Timothy Zelko, DO

I saw Dr Zelko last Friday for Tickle Lipo on my upper and lower abs and flanks. I'm not sure of the results yet because I'm still healing, however, Dr Zelko was so kind and attentive to make sure I was comfortable during the procedure. He also called on Sunday to make sure I was doing ok and left his personal cell phone to call in case I had questions or concerns.

Dr Zelko seems to be a family man and seems to really understand the importance of what he does to help women who've had kids and are looking to gain confidence in how they feel with these changes to their bodies. Maria was the nurse on staff and held my hand almost the whole time. She was so gentle and kind as well. Also, I worked with Brittany to set everything up and she didn't bat an eyelash to my changes in decisions along the way. I'm going back on the 30th for back and neck lipo and I can't wait to see the results. Dr Zelko took 6 lbs of fat and I'm already feeling like a new woman! Thank you so much to Dr Zelko and his entire staff in Milwaukee!

Ok...so I can finally give a review... and I'm very happy with Dr. Zelko tickle lipo procedure...tickle lipo was really worth it for me... my abdomen looks so much better. Unfortunately I wasted thousands of dollars 4 years ago getting water lipo and my tummy didn't look nearly as good as it does now. My only issue with Zelko was I ended up paying an additional fee due to rescheduling...wish I could have used that money towards another procedure...so be mindful of this.

I've disliked my lower abdomen and upper thighs since I was in middle school. No matter how much I worked out, dieted, counted macros etc. it never changed. I even had a 4 pack in my upper abs but a pocket of fat on my lower abs that would budge.

Finally this year I wanted to do something about it. After researching for months I found out about tickle lipo and landed on Dr Zelko page. He and his whole staff are amazing. I had tickle lipo on my lower abs and inner thighs as well as jplasma in both those areas and Bodytite on my armpit fat (cause why not!). He made sure I was comfortable the entire time and so far my healing process has been good. Dr Z is probably the kindest doctor I've ever seen. He really cares about his patients and their experience.

While the procedure was completely pain free I won't lie, the healing was not. But with rest, hydration and listening to my body by day 3 in recovery I'm completely off the prescribed pain meds and feeling so much better.

Honestly I wish I had found Dr. Zelko sooner and would 100% do these procedures over again!

So I have two little ladies, 2, and 4! And they have inspired me to live!
To Give a bit of back story- I was sexually abused by a family member and his friends for years of my childhood. I have complete memories of these men calling me cute and little, and I Think that really had an impact on when and why I started to gain weight. To follow that up in adulthood,I was in a relationship That i didn’t think I would be making it out alive from. I had to figure out how to safely make an exit and get my girls in a happy healthy home! So grateful to say we have lived happily for the last year and a half without him. After two babies, and the abuse I think food was my safe place. I was using it as a crutch. Since leaving him I have lost 65 pounds and been working on my mental health and getting happy and whole again. My girls and I are happy as can be, and I’ve come to a place where I realized that I no longer needed this weight to keep me safe. After losing a good amount, I had some hanging skin that annoys me because I’m a total fashionista as well! I wanna be cute and prance around in cute summer clothes and dresses!
Here’s the kicker. I don’t want a tummy tuck. With the babies and being a single mom, I don’t have the luxury of down time and I really don’t want that scar. Plus- I think thick women are super hot and I wasn’t looking for a rock hard silhouette or perfection. Merely want a big improvement, and better curves!
After tons of research here and online and one terrible consultation that was done out of convenience (I took my girlfriend to Chicago to get a lip lift so I figured while I was waiting) I found a doctor that I was absolutely interested in, who seemed to TRULY care about about what I wanted instead of what he wanted for me. I went to my consultation.
I went interested in renuvion skin tightening and tickle lipo! Basically a makeshift tummy tuck.
Updated on 20 Mar 2019:
Just an idea of what everything was lookin like before my procedure! Nakey ones are better, I think I hide my belly well in clothing. I’m a size 14 if that helps get an idea to compare to yourself too!



