My plastic surgery with Dream Medical Group

[mrsking]

K, thanks as always for the great info that helps me to make the right decision when I go later. Also a big plus for Dr. Kim and Dream in my mind that he could effectively reduce volume without causing asymmetry. For me, I may ask to do the lower jaw line area also, and sagging is not a concern.

 

[angela-han1504]

oh wow...why wasn't I aware of purseforum sooner? your post was very helpful. I'm new here and also considering dream. How are you doing with the soft silicone? Were your precious surgery closed sugeries too? It's even more impressive if your previous surgeries were open and he did a revision with a closed approach

K Couture said: ↑

Last year at the end of October I had made a trip to seoul and had multiple consultations to different clinics. I eventually, after meticulous comparison of proposed methodologies and seeking multiple opinions from respectable plastic surgeons I decided on Dr Park Yang Soo and Dr Kim Young Joon at Dream Medical Group for my procedures.

5 days ago i had undergone my 2nd revision rhinoplasty, forehead fat graft and acculift. Dr Kim performed my acculift while Dr Park did the fat graft and revision. And I have to say other than Bryan Mendelson 2008's president of the ISAPS, I have never had so much respect for the skill of a plastic surgeon as I have with Dr Park. This man fixed my botched nose through the use of closed rhino, a technique very few surgeons are capable of pulling off through the closed technique. This technique is far less invasive, has no risk of weakening the elasticity of the collumela and also alleviates risk of scarring both externally and more importantly internally. Internal scarring can cause your alars to be lopsided.

Day of Surgery:

The schedule was as follows: a) Final consultation with Dr Park and Dr Kim at 9.30am b)discuss final surgical price with the consultant and c)get prepped for surgery at 1pm

As far as surgical methodology goes, the main concern for me was my rhino revision. This was going to be my 2nd revision, 3rd rhinoplasty. My nose had been severely damaged by Charles Lee of Beverly Hills, who used a mix of diced ear cartilage and goretex for my nose. I had asymmetry, bumps, a hump nose and cartilage extrusion which caused visible thinning of the skin tissue. The method I agreed upon with Dr Park was using ultra soft silicone placed above the bone and under the periosteum to protect my weakened nose skin from extrusion and prevent and potential deviation. I had mentioned to Dr Park that after speaking to Dr Mendelson, I was concerned that my periosteum might be too damaged to protect my nose from potential complications. So Dr Park's plan B was to use auto dermis should my periosteum be too damaged. He would also use the existng scar tissue in the bridge to protect the implant.

While Dr Park and Dr Kim are both fluent in English, not all of the other staff (nurses etc) were. Hence I had the in house translator Daphane, a lovely singaporean lady shadow me throughout my every move in the clinic. She really made the entire experience more comforting. I highly recommend anyone who is a native english speaker requesting daphane as your translator during your activities at the clinic. She is super helpful accommodating my every diva request. I even asked to borrow one of their humidifiers to bring back to my hotel and they let me lol

Last thing to do before surgery was discusss price with the consultant. Her name is Mi Yeong Lee and she gave me a nice discount. Initially she already gave me a discount but i felt that i could negotiate a better deal as I was able to recommend alot of people to her, thus increasing her commission in terms of quantity. Basically i told her (with Daphane as my translator) that being a surgical junkie, i know alot of other surgical junkies too lol. And under the caveat of having satisfactory post op results, i would not only recommend my friends to her i would also write a glowing review for the clinic should she agree to give me a better price. She also promised to give my friends a better price too when they come in for their surgery. So that was my bargaining strategy and I actually kept my end of the deal. I am happy with my results hence why im writing this review. Tho to be honest if i weren't happy i would still write a review...a flaming one that is lol

During Surgery:

So i decided to use Sedation + Local Anesthesia seeing as it is less stressful on your body. It was the best decision i ever made and ill explain why in a moment.

First up was the acculift performed by Dr Kim. A minute after he walked into the room the sedation was administered through my iv and i immediatedly felt like i was having the most amazing trip. It was as if i was on a fun relaxing amusement park ride. Then moments later my vision came back and i noticed Dr Kim doing the acculift. This took only 20 mins. Once i was done the nurses took me to the toilet for me to relief myself. I actually took an extra 5 mins updating my facebook about how my swelling made me look like id been face bashed lol....After that we went back to the OR where nurses laid me down while we waited for Dr Park to come in. Daphane had been watching by me this whole time while i got the acculift

Next procedure was the fat graft to the forehead. Now i barely remembered much during this part. I was reallly out of it and by the time i regained consciousness again the procedure was done.

