6 Days Post-Op - Savannah, GA

To start off I am a white 24 year old single mother of a wonderful 2 year old. I'm 5' 6" and 147 lbs. I have always been teased about having a "flat ass" by my friends, family, and the occasional stranger. I started doing research online about 2 months ago and came across the Brazilian Butt Lift procedure. I made an appointment for a free consultation with Dr. Shanklin just to ask all the basic questions about the procedure and the pricing. The price for the operation is $5,500 ($500 of that is for down payment). That includes everything from anesthesia to the overnight stay. I don't have insurance so I paid out of pocket for the medications and the cost for all of it was about $90. I informed Dr. Shanklin that I do have an office job but I'm able to stand and walk around throughout the day. He said as long as I'm not sitting for extended periods of time I should be able to return work after 1 week. I kept going back and forth about the decision after the meeting mostly because I had mixed feelings about "unnaturally" altering my body and I didn't have much support from my family. As I mulled it over constantly, I finally decided to go for it. I mean, most people go to the gym religiously just to make their body look the way they want it to. So is there really much of a difference? I made another appointment with the Dr. just to have a few more questions answered and express my concerns. He was extremely courteous and gave me all the information I needed. I had my procedure done on Monday, October 15. The night before surgery I was instructed not to eat or drink anything after midnight, which is standard for any scheduled procedure, and to take 1 valium. The next day, I arrived at the surgery center very anxious. I'm so grateful to Dr. Shanklin and all of his staff. Everyone there was so patient and gentle with me. During the pre-op, Dr. noticed my C-section scar (I keloid) and offered to "fix it" at no extra charge. Of course I jumped right on that! I had liposuction from my flanks, back, and abdomen. The first 24 hours was cake; mostly because I stayed over night at the surgery center and the nurses (Julie and Marcia) were absolutely AMAZING! They made sure I was as comfortable as they could possibly make me. My dad picked me up at 6am Tuesday to take me home. My very good friend stayed with me to make sure I was ok. I slept most of the day. I did have some draining that day but not too bad since I drained most of the fluid the night before at the center. By Wednesday the draining pretty much ceased. The most pain I feel now is in the morning when getting out of bed. I have my first post-op appointment with the Dr. on Tuesday then I return to work on Wednesday. I'm still pretty swollen, but that's to be expected. I don't have any pre-op nor post-op photos yet. I'll be asking for copies from the Dr. on Tuesday.