VIP Plastic Surgery Dr Lee - Ethnic Rhinoplasty HORRIBLE Experience

[orangeifi]

I went to VIP because of Dr Lee’s experience specialty in ethnic rhinoplasties. I am from California and could have gone to a Bay area surgeon for the same price, but I felt since Dr Lee does primarily ethnic noses, he would be my best choice. Wow was I wrong. My results are not 'botched' or horrible (besides perhaps the alarplasty), but they are not what I asked for or expected. I loved my nose before, it fit me very well, but wanted to correct small imperfections that bothered me a lot in photos and especially the deviated septum for breathing. I now feel I hate my nose like people usually do when they desperately seek surgery.

Me and my nose: Hispanic male, long, wide, bulbous, droopy, masculine nose with wide nostrils

Consultation: In the consultation I described the problems I wanted to fix to Dr Lee regarding my nose as the asymetry, the droopy tip, and the deviated septum. I told him I liked how it looked like from the side, but the asymmetry from the front is where I wanted to focus. He told me I had a very droopy bulbous nose. I showed him photos of his work that I liked, and photos of his work that I did not like. I specifically showed him a photo of a straight tip, and an over rotated tip. I specifically commented I did NOT want the tip to be rotated as such as he did on a previous patient. I asked Dr Lee what he would do technically to correct my problems. He commented he would use grafts to shape the tip, he then used a camera to go up my nose to diagnose my deviated septum and discussed breathing issues related to it and correcting it. He recommended rib rhinoplasty, but mentioned he could do septal grafts for my nose, but because I had such a droopy tip rib would be best. Considering I wanted a natural result and had in mind septal would limit the amount of augmentations he could do, I elected for septal cartilage. Right before the consultation was over he asked about my alar base. I told him I liked my wide nostrils and DID NOT want my alar base altered. He agreed and commented that when he projects the tip out the nostrils will naturally become less wide.

After the consultation I paid for the surgery the next day. Later that day I came back to view the digital imaging. I was very concerned because the augmentations were greater than expected so I was eager to talk to Dr Lee again. I knew I would see him the next day before surgery, so I made a list of things I wanted to communicate in my mind. I also noted in my mind that I was not shown digital imaging from the front. I assumed this is because the changes from the front would be minimal (BIG mistake).

Day of Surgery: After dressing into surgery clothing, I was told Dr Lee was running a bit late because of traffic. That was fine. I was then taken to the operation room. I began being a bit nervous because they inserted the IV tub into my arm and I had not seen Dr Lee yet. I asked what they were injecting and they commented it was no the aesthetic that would put me asleep. Finally Dr Lee showed up and as he reviewed my pre-imaging I stressed to him again, I DID NOT want the tip overrotaed, and that I did NOT want it rotated above the digital imaging. He dismissed me and told me ‘not to worry.’ This left me nervous because I felt I was not being listened to. Then he proceeds to ask about my alar base again. I reiterated I did NOT want it touched and that I liked my wide nostrils. The assistant then asked me what if it’s necessary? I was thinking okay maybe to improve my breathing? I could not think of a scenario why it would be necessary, so I receded. After he finished reviewing my papers, they told me to relax. I was still very nervous because I did not feel Dr Lee understood what I wanted, but because of his experience I trusted he did.

Results: Immediately after surgery I knew something was not right. The alar base had stitching, and based off what I could see with the cast, the nostrils were upward and my tip was very high. This caused me to panic for few days following. I saw Doctor Lee next on Day 3 and asked why was my tip so high when I specifically told him not to overrotate it??? He told me he overcorrected because I had a very droopy tip and it would drop a few mm. I tried to keep myself calm for the remainder of my time in Korea. On about Day 10 they took off all the dressing and bandages, and I was DISTRESSED.

Dr Lee corrected my septum and asymmetry, yes, but he also did WAY BEYOND what was asked or consented. The nose looked nothing like my natural nose, the nostrils looked notched, the bridge looked wide and flat, my entire face looked disoriented.

I tried to stay calm because I knew there was a lot of swelling involved. I am now 5 weeks post op, and after reviewing the surgery report I am extremely disappointed, and dissatisfied at what was done. Dr Lee performed WAY BEYOND what was asked or verbally consented, 80-90% of the augmentations and changes he did not discuss with me before surgery, and I am absolutely distressed and appalled at what my nose has become.

I had a long wide bulbous masculine droopy ethnic nose.

I asked to correct the asymmetry and support the tip with septal cartilage. I assumed the tip would still drip slightly because of how droopy is was before and the weaknesses of septal cartilage vs rib.

What I got was a overly-narrowed, overly-rotated, overly dissected what seems like Caucasian nose. Not only that he altered my alar base in the most unnatural fashion possible.

Initially I was extremely distressed over the alarplasty he performed and overrotation of the tip, but now that time has passed and it has healed some, and I have reviewed the surgery report, I can now Identify much more issues with what was done.