Updated on 3 Apr 2019:
Pre apologizing for the wrong order of days ahead, i had no clue what I was doing here and just jumped right on pretending to be a pro.
So! About a week before my procedure I prepared myself by getting my affairs in order- I Figured out where my two kids were gonna be and who could care for them during my hardest times after surgery, did laundry and made sure my most comfy stuff was in reach, bought extra towels in case I was a leaky disaster, bought some cute slip on comfy shoes(one of my Best purchases-you won’t wanna bend over), neosporen, bandaids, medical tape, pads, and a extra cozy zip up hoodie. My sister ordered me some bromelain and arnica for bruising and swelling post procedure. I went grocery shopping and made sure I had tons of water, fruit, veggies and healthy snacks.

My surgery was scheduled for 9 am on Monday the 18th. I picked up my prescriptions on Friday since they’re closed sat/sun and dr. Z wanted me to start my antibiotic on Sunday before my procedure. I opted for anti anxiety meds before had since I’m a spazz in regular life already. I took one antianxiety pill before I left the house and they instructed me to take the other when I arrived. They definitely helped. I felt less bothered by the fact that I was about to be awake for both lipo and renuvion. I wasn’t sure if I should eat or not before hand and honestly I think my nerves wouldn’t let me and I was afraid of having to poop during lipo and feeling like a weirdo lol. (Which didn’t happen) but I’m kinda poopy when I’m nervous so it was a real life concern. Speaking of poop, do yourself a favor and buy stool softeners and start taking them the day of your procedure. You can thank me later!
So! The day of surgery I woke up and took a shower. I wore comfy loose fitting clothes. Drawstring pants a tank and a zip up hoodie- slip on shoes. My doctor told me no lotion. I made sure I shaved my legs and my V Knowing I wouldn’t want to be bending over for the next week. I ate Half of a protein bar and had already been drinking extra water so that my procedure recovery went smooth. I also followed the precautionary measures of not using ibuprofen products the Couple weeks beforehand.
I was more excited than nervous to go in. I was just ready to get the hard part over, and move on to recovering and enjoying my results! The women at dr. Z’s office were incredibly sweet an also excited for me so I was looking forward to seeing everyone and starting my journey. I always had a a good feeling about it and Dr. Z made me feel confident that he could help me achieve the results I wanted.
I arrived about 10 minutes early. I signed my release forms and what not, paid, and they got me rollin right away! I put on the paper panties and bra- which I already told them they need bigger ones for thickem ladies like us, so hopefully when some of yo go they’ll be more comfortable. LOL. I popped my other antianxiety and I waited for DR. Z to mark me up! I then laid on the table where he cleaned off my skin thoroughly and started to give me some numbing shots where he would be making incisions. Shots in your belly and trunk area are not nearly as bad as your arm mouth or boot cheek, FYI, so don’t stress! He then inserted a small cannula and began filling my entire belly back and sides oh liquid anesthesia. I think he used about 5 bags. And it feels WEIRDDDDDD. It stretches you out me makes you look and feel incredibly heavy like you’re wearing a sand filled inner tube. If you end up watching my videos you can see how much bigger I look while he’s doing my procedure because of this.
After this step he began doing the tickle lipo. Some parts were completely painless and I was almost falling asleep and some parts were painful. Dr.Z was continuously talking to me about my comfort level and would give me more anesthesia if anything felt uncomfortable. When it did hurt I reminded myself how bomb it would be later. and yes, it did tickle sometimes. Dr. Z had this way of pinching the skin to feel the underlying fat and sometimes that hurt more than the lipo, if that tells you anything!
After the lipo was finished it was time to do my renuvion skin tightening. He had open a few of my incisions more since that cannula device was larger but I couldn’t really feel it so I didn’t mind. He went in with this and inserted helium under my skin and then some high frequency heat into the cloud of helium -it will tighten the skin and stimulate collagen so I can get a tighter end result. He did this several times in different areas of my lower abdomen and my lower and mid back. The lose skin from weight loss has an opportunity to tighten now which is what I needed. Again, I wanted my best results without a tummy tuck. This want exactly painless. Personally I Think it was because of the blunt end of the device being inserted into my incisions and under my skin but Dr.Z actually told me that the company who makes that machine was I process of changing the shape of that and by the time you go it will be different and tapered so it should feel more comfortable! Yay you! At this point I was probably at about hour 5 of my procedure. Dr. Z was extremely thorough and I appreciated it so much. He took his time and it felt like he was really sculpting me to the best of his abilities and understood what I was going for.
When he was done he glued and taped a couple of my later incisions, cleaned me up, took photos and his assistant helped me put my garment on with pads for leaking. Any anesthesia that was inside me was either going to leak out of the open incisions or my body would naturally get rid of. He gave me after care instructions, and explained what would happen along my journey and set me up to see him in a week. I actually made a video for them after my procedure- but I felt a lot better than I looked. Also- I forgot to tell you one weird detail. In between my lipo and renuvion we took a little break and I walked to pee. Leaked all over on the way but no big deal, and then I had a total mini sob session. I don’t exactly know why! I think my nerves, the drugs, and just the weird experience of seeing 8 lbs of you make an exit in some random bag. I was definitely not sad but a little weepy. I had actually read a couple other girls who said the same thing so I think it’s more common than we talk about, and worth mentioning to you. After all, this was a big deal for me. A year of really making lifestyle changes in every way imaginable and than this icing on the cake to my 65 lb. weight loss. Take that mama belly away, I’ll keep the rest ????
My friend drove me to her house so that I could rest and recover more easily with help for the first day or two and not freak my kids out if I felt horrible. Which at first it wasn’t so bad. I slept a lot the first day, setting alarms for my pain meds so I didn’t feel the pain so much. I was waking up every 45 mins to pee. I think I peed the majority of my anesthesia bc I didn’t actually leak much but I peed A TON. like nine months pregnant kinda peeing. I guess I preferred that so I didn’t have to mess with my garment and wounds as much! Overall same day post op was long!


