Brazilian Butt Lift: Stories

Hello everyone, I just wanted to put up my initial post here tonight as I just scheduled my surgery for May 31, 2012. I have been lurking this forum for a while now trying to get tips and information. I figured I would put my own review up now so I can get as much advice as possible before my surgery and then give as much advice as possible after!

I started thinking about getting this surgery in the summer of 2010. I am about 5'6" and 130 pounds. I have a nice body but I have always wanted fuller hips and more projection in my butt. Being part Asian, I am been blessed with a flatty lol. Honestly it's not too flat but no matter how much I work out, it won't grow. I can gain weight relatively easy and I plan on gaining 15 pounds for this procedure. I gain weight typically on my midsection so I think I will be a good candidate for fat grafting. I will post some before pictures as soon as I can of me now, and then at 15 pounds heavier (and then of course after my surgery). I would like as much advice from anyone who has had this surgery, specifically by Dr. Markmann and I appreciate any other comments too.

I researched for a very long time and I emailed several doctors and visited countless doctors websites. I decided to go with Dr. Markmann because he consistently captured the look I was going for. I consider him truly an artist. I researched him further just to make sure there was nothing shady about him. Everything came up clean with rave reviews from all of his patients. I talked to him on the phone and he was extremely polite, soft spoken and helpful. He never made me feel like I was inconveniencing him, even when I ran out of questions and just keep saying "ummm ummm" trying to think of some more lol. His staff has been super friendly and very quick to answer my questions. So far I have nothing but great things to say about him.

A lot of people do not choose Dr. Markmann because of his price but I would not sacrifice results for a cheaper price. I have been saving for a long time to get this procedure because it is what I really want. I am doing this for MYSELF and I do not want settle for less! Wish me luck!

Pics coming soon :-)

Hello and Happy New Year! Now that we are officially in 2012 I am can start my countdown ;-) A few days ago, Dr. Markmann's super helpful assistant sent me a package with a lot of information. First, I and anyone else going to Dr. Markmann will need to get a phsyical done 30 days prior to make sure you are healthy enough for surgery. This includes a lot of tests and stuff. If you don't have a family physician, I think they can schedule you at the hospital where you will have your surgery. She also sent me a list of products that aid in recovery, which are:

Protein Powder
Iron Pills
Fiber
Gatorade/powerade/vitamin water
Female urinal
Vitamin A
Vitamin C
B Vitamin
Zinc
Selenium
Biolflavenoids
Arnica Montana
Bromelain

I will be purchasing all of these products plus a few more to make sure I am comfortable afterwards :-) I will be reserving a room in the area for about a week and a half. I live three hours away so I will be getting a ride to and from Dr. Markmann's for any post-op appointments after that. I'm sooooo excited, I know it's 5 months away but I can't believe how fast it is coming up!

I posted some pics of me today and weighed myself at 123 pounds. Last time I weighed myself I was 130 during the summer so I guess I dropped a few (had some medical issues in October which is now totally better). I am going to gain about 15-20 pounds and I want be around 140 for the surgery...at LEAST 135. I'll post more pics when I'm at my ideal weight! Thanks for reading!

Hello again. I've purchased all my surgery vitamins and will be purchasing my protein powder and supplements next month. Question for all the ladies who went with Dr. Markmann or who live in the Baltimore/Ellicott City area: What hotel did you stay at and what are some cheap hotels in that area? If you could hit me up in a message or in a comment, I would really appreciate it.

Also, I would like to request that if you have a problem with my doctor or this procedure please keep it off this page. I have seen a few other reviews that have had unnecessary comments on them. I have saved up over and year and I am very very excited about this so I humbly request if you have anything negative to say please keep it on your own review or in another forum. I'm hope I'm not trying to sound rude I'm just trying to keep positive and keep my review as unbiased as possible, thanks!

One thing I have been doing more of is looking for wish pics because I'm getting more and more exciting as I'm counting down. I put together a photo album of some of the pics I've found so you lovely ladies can check them out if you want to use them too!
Here is the link:

http://imgur.com/a/ICchK#0

(just a heads up, may be some nudity like no underwear and breast exposed if you are easily offended)

I have also started to gain some weight so I will update later with the final weight gain stats. Thanks!