Final procedure was the revision rhino. This part was surreal. I was actually fully awake albeit a little sleepy. I could even see Dr Park performing the procedure on my nose. I could hear him removing the cartilage and the goretex and was actually speaking to him during the procedure. We were even cracking jokes from time to time. I was trying my best not to do the "are we done yet?"(even tho i did...) while he was concentrating. Anyway we actually encountered some difficulty during the rhinoplasty but Dr Park discussed it with me DURING THE OPERATION. The conversation went like this...

Dr Park: Your periosteum is damaged. Your skin is too weak for the 4.5mm implant you chose. I need to use the 3.5mm one.

Me: Should we try using our backup plan? The auto dermis?

Dr Park: I tried that, it doesn't fit your nose. Your scar tissue also had to be excised because it grew into the goretex so we cannot use that to protect the ultra soft silicone either. But don't worry I can use fascia to protect your skin.

Me: The fascia from my diced cartilage graft you just removed? Because I don't want you to harvest any from my scalp.

Dr Park: No the fascia from your diced cartilaged is damaged and cannot be used. Since you don't want to harvest fascia I will use donor fascia from Germany. Its really strong, also very expensive, do you want to pay for it? (jokes)

Me: No thanks, but put it in anyway lol (we both laughed)

Dr Park: So we cannot use the cartilage we removed from your previous surgery, I will use donor cartilage for the collumela and dermis graft to project and protect your tip.

Me: Am I bleeding alot? Because i was told by previous surgeons who did my nose that im a bleeder

Dr Park: No if surgeon is skilled you won't bleed much.

Me: I have a friend from Hong Kong who said a handsome surgeon did her nose

Dr Park: Oh, must not have been me (laughs)

After he was done he handed me the mirror. I could already tell that it was really well done. Then he placed the cast on my nose with a light packing only for the incision in my nostril. So it was not the one that goes down your throat. I actually had a blocked nose so i ended up removing it myself 4 hours after the surgery.

That evening I opted to stay in the ward for an additional 150 000 won. I always believe the first night is the more crucial and the highest likelihood for something to go wrong. Also it really eases your mental state knowing u have professional care. Oh and i forgot to mention that i was actually sick with a sorethroat and cold during the surgery. For some odd reason when i ended up back at the ward all my symptoms had disappeared :S????

2 hours after lying in the ward I start to notice an odd sensation at the top part of my bridge. That is the part where i had extrusion from the cartilage. I've had 2 previous nose jobs and never felt this sensation before so I immediatedly started to panick as i thought the silicone is going to extrude. I contacted Daphane who arranged for Dr Park to come see me the moment his last surgery was done. 30 mins later Dr Park showed up, removed the cast to reveal a deep bruise in the damaged area on my nose. He explained that the reason for the odd sensations ive been feeling is due to how damaged the skin was by the previous surgeon. Then Dr Park examined the area and told me that there was good circulation going on so there's nothing to worry. But just to ease my worry he will check up on me in the morning once more before I leave the ward. To my surprise, the next morning the brusing had actually disappeared and there was just redness now.

Post op Day 1:
so swollen i look like id been bashed

Post op Day 2:
so swollen i look like id been bashed. But this time i noticed 2 slight dents in my forehead above the brow. So panick mode again, i contact Daphane and sent her pics. She showed them to Dr Park who said that ive been having too much muscle movement that is dispersing the fat cells. He told me to come back the next day to get some botox to solve the problem. No extra charge

Post op Day 3:
Swelling Peaked I looked like id been bashed over and over again

Post op Day 4:
Swelling finally started to go down. I bought a fashionable black surgical mask (ninja much? ) and walked around a little with it. The dent was also less

Tomorrow Im scheduled to meet Dr Kim for our post op check up. Updates then!

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[k-couture]

my results are great. Im still in healing mode because i have a tissue graft inside my nose which is growing into the damaged skin to protect it. My first rhino was closed. 2nd rhino was open method and as a result of this surgery i had extrusion from my own harvest cartilage. Dr Park fixed my nose using the close method.

 

[angela-han1504]

Is it okay for you to share the price you paid for ur nose?

before visiting this forum, i was skeptical about dream(or any other clinic) but now i'm going to put it on my list for consultation.

Thanksss

K Couture said: ↑

my results are great. Im still in healing mode because i have a tissue graft inside my nose which is growing into the damaged skin to protect it. My first rhino was closed. 2nd rhino was open method and as a result of this surgery i had extrusion from my own harvest cartilage. Dr Park fixed my nose using the close method.

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[k-couture]

sure pm or kakao me

 

[satine502]

K Couture said: ↑

sure pm or kakao me

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Hi K Couture,

Are you enjoying your results from your fat graft? Has the swelling settled quite a bit at this point?