Updated on 3 Apr 2019:
These are a little hardcore but it’s the reality if you’re doing this! Knowing that the pain will be temporary and completely worth it later makes it much easier to go through! Message me with any questions at all. Choosing a caring and thorough professional is the most important part. It’s not necessarily about the specific procedure as much as the specific doctor. He’s an artist and he cares. Dr. Zelko is truly the best.

Updated on 3 Apr 2019:
I stayed on top of my meds one day post op, drank a lot of water, was extremely sore and weak. You gotta find one comfortable place to lay down and just take a nap. My body was telling me to rest so that’s exactly what I did. I continued to set alarms for myself to walk around and keep moving that lymph but I really wasn’t able to do much.

Updated on 6 Apr 2019:
I planned on showering day two, but it couldn’t really work out. I was in so much pain, even medicated, and I couldn’t seem to bear having the garment off at all. I sat for a while before trying to stand up, and I’m glad I knew I was going to faint before I hit the deck! I slowly laid on the bathroom floor sweating and seeing black. My girl was definitely my savior and helped change bandages and get back in my garment. I slept and rested lot of the day, and continued to set my alarm for meds.

Updated on 6 Apr 2019:


Updated on 6 Apr 2019:
This is when I finally started to feel a little better. Bending was a huge no, totally uncomfortable. This is also when I was dying to take a huge poop. I had been using stool softeners multiple times a day and will nothing... my guts were starting to hurt. I was feeling overwhelmingly bloated and puffy. Getting up and down was definitely the worst part. I made a new best friend-I’ll include in the pic. It was my softest best friend and I literally used it everyday. It felt good pushed against my stomach when I laid down! I bought it for my daughter from Walgreens for Valentine’s Day and I would DEFINITELY Go get you one!

Updated on 8 Apr 2019:
5 days later and things are looking up. It gets easier and easier to move around!

Updated on 8 Apr 2019:


Updated on 1 Oct 2019:
6 months later I’m looking and feeling great! I’ve continued to lose weight and I’m looking forward to improving my body!

Tomorrow I am having upper/lower tickle lipo with Dr. Zelko and I’m so excited! I had chin tickle lipo with bodytite 6 weeks ago and obviously I am happy with that since I’m going back for more! I will update soon!

