Plastic Surgeons - Whittier, CA

"On March 17, 2021, I had a breast reduction (for medical purposes, not cosmetic) with Dr. Ji H. Son at Riverside Medical Clinic. Prior to the surgery, Dr. Son explained to me what type of incisions I could expect and that later on she could help me with the scarring. I told Dr. Son thank you and I did not mind having the scars because I just wanted my quality of life to be improved. I was told the surgery would be about 4-5 hours. I woke up 6 hours later. The nurses told me Dr. Son had taken extra care and with with me to make sure everything looked perfect. I had absolutely no reason to suspect anything went wrong during my surgery because no one told me. The clinic called me a few days after my surgery and said the wanted to see me a week earlier than I had anticipated. When I was unwrapped on March 23, 2021, there was a ton of dark coloration on my right breast along with an extra incision that had not been disclosed to me prior to the surgery. I was told not to worry that this discoloration was just bruising. When I got home I realized this skin was not just bruised. It was hardened like a scab. There were four distinct square marks closely placed together underneath my nipple. I was expected to return once a week to the clinic for a follow-up appointment with Dr. Son (I was originally told I would only need 4 follow up visits, I ended up going once a week for months). The markings eventually began to morph into one giant wound about 4" by 2". I asked Dr. Son what caused this and she told me it "just happens" and she will prescribe ointments to treat it. The next visit I felt things were really wrong and information was being withheld from me. I asked again what the mark on my breast was and Dr. Son told me "her assistant dropped the movie cauterizing iron on me during the surgery" and that the mark was actually a burn. By this point the wound was very hard and scabbed over. I would also like to note that my breasts from the nipple down were completely numb - not just the nipples (I was warned that the nipples could lose sensation). During my next visit, I referred to the wound as a burn and Dr. Son acted like she didn't know what I was talking about. She kept calling the wound "bruising." My next visit she said it was fat necrosis. I eventually decided to get my medical records. Clearly, Dr. Son did not want to tell me the truth about what the giant wound and extra incision was actually from. When I read her OP notes, nothing out of the ordinary was documented. According to the medical records - everything is fine. However, the marks on my right breast proved otherwise. One ointment that I was prescribed was called Nitrogylcerin. This ointment was to be applied every 6 hours to the burn. This ointment made me really sick. Almost instantly after it was applied I would get a migraine and nausea. I told Dr. Son I couldn't use the ointment and function properly. I needed to work and was unable to with having such bad side effects. On the phone she was very understanding. She prescribed a new ointment that didn't make me sick. This was called Silversulfadiazine. In my records, however, she documented that I was not cooperating with her directions. At one point, the wound was very deep, as the top layers of skin had been cut off. You could see yellow fatty tissue and small veins. It was very raw and turned my 6 week recovery into a 5 month long process. In July 2021 I stopped seeing Dr. Son. I never got another call or check up from her. I went to a new surgeon at USC who had no idea what tool that is used in the breast reduction procedure that could have caused such a burn. He took over my treatment. He told me I would need 2-3 more surgeries to fix the damage Dr. Son had caused. My breasts were still the same size they had been prior to March 2021. My nipples were moved up super high and made very small. And, of course, there was the scarring from the burn and the extra incision. In February 2022 I had my second breast reduction with the new surgeon. It went amazingly. It was after this surgery I fully realized how messed up my treatment with Dr. Son had been. I spoke to six lawyers about this case. One said they were unable to take on another case. Four said the surgeon protected herself very well in the notes (they didn't see the pictures of my wound). One asked for a super high fee that I cannot afford. Dr. Son is covering up the truth of what happened to my breast during my surgery. The hospital won't return my calls and I am now out of time to pursue legal action. At the very least I want Dr. Son to know how badly she affected my life. This affected my job, my schooling, my confidence, my physical activity, and my faith in medical doctors. To Dr. Son, the nurses, the anesthesiologist, the office staff, Mr. Diego Galvez Ramirez, and the complaint department - You should all be deeply ashamed of yourselves. Each and every one of you are disgusting humans who do not deserve to work in the medical field. You all lied and covered up an accident that could have easily been fixed by just doing the right thing and helping a girl out. Fuck you all."