A woman whose face was left disfigured after she received black market injections from a self-proclaimed ‘physician’ has finally had the cement nodules removed from underneath her skin after more than a decade of living with the damage that was once deemed untreatable.
Rajee Narinesingh, a 48-year-old transgender woman from Hollywood, Florida, who received harmful injections made up of cement and tire sealant in her cheeks, chin, and lips at a ‘pumping party’ in 2005, met with Los Angeles-based surgeons Dr. Terry Dubrow and Dr. Paul Nassif for the second time on Tuesday’s season premiere of the E! reality series Botched.
‘The day we graduate medical school we say, “Doctor do no harm.” Rajee has never been offered a surgical solution because the risks outweigh the potential benefits,’ Dr. Dubrow explained of the reason why he and Dr. Nassif turned Rajee away last year.
Amazing transformation: Rajee Narinesingh had cement nodules removed from her face a decade after she had black market injections that left her disfigured. Rajee is pictured before (L) and after (R) her surgeries
Life-changing: The 48-year-old transgender woman from Hollywood, Florida, received harmful injections made up of cement and tire sealant in her cheeks, chin, and lips at a ‘pumping party’ in 2005
Looking great: Rajee’s side profile is pictured before (L) and after (R) the surgeries performed on Tuesday night’s episode of the E! reality series Botched
Rajee was one of the victims of ‘toxic tush’ doctor Oneal Ron Morris, who performed illegal plastic surgeries using substances such as Fix-a-Flat, Super Glue and mineral oil.
After the life-changing injections, Rajee was left with a face that was filled with hard lumps, but she felt too embarrassed to go to the authorities.
Rajee turned to Dr John Martin of Coral Gables Cosmetic Reconstructive Surgery in 2012 for treatment of the harmful procedure, and she was given softening injections and laser therapy.
Hoping to finally have the cement nodules removed from her face, Rajee appeared on Botched in 2015, but she was turned away after her consultation because Dr. Dubrow and Dr. Nassif felt it was ultimately safer to leave her face as it was.
However, just a year later, the doctors were ready to give Rajee’s face another look because Dr. Dubrow desperately wanted to help her, however, Dr. Nassif was admittedly still skeptical that it couldn’t be done.
Horrible mistake; Rajee was one of the victims of ‘toxic tush’ doctor Oneal Ron Morris, who performed illegal plastic surgeries. Rajee is pictured before (L) and after (R) her surgeries
Suffering: Rajee hoped Los Angeles-based surgeons Dr. Terry Dubrow and Dr. Paul Nassif would be able to surgically remove the cement nodules from her face because they had turned her away last year
Disastrous results: Rajee’s face was left with golf ball-sized balls of cement in her face, which she had been living with for more than a decade
‘I have to make sure my plan is a conservative one, it’s a smart one and it doesn’t take any undo careless risks with Rajee’s face,’ Dr. Dubrow told the cameras.
Dr. Dubrow explained to Rajee that he and Dr. Nassif have two major concerns when it comes to surgically taking the masses out of her face.
The doctor said that they are worried that when they go in there and try remove the cement, they will ‘activate the inflammatory process’ and turn her face into an ‘inflammatory mess’.
Another concern was that the ‘masses encase all the muscles, nerves, and blood vessels, and taking them out would do a lot of damage to the skin’ and could potentially hurt her nerves.
However, despite the stressful situation, Rajee still managed to keep her sense of humor.
Rajee returns to Botched to remove cement from her face
Disappointment: Rajee, who first appeared on Botched in 2015, met with the doctors just a year after she asked them to remove the cement nodules from her face but was told it wasn’t safe
When Dr. Dubrow told her that he and Dr. Nassif were going to examine each side of her face and then switch, she couldn’t help but joke: ‘I’m going to be double teamed… by doctors at that! I’ve come a long way baby.’
Dr. Dubrow told the cameras that the nodules in Rajee’s face have been ‘treated with very judicious injections of steroids which has stabilized them from an inflammatory point of view’.
