POSTED UNDER Liposuction Reviews
My lipo journey - not a more confident or happy person than I was before
ORIGINAL POST
My lipo journey
NewYorkGuy80July 4, 2023
$22,000
I wanted to give a very honest review regarding my liposuction journey. I went the most well regarded male plastic surgeon in the country for liposuction to remove my love handles. I was blown away by the before and afters so really wanted to understand for myself what outcomes I could expect.
During the consultation I was explained how the procedures work and we also encouraged to think about removal of some fat in my chest, abdominal etching and grafting to my chest to make my chest appear bigger. I can't say I was talked into it because I made the decision myself but it was an impressive sales pitch.
During the consumption I was told the pain would be minimal, I could be back at work after a few days and the scars would be no bigger than a large freckle.
In the lead up to the surgery the communication was super clear and I followed all the pre surgery preparations required including putting on about 5lbs of fat to ensure the fat graft gad more chance of survival.
The day of surgery came and I brought a friend to take me home after. I went under a general anaesthetic and woke up very hazy which was to be expected. The aftermath was really what caught me by surprise.
The pain is not moderate for the first few days I would say it was pretty intense. I could not do anything for myself. My friend had to bath me. Because I ended up having lipo on my stomach I could not get myself out of bed without incredible pain. I bought a pulley I could attach to my bed to help me get myself upright and I had to really mentally prepare myself every time I did it. I had strong pain killers but it still wasn't enough to not experience the pain.
In addition to that you have these tubes sticking out of you for several weeks for drainage. One in the back and then two in the front. You need to wear an adult diaper to catch all the fluid that drains from your body. The smell can actually be pretty gross even though I bathed regularly. In addition you need to wear this compression vest with a ton of padding. You look like a ridiculous sumo wrestler. You need to wear this for several weeks so if you think you are going to work in a an office after a few days or even a couple of weeks you are mistaken. The compression vest needed to stay on in my case for 4 weeks and then I had to wear it as often as I could, as soon a I got home and definitely at night.
After the two week I got see the result and I was horrified but I was clearly informed it was just swelling. I continued on with the post care treatment as recommended.
After 4 weeks I stared to see if take shape and I was starting to get excited. Some of the abnormalities were starting to resolve but with lipo it can take 6 - 12 months for the results to be final. At the 6 month mark I was generally pretty happy with the result except for a few things:
I had some abdomen contours on my abdomen which made me feel self conscious that people would spot the irregularly.
The incision points where the tubes where located were not healing to a level I was expecting. They were at least a penny in side each and very purple and dark...definitely not a large freckle.
After about a year of regular appointments I finally went back and the doctor agreed to some revision surgery which is common and it was done without a fee. The doctor revised my scars and smoothed out the contours in my lower abdomen.
The results were initially pretty good but the scars still looked pretty big and the lower abdomen still had some divots which are obvious in only some lighting.
Following this I had about 6 laser treatments on the scars from another doctor and the scars have improved greatly but you can still notice them. My divots were bothering me so I got renuva done to fill them in which cost about $6k and only helped about 20%.
All in all the whole survey probably for me about $25k.
Am I happy with my body today, Yes. Would I do it all over again if I knew what it was going to be like and ultimately how I would feel after, no.
I was already very fit and in decent shape. The danger with this surgery as mentally it can make you even more fixated on our body than before.
Everyone has their own journey and ultimately I'm grateful to my doctor for the patience and time spent with me. I like what I see in the mirror but I am definitely not a more confident or happy person than I was before. Just a little poorer.
During the consultation I was explained how the procedures work and we also encouraged to think about removal of some fat in my chest, abdominal etching and grafting to my chest to make my chest appear bigger. I can't say I was talked into it because I made the decision myself but it was an impressive sales pitch.
During the consumption I was told the pain would be minimal, I could be back at work after a few days and the scars would be no bigger than a large freckle.
In the lead up to the surgery the communication was super clear and I followed all the pre surgery preparations required including putting on about 5lbs of fat to ensure the fat graft gad more chance of survival.
The day of surgery came and I brought a friend to take me home after. I went under a general anaesthetic and woke up very hazy which was to be expected. The aftermath was really what caught me by surprise.
The pain is not moderate for the first few days I would say it was pretty intense. I could not do anything for myself. My friend had to bath me. Because I ended up having lipo on my stomach I could not get myself out of bed without incredible pain. I bought a pulley I could attach to my bed to help me get myself upright and I had to really mentally prepare myself every time I did it. I had strong pain killers but it still wasn't enough to not experience the pain.
In addition to that you have these tubes sticking out of you for several weeks for drainage. One in the back and then two in the front. You need to wear an adult diaper to catch all the fluid that drains from your body. The smell can actually be pretty gross even though I bathed regularly. In addition you need to wear this compression vest with a ton of padding. You look like a ridiculous sumo wrestler. You need to wear this for several weeks so if you think you are going to work in a an office after a few days or even a couple of weeks you are mistaken. The compression vest needed to stay on in my case for 4 weeks and then I had to wear it as often as I could, as soon a I got home and definitely at night.
After the two week I got see the result and I was horrified but I was clearly informed it was just swelling. I continued on with the post care treatment as recommended.
After 4 weeks I stared to see if take shape and I was starting to get excited. Some of the abnormalities were starting to resolve but with lipo it can take 6 - 12 months for the results to be final. At the 6 month mark I was generally pretty happy with the result except for a few things:
I had some abdomen contours on my abdomen which made me feel self conscious that people would spot the irregularly.
The incision points where the tubes where located were not healing to a level I was expecting. They were at least a penny in side each and very purple and dark...definitely not a large freckle.
After about a year of regular appointments I finally went back and the doctor agreed to some revision surgery which is common and it was done without a fee. The doctor revised my scars and smoothed out the contours in my lower abdomen.
The results were initially pretty good but the scars still looked pretty big and the lower abdomen still had some divots which are obvious in only some lighting.
Following this I had about 6 laser treatments on the scars from another doctor and the scars have improved greatly but you can still notice them. My divots were bothering me so I got renuva done to fill them in which cost about $6k and only helped about 20%.
All in all the whole survey probably for me about $25k.
Am I happy with my body today, Yes. Would I do it all over again if I knew what it was going to be like and ultimately how I would feel after, no.
I was already very fit and in decent shape. The danger with this surgery as mentally it can make you even more fixated on our body than before.
Everyone has their own journey and ultimately I'm grateful to my doctor for the patience and time spent with me. I like what I see in the mirror but I am definitely not a more confident or happy person than I was before. Just a little poorer.
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