One Liposuction That Has Gone Terribly Wrong!

by Sherry E
(South Carolina, US)

About Me

I am a 30-year old single girl. I always have to combat with the problem of stubborn fat accumulated around my tummy, thighs and butts which I have resigned to having it with me for life.

However, there's this fierce desire of wanting to get rid of the giggly bumps in my butts, the saddlebags in my thighs and the love handles in my tummy that I finally did liposuction on these 3 areas in 2007, hoping to transform myself into a "new, beautiful me" right under the knife......

How wrong I was! How disappointed I was!

First, I want to say that I don't have a single photo to show because I was so disgusted with the botched job the surgeon did on me that I threw away all the photos. The scarred body was enough vivid proof of his handy work.

Manage Your Expectation

Second, I would say that you really got to manage your expectation in a liposuction surgery.

The actual outcome (or results) you would expect might not measure up to what you had in mind. You'd be crest-fallen; felt cheated even and wanted to hit out at the surgeon. That's amongst many other things I wanted to do to him! That's how angry I was about the whole botched job.

Realistic expectation is important and I had to sink it in me before I could accept the fact that I looked ghastly. The surgery had taught me one thing - that I needed to expect the contour shaping to be in accordance with the shape of my bodyline; the amount of fat removed; the skin elasticity and the healing process plus of course the surgeon's expertise and skillfulness in doing the job.

The Surgeon

I won't want to disclose his name. He came highly recommended by friends; is a board certified plastic surgeon and had all the necessary credentials to back up his practice.

In my case, I would like to think that liposuction in itself is not something that's not good; the only thing I hadn't been careful about was the choice of the surgeon.

I was impressed with his credentials and his touted experience in liposuction surgery and the many photos he showed me on his "satisfied" clients. Now come to think of it, the photos could have been doctored or airbrushed and might not even be his but "outsourced" from somewhere else.

He killed my body and along with it, my beauty. That's the kindest word I could think of to describe my disgusted feeling about him.

Really, girls, if you're bent to go for liposuction, do a thorough research on the surgeon. He/she is the crucial player in the whole works. One slight mistake or misjudgment on his/her part, you could suffer untold miseries that would mar you for life.

My Outcome/Results

How do my butts, thighs and tummy look like today?

You'd never believed this.

I had real bad scar tissue on both butts and thighs. I had many bumps in my tummy and it was so uneven and unnatural that I felt like a rough piece of wood with really uneven surface. My skin also sagged and hanged like crazy.

In short, I looked terrible and had several deformities in my body. And the surgeon had the gumption to tell me that I needed another surgery to cut and lift my skin!

I was devastated, traumatized beyond my limits and crest-fallen was the mildest word I could use to describe my emotional upheavals and torrents.

I cried and cried and cried and protested vehemently to the surgeon but he didn't really have much to say except that he could do another surgery, to try to correct these 3 areas. And I still have to pay for it!

So 1 year later, I went for a correction surgery for the 3 areas. After the correction, my thighs looked less scary; my tummy was less bumpy but still uneven and my butts looked very saggy. Looking at my body in the mirror, I decided to change surgeon.

The next surgeon I went to refused to do the surgery for me, citing that my body was already very traumatized by the effects of surgery and another one would send my body into further shock.

It's my body I'm concerned about so I frantically searched for a surgeon and finally found one who agreed to mend the damage for me but at a very hefty price. Since I don't have the money now, I have to KIV the surgery until I have the money. Meanwhile, I've to make do with a deformed body, I guess.

The Take Away Lesson?

The one absolute thing you've to do if you really want to go for liposuction is this - ask yourself honestly this question: do you really need it?

Do think through thoroughly because one mistake or even a small mishap, you could end up so emotionally scarred that it take years to heal.

Learn to love and accept your body the way it is. Liposuction is really not a permanent solution.

The ironical part of it is that the surgeon would tell you that after the surgery, you still need to exercise and eat healthy in order to keep the fat and the pounds at bay or else you could revert to the old fat you.

Liposuction is not a license for you to eat whatever you fancy and remain slim still.

The next thing is of course carefully and diligently choose and pick your surgeon.

This one person is the "soul" of your liposuction success. If he/she sounds too enthusiastic, too obliging and too eager, your antenna should go up already. It could be a sign that he/she desperately needs some doe to tie him/her over and what he/she claims can do may just be an eyewash and a bluff.

Cecelia's Comment

Sherry, my heart goes out to you for your plight. I sincerely hope this second surgeon is trustworthy and you can rely on him to do a fine repair job.

I also agree with you hands up that choosing the right surgeon (professional, skillful and ethical one) to do the job would be the single most important thing that matters.

Apart from the risks and dangers and complications that associate with liposuction surgery which you need to recognize, I would want to add this: don't do a disservice to your body by surrendering it to "cheapo" sloppy surgeon who couldn't care less about it one way or another.....

Hey, it's your body! If you've decided to go for the surgery, choose and pick one surgeon that you know you can trust and rely on. Your heart will tell you who this surgeon is. Trust me.