During the consultation, he happily reported to Rajee that the steroids ‘have really localized things’ and reduced any kind of inflammatory response, allowing the doctors to easily see where the cement lumps are located underneath her skin.
Dr. Nassif was also impressed and urged Dr. Dubrow to feel two of the nodules on the side of her face, noting that they are ‘very circumscribed’.
‘Last year surgery wasn’t an option. Now? Terry may be on to something,’ Dr. Nassif told the cameras.
Touch choices: Dr. Dubrow (L) and Dr. Nassif (R)were concerned that removing the masses would turn her face into an ‘inflammatory mess’ or damage her skin and nerves
Still has her humor: During her consultation, Rajee joked that she has ‘come a long way’ because she was getting ‘double teamed’ by doctors
The doctors ultimately agree to try surgery, but Dr. Dubrow warned Rajee that he wanted to start with one location at a time, which could result in multiple surgeries.
For Rajee’s first surgery, the doctors tested the waters by removing a small piece of cement from her chin. Less than a week later, her chin was healing nicely, proving that the surgery had been a success.
After running some tests, Dr. Dubrow decided to schedule another surgery to remove the golf ball sized lumps of cement in her cheeks.
However, there were complications during the second procedure as a nurse told Dr. Dubrow that she heard a ‘gurgling’ from Rajee as her anesthesia started to wear off.
Full of hope: The doctors approved Rajee for surgery, but Dr. Dubrow explained that he wanted to work on one area at a time, which could result in multiple surgeries
Getting started; Dr. Nassif (L) and Dr. Dubrow (R) are pictured removing a small mass of cement on Rajee’s chin
Looking happy: Rajee was all smiles when she struck a pose with Dr. Dubrow in his Los Angles office after one of her procedures
This is not good,’ Dr. Dubrow said. ‘When a patient wakes up during surgery it’s kind of alarming because sometimes they may not know where they are, they may start thrashing around.
‘Their blood pressure can go up because of anxiety, you sort of lose control of your surgical field. So it’s really important to have the patient calmly under anesthesia.’
After adjusting her anesthesia, Dr. Dubrow started working on removing the cement form her cheek, which was a difficult task.
The doctor had to use a bone saw to carefully cut out the cement, while ensuring that he hasn’t damaged the muscle tissue or the nerves in her face.
But Dr. Dubrow was able to do what was once thought to be impossible, and after hours of surgery, he was able to completely remove all the cement from his patient’s face.
Coming along: After the doctors saw that Rajee’s chin was healing beautifully, they ran some tests and approved her for her second surgery
Preparation: Dr. Dubrow circled the nodules on Rajee’s face that he wanted to remove during the procedure
Tricky business: Dr. Dubrow, who is pictured operating on Rajee, had to use a bone saw to carefully cut out the cement, while ensuring that he hasn’t damaged the muscle tissue or the nerves in her face
The surgery was a huge success as Rajee was left with an almost completely smooth chin and cheeks after she returned home to heal.
When Dr. Dubrow met with Rajee for the first time since the procedure, Rajee makes her post-surgery debut in front of her friends and family.
And, of course, she can’t thank Dr. Dubrow and Dr. Nassif enough for everything that they had done for her.
Rajee broke down in tears as she gave Dr. Dubrow a big hug to thank him.
‘I feel so pretty!’ she told the crowd, explaining that she can’t wait to start her new life with her newfound confidence.
Growing up: Rajee, who didn’t become a woman until her twenties, is pictured as a young boy (L) and a teen (R)
Finding herself: Rajee believed that she was a ‘feminine gay male’ until she was in her mid-twenties and realized she is actually transgender
In a 2014 interview, Rajee explained that she turned to Morris for black market injections because she wanted to look like a beautiful woman, not a man in a dress.
Rajee believed that she was a ‘feminine gay male’ until she was in her mid-twenties and realized she is actually transgender.
‘When I used to fantasize about being with guys I used to always picture myself with breasts and a vagina. I didn’t realize I was doing it, it was just so natural for me. One day I just connected all the dots and thought “you’re not gay, you’re transgender.”‘
She added: ‘The last thing I wanted was to look like a man in a dress. I wanted to be a beautiful woman.
