At 39 years old, Loyda Hernandez says she had accomplished her dream of having a large family. But after giving birth to four kids, she was looking to do something for herself.
“Your body never bounces back to what it used to be,” Hernandez said.
That’s how she ended up at Xiluet Plastic Surgery Center in Miami, which she is now suing along with the doctor who performed the operation. Hernandez claims in her suit that a botched operation left her more than half a million dollars in debt for follow-up care -- and emotionally, mentally and physically scarred.
“Everything seemed like, you know, like they were a great place to go,” she said.
In June 2022, Hernandez traveled from her home in Orlando to Xiluet in Miami to undergo a Brazilian butt lift or BBL.
According to a lawsuit she filed against Xiluet, during the electronic intake process, “…she noted several times that she was diabetic,” and was assured “…she was a good candidate for the procedure.”
Hernandez claims Xiluet “did not arrange for a consultation…(with the doctor) until the day of her procedure…” and the day after the surgery she met with a “…physician assistant…” with Xiluet and pointed out “… a large laceration on the left side of her stomach/hip and one on her back that looked like bruises”
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“They said, ‘Oh, that's normal,’” Hernandez said. “I did not see the doctor that morning and I was sent on my way.”
But as weeks passed, she says the wounds filled with liquid and smelled bad, and she had to drive back to Miami to see the doctor.
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“He pretty much drained the fluid out of there and then he told my husband, ‘Oh, if it happens again, so you guys don’t have to drive all the way over here for a four-hour drive, you can just do it yourself, order, you know, order stuff from Amazon,” Loyda said. “It's normal, just drain it out.”
Days later, Loyda says she ended up in an emergency room in Orlando where they immediately began giving her antibiotics.
“It was necrosis at this point,” she said. “I had ten different bacteria…two of them were mortal bacterias that could have killed me.”
Xiluet did not respond to NBC Miami's requests for comment.
The company responded to Hernandez's lawsuit denying any wrongdoing and calling her surgeon an independent contractor.
Hernanez’s attorney Peter Sotolongo pushed back on that claim, saying the clinic advertised with the surgeon as part of their team.
“We have evidence through documentation and some other things…that they held the doctor out to be part of their surgeons,” he said.
A quick search of the internet turned up a Xiluet ad promoting procedures with the same doctor in April of 2022.
“You can now get your BBL for only $4,850 right here at Xiluet plastic surgery with our amazing doctor Tomasz Kosowski,” a woman can be heard saying in the video.
The doctor no longer appears on Xiluet’s website, as of this story's publishing.
Earlier this year, Kosowski was charged in the murder of an attorney in an unrelated case. He’s awaiting trial. His lawyer didn’t reply to inquiries regarding Hernandez’s lawsuit.
As for Xiluet, the Florida Health Department has filed two administrative complaints against the center saying they failed “…to only have licensed physicians perform surgical procedures at the office…” failed “…to utilize surgeons who have transfer agreements or hospital staff privileges for a licensed hospital within reasonable proximity…” failed “…to maintain compliance with physician training requirements…” and have “…an actively licensed anesthesia provider.”
Though the Florida Health Department says the center corrected some of these failures, it is requesting the medical board impose a penalty, including revoking the license of Xiluet and another one of their doctors listed as their designated physician.
As for Hernandez, she says the surgery took an emotional, physical and financial toll on her.
“From being in the hospital for all that time, I have about half a million dollars in medical bills. I lost my job. I lost my car,” she said.
She says she’s also on a slew of medications to deal with depression, anxiety, and panic attacks she’s experienced after the hospitalization. She says she tells her story to warn others of the possible consequences of plastic surgery gone wrong.
