Hands down the BEST surgeon EVER!!

Not sure why this didn’t post in my original post, but:
*****Please DO NOT ask me about price. Each patient is different in their needs and requests, so pricing varies. You can contact his office directly at 301-468-5991 and they will be happy to set you up for a consultation with the Magic Man himself! *****

I forgot to include in my original post that I did have the auto augmentation with my lower body lift as well as a little fat transfer to the buttocks. I feel the auto augmentation really helped with projection and I’m very pleased with my results!
Also, the original post only let me put in 10 photos so I am adding more here. I didn’t caption any of them like I wanted to because every time I go to edit the caption it cropped my photos way down. So I apologize that there aren’t any captions!

I am currently 9 weeks out from a lower body lift and a breast lift with augmentation. And I don't even know where to begin to tell you just how amazing this man is!
I suppose I'll start from the beginning and brief you on my journey leading up to plastics.....
I'm currently 42 years old. My weight has been up and down my whole adult life after giving birth to 2 children by the age of 20. I ended up losing 80 pounds in 2014, and I was just 20 pounds away from my goal. I started noticing a significant amount of loose skin so I checked into skin tightening procedures. I went away from my consultation extremely disheartened. The doctor told me that he could very well take my money, but his skin tightening procedures would not help me. He said that what I needed was a full blown tummy tuck...... uhhhhhhh..... excuse me???? ....... What? ......What is THAT??? ..... I mean, I know it's well known NOW, but you have to remember I'm from the era of pre-internet and no cell phones. ( I was pretty cool though because I had a translucent turquoise pager ;) ) What's he talking about with this plastic surgery? Isn't that just for porn stars and movie stars? I literally had NO CLUE!
Hence I started my research of what all was entailed in tummy tucks and breast lifts and all that stuff. I mean, who knew the internet was filled with such educational material as well as amazing people (like me *winky face*) that are willing to share their stories and their journeys?!?
Anywho, I was excited to say the least and so I began my search of doctors. I mean, a tummy tuck and breast lift are MAJOR surgeries and VERY expensive! If I'm going to go down this path, I HAVE to find the absolute BEST of the very best! I love my body and I want good, positive things for it, so my list of criteria to meet was LONG! From specific safety concerns (of utmost importance) to aesthetics, and from inconspicuous incisions to really cute, natural belly buttons, I had my research cut out for me if I was going to find someone to check all my boxes!
Fast forward to 2016 and I landed myself in a bad car accident with a horrible neck injury. Unable to kickbox and workout and along with all the medication I was on, I ended up gaining 68 pounds in less than a year. It destroyed my metabolism and no matter how much I walked and ate right, I wasn't losing the weight.
After more extensive research and following a major neck surgery, I decided at the age of 40 I was no longer willing to put my health aside and I decided I was going to go ahead with the gastric sleeve. Best decision EVER! (Until I met Dr. Michaels of course). I went on to lose a total of 89 pounds and I finally reached my original weight goal to be able to start pursuing plastics........again......
After 4 yers of research and several consultations, I grew somewhat inpatient because I was so uncomfortable in my own skin. My loose skin held me back from so much that I felt WORSE after my weightloss than I did before it! I felt my skin jiggle and hang and rub against the insides of my clothing in everything I did! Exercise was so uncomfortable and loathes never fit right nor were they flattering. I was miserable and I couldn't even enjoy intimacy with my husband because I was so self conscious of the hanging, sagging skin.
One of my consultations was with a surgeon out of Houston (BTW-I live in Las Vegas...and in case you're wondering, I'm not a prostitute nor a stripper *another winky face*) So I flew to Houston and I met this doctor and she seemed amazing and I really liked her. I really wanted to have my virtual consultation with Dr. Michaels before I decided, but that was still 2 more months out and I was miserably growing impatient! So I put a $2,000 deposit down to have an extended tummy tuck and a breast lift with augmentation as well as lipo 360, and I booked my surgery with her for July 2019.
Fast forward 2 months to my virtual consultation with Dr. Michaels and I knew in my gut that THIS guy was the absolute diamond in the rough, the certified real McCoy (you youngens will have to Google that reference ;) )
So I ended up losing my $2,000 deposit and canceled my other surgery and I instead booked with Dr. Michaels for a lower body lift and a breast lift with augmentation. I do need to mention that ALL the doctors from the other consultations I had all told me that I needed a regular tummy tuck but they would do an extended tummy tuck since I requested it, and they all turned me down for a full lower body lift saying I didn't need that. Oh I definitely needed it and I'm SO thankful Dr. Michaels gave it to me! You'll see in my photos my freaking amazing results and you'll understand why I needed it!
So I traveled from Las Vegas to Baltimore, MD 2 days prior to surgery and stayed a full 12 days post surgery in an air bnb. You'll definitely want a companion with you to care for you at least for the first week following a lower body lift. Even in all my infinite research, NOTHING prepared me for just how hard the recovery was going to be!!!
My recovery has been a bit more difficult than most because I've suffered some complications that have to do with things like adverse reactions to medications, wearing compression that, for me, improperly distributed my swelling, and also I choked on and aspirated the tiniest particle of chicken that caused me to go into a raging coughing fit for 10 minutes just 3 days post op. I proceeded to vomit and dry heave for the next 45 minutes from the sheer, intense pain of it all and in the process, I ended up pulling or straining my stomach muscles. (Which is an intensely painful and long recovery). Regardless of my multiple complications, absolutely NONE of them had anything to do with Dr. Michaels! He's literally been a SAINT and helped see me through my entire healing process from across the country! He's addressed and responded personally to every concern and question as well as all my little victories along the way. He's never once made me feel like a burden and has always been genuinely concerned for my healing and recovery. And ALL from across the entire country!!! I literally don't know how he keeps up but he does and he's a freaking rock star!
He's absolutely the very best ALL the way around and he does a lot of post weightloss as well as those that didn't necessarily lose weight but just want to bring their beauty to the surface with contouring procedures. His hands have magical powers and his eyes are blessed with attention for details that a lot of surgeons overlook or skimp on. (Like cute little belly buttons). And his heart is made of pure gold. I also want to mention that he has a killer sense of humor and will make you laugh A LOT! He is literally the WHOLE package! He truly cares deeply for each patient and treats everyone as if they are his only patient. :)
Sorry for the novel but I hope my long journey brings hope to those that are suffering in silence the way I was and I want you to know that with persistency and resilience, you can achieve your heart's desires! And Dr. Michaels has certainly made my quality of life go up about a thousand notches! I no longer feel like a prisoner trapped in a body full of loose skin and I just feel free to go ahead and live life to the absolute fullest now!!!
THANK YOU DR. JOSEPH MICHAELS