(Please read) I hope no more harm like this happens.

I’m leaving a record of the situation I have been experiencing since the surgery. I am writing this for the public good. I am currently enduring severe mental and physical distress after surgery, day by day. What has already happened to me cannot be undone, but I am writing this in the hope that no one else suffers the same harm. To be honest, I was also afraid to make this story public. I was very worried that the hospital might contact me, or about what I would have to deal with afterward. But I have already lost a lot. I decided to write this for the public good. In truth, there is so much I need to write that it is hard to fit everything into one post. What I am writing now is only part of what I experienced, and for now I am organizing and posting the parts I think are necessary for others to judge. I will also add more later, as far as possible, about the materials I have, the situation at the time, and the process before and after surgery, based on the facts. This may be a long post, but I would appreciate it if you could read it to the end. This post is not intended to slander or defame any specific person or medical institution, but to document what I actually experienced and to protect consumers’ right to know and share information. I have written it mainly based on what I personally experienced or confirmed, and I am posting it in the hope that those planning surgery will make careful decisions based on sufficient information. Hello. I recently underwent my fourth nose revision surgery and chin surgery at the plastic surgery department of a large tertiary hospital in Seoul, using autologous costal cartilage. This nose operation was my fourth nose surgery, including the surgery for a nasal bone fracture. Mesh that I had not been aware of was used in the earlier surgery process, and afterward my nose remained crooked, with functional discomfort and dissatisfaction with the appearance, so I decided to undergo surgery again. At first I consulted at several private plastic surgery clinics, and later I decided to visit that hospital as well to get a consultation at a university hospital. Because of the nature of a university hospital, it was not possible to have long consultations in the same way as at a private clinic, but I had a total of six consultations over several months. During the consultation process, I prepared photos to show the shape of the nose I wanted, explained the desired shape in detail, and even used cotton swabs to show the shape I wanted directly. I also prepared a PowerPoint presentation and brought it to the consultation so I could communicate my desired direction more accurately. During that process, the professor in charge said, “OO, you and I have talked a lot, so there’s no need to talk any more about the shape part. You don’t need to.” The professor also explained, in effect, that “the shape you want is within the medically possible range.” In addition, during several consultations, I was also offered chin surgery together, with comments such as, “But how about moving the chin a little forward? If you don’t like it, moving it back again later isn’t difficult. But there has never been anyone who didn’t like the result after surgery with me.” I knew my chin was relatively small, but at the time I wanted to focus on the nose surgery, so I repeatedly رفضed the chin surgery at first, and I also continued to decline recommendations for the chin surgery in later consultations. Then I suddenly received a message that the surgery schedule was available, and I was in a situation where I had to make a quick decision because of the timing. I had already consulted enough over time, and I had repeatedly communicated what I wanted. Since the professor in charge said they fully understood the direction I wanted, I trusted that and decided to proceed with surgery. Even the day before surgery, I requested rounds and explained again the shape of the nose I wanted, and I prepared and handed over the PowerPoint materials and photos I wanted posted in the operating room. For the chin surgery as well, the day before surgery, while I was hospitalized, another medical staff member and the professor came to see me together and explained the discussion that had taken place with the surgical team. The content was that the entire surgical team, while looking at my face, agreed that chin surgery was necessary, and even on the day before surgery I heard that chin advancement would be performed. They said that would also help the nose and chin harmonize. At that time I was told that the chin would be advanced only 4 mm, and I clearly said that I absolutely did not want a major change in my image and only wanted a certain degree of balance. In particular, I clearly stated that I did not want a major change into a more masculine image, and I received a clear response from the medical staff that they understood. And so, in the end, I underwent chin surgery together with the nose surgery. But the current result after surgery is devastating. The points I emphasized as important during the preoperative consultations were as follows: 1. Treatment of the existing mesh and the scar tissue around the mesh 2. Correction of the crooked nose 3. Improvement of nostril asymmetry 4. Improvement of functional discomfort 5. The nasal shape I had repeatedly explained during consultation Unlike what was explained during the consultation process, where correction was said to be possible, the current appearance of my nose is disastrous and different from what I had explained to the medical staff during consultation. After surgery, my nose now looks even longer than my naturally long nose used to look, and it has become a completely different shape from the nose I had repeatedly explained and prepared materials for. In addition, the crooked nose and nostril asymmetry that I had hoped would improve even a little have become even worse. The functional issues have not improved either. Right after surgery I told the professor in charge about these issues and said my nose looked far too long. In response, the professor said, in