| I needed to find a
new doctor and did not know which of the Chicago plastic
surgeons to trust. My orthopedic
resident friend talked to a Chicago
plastic surgeon at the
hospital he worked at about my problems. This surgeon was
Dr. Richard
T. Caleel D.O. from Chicago, Illinois, and he agreed to see
me.
I went to Dr. Caleel's office in Chicago,
Illinois four weeks
after Dr. Kagan's surgery with my medical records and many
medical
problems
resulting from the surgery. Dr. Caleel, the
Chicago plastic surgeon, said that he was
amazed that Dr. Kagan did a Benelli
on me due to the lack of tissue in my breasts. He stated
that my implants were not filled adequately. My wounds still
were
not healing and were spitting sutures
and dripping puss and blood. Dr. Caleel instructed his nurse
Elana to take photographs of my burn. During the time Elana
took the photographs of my burn she said to me "I hope you
are suing the doctor that did this to you." She told me
the name of a lawyer that Dr. Caleel liked, and I went
to the
suggested lawyer for counsel against Dr.
Kagan's medical malpractice.
Dr. Caleel D.O. and Elana discussed their negative opinions
of my surgery and the outcome with me and my orthopedic
surgeon friend regularly.
I saw Dr. Caleel for many months as he assisted me with the
wounds that would not heal, the burn, and the suture
problems. In May, five months after the surgery performed
by Dr. Kagan, Dr. Caleel instructed Elana to take pictures
of the hideous condition my breasts were still in. After
five months of having open wounds, the wounds remained bright
red,
tender, and very painful, as well as my breasts were rippled
with crooked nipples.
At this point, my attorney
wanted to speak to Richard T. Caleel D.O. about my
medical situation and
Dr. Kagan's medical malpractice. I asked Dr. Caleel to
speak to him. Dr. Caleel met with my
attorney voiced criticisms
of the surgery that Dr. Kagan performed on me, but stated
that he did not want to get involved. I later learned that
Richard T. Caleel D.O. has been sued for medical negligence
and does not
cooperate with plaintiff's attorneys.
I immediately went to another Chicago plastic surgeon who
told me that I should go to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.
Clearly
this doctor did not want to get involved. I did not follow
his recommendation because I did not think that it would
be
wise to go to a doctor whose office was a twelve hour
drive away. I knew that it was going to take many visits
to
the new doctor to get all my problems addressed and Rochester,
MN. was just too far away to travel repeatedly while feeling
so ill.
I stopped seeing Dr. Caleel because I was shocked and appalled
by the conversation that he had with my attorney. I lost
all
respect for Dr. Caleel as a doctor and a person. I could
not find any Chicago plastic
surgeons that would cooperate.
In my search for an honest and qualified doctor to help me
I
had
to leave
the state of Illinois and go to Indianapolis, Indiana. It
was there that Dr. John J. Coleman became my doctor. He
was
recommended to me by a highly respected Indiana doctor. When
I first saw Dr. Coleman he said that he could not do any
surgery
to correct the plastic surgery
mistakes Dr. Kagan created
until he stopped the wounds from opening and dripping blood
and
puss.
The
puss
meant there was infection in my breasts. Operating on my
breasts in that condition would likely spread the infection
throughout
my breasts, and Dr. Coleman said that would cause the loss
of both breast implants. Dr. Coleman first did a small operation
that he said was the "removal of foreign bodies" (probably
suture material).
I then had to remain on strong antibiotics
to stop the puss and allow the open wounds to heal, which
took about five months. I had to place very warm cloths
on
my breasts two or three times a day to draw the puss and
sutures to the wound site. Then Dr. Coleman would remove
the sutures
that were hanging out of the wounds. It was disgusting and
painful. Finally, the sutures stopped coming out, the blood
and puss stopped dripping, and the wounds healed. After five
agonizing months, Dr. Coleman felt that it was time to schedule
my surgery. Dr. Coleman did one eight-hour surgery and then
several small surgeries to fix the surgical mess that I
had
been left with by Dr. Kagan.
Dr. Coleman
stated that as a result of
the plastic surgery mistakes, my implants
were not properly placed and were pushing
into
the
nerves
in my
armpits,
which
was
the cause of my arms constantly going numb. My implants were
also under-filled by Dr. Kagan which caused them to look
wrinkled.
My wounds would not heal because Dr. Kagan should not have
done a Benelli procedure
on me at allDr. Coleman stated that without any breast
tissue and with my breasts having such thin skin, the
Benelli procedure
had compromised the blood supply in my breasts.
He stated that I was lucky that I didn't lose my nipples.
I definitely came close to losing them during the year
that
it took them to heal.
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