Siamak Agha, MD, PhD, FACS review: Bad & disfiguring results/causing restriction of movement 53

Hello;
I've read that good/positive reviews can be "bought", similarly as can "prestige status". I went in to Dr. Siamak Agah look and feel better, but now not only do I look and feel unbelievably worse, I am now unable to raise my arm beyond shoulder level and have been told that I am likened to a burn victim because of how much skin was removed and the severe contracture I now have after the surgery. Additionally, that if I did not get it released, it would likely result in my shoulder freezing and serious orthopedic issues. But because I spent my savings to have the surgery, after care, anesthesia, medications, etc. I am unable to afford to have the revisions I critically need.
In addition to my arms, I am now unable to cross my legs or separate them fully because of how much skin was taken and pulled from there as well. I believe it is also evident in the after pictures, but part of my female anatomy was impacted and is now pretty much non-existent; the resultant negative impact of this, should be fairly evident. I now also basically do not have a (rounded) buttock and have to wear a garment not only to give the appearance of having one, but to relieve the pain from the stretching/pulling of the scarring.
I am in constant pain. The emotional, physical and financial negative impact this has had on my life is substantial and I will never be the same. I feel so horrible about myself and I wish so badly I would never have had the surgery with Dr. Agah.
More surprisingly, I have been blamed for the horrible results I have. I may not have been perfect, or great before, but I certainly was not damaged and/or deformed like I am now. Form your own opinions, but I believe the results speak for themselves…

The following is an updated posting:

Hi everyone;

I wanted to thank you all for your kind, empathetic personal messages & extensive support. To me, the most important thing you all can do in support of not only me, but to anyone else that has been victimized, is to spread awareness. Since I have received so many personal messages, I wanted to address them here since most ask similar questions & make similar remarks. These are my opinions & comments;

Jen, I can’t agree with you enough: Generally, I have also found that people do not make negative reviews unless there is merit. & that one would think that a Dr. who truly & sincerely believed in what he was professing, saying that he wants to help women to look good & feel good about themselves & of the importance of self worth & not of monetary gain; would never, ever leave a patient like this & would not allow a patient to suffer the mental, physical & financial trauma of this magnitude; being left so compromised & disfigured. Additionally, since the damages are so costly, both physically & emotionally & will cost a substantial amount to attempt to correct, that those characteristics like integrity, morality, compassion & the Hippocratic Oath would/should come into effect... I believe you are correct in that this should speak volumes about the Dr...

What I wish I would have done to save myself the physical, emotional & financial pain? To do extensive searches; go to places like the OC Court website (https://ocapps.occourts.org/) & do a search on the Dr to see if suits have been filed. Go to the court (s) & look up closed cases... Be aware of online reputation management services which remove negative feedback & comments & that raving, positive reviews, as well as photos can be "bought" & contact people who have left any negative reviews one can find. Yes, I have been contacted by other women with similar complaints about this Dr.

As far as the media he will not remove of me, I was asked to do a filming statement about this Dr. in exchange for revisions. This segment appears on the show "The Doctors". Firstly, I listened to a statement that is made saying that this Dr had performed 30 surgeries on me (“the same patient”); this is an absolute false statement. Secondly, not surprisingly, you will not see "after" results of me, for seemingly obvious reasons... I have requested that this Dr remove this & any other advertising where he uses me (never uses after photos in these either), but he has declined to do so...

The $54, 000 is approximate; the surgery itself was in the high $40, 000's, the balance went to after care, anesthesia, surgery room, meds, etc. Also, for a costly Emergency room visit at MV Hospital where I was treated because of my open, oozing gaping wounds that were infected & not healing & where gauze was sticking to the large open wounds (pictures of this available upon request). My aftercare provider, because of the severity of the situation & out of serious concern for me, took me to the ER after her many unsuccessful attempts to contact Dr agah to let him know.