Ok, I am starting to think myself to death here! I need some help. After seeing so many Dr. Salama reviews and before and afters, I am really starting to rethink my choice. Although I love Dr. Markmann's body shapes, I cannot get over how juicy Dr. Salama's bootys are! I have already paid over half of Dr. Markmann's fees, plus I already have over $5,000 set aside for hopsital fees. I could easily pay off a whole booty for Dr. S with one phone call...especially if I got my money back from Dr. Markmann and went with Dr. S. I'm sooooo confused right now I am loosing sleep! I have been saving up since last February for this surgery and now that I'm getting close I'm starting to freak out! Did I make the right decision?! Inbox me or leave a comment, I really need advice! Thanks ladies!

Ok, just a heads up, Dr Salama's office email is contact@EPSmiami.com. I emailed @ESPmiami for some reason....maybe I was trying to telepathically reach him. Anyway, I ended up sending three pictures of myself in my underwear to some film company in Florida. WOW so embarassing,so please be careful if you are going to reach him via email. I emailed it to the right address this time (I hope) and hopefully he will hit me up by the end of the week.

I will update again when I have made my final decision will make sure I keep this up to date in case anyone else is still struggling with their decision. Until then, please feel free to hit me up with some more questions or advice on anything, I really appreciate it, and those who took the time to give me a little insight on my dilemma, THANK YOU! It has really helped a lot.

HELLO EVERYONE! After many hours of deliberation, a decision has been made! I would really like to emphasize this was not an easy decision. Both Dr. Markmann and Dr. Salama are excellent doctors whose work I am very impressed with. I started saving up for this last February, and I was researching doctors since the summer of 2010. I was very impressed with Dr Markmann and although the price was steep, I was sure I could have it all paid off by then. Well, during the time I was saving I was involved in a car accident, had two surgeries, health issues that required emergency care, and other financial obligations. Although I could still pay off the booty, I was beginning to get concerned about it and where my priorities were. In January, I considered calling the whole thing off, because I was getting really stressed out. But my best friend who has been dealing with my journey the whole time said I should really reconsider and perhaps look at other doctors. So I took his advice, and had already known Dr Salama was an awesome doctor thanks to the reviews on RealSelf. So I toyed with the idea, and as I learned more and more about Dr Salama I really started consider it more and more.

I really appreciate all of you ladies that helped me with advice, you seriously helped out with my decision. I thought carefully about what each of you said, whether it was in a comment or in a message. The only two people who know I'm getting this done is my brother (who doesn't really want to hear about my buttcheeks lol) and my best friend who has to listen to me talk about this over and over lol. I'm pretty sure he is tired of hearing it too. So, thank you sooo much ladies! So, I've made my decision and the winner is....

DR. SALAMA! I contacted his office and Ruben was just about to leave out of town. They still showed Dr. S my photos and said that Dr. S was very confident he could hook me up! He said the more weight I gain, the juicer the results! He quoted me at $6499, which includes transportation to and from the airport, 3 massages, 3 garments, a boppy pillow, and some vitamins. I am scheduled for July 12, and that was the very earliest they could get me in. I was a little disappointed it couldn't be earlier, but patience is a virtue and good things come to those that wait, as they say. I am so happy I made the decision to switch,and although I lost some money at Dr. Markmann's office (he keeps 10%), I feel like a huge wieght has lifted off my shoulders. Both doctors are very, very good. I just felt so stressed out with Dr. Markmann because the price is so high. His office and staff is so nice and respectful. Tricia was very understanding and helpful even after I cancelled the surgery. If ANYONE else is going through a decision like this, let me know I would be happy to tell you what to expect as far as getting your money back and everything.

All in all, I am very excited, and I will try to make a new review for Dr Salama since this one is already very long and I want to be able to update it with as much info as possible. Thanks again ladies!

It has been a while since I updated last; I wasn't sure if I was going to update again because of personal reasons but here I am! I decided to update so I can keep track of my own personal progress so I won't be on here as often as others are, but I'll still respond to anyone's questions or comments as soon as I can.