‘If you really want to live your authentic self as a woman you need to do some sort of face and body reconstruction. So I made the choice to get injections done. In our community it is called pumping.’
Price of beauty: Rajee, who is pictured before she received the cement fillers, turned to the black market procedures because she wanted to feel like a beautiful woman
‘Thank you!’ Rajee was filled with emotion when she hugged Dr. Dubrow after she made her post-surgery debut
Although she knew she wasn’t see a licensed surgeon, she was looking forward to her first appointment with Morris.
‘I was more excited than nervous because I was finally going to be the woman I had always wanted to be,’ she explained.
However, after the injections, she was left with a large boil on her face that kept growing bigger and bigger, and then ‘green pus exploded out of my face and onto the mirror. It was green and yellow and mixed with blood.’
She ended up spending years in solitude as a result of these botched procedures, until Dr. Martin agreed to help her for free in 2012.
Meanwhile, Morris has been accused of leaving women ill and disfigured after injecting them with a mixture of toxic substances at homes across Florida.
In addition to multiple counts of practicing medicine without a license with serious bodily injury, she is also facing a manslaughter charge after one of her ‘patients’ died following surgery.
Moving forward: Rajee told her family and friends that she couldn’t wait to start her new life with her newfound confidence
Taking advantage: Oneal Ron Morris (L) is accused of leaving women ill and disfigured after injecting them with a mixture of toxic substances, including super glue and Fix-A-Flat
During the episode, the doctors also me with Vinny, who wanted to look like the ‘perfect alien’,
After years of being bullied as a child, Vinny began to idolize alien-esque stars such as Jefree Star.
Vinny had previously had a nose job and was unsatisfied with the results, and while the doctors were willing to help him at first, they didn’t realize what they were in for.
‘I want a thicker bridge, I want a thicker right here, I don’t want a hump, I want it just to be flat,’ he told them. ‘And I want my nose to be straight with a smaller tip.’
Vinny noted that he wanted his nose to look ‘unreal-y perfect’, which leaves the doctors at a loss.
Hard to understand: During the episode, the doctors also met with Vinny, who wanted to look like the ‘perfect alien’
Looking for a change: Vinny had previously had a nose job and was unhappy with the results
Saying no: Although they doctors said they could reconstruct his nose to help with his breathing, they refused to ‘deform’ him in the ways that he had asked them too
They examine him and determine that they can reconstruct his nose to help his breathing, but they wouldn’t be able to give him the physical changes that he desired.
‘Deforming your nose, that’s not something that we do,” Dr. Nassif told him.
However, the doctors were able to help Melissa, who called herself the ‘Nip Slip Queen’ because a botched breast reduction left her nipples that were too high on her chest.
Melissa explained that she had always been flat-chested until she developed DD breasts in high school.
After having a breast reduction, her nipples were put too high on her chest, but when she asked the doctor to fix it, he said it couldn’t be done.
Making jokes: Melissa, who also appeared on Tuesday night’s premiere, called herself the ‘Nip Slip Queen’ because of her botched breast reduction
Big problem: After having a breast reduction, Melissa was left with nipples that were so high that they peaked out of her bra
Offering help: Dr. Dubrow told Melissa that he could fix her nipples, but she would need to go up to a C cup, instead of the B cup she had
During her consultation, Melissa’s nipples were showing even while she was wearing a bra. Although it would be difficult to fix, the doctors agreed to take on the case.
However, Dr. Dubrow warned her that in order to get her nipples lowered, he would have to give her a C cup, instead of the B cup she had.
Melissa went along with the surgery, but she broke down in tears during her post-surgery check-in because of how large her breasts were.
Dr. Dubrow assured her that the swelling would go down and her breasts wouldn’t be that large after—and he was right.
After she healed a few weeks later, Melissa was ecstatic about the results and started wearing tops she wasn’t able to wear for the past 15 years.
She even admitted that she now walks around topless all of the time.