1. Lowering of Dorsum/Bridge via Rasping (basically nail filing the bridge)– I NEVER asked Dr Lee to augment my Dorsum. I also told Dr Lee in the consultation that I liked the nose from the side. I also was not informed before hand that he would be augmenting/rasping my Dorsum. My bridge has gone from sharp and ethnic to flat, wide, and too low for my face. My eyes now look more wide-set apart, and it has caused my eye area to look unrecognizable to myself.

2. Osteotomies (making cuts on the nasal walls to reposition) – I will assume this was done to correct asymmetry. However, again I was not told that this would be done during the consultation. I am assuming this is also impacting my eye area and was done to narrow my nose (something I also did NOT ask for)

3. Celphalic Trim (removing cartilage from the tip)– Dr Lee commented I had a bulbous tip in the consultation, but he did NOT inform me before hand that he planned to augment it. He especially did NOT tell me that he would be removing cartilage. An aggressive trim was performed, and the amount removed is not included on the report. My nose looks significantly smaller and now ‘button like’ because of this

4. Alar Base Reduction (removing tissue from the alar base to narrow the nostrils) – This is perhaps the most distressing of all the augmentations he performed. After Telling Dr Lee in consultation I did NOT want my alar base augmented, he insisted again in the surgery room while I already had the IV in my arm, and while I was trying to communicate my goals to him still. Not only did I decline his request again in the surgery room, he continued to insist and we aligned to only perform it if necessary. I assumed this was for medical necessity. After checking with clinic it turns out this was done for aesthetic reasons NOT medical. My nostrils are no longer wide and naturally ethnic. They are overly-narrow and have the most unnatural reattached looked to them that gives obvious signs that I have been operated on. Although the scars continue to heal, there is a clear dent in the grove where the alar base was reattached that looks totally unnatural. what could be done with the alar augmentations, they tell me NOW that it is irreversible. The alar base is the most unnatural augmentation that I have seen compared to all alarplasties I seen online. My nose is now overrotated beyond what was requested, the bridge is now lower flatter and wider which I never requested to augmented on, and I have a nose that has been completely robbed of its natural ethnic shape and identity. The clinic has told me the amount he removed was so small it cannot be measured, but I do not agree with that evaluation. Not only that, it looks SO SO SO unnatural.

Overall I am very disappointed and depressed over this experience and wish I would have never trusted Dr Lee or gone to Korea for that matter. I went to Dr Lee looking to enhance the natural beauties of my nose by correcting the imperfections that I saw, but instead he completely augmented away the natural ethnic beauty of the nose and corrected the imperfections that HE SAW.

Because of Dr. Lee’s experience and background and membership of multiple PS boards (including American) I made the very very very poor and regretful assumption that I could trust Dr Lee to be align with my goals and do what I asked. Instead It feels like I was given this factory nose that checks all the marks of what a ‘perfect’ nose is in the eyes of Dr Lee.

After talking with the clinic, I am even more disappointed. Dr Lee claims to not have rotated my tip at all during surgery (despite the cephalic trim and alar/tip sutures that align with techniques to rotate the tip upward, and despite that the tip and nostrils are both now UPWARD wtf???), the only response I have been getting is to wait a year for the results. I continue to send them questions to understand parts of the surgery report, but considering I am only 6 weeks post op, there is not much anything I can do. Even when a year passes and I can elect for a revision, I’m not sure what can be done to restore the natural beauty of my nose. The alarplasty is the most impactful in my eyes, and is the one that is irreversible.

I've returned to work now suddenly with extreme social anxiety and have been socially isolating myself from my friends and family. I feel disrespected and experimented on, rather than feeling more confident from enhancing my beauty. I do not feel like this nose is no longer mine, and I can no longer recognize myself when I look in the mirror. I am shocked at what I see and feel robbed of my ethnic identity/features. The below photo is from 3 weeks post op, the nose has continued to shrunk and is now much much smaller due to the celphalic trim and sutures that were put in to pull the tip even closer together.

Let me be clear, I should have never trusted Dr Lee and VIP as much as I did. But I felt pressured and overwhlemed and thought I could trust his certifications and experience. My advice to anyone out there considering PS, especially in Korea, is to meet with your Doctor 3 times and make sure he explains absolutely everything that he will do technically to you, and keep pressuring them until you are confident you are being respected and your words will be honored.

I honestly dont know what to do now. My confidence has been destroyed and even though I am blessed I was not completely botched, i do feel as so.

 

[libertysky]

not really. looks the same just centered more symmetric

 

[tennaebruem]

Damn dude. I'm so sorry this happened to you. Not long ago, another person on here commented that they had a poor experience with VIP in terms of service, more so than actual operation because the service was so poor that they opted out of surgery. They, too, were going for rhinoplasty.

