GLENN, Mich. -- Two women who say they were liposuction patients of Dr. Bradley Bastow are sharing the red flags they see now, warning others to avoid him.
Dr. Bradley Bastow is under investigating for operating illegally out of a pole barn, allegedly performing liposuction on patients there.
Both patients say they saw Bastow when he operated out of an South Haven office located at 950 Blue Star Memorial Highway. A notice on the door there states Bastow now works out of 6990 114th Ave. in Glenn. A woman dressed in scrubs inside that pole barn told FOX 17 Thursday that Bastow was not in and could not answer questions.
Ganges Township officials say Bastow is operating illegally at that pole barn, which has failed building code inspections three times, including on April 17.
The two patients recalled their experiences to FOX 17 explaining their liposuction procedures caused major health complications and called their experience a "nightmare."
"They left me with the dog in an operating room that wasn’t an operating room, it was a closet," said Mary Rotondo, a 2009 patient of Bastow and health professional. "It was so small and so horrible. It was a nightmare that I just want to let go."
Another woman, a patient of Bastow twice in 2012 who does not want to be named, recalled: "I came to one time and I don’t know if he was working on my stomach or where, but I remember seeing him pushing that thing in there and he’s just got his eyes glued on TV, he’s not even looking where he’s pushing it."
In Spring 2009, Rotondo says she decided to Bastow at his former South Haven office.
"[Bastow] kept on saying, ‘Well, just think Mary, if you die on the table I can save you. I’m a cardiologist,'" recalled Rotondo.
She remembers waking from what she believes was general anesthesia, from what turned out to be a 15-hour-day for liposuction around her knees. Rotondo says she was left alone except for someone's dog in the operating room, and ended up driving herself home afterwards.
"The dog was there, the barking, and I went looking around for them calling, and nobody came in so I laid back down for another hour," said Rotondo. "I was wide awake and I was scared, I didn’t know what to do, my legs were bloody."
In 2012, the second woman tells FOX 17 she saw Bastow twice for "water jet liposuction:" first for liposuction around her chin which she says was simple and without complication; then for her lower back, stomach and arms. Her Spectrum Health paperwork shows just days later she was in the emergency room with blood clots in her lungs and leg.
"I spent almost a week in the hospital and I had two or three transfusions and they thought I was having heart problems," she said.
Both she and Rotondo say they had no pre-procedure evaluations, paid cash as Bastow asked for upfront before their procedures, and wound up hospitalized after seeing Bastow.
"For years, I could not bend my knees properly and I do exercise: yoga, I couldn’t do it," said Rotondo. "I couldn’t work for a long time.”
Both women see the red flags clearly now.
"It was shady, I mean it was scary," said the anonymous patient. "The building itself wasn’t clean looking."
They and their families warn others: stay away from Dr. Bradley Bastow.
"Big red flag, a warning: do not go to him, it is a scary situation," said Rotondo. "He could kill you easily."
Allegan County Sheriff Frank Baker says multiple agencies are investigating Bastow adding he may face criminal charges. Stay with FOX 17 for updates.
