Thank you, it's truly my intention to help, I don't want anyone else to go through this and my heart truly goes out to anyone who has. xo
Botched Rhinoplasty April31 Plastic Surgery Clinic
- Thread starter chanelsaint
- Start date
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This is appalling. Thank you for sharing your experience, Chanelsaint. I will stay away from this clinic and their shady practices. I hope everything works out for you.
PLEASE do not let your friends or family go to them. And never step foot in there yourself either; it's literally just a couple of floors of rented out office space with some leased furniture and office equipment with a mysterious "manager" who never shows their face and makes Chrissy slave away at the keyboard to translate his/her/their messages to me. I'm so happy I didn't pass away during or immediately after that surgery. It's very scary there and I'm grateful that I made it out alive, the botched nose surgery and functional issues/collapsed nose/breathing problems and dealing with their unethical staff who tried to cover up my nose with tape and casts for weeks and they would squeeze my nose very hard with their fingers until I had tears streaming down my face are very bad but at least I woke up and with no brain damage or infections (when I was there after the surgery, their clinic rooms were dirty and I saw other people's blood/dirty medical tools, and the nurses were rough with me.)
Thank you, and please stay away from them, they are harming patients and we don't see everything because majority of their patients are non-english speakers and from foreign countries where they don't use tpf, also, some people go into depression and can't offer any input about their experience because of the trauma- April 31 also tried to give me discounts to write positive reviews for them as you can see in the above screen shots so in retrospect this leads me to infer that all of their positive reviews are just people who have been given "discounts" or fake promoters who have never had surgery with April31. xo
Damn, that sucks. I wonder if this is a case of ghost doctor since Dr. Kim seems to be the head doctor and also the rhinoplasty specialist. Regardless, the after treatment is not professional.
Please don't blame botched surgeries on ghost doctors, that further silences the voices of victims and allows the real perpetrators to walk free; senior surgeons ARE capable of botching surgeries- they just rarely have to take accountability for it because 1.people ignorantly won't accept that a senior surgeon is capable of botching, and 2. the culture in korea prevents senior surgeons from being questioned directly when they botch a patient. I actually would've been better off if a junior surgeon or even a resident performed my rhinoplasty, so inferring that a ghost doctor performed the surgery just adds further insult to injury. This isn't Dr Jae Hoon Kim's first botch- he does it on the regular and has countless unhappy/botched patients, Jae hoon Kim is a lifting specialist, NOT a rhinoplasty specialist- he's only been doing rhinoplasties for a few years and April 31 made him their rhinoplasty specialist and they send him to promote their clinic at speaking events because April 31 does not have a true rhinoplasty specialist; Dr Jae Hoon Kim performs their rhinoplasties there but I feel that that the facial contouring surgeon there who did my FG and genioplasty (neither of which were botched) should have been the one who did my rhinoplasty, not Jae Hoon Kim- April31 is a small clinic.
Email from the mysterious manager translated by Chrissy. She claims in writing that I was only charged for an alarplasty which clearly contradicts the surgery plan stated at the consultation and on the day of surgery. What should've been done and what was confirmed in my consultation was AND on the say of surgery: 1. osteotomy to bring my nasal bones in. 2. refining my tip with a tip-plasty, and 3. alarplasty to correct my alar scars from my primary. 4. Ear Cartilage added to support my tip since no septal cartilage was available. I even confirmed this with Chrissy on the anesthesia table and while Dr. Jae Hoon Kim was marking my nose in the operating theater literally minutes before they put me under sedation. I woke up from the surgery an no ear cartilage was taken. No osteotomy was done.
When I tried to get my surgery notes, I had to go to April31 and DEMAND them, I wouldn't leave until they produced my surgery notes, after a couple of hours of waiting, they finally brought the surgery notes out but there are pages missing from my chart and sticky notes that look like they were added after the notes where already made, the notes CONFIRMED that only a tip-plasty done, and the rhinoplasty notes where only one page; I'll post the notes here when I have time to make an update.
