*About this website
I began writing about my plastic surgery experience in 1999, after surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital denied the operations I underwent at the Residents’ Clinic caused permanent tissue damage to my face and neck. MGH’s handling of my case, from irresponsible medical decisions, “lost” medical records, outright lies, character assassination, and finally, a lawsuit trying to force my photos off the Internet, was an ongoing nightmare. However, the tissue damage which caused a sagging face I did not have before my surgery did not directly bring about the anatomical changes which ultimately destroyed my health.
My story began with emotional devastation over my ruined facial appearance from the surgery at MGH. It ends with life threatening physical conditions denied and/or ignored by the very doctors most qualified to diagnose them. Since my revision surgery in 2001, appearance has been the least of my concerns. I have been fighting a losing battle for my life, while surgeons turn a blind eye to iatrogenic conditions caused by a poorly executed surgery which forces me to live with a jaw that will not close, inability to breathe (positional airway obstruction), swallow, stand in an upright normal posture, lift my head and extend my neck … continuous pain and pressure in my ears, hearing loss, tinnitus.. all present since waking from anesthesia at on April 18, 2001. I have written, photographic and video documentation to substantiate my claims.
People who suffer progressive physical disability know when their bodies cannot hold up much longer. I am now at that point. Since that fateful day in 2001, I have lived each day struggling for every breath, making every bodily adaptation humanly possible in order to survive. The anatomical abnormalities caused by my surgery can easily be demonstrated via diagnosing imaging and, more importantly, by adequate physical examination appropriate to the conditions from which I suffer. Yet surgeons have intentionally avoided performing the most basic physical examinations. This intentional refusal to perform appropriate diagnostics and medical treatment to patients whose injuries are caused by medical negligence is a well documented fact. It is called patient blacklisting.
I have spent the past nine years dying a slow death from iatrogenic injury any ENT and/or plastic surgeon worth his medical degree would have identified and treated immediately, had the cause been anything other than the negligent hands of another surgeon.
When I agreed to participate in HBO’s documentary film Plastic Disasters, I handed over 5 years of personal video diary to the filmmakers. I am distressed at the misuse of my video diary and lack of respect for my privacy which misrepresented my situation and was used out of context. I believe this exploitation of my video diary proved detrimental to my subsequent attempts in seeking proper medical treatment. In a very real sense, HBO facilitated my becoming a blacklisted patient.
Now that I am too physically debilitated to defend myself or correct this impression which has only REINFORCED that of every doctor who deliberately refused to assess my problem in an appropriate manner, my story, and more importantly, my LIFE, is being thrown away.. sacrificed to the powers that have a vested interest in keeping the truth about medical negligence and cover-ups from public scrutiny.
I was in perfect health when I got on the operating table and entrusted my life to doctors I now understand were negligent, deceitful, and willing to allow injury caused by their own hands to literally kill a patient, for the sake of keeping their dirty misdeeds swept under the carpet of false “respectability”.
To the many doctors who watched Plastic Disasters, there must have been a few who recognized the etiology of the problem. Perhaps, if I had not been shamefully exploited by the filmmakers, a surgeon may have come forward to help me. Filmmakers Kate Davis, David Heilbroner and HBO chose to “creatively edit” my video diary to add sensationalism to their project. They, like the doctors, compromised their professional ethics. My health is destroyed. My normal, happy life is over. Thanks to professionals who are willing to deceive and exploit trusting people to reach a higher rung on the ladder of their own success, I am left with pain, disability and, most regrettably, a heart full of bitterness and resentment for a profession which sacrifices human life to keep the duplicity of its misdeeds hidden behind the White Wall of Silence.
Stumble It!
