Dr. Stefan Shuaib - Surgery Regret- Septal Extension Graft Hatred
I had my revision surgery with Dr. Stefan Shuaib 2.5 years ago. I want to preface by saying this is just to share my own personal experience and relate to those with similar stories. I was WAY better off before this surgery and my quality of life was way better before the revision. I liked my nose overall, I could breathe perfectly, it could move naturally, I just wanted to fix a slight droop when I smiled. If I knew all the things that I’d have to sacrifice such as natural movement, breathing, and my mental health, I would go back in a second and never do this surgery- especially with Dr. Shuaib.
I was told the day before surgery that he planned on using a septal extension graft which would make my tip a little stiff. I did not fully understand what that actually meant and how deeply my life would be altered. From that moment, my whole life has changed. I am always afraid to bump my nose. It feels like a foreign object/ prosthetic on my face. Even when sleeping I have to be super cautious because even laying on my side or slightly turning my face towards the pillow hurts because my nose no longer bends normally and naturally. Even washing my face is so weird and I miss little normal things like feeling of throwing water on my face and rubbing it with face wash without the fear of hitting my nose. My nose gets even caught on clothing when getting dressed..
Not to mention, Its scary to kiss because it hurts if I slightly move. I’m always worried my nieces and nephews are going to bang into it when I hold them or hug them. I can’t hug or kiss normally. Making expressions is harder, it just doesn’t feel as natural to smile or make any expression due to the rigid graft keeping my nose from moving. It’s normal and beautiful and human for your nose to move when making expressions. Now in result, I’ve become a less expressive person, and I smile less because it just doesn’t feel as natural. I loved my smile before.
This is not a normal way to live, but this will likely be your reality if you get a septal extension graft. I also can’t breathe which affects every aspect of my life. It’s hard to workout and sleep and I’m constantly tired. You can just see it on my face how exhausted I am. Every night I have to use some sort of device just to sleep slightly better and even then I’m still exhausted.
I wish I had more time to research the septal extension graft, versus being told a day before surgery, when emotions were high and money was already down. If I could go back, I would. Unfortunately I can’t so the best I can do is share my story. I’m quite literally disabled by the choice to move forward with this surgery. I keep being told by his office “well your nose of course will never feel like an unoperated nose”… that is when they even respond to me. Most of the time they ignore my emails for weeks, sometimes months on end. Which is so heartbreaking after you truly put all your trust in them.
Prior to this revision moved completely like an unoperated nose. It is fully possible for you to move your nose and have that same flexibility if this grafts are not used. So it is not right to tell patients well of course it doesn’t feel like an unoperated nose, it’s been operated on…
I also have blanching in my tip because Dr. Shuaib did not use any fascia to cushion the graft and my thin skin. I had expressed many times how thin my skin was and trusted he would make the correct assessment during surgery. Now he wants me to pay thousands of dollars to correct his mistake. I also really expressed my nervousness before surgery for him to touch my nose tip at all because my first rhinoplasty had not touched my tip and I’ve seen all that can go wrong through research. He reassured me that it would be great! My nose tip now looks so weird and has really affected my mental health. I’d do anything to have my nose before my surgery back. Dr. Shuaib would describe it as “bulbous” and having a bump on the bridge but it was me and it was functional. Now I feel like an alien.