Nose jobs are normally meant to make aesthetic improvements. This was not the case for Vishal Thakkar, however, whose decision to get a nose job, which he admittedly calls a vain decision, cost him his nose years later. The New York man is now suing the cosmetic surgeon, Dr. Angelo Cuzalina, who performed the job in 2006. Soon after he began to have problems with his breathing, and 22 surgeries later, Thakkar now breathes through a small straw.

"There is no way I am going to live like this. It is worse than being dead," Thakkar told local news station Fox 23 News.

Thakkar decided to undergo rhinoplasty, a procedure that surgically alters the bridge or nostrils to reach a patient's cosmetic goals. The surgery is performed for both cosmetic and medical reasons, though in Thakkar's case, after a divorce in 2006, he merely wanted an adjustment. Thakkar is now missing the end of his nose, requiring him to wear a medical mask to cover the gaping hole in his face. It wasn't until Thakkar's sleep and exercise was distrupted by his difficulty to breath that he decided to go back for surgery.

While living in Tusla, Okla., Thakkar continued to see Dr. Cuzalina in order to fix his breathing problem. After undergoing eight surgeries between 2006 and 2007, Thakkar became hopelessly frustrated, but returned again for additional surgeries in 2011.

Before one of his surgeries, Thakkar told Fox 23 News that he told Cuzalina, a nurse, and the office's manager that he did not want any cartilage taken from his ears. When Thakkar awoke, he said he had pain behind his ear.

"I said to the nurses, what part of 'under no circumstances do not touch my ears,' do you not understand?" Thakkar said.

Cuzalina sent an e-mail apology to Thakkar, but during another surgery, when Cuzalina ran out of ear cartilage, he cut into Thakkar's rib cage for cartilage.

"I didn't know it then, but I do not believe he is license for that kind of surgery!"

Cuzalina was not only Thakkar's plastic surgeon, but also the president of the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery. Finally, Cuzalina cut off Thakkar's nose after claiming there was an infection and that a decision had to be made. Thakkar was left unconscious when the life-altering decision was made.

In 2012, Thakkar received a letter from Cuzalina, stating that he would no longer work with him because of "ongoing threats and hassment against my staff, my practice, and me personally." He also went on to claim that Thakkar was "medically unstable." Thakkar later claimed that Cuzalina was recording their conversations without his knowledge, which is in direct violation of the medical confidentiality he is entitled to as a patient.

Cuzalina sought a protective order against Thakkar for harassing his staff, but the order was dismissed. Cuzalina's lawyers have no comment on the current lawsuit that is unfolding between the noseless man and the questionable surgeon.

According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, there are about 150,000 nose jobs performed every year in the United States alone. Some cosmetic surgeries are solely for corrective purposes, typically because the patient has a problem with their breathing or wants to achieve facial symmetry after an accident. However, an overwhelming majority of rhinoplasty surgery is to make adjustments because of dissatisfaction with the look of the nose. Every year, an additional 40,000 nose jobs are performed to fix a previous nose surgery, also known as revision rhinoplasty, according to the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

Thakkar, despite having suffered through almost two dozen surgeries, wishes to return to the operating table, with a new surgeon for a new nose.