effect, “No, it’s not long. I think the surgery went very well. It was a good surgery.” The professor also said, “You should just stop worrying about it. You’re worrying too much.” As for the nostril asymmetry, unlike what had been said before surgery, that it would be corrected with the planned operation, I was later told that if asymmetry remained, it could be corrected with a separate device. All of this is deeply upsetting to me, and I feel as if my heart is breaking. I spent 2 years and 4 months thinking about whether to proceed with this surgery, and after allowing enough recovery time from the previous surgery, I decided to undergo surgery again. This time, in order not to repeat the same failure, I explained the parts I wanted as specifically as possible and even prepared photos and PowerPoint materials. That is why accepting the current result feels even more difficult. I also have questions about the surgery time and the surgical process. I understand that this surgery involved my fourth nose revision, treatment of the existing mesh and scar tissue, correction of the crooked nose, harvesting and processing of costal cartilage, cartilage repositioning, surgery related to nostril asymmetry, and chin advancement. However, since the total surgery time was about 2 hours and 9 minutes, I personally wondered whether the surgical scope was much broader than the time would suggest. + (After recently visiting the hospital, I was told that my front nose did not seem that crooked and that only a little dissection had been done, with extension only. The surgery that was performed was different from what had been discussed in the preoperative consultation. Costal cartilage was used to address the crookedness even a little, but the surgery ended up being one that did not need costal cartilage.) When I asked the hospital about the operating room CCTV, I was told, as I understood it, that because the camera is centered on the surgical area, it is not possible to confirm who actually performed the surgery by face, and only the hands can be seen to some extent, and that this is how it is normally recorded at that hospital. And they said the surgery time was possible because the professor’s hands are fast. So, since your hands are fast, how is my result now? There has been no improvement at all in the appearance, the crooked nose, the functional issues, or the nostril asymmetry. It has only gotten worse. In addition, I was told before surgery that the chin would be advanced by 4 mm, but based on what I confirmed after surgery, I understand that it was actually moved 6 mm. I am also personally not satisfied with the current shape of the chin. That said, the idea of deciding on another additional surgery for the chin in its current state feels like too great a burden, so for now I plan to live with it and endure it. The hardest part for me is the nose. I am still young, and I made this decision very carefully, hoping this surgery would be my last. But the very fact that I now have to think about another nose revision while trying to accept the current result feels utterly hopeless. There are also symptoms that worry me during the recovery process. At the point when more than three weeks had passed since surgery, (as I write this now, even more time has passed.) * the sutures in the columella area had still not all been removed * discharge that looked like pus appeared in the columella area * there was a different smell than usual inside my nose * the area around the left side of my nose became red and swollen * and nosebleeds occurred. I do not know whether even these symptoms I am experiencing are part of a normal recovery process. No matter how I think about it, I was truly careful about this surgery and prepared extensively. Even so, this result appeared. It is truly absurd. My days have collapsed, and each morning I struggle to open my eyes with anxiety and fear, endure the day, and then close it with that same feeling. Then the next day repeats again. And after surgery, you said, “I did what I said I would do. And if it’s longer than you thought, it can be shortened. It’s not difficult.” And for the chin too, as you said before surgery, you said it wouldn’t be difficult to move it back if I didn’t like it. But from the patient’s point of view, opening the nose again and cutting into the chin are by no means light matters. And with every revision surgery, the likelihood of complications increases. I wonder where on earth an easy surgery exists. The biggest reason I am writing this is not to blame anyone. I too trusted the medical staff before surgery and decided to proceed, and I believed that this surgery would not repeat what happened before. But at present, not only the appearance but also the functional aspects and the recovery process have become a source of many concerns. Even though I paid a substantial amount, more than 15 million to 16 million won, I am now suffering considerable mental and financial strain. I hope that those planning surgery in the future will not go through the same hardship I have. Thank you for reading this long post. [Additional post] I am adding more about the devastating situation I experienced after visiting the hospital. After going to the hospital, I am leaving an additional post with a devastated and broken heart. I clearly requested that the insufficiently written surgical record be corrected. I legitimately asked for reinforcement of whether the previously inserted mesh and the adhered scar tissue had been removed as much as possible, how much costal cartilage was used and how much of the remaining costal cartilage was grafted into the skin, and also for the missing details from the photos taken during surgery and the surgical record to be supplemented. (= In the end, this was not corrected.) But the surgeon in charge, making eye contact with an employee beside him, said something like, “Oh? Can that even be done?” and lightly ignored my request. He even told me to “tone it down,” and brushed me off by saying that if I wanted additional compensation, it was not his money going out, so it had nothing to do with him, and that I should