Additionally, a black woman on this forum was considering Lee as a rhinoplasty option, and another forum user pointed out his "less than ideal" noses in terms of the work he's performed on black people (ie. They didn't look unnatural, but they weren't flattering)

Have hope. Don't rush the revision, and don't dismiss the possibility of revision. There are no clinics I can personally recommend because a majority of East Asian clinics do not service middle eastern noses, but I'm sure that if you research some clinics, you'll find something.

 

[orangeifi]

libertysky said: ↑

not really. looks the same just centered more symmetric

Click to expand...

As i noted i was not botched perhaps with exception to the alar augmentation but the changes that were made were not discussed before hand and not verbally agreed on. Such as rasping of my high ethnic sharp bridge that i wanted to retain. It also looks much different in photos than in person ive noticed. Im hesitant to post my full face on here but in such case youd be able to see the full effect on the rest of my features.

 

[krod2017]

Ugh I’m sorry that happened to you, I understand how you,feel. to be honest you were handsome before and still handsome now..but your nose does look better longer. I can see where he brought up the tip a little and now we can see your nostrils but it doesn’t look bad at all. It seems as if some rib cartilage or ear cartilage was added to your tip it would look like your original nose. It’s not extremely short like mines was after I was botched . So you are lucky

 

[krod2017]

I would definitely ask for a revision . Ask him to ask more cartilage to your tip they are not a cheap clinic and he could definitely pull it down . I’ve seen his work . In this case I would go back

 

[krod2017]

*add more cartilage

 

[valle99]

I don't think it's nearly as bad as you think it is, in fact andi think it looks pretty nice even now. I advise you to wait a bit more for the swelling to go down. 5 weeks is nothing, and from what I can see if the swelling goes down from your tip, then the sides of your nostrils will stop being pulled so tight and come down again to that "ethnic" look you described. The scars also get MUCH better over the months.
Source: I also went to dr Lee and post op for the first few weeks I legitimately sort of contemplated suicide. But once you get over that initial swelling it gets a lot better, and will keep changing over the course of a year or more if you have thick skin. Wait at the minimum a year before you go consult and contemplate for any revisions.

 

[chococatx]

I would still wait for about a year to completely review your nose. My nose, I thought, was WAY too high, and I looked like a parrot and I hated it (kept photoshopping my nose). After about a year, it went completely down, and now (after 2 years), it looks like I didn't even have surgery and looks like my nose before surgery. Deswelling goes a loooong way.

 

[orangeifi]

chococatx said: ↑

I would still wait for about a year to completely review your nose. My nose, I thought, was WAY too high, and I looked like a parrot and I hated it (kept photoshopping my nose). After about a year, it went completely down, and now (after 2 years), it looks like I didn't even have surgery and looks like my nose before surgery. Deswelling goes a loooong way.

Click to expand...

I hear you on the photoshopping part. Ive been fruitlessly designing my revision despite knowing that its incredibly irrational so early. Its hard to tell the difference in the photos vs more obvious in real life and along with the rest of my fearures.

It does not looked botch (again with exception to the alar base imo...) but its a european nose not an ethnic nose now. I did not want it button like with the slight upturn/'golden angle'. I wanted my nose but more functional and symetrical.

Its so stressful because sure you can make a nose smaller in revision but it is much more difficult to restore a reductive surgery.

 

[sakuraa]

Your nose doesn't look bad at all!!
while reading your thread I was scared to death, but it actually doesn't look terrible.. Give it some time, my rhinoplasty took a year and so before my nose looked just right.. Do not even consider revision yet, let it deswell

 

[gats]

I agree on waiting to see the final result. Just looking at the pics though without knowing anything, I would say your after nose is an improvement because it's symmetrical now. As for the ethnic issue, noses in the same ethnicity can come in all shapes and sizes, I also can't say I would call your current nose a typical caucasian nose for what it's worth.

While I understand your frustration the doctor didn't give you exactly what you wanted, one I thing you might be struggling with now which is fueling your anxiety is the change in appearance itself. I've read of quite a few cases where the person got the look they wanted but initially mentally struggled with the new person in the mirror and regretted the surgery as it "wasn't them." So you have a double whammy of not getting what you wanted and the new person in the mirror. Hopefully time can heal that.

I think a valuable lesson here is for rhino you need target morphs to show the doctor the look you are after and get verification that is the look he can achieve and will execute. If there is any disagreement, new morphs should be made and agreed to that is the new target they are after. This is especially important given the language barrier.

 

[orangeifi]

Yeah also learned never to put so much trust in a doctor no matter how experienced or good they seem...

 

[pineabble]

I think it's not that severe... at least your nostrils became even, maybe the bridge a bit deviated but the overall, honestly, I don't see any huge difference. I'm very sorry you had to go through this... thanks for sharing

 

[orangeifi]

Heres another photo...

I dont know if its just me but i feel the nostrils look off/operated on. The shaving of the bridge makes it look washed out on my face and takes away from my ethnic traits...

The more i look at it the more i feel like he gave me an asian nose which would make sense considering who he mostly operates on... i thought ethnic nose specialist, perfect! But didnt think deeper on what ethnicity he specializes in...