Well, I had my surgery on July 12, I was 160 lbs at the time of surgery, 5'6". I went to Dr. SALAMA, not Dr. Markmann, but the website won't let me change my doctors name. First, let me start by saying that Dr. Salama and his staff were VERY professional and absolutely reachable before and after my surgery. Dr. Salama is a very nice man and answered all of my questions truthfully. He didn't try to give me false hopes and one thing I LOVE about Dr. Salama is that I can text him directly and he will text me back almost immediately. If he is in surgery, he will text back as soon as he can. I never have to wait days for a reply, usually I don't even have to wait hours. He truly cares about each individually patient. His staff always remembered my name even though there are countless women going in and out of there. Jennefer, Ruben, and Celia were the people I talked to the most on his staff and all of them were so helpful and nice. So if you all are reading this, thank you for making my time with you positive! My experience with EPS miami has been great.

Ok, the surgery and recovery are different for everyone. Depending on your age, pain tolerance, and your own body's tolerance to the surgery, you can have a terrible recovery or a tolerable recovery. My recovery was relatively uneventful and I healed fairly quickly with no medical complications. That is not to say, however, I recovered with no pain. The recovery process is very long, frustrating, and sometimes overwhelming. I am not typically a very emotional person yet I truly went through an emotional rollercoaster during this entire process. Those of you who have had the surgery know what I'm talking about, and those of you who have not still understand that hype we build up around this surgery, how we become almost obsessed with it. Even if you don't have a lot of pain, many of you may struggle with questions like "Was this really worth it?" and "Why did I do this to myself?!" To be honest, at 9 weeks I still struggle with these questions. The recovery process is extremely SLOW and it feels like time just stops afterwards, at least it did for me, and I found myself thinking "God, I can't wait til I'm 6 weeks!". I just wanted to be able to feel like ME again, I didn't feel *right*. I've never been depressed before, so I don't really know what it feels like, but this is probably the closest I ever came to it. I wasn't unhappy, but I didn't feel like myself, and I just wanted to hurry up and walk like a normal person! If you have any questions about recovery (up to the first 9 weeks, that's all I can answer lol), feel free to message me or leave a comment.

My results so far I am ultimately not happy with. It has nothing to do with Dr. Salama's skills, I have seen great work from him and he is truly a professional. I just think my body did not recover the way I would have liked. Dr. Salama described the process is kind of like working with play-do, and hoping the end result turns out all right but you can never be completely sure. I received 1200 ccs per check, but now at 9 weeks it is obvious that the fat didn't take well, especially on the left side. I started noticing at two weeks that I had more pain in my left cheek, and it would twitch. I know that sounds weird, but it would just randomly start to shake and twitch on it's own, sometimes pretty forcefully and noticeably. Dr. Salama even prescribed me a muscle relaxer because it was so annoying, it would wake me up out of sleep! Soon after that, I started to noticed that my left cheek was smaller and a different shape than my right cheek. My right cheek also has a high shelf and my left doesn't really have much of a shelf so you can imagine that looks pretty weird. I figured this was just part of the healing process, but it got progressively worse and now, at 9 weeks it is noticeable in and out of clothing. I can't wear leggings or anything cute because it is embarrassing how lopsided my butt is, so I just wear the same huge sweatpants I wore before surgery. My bestie, who came with me for the whole procedure, agrees that my butt does not look right. He said "That doesn't even look like a Salama booty". I know it's not Dr. Salama's fault, he can only put the fat in and hope for the best, my body just didn't take it well. I am 9 weeks, and I have already told Dr. Salama about my issue, but I told him I want to wait until my 3 month mark (when you get your "final shape") to make any plans for a 2nd surgery. I am still going to wait another 3 weeks. but I seriously doubt my butt will change so drastically that it will correct itself by then. But who knows, there could still be some swelling that will go down and make a difference. I am hoping, because I do not want to do this again!

If anyone has had a second surgery and doesn't mind talking to me about their experience, I would really appreciate it if you could message me as I have some questions about it. Thanks.