On top of all of this, April31 tried to bully me once again by attempting to tell me not to expose them "or else"... Like they tell so many other botched patients, I may have been naive enough to have surgery at April31 based on Dr Jae Hoon Kim's academic papers, but they've already fooled me once and am not naive enough to believe their lies anymore; I could've stayed silent like so many other patients who've had poor results from them, but April31 never had the intention of refunding any funds for the botched surgery and overcharging me; when doctors from other clinics contacted them, April31 claimed "miscommunication", but as you can see; Chrissy writes and speaks at a very high level of English; there was no miscommunication as claimed- only lies and blatant deception on their end. The patients who were in the position to be forced to accept their lies due to financial constraint or other circumstances come right back to their clinic 6 months later to be given the run-around; the funds promised never show up and neither do the results.
After the email, Chrissy disappeared and I never heard from April31 again, Dr. Jae Hoon Kim nor or any representative ever called or emailed me to apologize for making a mistake; and although their facial contouring surgeon did check on my chin and fg twice on the day of surgery post op and in one post op appointment, April31 did not give me any after-care after I had to go there to get my surgery notes. So was basically on my own and my only post op care was from other doctors and ENTs at other clinics who know of April31 and checked my nose for me/tried to open up my airways/clean my nose, and they only did that because they felt sorry for me. I am going to end up posting pictures of the nose (my friends have seen it and some tpf members but I'm not ready to share the photos to the world just yet; I'm still working up the courage to do that and I know I need to because it will help others).
When I tried to get my surgery notes, I had to go to April31 and DEMAND them, I wouldn't leave until they produced my surgery notes, after a couple of hours of waiting, they finally brought the surgery notes out but there are pages missing from my chart and sticky notes that look like they were added after the notes where already made, the notes CONFIRMED that only a tip-plasty done, and the rhinoplasty notes where only one page; I'll post the notes here when I have time to make an update.
On top of all of this, April31 tried to bully me once again by attempting to tell me not to expose them "or else"... Like they tell so many other botched patients, I may have been naive enough to have surgery at April31 based on Dr Jae Hoon Kim's academic papers, but they've already fooled me once and am not naive enough to believe their lies anymore; I could've stayed silent like so many other patients who've had poor results from them, but April31 never had the intention of refunding any funds for the botched surgery and overcharging me; when doctors from other clinics contacted them, April31 claimed "miscommunication", but as you can see; Chrissy writes and speaks at a very high level of English; there was no miscommunication as claimed- only lies and blatant deception on their end. The patients who were in the position to be forced to accept their lies due to financial constraint or other circumstances come right back to their clinic 6 months later to be given the run-around; the funds promised never show up and neither do the results.
After the email, Chrissy disappeared and I never heard from April31 again, Dr. Jae Hoon Kim nor or any representative ever called or emailed me to apologize for making a mistake; and although their facial contouring surgeon did check on my chin and fg twice on the day of surgery post op and in one post op appointment, April31 did not give me any after-care after I had to go there to get my surgery notes. So was basically on my own and my only post op care was from other doctors and ENTs at other clinics who know of April31 and checked my nose for me/tried to open up my airways/clean my nose, and they only did that because they felt sorry for me. I am going to end up posting pictures of the nose (my friends have seen it and some tpf members but I'm not ready to share the photos to the world just yet; I'm still working up the courage to do that and I know I need to because it will help others).
I feel so sorry for your case... Also, I had done the revision rhinoplasty with Dr. Kim 3 yrs ago n now my nose became deviated... I dont think I have courage to go back there after this. im gonna find another place to help my case. If u dont mind can I ask which clinic u went to after this, anw thank u for speaking out...