go talk to the customer service office and the legal team. (= I later learned that the techniques that had been said would be carried out during surgery had been omitted.) What is even harder to endure is the attitude of trying to paint me as a “sensitive patient” despite the obvious surgical outcome. Anyone can see that compared with before surgery, the nose has become longer and more crooked, and the nostril asymmetry has become worse as well. Even so, the professor said that as for the “crookedness of the nose and the nostril asymmetry,” they absolutely could not admit that part. Instead, they said that there are cases where, even if you make the nose patients want, once it is on their own face it looks different from what they expected and they complain like this, and they blamed the failed surgical result on my supposed change of heart or an overly obsessive reaction to appearance. I cannot understand at all how they could possibly think the nose I specifically explained dozens of times and even prepared materials for is similar to the nose I have now. Even if I try to put everything aside and think rationally, I underwent a major surgery that even involved harvesting costal cartilage. I did not make an unreasonable demand like asking for a perfectly straight nose, but if the nose became more crooked than before surgery and the nostril asymmetry also became worse, isn’t that, in your view, a situation that would make anyone angry? In any case, thinking I should at least secure the operating room CCTV, I went to the customer service office, but absurd things continued there too. The customer service staff said, “This is not the place for that kind of work, and you are the first customer who has ever wanted to view CCTV here,” and seemed reluctant. When I told them I was recording our conversation and asked, “Is this the hospital’s official response?” they hastily changed their words, saying they only meant I was the first customer to ask them personally to view it. Moreover, regarding compensation, the customer service office said, “It is decided directly by the surgeon in charge.” The surgeon in charge pushed responsibility away by saying that since it was not his own money being spent, I should talk to customer service, while customer service in turn shifted responsibility back to the surgeon. It felt as if everyone was avoiding responsibility in the face of the patient’s suffering. In the end, what was most chilling was the coercive attitude aimed at destroying evidence. The customer service staff forced me to delete the recording on my phone immediately, saying they did not want their own voice to be recorded. An unidentified male employee even appeared and pressured me with a forced legal claim, saying that because a third party had been present, it was a violation under criminal procedure law. I ultimately did not delete the recording in order to protect my rightful rights, but I cried because I could not understand why I had to be treated like a criminal and subjected to this kind of oppression inside the hospital. And the response to my request to view the operating room CCTV was also absurd beyond belief. In the end, I was given the ridiculous answer that they could not show it because there was no CCTV footage. The hospital claimed as an excuse that they do not record unless the patient requests it in advance. But before surgery, the medical staff never said a single word to me about the operating room CCTV. As far as I understand, since operating room CCTV installation became mandatory, the medical staff are legally obligated to inform the patient in advance and ask whether they consent to being filmed. Moreover, during a previous visit, the assistant surgeon who participated in the operation said clearly that there is a camera on the light, so the surgical field and the hands are recorded. But if they suddenly now change their story and say that even that footage does not exist at all, I do not know what to believe about anything the hospital says. What is most outrageous is the professor’s attitude toward revision surgery. The professor told me that, out of a sense of moral obligation, they would at least re-correct it once, saying, “After local anesthesia, later we can open the inside of the nose a little and just carve down the long part.” But it seemed they had no intention at all of touching the even more severe crooked nose and nostril asymmetry. Even though I showed photos and PowerPoint presentations several times before surgery and explained everything in detail while pointing out the shape directly with cotton swabs, this situation still happened. So how could I possibly trust the same hospital and the same doctor with my nose again? The professor speaks as if shortening a long part is nothing at all, but from the patient’s perspective, opening the nose again is by no means easy. For someone like me who has already gone through four surgeries, opening the nose once more means increasing the risk of complications and having to accept major tissue damage, which is frightening in itself. How can a doctor treat so lightly the weight of a patient lying on the operating table? I resent it deeply. (And if it were only that the nose had become longer, maybe I could understand, but the crookedness and nostril asymmetry also now have to be corrected again.) What came back to me was not acknowledgment of the objective facts or an apology. It was gaslighting that denied the obvious side effects and painted the patient as abnormal, buck-passing between departments trying to avoid responsibility, the threatening attitude toward a patient in an attempt to erase the conversation recording, and only ever-changing explanations about the CCTV. The reason I am adding this post is not to slander any specific person. I am sharing only the objective facts as they are, in the hope that no more patients like me will have to face their mornings like hell every day after surgery and then be trampled a second and third time by the hospital’s unreasonable response without even their legitimate rights being protected. Thank you again for reading this long post.