Laser Lipo for Big Boy Chin - Austin, TX

OK, trying again to post immediately after pics....

First submission didn't get my full review, here goes:

Firstly - I wanted to say thank you to all who have posted reviews on this site. I spent many hours reading and re-reading many of them. Having another patient’s perspective is invaluable in making the decision to have a procedure done. I greatly appreciate it, and hope my review helps others in the future.
I developed a double chin shortly after turning 18. Even at a healthy weight, it was always there. Of course, as I gained weight or lost weight, it would 'inflate or deflate' as I liked to say. It always bothered me, not just from an appearance perspective - I'm not a super attractive guy, but my giant double chin certainly didn't help - but also it would literally get in the way of my day to day activities such as reading, shaving. After losing a bit of weight this year (I have more to go), I decided to investigate the procedure.

After a consultation with the Sono Bello office here in Austin, I was ready to go for it. I was certainly nervous and excited for the few weeks I had to wait for the procedure, but the staff and Dr. Crawford eased my concerns and talked me through the risks and their probability.
I had the procedure yesterday morning. I arrived at 9am to the well-appointed and comfortable Sono Bello offices, the friendly staff took my wife and I back to our private pre-op room with a comfy leather recliner. I mention all of this because, to me, was important. Nice facilities with friendly people really help put me at ease, it felt more like a trip to a spa rather than a doctor's office - something to keep in mind when you are choosing where to have your procedure.
So, back to 9AM in pre-op. My nurse reviewed all of my info and the procedure I wanted done, which I personally like (don't want any confusion here, right?). They took my weight, some pictures, had me change into a hospital gown, shorts, and put on some compression socks. Dr. Crawford came in and made some light conversation, which put me at ease, then outlined my chin and neck with a purple sharpie (see pics). I had my prescriptions with me - Xanax, Vicodin, Anti-Nausea med, and antibiotics. To be honest, I was more worried about the meds over the procedure or recovery - I asked what I could expect when these pills 'kicked in' - I was told I'd feel a little drunk...hmm, ok I guess I can deal with that! I popped one of each, then hung out in the room for about 20 minutes while they took effect.
I was taken into the procedure room and laid down on the table. They placed some goggles on me, which I will describe as swimming goggles that had been painted white. I was a little taken back by this, but I think the Xanax quickly said it was all going to be OK. It was GO time!

Dr. Crawford started by numbing a spot under my chin with a needle, much like you'd get done at the dentist. I barely felt it. She then made a small incision, and began injecting the numbing fluid under my skin. As most people have said in other reviews, this feels very weird. No pain whatsoever, but you can feel the doctor pushing through your fat and tissue, and can feel / hear almost a ripping under your skin as the instrument is moved around. I know that might sound scary - it's not - like I said it's just weird. Some mild burning for a second or two as the stuff is sprayed in, no big deal at all. The whole time this was going on Dr. Crawford was explaining each and every step in a calm voice, and even though I couldn't see anything I was comfortable and felt like I knew exactly what was going on the entire time.

Dr. Crawford had told me we would try to do this with only one incision and that she would evaluate that possibility when numbing - basically could she reach everything through one hole. No such luck, so she made another incision behind each of my ear lobes, and did more numbing. All the numbing took about 10-12 minutes I would guess.

At this point my entire chin was numb - yay! Dr. Crawford explained that was the hard part, and I thought to myself 'that was nothing, this is going to be a breeze!’ Next up, the laser to liquefy the fat - that took about 5-7 minutes.
Now for the actual lipo - the machine is loud and vibrates hard (stop with your dirty mind). Probably the only freaky part of the procedure was when the tool was against my jaw bone and it made my entire head vibrate at 1000rpm's or whatever. That was a little crazy, but no pain - was just a little surprised and....shaken up, if you will. Dr. Crawford did several passes in each of the 3 incisions. I felt a bit of stinking or pinching when she got to the very edges of the numbed area, but nothing awful - literally felt like a little kid pinching the edge of my neck. Sucking out 200cc's of neck fat probably took another 10-12 minutes.

And then we were done! Took off my swimming goggles and looked around, was a bit light headed - saw a large pink pool of liquid where my head had been during the procedure. It wasn't unexpected as I felt it running down both sides of my neck (I was advised this would happen) during the procedure. The nurses cleaned me up as best they could, my hair was pretty soaked. Again, no pain at all, was super excited to be done.

They had me sit in a wheelchair and pushed me into a post-op room. They wrapped my head up in the lovely compression bandages and put gauze over my 3 incisions. We received my take home instructions, they told my wife to pull up her car - out the side entrance we went - total time in the office was under 2 hours.
The ride home was fine, although i really didn't feel like talking much - which is odd for me. The Xanax and Vicodin had me pretty looped out, but I was aware of everything and felt fine.

I got home and had some of my wife's fantastic gumbo. I recommend a soupy dish like this after the procedure, because your jaw is still very numb and it is a little difficult to chew things. After lunch, we laid towels out on the bed for leakage (there is a lot, as you have read in other reviews) and I passed out for about 3 hours.
When I woke up, I felt pretty dang good - the Xanax had worn off and I back to normal. My jaw / neck were pretty sore - like having a really bad sore throat. I took some Tylenol (although i had Vicodin, wanted to use the lesser pain reliever first). That took off the edge of the soreness - I basically hung out like it was a normal weekend day, with no real worries at all.

My wife helped me change out my gauze for leakage about every 2 hours that first day. One incision drained alot more than the other two, which is nothing to worry about I'm told. More drainage is good - I wish the other two would have kept up so my body had less to absorb!

I slept great last night with no drugs up until about 4am - woke up very sore (again, like a bad sore throat) - went and found the Tylenol and was back to sleep by 4:30am - no big deal.

I was able to shower this morning and stare in the mirror for a bit without the chin strap - wow, I'm so freakin' happy already - and I know it will go down more. Heck, it could stay like the way it looks today and I'd be thrilled, the possibly of it going down more makes me do a happy dance!

I've set a reminder to update this post in a week and will endeavor to continue to do so over the coming months, hopefully I'll have more positive news to share. As of this moment, I have zero regrets - this was a great decision and I'm so very happy!