Please don't go back to them, even if they offer to give the surgery for free- and especially since your nose became deviated after having a revision at April 31; Dr Kim does not have the skills to correct your deviation and I'm afraid he will only make it worse and then lie to you like he did to me and then leave it to Chrissy Kim and the medical team to cover it up, even if he did have the skills to fix it you should not go back to them because the chance of being botched is extraordinarily high and the clinic has poor ethics. I would consult with Dr. Jin at Jin's premium nose clinic, and Dr. Han Jo Kim at eightps.com- BOTH of these surgeons operate out of their own clinics and are HIGHLY ethical. I would also consult with Dr. Suh at JWplasticsurgery if his aesthetics fit yours- he owns his clinic with two partners- all 3 of the surgeons listed have seen what Dr. Jae Hoon Kim did to me and agreed to help me when they saw my condition. Dr. Han Jo Kim at EightPS is very compassionate and you should email him about your situation and he may have a solution for you- his prices are good, he does rib rhinoplasty, and the locals trust him very much and so do I- the only reason why I didn't go with him for my reconstruction surgery is because he told me not to go back to April31 after he does my surgery to make a scene with my new nose... since I was secretly planning to do that I decided not to go with Dr. Han Jo Kim because I don't want to do anything that he doesn't agree with, and- he knows Dr Jae Hoon Kim just like so many other doctors and clinics that I went to. I'll update with who I ultimately decide on going with for reconstruction. I'm sorry that you had the unfortunate experience of having a failed surgery at April31, things will get better though and there a surgeon who can help fix your nose. Whatever you do, do NOT go back to April31 under any circumstance. xo
@chanelsaint Im planning to do the revision and 1st time DES in April. My list are: Dr.Jin, Wannabe ps, Braun, might add 8eight ps as u recommended. How much did Dr.Han Jo Kim quote u? Dr.Jin quoted me 12k USD+10% vat for self rib revision, im considering about the price.
I don't know who's good with eyes, but Dr. Jin's quote is reasonable for rib revision (you can pay in cash for a discount). I met a local girl who had her nose done at Braun and it was soooo cute (but she had a naturally small nose before and thin skin), she was happy with her outcome- I forgot who her doctor was but he's one of the older doctors. Dr. Han Jo's quote for me was very dependent on my particular situation, so I think you should get your own quote from him- you can tell him I referred you and perhaps he can give you a discount on your surgery, lots of locals and pretty patients at his clinic when I went there, he has B and As in his office of cute noses and he's good at corrective work; I know of certain doctor's work that he's had to correct but I can't reveal that information. I don't know anything about Wannabe but I think from your list that Dr Jin is a good safe choice, he's a little conservative but that's because he's a ENT and ENTs are concerned about your breathing so they usually won't give you a small nose, the nose will be nice though- Dr. Jin told me he would narrow my nose only 20%- I would prefer 30% but he's not going to do that
.Thank u so much. If it's possible, can u keep updating about your case , please? like which doctor u go to, price, result and stuffs. It will definitely encourage me to do my revision hahaa so nervous rn ><I don't know who's good with eyes, but Dr. Jin's quote is reasonable for rib revision (you can pay in cash for a discount). I met a local girl who had her nose done at Braun and it was soooo cute (but she had a naturally small nose before and thin skin), she was happy with her outcome- I forgot who her doctor was but he's one of the older doctors. Dr. Han Jo's quote for me was very dependent on my particular situation, so I think you should get your own quote from him- you can tell him I referred you and perhaps he can give you a discount on your surgery, lots of locals and pretty patients at his clinic when I went there, he has B and As in his office of cute noses and he's good at corrective work; I know of certain doctor's work that he's had to correct but I can't reveal that information. I don't know anything about Wannabe but I think from your list that Dr Jin is a good safe choice, he's a little conservative but that's because he's a ENT and ENTs are concerned about your breathing so they usually won't give you a small nose, the nose will be nice though- Dr. Jin told me he would narrow my nose only 20%- I would prefer 30% but he's not going to do that
Yw! and of course, I'll post updates about who I end up going with for my reconstruction surgery and the results and etc etc. It's natural to be nervous about having to go through surgery again esp after a bad or unfavorable outcome, but your next nose surgery will come out amazing and you'll be very happy with the result. Sometimes a bad outcome helps us to become more cautious, not just in relation to plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures, but in all areas of our lives, that's a very important life lesson even if we have to learn it the hard way, good for you for being extra cautious this time around. In the end of all of this, you'll be very happy. xo
thank you so much for sharing your story, it must be so difficult to just deal with being botched and also putting this info out there to help other people. im wishing you the best and a speedy recovery, keep us updated!
This is very brave of you! I'm sorry this happened and would love to know the update on this.