Mother-of-three reveals plastic surgery nightmare
A mother was horrified after being left with “overinflated” features after repeated failed cosmetic procedures. WARNING: Graphic
WARNING: Graphic content
A mum says she was left with “overinflated Barbie lips and a Miss Piggy snout” after a series of “botched” operations.
Ellen Gonzalez wanted to have plastic surgery after being bullied as a child and first had silicone injected into her lips in 2004, The Sun reports.
She was still unhappy with her appearance and in 2016 went under the knife to have a nose job.
However, the mum-of-three, from Connecticut, US, said the rhinoplasty left her with a “piggy snout” — so she demanded more surgery to fix it.
At the same time, she claims she asked the surgeon to make her lips smaller.
But shocking pictures show they are now lumpy and only meet in the middle – not the edges.
RELATED: ‘Human Ken Doll’ Rodrigo Alves, 36, unveils amazing new look
STRUGGLE TO EAT
Ms Gonzalez admits that she can’t even smile properly and food falls out of her mouth when she tries to eat.
But she is determined to “look like herself” again and is now preparing to go under the knife for the fifth time next month.
“I wish I’d never touched my face. I feel ugly and unattractive. I don’t want to be fake anymore,” Ms Gonzalez said.
“I went through a lot of trauma as a child which is why I got plastic surgery.
“When bullies tell you that you’re fat, ugly, that you would be better off dead, you do anything to change that impression of yourself.
“For me, surgery was (about) making me look beautiful.”
However, Ms Gonzalez said she now couldn’t eat or drink properly.
“Food falls out of my mouth and if I drink liquids and I’m not leaning the right way, they come out too. I have to drink with a straw,” she said.
The mum said she was forced to suck her bottom lip in so people didn’t notice.
“I’ve been practising, and if I suck it in, I look normal as long as I don’t smile,” she said.
Ms Gonzalez went to see a plastic surgeon with her daughter, Hailey, 16, who had a tumour on her neck in 2016, when he offered her a rhinoplasty to help her breathe more easily.
But after the surgery on her nose, Ms Gonzalez said she was left looking like she had a “piggy snout” and demanded it be redone.
As she was wheeled into theatre for a second time, the mum claims she asked for her lips to be made slightly smaller too – but instead she was left with gaping spaces either side of her mouth.
‘UNNATURAL’
“He originally did a rhinoplasty, but (my nose) was turned up like a little piggy snout. It didn’t look natural,” Ms Gonzalez explained.
Ms Gonzalez said it was as though she had two separate noses, with one part going one way.
“Then I had a crazy-looking nose tip that was very, very pointy,” she said.
“The second time he went back in, he took fat from my stomach and added it to my nose – now I’ve got an even bigger nose than when I started.”
“While he was doing that, he said he’d make my lips a little smaller too. Instead of cutting straight across, he cut one side higher than the other.
“I asked him for an explanation and he didn’t answer me. He said it looked good and if I didn’t like them, he’d fix them again.”
After being wheeled out of a further surgery to correct her now-botched lips, Ms Gonzalez was horrified to see how lumpy her mouth was.
Quickly, her stitches became infected and pus seeped from her sores.
Her bottom lip has been left “protruding out” and her mouth is full of scars, leaving her too self-conscious to have photos taken.
She is also unable to talk properly, suffering with a slight speech impediment due to her lips being misshaped.
“The bottom lip on the right side hangs down slightly, so when I close my mouth air goes in it and I constantly have dry mouth,” Ms Gonzalez said.
“They were very lumpy. I’ve gone through the ringer with this. It’s messed my mouth up.
“I got infections in my lips. I had very bad luck. All my stitches opened up and it was massively infected.
“I used to take pictures all the time, but now I don’t want to.”
REVERSE THE DAMAGE
After finding herself unemployed, Ms Gonzalez claims she has no choice but to return to the same surgeon for corrections instead of finding someone else.
In February, she will go under the knife for a third time to allow the same man to operate on her lips, hoping she will look “normal” afterwards.
Ms Gonzalez is now hoping to go back to how she looked before she began having surgery to teach her two daughters how to be confident in their own skin.
ALARMING FIGURE AUSSIES SPEND ON COSMETIC PROCEDURES
It is estimated Australians spend about $1 billion on up to 500,000 separate cosmetic procedures each year and receive more treatments per capita than Americans.
The Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery (ACCS) predicts improved access to procedures and downward pressure on prices will make certain procedures even more ubiquitous but warns safety must be the priority.
ACCS medical dean Dr Ronald Feiner said cosmetic injectables should never be trivialised.
“Australians should be reminded that Botox and dermal filler procedures are medical treatments not beauty treatments and require a medical consultation by a doctor,” Dr Feiner told news.com.au.
“Anyone considering cosmetic injectables needs to make sure their practitioner is experienced and has adequate procedures in case of an emergency. Patients need to be aware that complications such as tissue death (necrosis) and blindness can and do occur, so you want to be in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing.”
Injections of Botox – the most popular aesthetic procedure since the late 1990s – were up 16 per cent last year from the year before, according to global figures.
Fillers were up 12 per cent over the same time frame. Both procedures require regular top-ups.
This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission
‘Secret’ celeb-inspired procedure on the rise
A procedure has been dubbed “the BBL for men” for its minimal downtime and impressive results – but what actually is it? And how much does it cost?
Urgent warning after 33yo’s ‘appalling’ death
Police have made arrests and doctors issued urgent warnings after a woman became the first to die from Brazilian Bum Lift surgery in the UK.
Star won’t show face after ‘scary’ surgery
Skye Wheatley has shut down speculation that the reason she hasn’t shown the results of her recent cosmetic surgery is because she regrets it.