Healing Process

I visited American Lipo Centers in Alexandria, VA and I'm not sure what went wrong. I'm looking to get laser lipo or lipo suction with fat transfer to the buttocks but the main thing i want is the lipo suction to my stomach and the other areas I don't have to have fat transfer.

Upon my arrival, I filled out some paper work went to the back, spoke with the nurse/consultant, looked at some pics and afterwards the doctor came in. I was told that I had a round belly and that he will be unable to get my stomach all the way flat (hhhmmm) and that the fat transfer can be done at their office but they don't advertise it. The doctor was good and I was happy that he was honest about not getting my stomach all the way flat. Not sure if I liked this because having is flat stomach is the main thing that I want. On the other hand the doctor that did my consultation can't do my procedure because he doesn't specialize in fat transfer but they do have a doctor that does it. Cool.

I get dressed the nurse/consultant comes back in and asks me about my deposit, WHAT!!! I thought the doctor just said that he doesn't do the surgery and someone else would have to do it so won't I need to see/meet/research him first? I kept my cool and went into her office and she gave me the cost of the surgery $3200 for lipo, $1500 for the fat transfer, $250 for the room and a $50 charge for the garment. Then asked me for my credit card, uuurrrggghhhh for a $550 deposit and I March 11 procedure date.

Me: Let me think about it and speak with my daughter.
Nurse: If you pay not I will take off the $250 for the room
Me: OK but I still want to think about and talk with my daughter
Nurse: If you don't pay today I can't give you the $250 off
Me: OK, let me make a few phone calls and I'll call in before you leave at 5pm to make the deposit
Nurse: Nah see I want to swipe the card rather than punch the numbers because the fee is higher when you punch the numbers.
Me: Blank Stare, Side Eye, grabbing my purse, walking out - OK let me step out and make a few calls
Nurse: OK there is a cafeteria on the 1st floor that you can get coffee but I have other people to see.
Me. Walks past the nurse while she is talking, out the door, in my car and leaves.
GIRL BYE, because you are clearly working for your commission.

If it were up to me, seeing the doctor alone I probably would have used them because I love the downtime for Tumescent lipo after the surgery and the cost $5000 lipo and fat transfer versus $8000(Bella) or $3200 lipo versus $6500(Bella). The downside to this is that my stomach will not be as flat as I would like it to be, I won't meet the doctor that would be doing the surgery until the day of the surgery and $5000 of $3200 is too much to not get what I really want.

I am 99.9% sure that I will be going to Dr. H. Araya in Washington DC. I visited his office last Thursday and really liked him. He was straight to the point, honest and no games. I wanted liposuction and a fat transfer to the buttocks and he told me, "NO, I don't want to take your money". I was surprised at that but happy. He advised me that the cells will not live once you sit down and you will loose the big booty within six months. He stated that it will look good in the beginning but within six months it will be gone.

OK, so I am going to go with the lipo suction only... lower abs, love handles, sides and flanks. I need to ask about the upper abs (I'll follow up on what he says). I'm planning on going in the first week of May and will try to post a few pics soon.

May 8, 2015 My procedure was done on May 4th, sorry I don't have any pics up yet but I'll add all of them when I can take the post op pics of my results. The actual procedure was rough, it hurt like heck oddly it wasn't the liposuction that hurt it was the numbing medication that burns when it goes in. When my stomach was done I didn't feel any pain during lipo but I did when my sides and flanks were being done. I highly suggest that you be put to sleep during this procedure but like myself I didn't want to be put to sleep and this is one of the main reasons I selected this doctor. I can't say that after the surgery I was in any pain, it's just very uncomfortable and I stayed on the ibuprofen so when I started feeling uncomfortable I would take a pill and I'd be good. I'm not saying that this was easy its just that I wasn't in pain. After the surgery and recovery is also rough, I had a few friends come over and help me. The drainage is unbelievable but as long as you know that the leakage is mostly the solution coming back out and not all blood you will be fine. I did have a problem with being unable to stop draining but on my follow up visit the doctor noticed that there was a piece of tissue that didn't come out (real small) he removed it put the tape on the correct way and I stopped draining. Now I started to swell and OMG this is crucial. It started during the middle of the night with my garment on, I woke up and some how maneuvered that thing off and went back to sleep lol. I'm still beyond swollen and the healing part is hard because you can feel the inside of your body coming back together. I'll try to add pics by Sunday. Was it worth it. Absolutely!!!! Would I do it again! YES but I would have been put to sleep. Having the pain during the surgery and healing afterwards is frustrating. Results. I saw results on day 1 and couldn't believe it. lol Overall I'm extremely happy with my results.