But the procedure left her covering up more than ever before.
“Immediately after taking the bandage off, I noticed there was a problem,” says Kate.
“There was this dent in a diagonal line across my stomach.”
Illustrated by Hervé Kwimo
Millions of people in the U.S. undergo a cosmetic procedure each year.
Less common is Kate’s poor outcome.
The most common issue?
Illustrated by Hervé Kwimo
Hematomas, which are essentially very bad bruises.
“But you could never really match that.
Surgery is not Photoshop.”
He simply altered the after to look better.
Who needs a referral when you haveDermTok?
That’s howKerrifound her doctor.
“When I looked in the mirror afterwards, I screamed.
It was double the size of my butt before surgery, double and a half.”
Kerri shared her story on social media.
(A representative for CoolSculpting did not respond to a request for comment.)
“As it’s become more acceptable, in some ways its become trivialized,” he says.
The Medispa Risk
Dr. Williams also points to increased accessibility as a contributing factor.
The number of medical spas in the U.S. more than tripled between 2010 and 2018.
(According to Kate, this is what her current plastic surgeon suspects caused the complication.)
That didn’t help, either, she says.)
But the patient may not be eager to return.
“I wanted nothing to do with him,” says Kerri.
“The fact that he didn’t listen to me the first time, I was so pissed.
I was like, ‘Forget it.'”
Emotional Side Effects
Sometimes the damage beneath the surface is just as painful.
Sharon reports having felt sad and isolated, and says, “I cry a lot.”
So now they’re even more focused on that area."
“[The complication] has damaged my life in many ways,” she says.
“I’ve been in the fashion business all my life, but I can’t wear anything anymore.
I don’t even go for meetings.”
or, What’s wrong with me that I felt so bad about myself?"
The possibility of a physical complication, says Dr. Wechsler, is something that every patient should prepare for.
“I always think it’s good to reflect: What are the potential side effects?
And if they happen, how am I going to handle them emotionally?”
So does bedside manner, says Dr. Doft.
“Nobody really wants to hear that something could go wrong.
I tell patients there’s [always] the possibility of a complication,” says Dr. Doft.
Who’s going to be there with you, standing by your side, if that happens?"
*Names have been changed.
