For the first time last year Australians spent more than a billion dollars on cosmetic surgery, up almost twenty per cent.

For victims of botched plastic surgery, the scars run deep.

Mother of five Tracy Lawson was on a ten-year weight loss journey.

• Fantasy island
• Lunchtime lifts
• Botched beauty treatments

The 51-year-old, lost 40 kilograms from lap band surgery, then had a tummy tuck, and both went well. Next on the wish list was an arm and breast lift. To do this, Lawson saved up $10,000.

She then met with Doctor Aru, an experienced plastic and reconstructive surgeon and a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. Lawson felt these were reassuring qualifications.

“He showed me pictures of people that have had brachioplastys and lifts done, and they were great. And I just assumed that's what I would look like as well,” Lawson said.

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“I wanted to wear short sleeve tops, and look good and feel good - that's all I wanted.”

Disfigured and distraught, Lawson's scars aren't straight or symmetrical. Ideally they should be hidden on the inside of her arm, but instead the unsightly scars are on the outside, and very visible.

“It's disgusting, it's horrible, it's ugly and it's hideous. I don't even like looking at it. I don't even like being me,” she said.

Her nipples were surgically repositioned, but they didn't need moving in the first place. They are now above her shoulder-blades, and she's contemplating getting both breasts removed.

“They're no good to me the way they are.”

A medical negligence claim has been made against Doctor Aru, but no amount of compensation can take away Lawson's pain and suffering.

“She's walked out less of a woman then when she walked in,” Shine Lawyer's Sarah Vallance said.

“The devastating reality for Tracy is there's no easy fix available to her now.”

Dr Graham Sellars from the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons says post surgery there shouldn't be any surprises. Doctors are obliged to inform patients of their surgical options, risks and potential side effects.

“They are procedures that need to be performed by experienced people who understand the pitfalls - and there are common pitfalls in both of those procedures,” Dr Sellars said.

“Having surgery shouldn’t be a lucky dip. It’s your body, it’s your choice and it’s your responsibility to make sure you find the best surgeon.”

Dr Sellars recommends surgeons with eight to ten years experience in plastic procedures, preferably off the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons website.

Otherwise he suggests getting a referral from your GP or a friend, but certainly not just a search on the internet.

He also says to ask your surgeon to run you through the risks, have at least two consultations prior to the procedure, and to be shown what a bad result would look like.

Doctor Aru told Lawson to wait for her nipples to drop, but a year later she's still waiting.

Further breast surgery will cost her an estimated $25,000 – that’s more than double the cost of her initial two operations. She's been advised that there’s nothing that can really been done to reverse the scars on her arms.

Lawson will live with the scars and someone else's mistake for the rest of her life.

• Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons - www.plasticsurgery.org.au