This post was written on the basis of the consumer rights guaranteed by our Constitution and the Framework Act on Consumers, and I would like to state that it has no purpose of slandering the medical institution in question, but is solely for sharing information and helping other patients.
I first had breast surgery with Motiva 6 years ago, and I really liked the shape, but since they said it seemed like there was inflammation, I had the implants removed after just one month.
My breasts were on the larger side, but after the first surgery the inframammary scar was very severe, and because of the breast shape and the scar I spent 5 years worrying before looking into breast revision surgery.
I chose a large, famous hospital that almost everyone would know just from hearing the name. The reason was that the director confidently reassured me, who was afraid of revision surgery, by saying he would definitely make them much prettier than the first surgery, reconstruct the scar, and that it was fine to use Mentor instead of Motiva, and so on. He gave me a lot of confidence and made me trust him.
So I had my second breast revision surgery, and although a support bra is usually worn for about 2 weeks, I wore mine for a month. And then they told me to roll up a bandage and place it in my cleavage (now I understand why they told me to do that).
After struggling for a month, I removed the support bra and the bandage placed in the cleavage. About a month later, a double line, bottoming out, and symmastia (breasts sticking together in the center) started to appear.
When I asked the doctor in charge, he only said it was not a double line, not bottoming out, not symmastia, nothing like that, and told me to wait 6 months.
But after waiting, the result was the shape in the photos. Even the hospital seemed to think the shape was not right, because they said they would do a revision surgery.
I said I did not trust the doctor who had operated on me before and wanted to have the revision done by another doctor, and the other doctor recommended Motiva, saying that Motiva should be used for my breasts. (I have pectus carinatum.)
Also, when I was in the situation of having a third revision surgery and told the doctor and manager that I was very anxious, they said my breasts were a difficult case and that they would do a good job this time, so I had no choice but to trust them again.
After that third surgery, I liked the shape, but I was very anxious. The reason was that I had to wear a drain bag for 5 days, and without a detailed explanation, they said the wound area was not good, so they might need to restitch the scar, they might need to wash it out, and they might need to remove the implant. On the 10th day after surgery I went in for a checkup, and they said the scar needed to be restitched. .. And then I was suddenly laid on the operating table. I do not know whether they restitched it for 30 minutes or what they did because my eyes were covered, but while sighing, they said... let's remove the implant too. So after just 10 days, I was put under general anesthesia again and the implant was removed....
I went in for a checkup... and they removed the implant? The despair and sense of loss... I honestly cannot even describe it in words.
What I had been worried about actually happened.
After the implant removal, I had to wear the drain bag again for 5 days, and two days after it was removed I went back for a checkup. At that time they said there was a seroma, and they repeatedly stuck a syringe into my breast, only on the left side. When I asked about the right side, they said there was only one on the left and that the right side did not need to be drained.
Then the doctor told me that next time I came in for a checkup, there would be no need to remove the seroma, so I felt relieved.
But just one day after that checkup, my breasts suddenly swelled and felt hot, so when I contacted the hospital, they calmly told me to come the next day and remove the seroma.
They had clearly said there was no need to remove it, so I could not understand it, and I was so anxious that I went to several other hospitals.
Some hospitals refused to treat me after seeing my condition, and some told me to go to a university hospital. The university hospital was short-staffed because of the medical strike, so I was not in a situation where I could get treatment right away.
I finally found a hospital through an acquaintance where I could be seen immediately, and when I had an ultrasound, more than 20 cc of seroma came out from the right side, which the doctor had said did not need to be drained, and more than 30 cc came out from the left side.
They said that if I had come even a little later, I could have developed sepsis.
Even now, despite having had the implants removed, seroma keeps accumulating, so I am having it drained regularly at another hospital... Each time the seroma is removed, it costs over 200,000 won, and the total amount I have spent in one month on treatment including consultation fees, ultrasound fees, tissue/cell tests, etc. is over 1.5 million won.
More than the cost, I do not understand why I had to go through this pain while spending time and money.
In this situation where my trust has completely collapsed, I requested a refund and compensation, but the hospital is telling me to go back to that same doctor for treatment and another revision surgery. Isn’t that truly irresponsible?
I’m still in my 20s. How am I supposed to keep living?