 

[k-couture]

yeh its not swollen anymore. I love the results but i dont know how long it will last. I had the procedure on may 7th. So far i have had minimal resorption of the fat. Fingers crossed it remains that way. It had been suggested that the majority of people require a 2nd fat graft to get the volume they want. And after 3 months you can generally expect what remains to be permanent. im not at the mark yet but will update on how much is left.

 

[davincci]

Anyone tried rhinoplasty with Dr Kim instead of Dr Park? Daphne told me it'll be better to have Dr Kim if is open rhino. Anyone tried or heard if he's good?

Also, is Dream known for lipo?

 

[k-couture]

davincci said: ↑

Anyone tried rhinoplasty with Dr Kim instead of Dr Park? Daphne told me it'll be better to have Dr Kim if is open rhino. Anyone tried or heard if he's good?

Also, is Dream known for lipo?

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yeh it seems it goes like this at Dream.

closed rhino: all done by Dr Park
Open rhino: Dr Park for artificial materials and irradiated donor materials
Dr Kim and another surgeon (i dunno the name) for autologous grfts

Also there's not really a "known for lipo" clinic or surgeon. Lipo is sort of like one of those generic procedures that every surgeon can do. Think of it as the botox of plastic surgery. For example, you will find in alot of clinics, when patients get fat grafts, an assisting surgeon will come in to perform the lipo/fat harvesting before the actual surgeon comes in to administer the graft. This is very common in fat grafting because lipo is not considered a speciality.

 

[ninja21]

smeshno said: ↑

Ninja,
Ill arrive to Seoul 19 th August.
Do you mind adding me to watsapp? I don't know how to send private messages on here.

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Whats ur id? Do you use LINE also?

 

[sylphfae]

Do you think fat graft is one of those other procedures that any surgeon can do, like lipo?

 

[lanvinfiend]

smeshno said: ↑

Ninja,
Ill arrive to Seoul 19 th August.
Do you mind adding me to watsapp? I don't know how to send private messages on here.

Click to expand...

Hi Smeshno, would you like to buddy up for consultations? I can't seem to send you a private message (I think you may have not have enough posts), but you can reply via the forum, or send me a private message. I downloaded kakaotalk since all the TPF-ers are using it too (lemming hehe!!!) -if you download it too, we can discuss!

 

[k-couture]

sylphfae said: ↑

Do you think fat graft is one of those other procedures that any surgeon can do, like lipo?

Click to expand...

no i don't think so. It seems graft survival is very much dependent on the individual's body, lifestyle, age and general conditions. However, even distribution relies on the surgeon's skill.

Actually speaking of fat grafts can anyone who has had their 2nd top up vouch for permanency of the fat? I'm in the midst of deciding when i should go for my next top up after finding out its free of charge but am trying to organize it with my work schedule is frustrating. Ideally in Dec or Jan would be better for me but that would take me beyond the 6 month mark since i had my surgery in May. My concern is not knowing whether results are better should you do it during the 6 month mark as so many people have recommended.

 

[davincci]

K Couture said: ↑

no i don't think so. It seems graft survival is very much dependent on the individual's body, lifestyle, age and general conditions. However, even distribution relies on the surgeon's skill.

Actually speaking of fat grafts can anyone who has had their 2nd top up vouch for permanency of the fat? I'm in the midst of deciding when i should go for my next top up after finding out its free of charge but am trying to organize it with my work schedule is frustrating. Ideally in Dec or Jan would be better for me but that would take me beyond the 6 month mark since i had my surgery in May. My concern is not knowing whether results are better should you do it during the 6 month mark as so many people have recommended.

Click to expand...

I remember my Doc said harvested fat can only survive and be stored for 6months. It's useless if not injected after 6 months. But I guess better to check with the clinic that does it for you. Not sure where the newest technology is like.

Also interesting read about fat graft if you guys have time. Esp topics: "The Art and Science of Fat Grafting " Part 1-4 http://www.exploreplasticsurgery.com/tag/fat-grafting/

 

[k-couture]

davincci said: ↑

I remember my Doc said harvested fat can only survive and be stored for 6months. It's useless if not injected after 6 months. But I guess better to check with the clinic that does it for you. Not sure where the newest technology is like.

Also interesting read about fat graft if you guys have time. Esp topics: "The Art and Science of Fat Grafting " Part 1-4 http://www.exploreplasticsurgery.com/tag/fat-grafting/

Click to expand...

wow that is an interesting read. Thanks for sharing

Actually with Dream they do not advise storing fat because it decreases the survivability. They prefer fresh harvest. Problem with finding out info for fat graft is that experiences differs significantly from person to person because everyone's body, lifestyle and condition is different!!