Dr. Terry Dubrow has revealed that a former Botched patient he treated nearly a decade ago still sends him grateful messages, calling her case one of his biggest successes.
Rajee Narinesingh, 59, a transgender activist and actress, underwent a black-market procedure in 2005 at a so-called “plumping party” where an unlicensed provider injected her face with illegal substances. Dr. Dubrow, 66, recounted the case earlier this month on Paul C. Brunson’s We Need To Talk podcast, explaining that the substance was “plumbing material, caulking material, literal concrete from a hardware store as filler.”
“After about four months, the immune system started to overreact and form a foreign body reaction called granulomas,” Dr. Dubrow told Brunson. “She developed these huge masses made out of concrete and inflammatory tissue all over her face. And no plastic surgeon would take her on.”
The resulting disfigurement left Narinesingh with “huge, golf ball-size nodules” across her temple, top lip, chin, and jawline. She previously told Truly that she felt like “a monster” and a “sideshow circus clown.” Nearly a dozen surgeons rejected her for treatment before she approached Dr. Dubrow and his colleague Dr. Paul Nassif.
Dr. Dubrow initially turned her down as well, calling her a “cautionary tale” for others considering cheap procedures from unlicensed practitioners. He explained the extreme risk: “[The concrete] goes from the upper portions of the skin, where the blood supply is, all the way down to the bone. So it’s encompassing the muscle, the soft tissue, the bloody supply of the skin, the nerves.”
The potential complications were severe. “To remove it, you have to remove these entire concrete blocks and you’re going to have giant holes…and its all going to die around there,” he continued. “In addition, it’s quiet now, but if you go in and operate on it there’s the great potential that you are going to over activate, or reactivate, the immune system and it will become a massive, inflammatory infected mass.”
What changed his mind was an off-camera moment. “She said to me on my way out off camera, ‘I can’t even go to a CVS or to a drugstore, kids see me and immediately either scream or point. I don’t go to restaurants, I don’t go to stores, I go nowhere’,” Dr. Dubrow recalled. “I felt so bad for her, so I had an epiphany at 4am that I thought would allow me to fix her.”
His breakthrough idea was partial rather than complete removal. “I thought, I’ll get an orthopedic saw, lift up the skin and saw out the central two thirds, collapsing these masses,” he said. “And even though you might feel [the concrete], you can’t see it.” He tested the approach first on her chin under local anesthesia, confirming her immune system would not overreact, then proceeded to operate on her entire face.
The results transformed her life. “Even three weeks ago, she sent me a text, and this was 9 years ago, saying: ‘I just want you to know how grateful I still am for you’,” Dr. Dubrow shared. “So this is one of my biggest successes. Suddenly, she can join the real world, be a participating human being.”
During the podcast, Brunson surprised Dr. Dubrow with a voice note from Narinesingh herself. “The work that you are doing is extremely transformative and I know that you have touched so many people’s lives in wonderful uplifting ways, including my life,” she told him. “Because of you, I have so much more confidence to do what I do in this world. Oh my goodness, Dr. Dubrow I just want to say from the bottom of my heart, thank you again. Thank you for being such a blessing to my life. On that note, you keep shining bright.”
The emotional message moved Dr. Dubrow to tears as Brunson praised his “life-changing” work.
Since her Botched appearance, Narinesingh has built a public platform sharing her story on Anderson Cooper 360, Dr. Phil, and The Doctors. She has also pursued acting in films and developed a career as a musician, maintaining an active presence on social media where she continues to document her journey.