I learned about this community after surgery, signed up, and am leaving a post. I do feel regretful, thinking it would have been nice if I had known a little earlier, but I’m writing this to give a detailed explanation.
In the end, I had surgery with Dr. Park Jong-rim at Banobagi.
The hospitals I actually visited were TL and DA, and my list included Roh Jong-hoon, Gyalumhan, T, and DA. I learned this information not from this community but from another Naver cafe, and made the list.
My friend’s younger sibling works at ID, so I was planning to go there for a quote too, but because I was trying to schedule surgery urgently, I couldn’t go to ID. Since there were no bad reviews about Dr. Park Jong-rim at Banobagi, I had it done here. I had planned to do it with Roh Jong-hoon, but they said he was fully booked on Saturday.
Both TL and Banobagi said Saturday surgery was possible, but TL recommended 3 types, while Banobagi recommended 2 types (long chin + cheekbones). The price was 3.3 million KRW per area including VAT, and the prices at Banobagi, TL, and other hospitals were almost the same.
I had previously received quotes from TL and DA. Director Kim Ji-myeong at TL seemed tired but confident, and in DA’s case, it was a young doctor, but it was impressive how he stated the facts, asking why I would do cheekbones and saying sagging cheeks would definitely come later. Since both doctors are certainly well-known, I didn’t doubt their skills much, but the issue was whether their face design matched my design..
But without much time to think, I only had about 10 days left, and because I needed to have surgery quickly and return to work, I had a consultation at Banobagi on Friday and had surgery right away on Saturday. During the consultation, Director Park Jong-rim told me that a softer look would suit me better than a sharply pointed face, and said he would contour the cheekbones + long chin line. He said there was no need to do all 3 types. I wanted a face like a comb-pattern pottery vessel, but since I’m also almost 40, I quickly agreed with the doctor. I said both the surgery and swelling were concerns because I had to go back to work, and he said they would manage it soon to reduce it. So he said he would do some additional swelling-reduction treatments for me.
It didn’t seem like the surgery time was 2 hours. I went in at 9, but I opened my eyes in the operating room after 1:30. I still don’t know why, but I guess I’ll know when I see the surgical progress?
It’s day 4 now, and my face is almost at the level of Hoppangman, and I think people who say swelling goes down within a week after surgery must have a unique constitution. I barely have any bruising, but my face is Hoppangman. I set aside 10 days for the surgery, but I’m scared to go to work.
Banobagi Plastic Surgery is a large hospital, so its advantages are that they are kind, the interior is clean, and the service is good. I went without a guardian, but the nurses took good care of me, so I was comfortable and came back.
First day of surgery: The surgery took too long, and later, it seemed like there was another person who had surgery next to me. There was an operating table, and I don’t know whether 2 people can be done in one surgical room... anyway, a long time passed, and they told me to get up, but I felt so nauseated that I couldn’t. On the first day, while lying down, the nausea was so painful that I wished I would just die. I don’t know if it was a side effect of the anesthetic or antibiotics, but I thought I wished I would just die like this. There was a blood drain in my mouth, and going to the bathroom was agony. I was dizzy ㅠㅠ
Second day after surgery: You might think it would get better by the second day, but no way. I again thought I would rather die like this, rested lying down, and only barely managed to come home in the afternoon. I thought “why did I do this surgery?” fifty thousand times and vowed never to have surgery again. At this time, they removed the blood drain from my mouth, and after that I became a complete giant Hoppangman / I can’t sleep unless I take painkillers
Third day after surgery: My face is even more swollen. Fortunately, I have less bruising, but it’s swollen to the point that I wonder if this is really a face. I’m going back to work next week, and I can’t believe this is real... / I can’t sleep unless I take painkillers
Fourth day after surgery: That’s today. The degree of facial swelling is getting worse by the day.. and every morning, the pain is enormous. My face hurts so much. On the day of surgery and the second day, I felt like I was dying from nausea, and now my stomach is okay but my face hurts and I feel like I’m dying.. The saying that swelling rapidly goes down after 72 hours just sounds like something that applies to other people, and I’m still Hoppangman. I took painkillers again today.
Starting tomorrow, I’m going into a swelling-reduction program. I’ll watch the progress and tell you again with the results, including how well it works and whether it’s okay. I still can’t say whether the doctor at this hospital is good or not, because I don’t have the result of my surgery yet. However, it is certain that the hospital is clean, kind, and has good service. I’ll soon leave updates in this community like a diary, starting with the swelling in my face, so please keep watching!
I’ll leave another review soon.
(Even if the surgeon is very good, they are human, so they can make mistakes. Things like the doctor’s condition are also very important. I hear some people use paid substitute doctors, and I do wonder whether doctors who use paid substitute doctors for surgery done under their own name are in their right minds. In the end, if they use a paid substitute doctor under their own name and that surgery fails, their own life would be ruined too..)
Ah, after surgery, be sure to do exactly as the doctor says and eat thin rice gruel without solids, pumpkin porridge, and similar foods for a week, and you won’t heal if you eat hot foods. Pumpkin juice is good too, and pharmacies sell something called Elase A; they say it helps swelling go down a lot, so I’m taking one a day. Facial contouring is a much bigger surgery than expected. Right now, I also have a lot of reduced sensation in my face, so hot foods are absolutely forbidden. You can open pumpkin porridge like the one from Dongwon as is, throw away the solid pieces like beans inside, and eat it. It looks too awful to go out during the day, so walk around the neighborhood once at night~! It seems like the swelling goes down a bit!
Facial contouring surgery at almost 40, Part 2