Patient No. 494: Fake liposuction review on RealSelf.com

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It just comes to our attention a recent bad review about Dr Arthur Tjandra of Elixir de Vie on RealSelf.com: Abdominal Lipo Disaster. The worst thing about it is, it is a fake review! We would like to thank one of our patients who brought this to our attention. Read on to find out why it is a fake review.

Points of contention:

1. This patient came to Dr Arthur Tjandra for abdominal liposuction 2 years ago. But, when she posted a bad review on RealSelf.com 2 years later, she used pictures taken a few weeks after her abdominal liposuction 2 years ago, when her wounds were still raw and her abdomen was still swollen. She did not post her most recent pictures taken at the time when she posted her review, which was 2 years after her surgery.
2. She alleged that Dr Arthur Tjandra had created a dent on her lower abdomen which appeared like a C-section scar, without mentioning that she indeed had had C-section and had a pre-existing C-section scar at the time she came to us for abdominal liposuction.
3. She used the username Germaine1999 on RealSelf.com to mislead us to think that she was born in 1999, so that we would not be able to identify the anonymous writer of the bad review.

This Chinese Indonesian mother of 1 child from Medan, who is currently in her early-40s (she was in her late-30s when she first came to Dr Arthur Tjandra), had visited Dr Arthur Tjandra 5 times to get 3 sessions of autologous fat grafting done to her breasts to overlay her lumpy breasts. The lumpiness resulted from filler injection into her breasts by an aesthetic doctor in Medan, 10 years ago. Dr Arthur Tjandra of Elixir de Vie had advised her to get all those lumps surgically removed, but as she was tight on budget, she declined. As her main concern was her husband’s lack of interest in her breasts because they were so lumpy, she opted for autologous fat transfer to overlay those lumps, to make them less likely to be felt when her husband played with her breasts. Due to tight budget as well, liposuction was performed on segmented, isolated areas of her body, for fat harvesting purpose. Dr Arthur Tjandra of Elixir de Vie warned her that unless liposuction was performed on the entire length and circumference (or at least half a circumference) of a limb within the same session, unevenness might result. She accepted the risk.

Here are screenshots of the review:

Here are the 4 pictures she posted on RealSelf.com to condemn Dr Arthur Tjandra of Elixir de Vie:

In her review on RealSelf.com, she alleged that Dr Arthur Tjandra had created ugly dents on her abdomen, then went on to post 4 photographs showing the alleged dents created by Dr Arthur Tjandra. She has previously complained about the tangential grooves on both sides of her lower abdomen. Dr Arthur Tjandra had explained to her that those tangential grooves on the side of the abdomen which pointed downwards towards the genital, are normal human anatomy. He has published a case study to address this issue: Patient No. 494: Doc, you have created a groove on both sides of my lower tummy!

Even Dr Arthur Tjandra himself has these grooves! Take a look at his latest topless photograph taken in January 2020 during his Chinese New Year break in Da Nang, Vietnam, below. Can you see the 2 grooves on his lower abdomen pointing down towards his genital? The only way to not have these grooves is to have thick layer of fat covering those grooves. This is the same for women who do not like arm muscles definition. In order not to have defined, toned arms, one must cover those muscles with significantly thick layer of fat!

What about the other dent she alleged Dr Arthur Tjandra created which looked like a C-section scar? That was her original C-section scar! During her last visit, she actually came to Dr Arthur Tjandra to address her depressed C-section scar! Her case study has been published:

Patient No. 494: C-section scar correction with fat grafting (without scar tissue release)

Let us take a look at her pre-op photograph first.

Then take a look at a screenshot from the video taken during her last visit when she had her C-section scar injected with fat. This videos was taken before the procedure was done. To watch the full videos, please go to: Patient No. 494, Session 4: Correction of depressed C-section with fat grafting (without scar release)

What do you think of the result? Besides, some unevenness over her lower inner thighs, the lipo-ed anterior abdomen, inner thighs and knees, actually look fabulous! Unfortunately, the inner thighs and knees, which are actually contiguous areas, were lipo-ed over 3 separate sessions! This is why Dr Arthur Tjandra always advises patients to get a proper 3-dimensional liposuction done if their budgets allow! All interconnected areas of the body have to be lipo-ed within the same session in order to prevent unevenness!

But, alas! There is something very wrong with these 2 pictures! There is no C-section scar! So, did Dr Arthur Tjandra actually over-aspirate, hence creating a dent which appears like a C-section scar, like she alleged?

This incident is a very good lesson for Dr Arthur Tjandra and his staff to learn from! For the last 12 years of his private practice, Dr Arthur Tjandra has always instructed his staff to strip all patients naked during photo and video taking. There has never been an issue with compliance most of the time, because 99.99% of his patients are from overseas, who are generally more open-minded. In the last 12 years of his private practice, he only had 4 patients from Indonesia! This patient was one of them. When she requested to keep her underwear on during photos and videos taking, the nurses allowed her to. Dr Arthur Tjandra did not think much about it and agreed to it, thinking that Indonesians were more conservative. If today, this case went to court and became a medicolegal case, Dr Arthur Tjandra would have lost this case, as he could not prove that he did not create that dent!