Regarding the initial after care facility I was sent to, unfortunately, I trusted the Dr & his office that they would set me up & send me to an established, upstanding, equipped, facility. However the institution I was sent to by Dr. agah/his office was an upscale house in Laguna Beach, which the owner was using as an aftercare facility. Shockingly, after major body surgery, the owner picked me up in a sports car. When we go to her house, to my disbelief, I had to walk up 2 flights of stairs to get to one of the bedrooms I would stay in; which was excruciatingly painful, as one could imagine. The bedroom I was taken to had no accommodations for a patient like me who had just had major surgery. They did not have hospital beds that would accommodate a patient that just had major surgery. The bed I was required to get up to, was a high, elevated post bed. There were no steps, or any aids to assist me to get up to the bed. The owner cupped her hand so I could step into them to try & boost me up to get into the bed. This, after enduring major arm, leg & body surgery... The house was a modern upscale house & there were no handles, rails, etc in the house to hold onto. The floors were hardwood & the bathrooms were marbled, making it easy for me to slip. The process was repeated each time I needed to get up to go to the bathroom, obviously putting unnecessary tension on the sutures & potential for slipping & causing more serious damage. There were no phones, nor TV’s in the room. I could barely move, let along get up without assistance. I was totally dependant on getting the “care” & assistance from the owner & the 1 other individual I saw occasionally helping at the house & had paid substantially for this care & service. Yet, there were several occasions where I needed & called (begged) for help, only to be ignored & have the bedroom door shut telling me they “did not want me to disturb other patients”. The owner was Persian, so the menu was basically a Persian cuisine, which was not palatable to me after surgery because it was too heavy & spicy. I was not able to eat several of the meals.
The first day/night after the surgery, I was in the most excruciating pain I have ever experienced in my life. Dr. agah finally came to the house to see me & ordered me to stand up. He appeared irritated at the fact I was not able to, but since I had just had his extensive "spiral thigh lift"; as well as arm & body surgery, I could not get up by myself. He later slated that I "refused to get up". At this point, because I was in so much extreme pain & so scared, I began gasping for air & was having difficulty breathing & because I was gasping & having difficult time breathing, I was unable to talk. The Dr. as well as the owner STOOD THERE WATCHING ME GASPING, & then Dr agah asked me if I was going to “continue to give the owner a hard time”... He then turned to the owner & told her it was up to her if she wanted to allow me to continue to stay there. Since there were no phones in the room & my cell phone was dead, I could not call for help, or for anyone to come & get me out. He left telling me that “I’d better behave myself”. I had later contacted a hospital & spoke to a nurse about the incident. I was told I should have called 911 because I could have easily gone into "respiratory arrest”, because I had recently been under general anesthesia. It was & is, shocking & frightening to me that a Dr. would just stand by, watching something life threatening like this & do nothing …

The pain I was in the second day & night was just about the same. The owner made several attempts to contact Dr. agah to tell him I was basically screaming in pain, but was not able to. When she was able to finally contact him to let him know about the severe pain I was in, she said he did not want to offer any additional pain meds. The owner was kind enough to give me an injection of her own valium, which allowed me to finally sleep.

Doing web searches on botched plastic surgery will reveal many other women who have also had to suffer bad &/or permanent &/or uncorrectable damage. Aside from the emotional & physical impact of a bad plastic surgery, a corrective procedure is frequently required, which dramatically increases expenses & suffering.

I cant think of any other industry where one pays (someone) substantially to get good results/service, but if the job is done poorly &/or the results are clearly not what you paid for, & are seemingly apparently substandard; not only do you have to pay again to get what you should have gotten done correctly in the first place, but you have to pay again & possibly pay again until you get it done correctly & the way that was agreed to. &…. even after you do, the damage done may be too extensive to have fixed, leaving you in a place where you have essentially paid dearly to get damaged &/or bad results….

Cases like a woman where a Dr. took so much skin from her eyes (she was only 38) that she could no longer close her eyes. Or where another woman lost her leg after gangrene set in from a bad liposuction, or of a woman who lost both her breast after a surgeon botched the surgery. There are many other cases like mine & these others. Before & after pictures show the extent of the damage… However, these Dr’s get away with it because “things can happen”. Unfortunately I have found there is little, if any, protection legally because "it’s not a science" & many injustices are allowed because of loose parameters, which essentially gives Dr's without the best intentions, a very wide range of latitude & license to do damage without consequences...

Thanks again for all your support. Please write with any other questions/comments.