Had a great experience 6 weeks ago! I was terrified initially - and the next 3 days at home with the compression chin garment were gloomy. But I am really liking the results and I can still feel my chin ‘shrinking’- tightening. Dr. Zelko was patient and monitored my comfort during the entire procedure, even called me from his personal cell phone 2 days later (on a Saturday) to make sure I was ok. Tomorrow I am returning for upper/lower abdominal lipo!

I really can't say enough great things about Dr. Zelko. As a nurse who wants to know EVERYTHING, I researched lipo and cool-sculpting and doctors for almost a year before I made my decision. Like most women, I thought lipo was not an option. I didn't want tell-tale scars, I couldn't afford time off work, and if I had someone drive me there it wouldn't really be a secret, lol. Then I heard about Dr. Zelko.
Dr. Zelko is a former OB-GYN so he knows women's bodies, their insecurities and perceptions. This makes a huge difference when researching doctors. He has an outstanding bedside manner and is a great communicator. He doesn't try to over-sell you, he asks you what your goals are, and tells you what he can realistically do. This is important, he doesn't make false promises. Also, body sculpting is what he does. He literally has done 1000's of these procedures. Nothing beats experience, and with experience brings expertise. Would you rather have a doctor who claims to do 50 procedures well, or one who chooses to only do a few so as to master the art? I chose the artist!
In my case, after getting lots ahs lots of info, I chose tickle lipo. No downtime, work the next day, I drove myself there and home, and the incisions are literally like half with width of your pinky (like invisible). After learning about coolsculpting, and that it removes about 25% of fat in one area and usually requires more than one treatment, it turned out that lipo was the smartest and most economical answer (removing 80% of fat in one treatment). Sort of a no-brainer.
I was skeptical about the process, who wouldn't be? Sounds too good to be true. But everything he said was on point. I drove there, and home....worked the next day and nobody knows my secret. Did it hurt? Nope, no pain. Dr. Z asks you a million times to be sure. Probably every 2 minutes, "are you still okay?" You are awake the entire time, so you chit chat, listen to music, whatever you want. The bed is warm, so you are totally relaxed. I literally almost fell asleep.
Why is it called tickle lipo? This is because the device that sucks out the fat vibrates, so if you are ticklish anywhere (like your sides), it is similar to that feeling of being tickled. I personally thought it felt more like massage, but I'm not really ticklish. In either case, no pain.
You see results immediately. NOT your end results, but right away you can see major changes. You get detailed instructions on after care and what to expect, daily emails, and Dr. Z's cell number if something comes up. I was so well-informed by him and his team that nothing came up.
A few weeks later, I'm feeling great, love the results and I'm still healing. No surprises, everything was exactly as he said it would be. Not only does your body change, but so does your confidence and emotions. I FEEL happier, I smile more. I wish I had done this ten years ago.
I asked Dr. Zelko to be added to a list of his clients as a resource, so if anyone has questions or wants to talk to someone who did this, I'm more than happy to chat. Seriously, don't wait. You will not regret this. Don't spend another moment feeling bad about yourself and wishing there was something you could do. There is!! Go visit Dr. Zelko, let him change your life too!

I have been considering lipo and tummy tuck for years. Today I finally did it and I have to say the experience was not as bad as I imagined. Dr. Z and his staff are amazing. He talks to you throughout the procedure to make sure you are okay. He also explains what is going to take place during each step. Can’t wait to see what the final results will be because I am mpressed with the results so far.

After 6 babies I finally did it today. It took a while for this 53 year old nurse to commit to an elective surgery. Dr.Zelko and his staff were wonderful. I had no pain at all during the procedure. I can already a big improvement in my shape and I left the office! The company st was what I expected. I was able to drive myself home. Hopefully I’ll be at work for the weekend. The tickle actually tickled! I’m so excited!

I had tickle lipo on my tummy, back, and hips. The results are better than I expected. I feel great and have more confidence. Dr. Zelko and his staff us wonderful. The whole experience was easy. The healing process was slow but well worth it. I'm so happy I did it. I would highly recommend Dr. Zelko if you are interested in a similar procedure.