But, hang on……after scrutinizing the videos taken during pre-operative marking, we found Dr Arthur Tjandra actually pulled down her underwear at 24 seconds frame in one of those videos, to reveal her long C-section scar!………….Misinformation/Lie No. 1!

If you would like to watch the full video and see this particular frame for yourself, please visit her very first case study and watch Video 3:

Patient No. 494, Session 1: Autologous fat grafting to breasts, after complication of filler injection by another doctor

Is this the only misinformation she posted on RealSelf.com? Alleging Dr Arthur Tjandra of creating a dent which appears like C-section scar when she already had C-section scar all along? Apparently, after scrutinizing the 4 photos she posted on RealSelf.com we found more strange things with the 4 photographs.

Take a look at one of the photographs which shows the entire length of her thighs. Does it look like her inner thighs and knees have been lipo-ed on this photo? Take a look at the other 3 photographs. Although they do not show her extremely fat knees, they do show her extremely fat inner thighs with no thigh gap at all!

Now, take a look at a screenshot taken from a video taken during her very last visit, before she posted this bad review on RealSelf.com.

Can you see the difference between the photographs she posted which showed her extremely thick inner thighs and knees, compared to what she looked like during her last visit? It could be due to the angle, but hey, if you would like to make your knees and thighs appear slimmer in photographs, you should point your camera downward. The same goes to jaws and chin. To make jaws and chin appear sharper, point your camera downwards. To make your face appear round with double chin, point your camera upwards! Take a look at all the 4 photographs and take note of the angle of the camera. The angle of her camera is clearly pointing downwards! So, how could her thighs and knees appear so thick after inner thighs and knees liposuction, even as her camera was pointing downwards? Remember that during her first visit to Dr Arthur Tjandra, she only had lower abdominal liposuction done. So, could the 4 photographs she posted on RealSelf.com taken after her first visit? Before she even had C-section scar fat injection in her 5th visit? That is why her inner thighs and knees appear as if they had not been lipo-ed yet? In fact, the 4 photographs she posted on RealSelf.com show the exact same thighs and knees as the initial pre-op photograph taken during her first visit!

Likewise, her abdominal incision scars still appear so dark in the 4 photographs she posted on RealSelf.com, indicating that the wounds were fresh. On the other hand, all the incision scars are hardly visible anymore in the video taken during her last visit!

Lastly, do you notice that the 4 photographs she posted on RealSelf.com show inflamed and swollen abdomen indicated by redness, especially around the navel? Now, take a look at what her abdomen appeared like during her last visit, that was 2 years after her abdominal liposuction. Notice that all the redness, inflammation and swelling have completely subsided? The 4 photographs she posted on RealSelf.com were most likely taken within the first few weeks after her abdominal liposuction! That was 2 years ago!!!………Misinformation/Lie No. 2!

Whenever in doubt, we always ask viewers/readers to watch the video themselves: Patient No. 494, Session 4: Correction of depressed C-section with fat grafting (without scar release)

Why would she provide misinformation in her review? We truly have no idea. But, this incident teaches us one thing: from this moment on, under no circumstances a patient will be allowed to refuse having photos taken during her visit, and/or refusing to strip naked during photos and videos taking. This patient was allowed to refuse photos taking during her last 2 visits out of 5 visits. She also refused to take off her bras, which we allowed, because we thought Indonesians were more conservative. This appears to backfire. Luckily, we could still manage to find evidence of her misinformation.

Lastly, to those who ask, “Do I have to take off my bras and underwear, even if I am not getting fat grafting done to breasts or genital surgery?” The answer is yes! This patient naively posted a photograph which included her breasts on RealSelf.com. By comparing photographs we have of her breasts, we could confidently identify her! There were also other signs we used to confirm her identity, including scrutinizing the 2 moles on her lower abdomen, comparing her pubic hair pattern and verifying all the identifiable signs with the nurse who provided her post-op massage after her surgeries. We managed to successfully identify who she is, despite her effort to mislead by using the handle name of Germaine1999 on RealSelf.com, to make we think she was born in 1999, while she is actually in her early-40s already. She also used the term Cesarean in her review, a term only Indonesians use. In all English-speaking countries, it is called C-section. So, yes. You need to strip naked during photos/videos taking, so that we can protect ourselves medicolegally!

This is a list of her case studies:

First visit:

Patient No. 494, Session 1: Autologous fat grafting to breasts, after complication of filler injection by another doctor

Patient No. 494, Session 1: Result of autologous fat grafting to breasts, 5 months later

Second visit:

Patient No. 494: Doc, you have created a groove on both sides of my lower tummy! 

Patient No. 494, Session 2: Autologous fat grafting breasts augmentation and inner thighs liposuction

Third visit:

Patient No. 494: Result of autologous fat grafting breasts augmentation, 1.5 years later: from A to small C cups

Patient No. 494, Session 3: Autologous fat grafting breasts augmentation and knees liposuction

Fourth visit:

Patient No. 494: Result of autologous fat grafting breasts augmentation, 2 years later: from A to C cups

Fifth visit:

Patient No. 494, Session 4: Correction of depressed C-section with fat grafting (without scar release)

Patient No. 494: Fake review on RealSelf.com