. For example, adding horizontal width to the back of the implants (to widen the jaw). I'm having correctional genioplasty to fix my chin area as well, so a lot of the implant design had to based off of that.

He sent me videos of them building the implant. We've spoken over Skype many times. He was able to print my custom implants and took pictures of the end result right before I left for Seoul.

He also has amazing bed-side manner. I've been terrible distressed and manic over the whole situation (it's very apparent in our conversations), but he took everything in stride and listened to my concerns.

So I'm here again, hoping for the best. I'll be doing my first in-person consultation with them tomorrow and I'm scheduled for surgery the following day.

I really hope everything goes as planned. Thanks for reading.

 

Unfortunately I've read cases where people who have brought family have -still- suffered malpractice. Nothing can prepare anybody for a doctor completely ignoring elementary maxillofacial surgery rules (or worse, the doctor being switched right before an operation)

 

I'm really thankful for the link. I've began pursuing legal action with my husband, and any bit of information is appreciated.

Thank you everyone that responded. There is obviously a lack of information circulating around popular clinics. The more I read this forum, the more I realize that it's hard for people to really protect themselves.

I'm actually back in Seoul (with a different doctor, of course) to reconstruct my jaw. Hopefully everything goes smoothly. (I'll make a new thread about that journey in a few minutes.)

 

Please do not go to Regen for bone work. They made the elementary error of shaving past my nerve-line.

 

(Attached is a cat scan of my skull for reference...)

It's been a really long journey. Several months ago I went to Regen for chin contouring/setback (they call it mini-vline since you're only touching the chin). I've been struggling with depression since the day I let them operate on me, and I regret going. Im gonna post here and tell the -entire- story since things have been getting progressively worse every month. I figure I'll just post comments here as I deal with the situation

Consultation Day should've been my first warning. My Meeting with Myung June Oh was very short. Maybe 6-10 minutes. He asked me what I wanted and I provided pictures - He didn't ask any detail questions about chin height, width, shape, etc. Just suddenly told me I'd need a mandible reduction as well. I didn't want that - But I went with his suggestion because I thought he knew what he was talking about. This was my first surgery ever, so I had no idea how badly things can go wrong when your doctor doesn't care... So I was given a full v-line surgery. They operated on me an hour later.Surgery was generally painless (we'll talk about that in a second...) and the only thing that really stressed me out was the lack of aftercare.

So here is where things get bad - I'm three months post-op and I realize that my face looks nothing like I want it. Heck, it doesn't even look remotely v-line.

Chin - It was pushed forward when I wanted setback. Height was reduced and now I have a disproportionate chin height and short lower face. Muscles are bunching up/dimpling from too much bone removal. Skin isn't mounted onto the chin properly so it droops into this weird square shape - not pointy or even round... just lumpy.
Jaw - Others surgeons tell me my face was already slim (in fact, it was almost -too slim-). Again, I figured as much. So naturally, the mandible was shaved down too much because there wasn't much bone to begin with. I have no bone left (only room for lower gums) - I look like I have an crocodile face. It's terrifying. Not to mention the cuts are very uneven (big difference... not subtle.)

Regen is wont help at all. Just telling me to wait and everything will look better. I didn't buy it.

So at this point I'm thinking its just a aesthetic problem. Okay - I'm going to have to spend $25000 on custom implants because I simply can't live with this face.

Fast forward to a month or so ago - Now US -and- Korean doctors are telling me this is a difficult case. Why?

Because he cut past my nerve line. (I suspected it when I saw my x-rays but the doctors have confirmed it.) Yes, people, my mandible nerve is now exposed and most likely attached to the outer jaw muscles. This is a major complication and effects whether or not I can feel my mouth - I realize the surgery and recovery has been painless because I've been numb this whole time from damaged nerves. And I'm only -just- now realizing what happened because Regen failed to mention it. So whoever inserts my jaw implants may have to dissect the nerve -away- from my jaw muscle before inserting the implants. And let's not forget that I could suffer other complications like infection.

What happened? Either Doctor Oh isn't as skilled as he says he is or they used a shadow doctor. I'm livid.
I'm currently working with another surgeon to get my jaw repaired (I'll make a different post for that)

Please, please don't go to Regen. (Also PM me if you want to discuss fake reviews. I have decent proof that their staff has been posting fake reviews. )