Botched’s Starrina was misdiagnosed for years before face was totally reconstructed
Botched by Nature sees doctors Terry Dubrow and Paul Nassif head to Atlanta to meet a patient in need named Starrina. The E! Entertainment star was born with a condition that affected her whole life. But, she was misdiagnosed for years and had surgeries to correct her facial deformity starting at just six years old. […]
Botched by Nature sees doctors Terry Dubrow and Paul Nassif head to Atlanta to meet a patient in need named Starrina. The E! Entertainment star was born with a condition that affected her whole life. But, she was misdiagnosed for years and had surgeries to correct her facial deformity starting at just six years old.
Starrina has the support of her husband, Ronnie, and her mom, Bonnie, during the episode. She and her husband both break down in tears during heartbreaking scenes as the surgery means so much. Thankfully, with the help of an expert in the field the Botched doctors were able to make some improvements to Starrina’s life.
Meet Botched by Nature’s Starrina
When the Botched doctors explain Starrina’s case, they say she’s been living with a “Hemangioma” for many years and was born with the condition.
Dr Nassif says the diagnosis is “weird” and adds “whatever is going on is severely affecting her looks…”
Speaking on the E! Entertainment show, he adds: “A hemangioma is a noncancerous or benign growth that forms from an abnormal collection of blood vessels. They most commonly appear as rubbery, bright red nodules that appear as extra blood vessels in the skin.”
Starrina’s facial deformity
When Dr Nassif and Dr Dubrow arrived at Starrina’s house, she said she “felt excited” about the consultation.
She was hopeful there was a possibility of herself “finally looking normal.”
Her mother explained how the deformity began as a few “small red dots on her gums.”
Starrina’s mom was told by doctors she had “extra tissue in her upper lip” and she began having surgeries at six years old.
She explained she had four surgeries between the ages of six and 12 years old. Starrina said she expected to wake up different after each procedure but “nothing happened.”
The Botched doctors were adamant Starrina was misdiagnosed and later told her it was a “vascular malformation,” upon examination.
Botched star had a two-stage procedure
Dr Nassif explained how Starrina’s treatment would need to be done in two stages.
Step one was “embolization” where foam is injected and “shrinks up the blood vessels.”
He continues: “Then we’ll get you back to Los Angeles quickly and do the second stage which is surgery.”
The “difficult” surgery involved “taking a wedge out of her lower lip,” “making an incision inside her mouth” and “removing scar tissue.”
At the end of her time on the show, Starrina said she felt the surgery gave her a “65 or 70 per cent” improvement in her appearance.
Dr Nassif said: “We took Starrina and we improved her. She’s not perfect, she’s right now in a transition to becoming better.”
Following the procedure, Starrina said she felt it was easier to eat food and she made plans with the doctors to have more surgeries in future to “take her where she needs to be.”
In January 2020, she took to Instagram to share an updated snap of herself captioned: “All natural.”