July 18, 2019
I had breast reconstruction after being diagnosed and treated for breast cancer. At the time of exchanging the expanders for implants, the plastic surgeon was to also remove some fat from hips to help plump up the deep scars that were left from the initial surgery. By doing so I believe he lipoed more from one side than the other, which left me lopsided and distressed for the longest time. I made him aware of my concern at my follow up visit and he said let’s wait until all the swelling goes down or just lose weight. I was taken aback by his remark. When I first walked into his office I was not lopsided, I’m no surgeon but common sense tells me that if you take 2 cc’s out of one side you would take 2 cc’s out of the other whether you use the fat or not, you throw it away, so your patient doesn’t leave lopsided. I haven’t been back since. At that time we were postponing anything else because I had to start chemo and other surgeries that were more important. I look in the mirror to this day and still can’t believe a plastic surgeon would be that careless.
Dissatisfaction with the results of a cosmetic procedure rarely amounts to a medical malpractice case, unless there was a 'departure from the accepted standard of care' on the part of the surgeon resulting in permanent injury. You are entitled to receive a copy of the operative report from the surgeon, which might explain the imbalance. If there was surgical malpractice, as Mr. Bower noted, you would have had to file suit within 2 1/2 years of surgery. You don't say if you ever returned to the surgeon after the first follow-up visit, but you could always seek out another plastic surgeon to correct the aesthetics. Best of luck.
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