I respectfully request that no one asks me for pics or to post pics; I realize it is difficult to describe the issue with my butt without pictures but at this time I do not wish to post pictures. Thanks for understanding.

I will try to post again in 3 weeks for my 3 month mark and see what route Dr. Salama wants to take with me at that time. Wish you all the best in your recovery!

Welp, I am three months tomorrow and I am feeling sooooo much physically and mentally. Since my last post, like Night and DAY! I really don't have any pain anymore, just stiffness in my abdomen that I usually just stretch out, and it feels better. The lopesideness is still there but not nearly as bad as it was 3 weeks ago. The weird shelf went down quite a bit, and the right side is not hanging down as low as it did before. Also, it is not really noticeable in clothes anymore. It's only noticable certain clothes but I have been feeling more confident now. Now that I don't have any pain at all, the world is like rainbows and sunshine lol. The constant aches and pains and discomfort can really affect your outlook on life lol. I have contacted Dr. Salama's office and Ruben was really nice and understanding, so is Dr. Salama. I'm still waiting on advice from the office, although I am pretty much set on a round 2, I would like to wait until probably around August. I need to save up my money, and I need to talk myself into it lol. I heard it was easier the second time but ugh...it's like putting your hand on a hot stove and thinking "maybe the second time won't be so bad". haha, well, I hope it's not. But anyway, I'll update later whenever I book round 2. Until then, happy healing.

Well, I have decided to post pictures and I post them either later today or tomorrow. I am, however, disappointed that I requested to NOT be asked for pictures and yet still I got emails and people telling me to post pictures. I find that very disrespectful as I specifically requested not to be asked. Maybe I sound mean or rude, but honestly I'm not posting this for anyone else, I'm posting if for MYSELF and only when I am ready. I'm sorry if that offends you, but this is just a review of me documenting my journey.

I now have a new request, since I will be posting pics soon. I do not appreciate emails bashing Dr. Salama or anything like that. You can have your own personal opinions about him but I will not take part in post-surgery complaining or doctor-hating. I don't keep that kind of negativity around me. So if you wanna hate on Dr. Salama, keep it to yourself.... please, please, please keep it to yourself.

I would appreciate any advice on maintaining a nice round shape after surgery since I will be re-touching and am scheduled for Aug 9th. Thanks.

I finally am posting a picture today, I have had a lot going on and haven't had a chance to keep up with this. Lately, my mood has been up and down. I would really just like to get this lopsided cheek fixed as I'm having some insecurity issues. :-( My surgery is not until August 2013 though, so I am just trying to keep my chin up. I'm sorry if some of my updates sound mean, I'm not trying to attack anyone I'm just trying to get through this like the rest of you. We're all in this together. :-) This pic is not very good but it is the angle as if you are looking down on it so you can see how the cheek is malformed. I don't know what caused it but it's very embarrassing to me. Do you think I am overreacting? I will try to post more angles later. It is not as noticeable when you are directly looking at it instead of an angle, but I wanted to show the difference in volume the best I could with the terrible lighting I am working with.

I don't have any pain, but my stomach is kinda lumpy and my left front hip area is kind of numb. I don't know how to describe it, bus since the surgery I just have less feeling on that side. It's weird, but I don't think it has anything to do with my left cheek being smaller than the right.

Is anyone having surgery around August 9th? Maybe we can get up and try to get a hotel together and help either other. My best friend is coming with me again and I think we will rent a car. Let me know and maybe we can set something up.

Good luck everyone, happy healing

added a different angle. Am I over reacting? Is it very obvious, a little noticeable or not noticeable at all? I just don't know...

Hi guys, here is a 7 months update pic. I have been working out hoping that getting in better shape will help. I don't think the lopsidedness has gone away at all, I'm really hoping Dr. Salama can help me out this August. I'm trying to save up my money now but it's hard as I saved for like 2 years for the first one. Well, just hoping for the best, really not sure if I made this right decision spending so much time and money on this. Sigh...I just don't know.

Best of luck to you ladies, and hope you're all healing well.

Also forgot to add the right side has more projection than the left, which is hard to tell from the pics but it's pretty weird. My roommate calls my "Loppy" its so embarrassing.