Hi.
I had a breast reduction in February of 2006. I had to sign some statements right before they took me into surgery that I understood that things could go wrong. During my consultation, I wanted to discuss what things I might be at risk for and the surgeon said "You're a worrier. You worry about things that NOBODY worries about."
I spent lots of time on the internet reading about other women's experiences with breast reduction, and some of the complications that could occur.
I had a physical exam and some labwork done before surgery to be sure I was okay. I gave the plastic surgeon a copy of my labwork that said my insulin was elevated, but he said that shouldn't effect my healing at all, since my blood sugar was fine.
He took out a little over 4 pounds in surgery, and the operation only took about 2 hours. He told me before surgery he'd take out about 300 gms from the right and 800 grams from the left. (I was very asymmetrical) Instead, when it was over, he said he took over 800 from the right and over 1100 from the left. He didn't tell me until much later that he always makes one breast bigger than the other one. He didn't explain why. I told him before surgery that I did NOT want to wind up too small for my frame, and that one of the main reasons for the surgery was to CORRECT the asymmetry.
The next day when he changed the dressings, my areolas were all purple. The right one continued to get darker until it turned black and hard and shriveled up until the area around it was all inflamed. On the left breast, I had two hard black eschars where the areola died.
The surgeon was away from the office for 2 weeks while I was worried what to do about my breasts. I saw my NP, and she called a colleague in dermatology, and described my wound over the phone. The dermatologist recommended not to debride it, but he never saw it. Then I saw a wound care nurse, and she knew of my surgeon's reputation, and that he wanted everything left alone.
Before my PS left on vacation, he said that the hard black eschar was just "nature's bandaid" and it would slough off on its own. He said I might have an areola that was a little different color, but that was it.
When I came back to see him, he said it was time for it to come off, and he spent some time cutting and then handed me a mirror and there was a huge hole in my breast. Most of my areola was gone and also lots of tissue inside the breast.
I had to pack the wound in gauze for weeks and also had to keep going back for him to cut more dead stuff out. Now I am asymmetrical all over again, and have hard scar tissue and necrotic fat in both breasts,but especially bad on the right. It's been 9 months since surgery, and I am still completely numb on both sides.
The surgeon would tell me each time that things would get better, that the hole would fill right in, that things would eventually look okay. Well, they didn't. And it doesn't look okay. I'm disfigured and numb and I've lost a lot of volume.
I went to another surgeon who said I'd need at least 2 more surgeries to reconstruct the right breast and that I'd probably never have sensation again, and that he'd never seen anything like this happen to someone as young as I am, who didn't smoke, and who didn't have diabetes, and whose breast wasn't all that large to begin with. He said what happened to me happens to less than 1 in a hundred. I had NO risk factors, and yet one of the rarest, most devastating things happened.
The second surgeon hemmed and hawed a bit when I asked him what could have caused this and basically the answer was "I don't know."
One web site I saw said that one of the most common causes of such a bad result is usually surgeon error.
My plastic surgeon was always defensive when I went in for my debridements. He'd say "you think I WANTED this to happen?" and "This is why you signed the form!"
When I asked him if I would be disfigured, he said disfigurement was all relative and that if I lived in Africa I'd have big plates in my earlobes. He told me to "let go and let god" instead of giving me real medical advice and information.
Some friends and family think I may have a case. I have pictures of the wound's progression. Some think I have no case unless I have another doctor to corroborate.
I have no idea what to do.
I'm poor and depressed and devastated over this.
Any help would be appreciated.
Suzanne

I am happy to see that you got your post moved over. I wish you luck and hope that you do contact an attorney to discuss your legal options.