BBL revision, lipo revision & fat transfer to face, hands & calves

It was the Colombian doctor who botched me at CQB in Cali, Colombia in Feb 2019. The surgeon gave me lipo 360, BBL with fat added to my hips, breast lift, fat transfer to breasts, and cesarian scar revision in less than 4 hours!!! The CQB surgeon ripped me off too, because I also paid for fat transfer to my face that the person claimed to have done, but never did. I paid $12,000 USD. I thought my shape right after my initial surgery was sexy. But I had a lot of swelling that hid imperfections from the lipo. The surgeon injected too much fat in my hips and injected fat in my upper buttock. I had a shelf. At first it didn't bother me, but after I gained some weight my upper buttock and hips grew the most. It was crazy. My butt looked apple shaped with the widest part being at the top. The risk for something like this increases when injecting too many CCs during a single procedure. Also, I had contour irregularities (waviness and dents) on my abdomen and torso, back, inner and outer thights. After 2 years, I started to have consultations with several revision surgeons. They all told me the real cause of my issues, but Dr. Svehlak was the only one we felt could do the revision surgery because of his experience. The problems were caused by the surgeon in Colombia. In Feb 2023, Dr. Svehlak effectively addressed most of the issues. I will see him in 18 months to complete the rest.
Take Care

I thought my shape right after my initial surgery was sexy. But I had a lot of swelling that hid imperfections from the lipo. The surgeon injected too much fat in my hips and injected fat in my upper buttock. I had a shelf. At first it didn't bother me, but after I gained some weight my upper buttock and hips grew the most. It was crazy. My butt looked apple shaped with the widest part being at the top. The risk for something like this increases when injecting too many CCs during a single procedure.

Initially, I thought my BBL result was great during the first year after surgery, but then I gained weight and it ruined my shape. The body changes with age and life experiences. This is why it's best to have smaller volume fat injections at different stages to get a better sense of how natural body changes affect your results.
I had BBL revision with Dr. Svehlak in Feb. 2023. He also did lipo revision because the original surgeon in Cali, Colombia left me with contour irregularities in several places from over-aggressive liposuction. I couldn't get the full sense of my contour irregularities until all my swelling went away. That was a full year after surgery. Ladies, I recommend having surgery done in in the USA, and not travel to another country no matter how cheap it is or how much experience the doctor seems to have. It’s too risky, and if there are complications that you discover after your swelling goes away, your foreign doctor most likely won’t take responsibility, won’t be honest to tell you they don’t know how to fix it, and will charge you full price or more than your initial procedure. Also, perceptions of beauty can be different in different countries. In Colombia, I asked for a small hip augmentation and fat injection to my middle and lower buttock. But, that’s not what they gave me. For some reason (I guess due to the Colombian doctor’s perception of beauty bigger is better), the doctor injected way too much fat in my hips, none in the lower buttock, and gave me a shelf booty. She did that after I clearly explained what I wanted, and after I showed her wish pics. There was no misunderstanding due to miscommunication. I was born and raised in Cali, Colombia. I have a house there. I know about all the history of plastic surgery there. I speak perfect Spanish with a Caleno (i.e., Cali) dialect. It was a complete disaster. The other crazy thing is how they perform lymphatic drainage message in Cali, Colombia. The massage therapists there re-open the liposuction incisions and they push all the accumulated lymphatic fluid out of the body through the incisions!!!! That was extremely painful. That’s not how lymphatic drainage massage should be done.
Fast forward from the initial surgery in Feb 2019 to my revision surgery with Dr. Svehlak in Feb 2023 – Amazingly, Dr. Svehlak fixed almost everything, and now I only need a small touch up that he'll do in 2024. He corrected mostly all the contour irregularities by breaking up fibrosis (internal scar tissue), adding fat to dents, and spot lipo to high areas. He made my hips smaller and reshaped my butt. He prefers small volume fat transfer at different stages, and he places more emphasis on improving shape instead of increasing size. I had BBL revision, lipo revision, and fat transfer to face, hands, and calves. Right after surgery, I weighed 165 pounds, now three months later I weigh 158 pounds after weight training and doing just 5 LPG endermologie treatments. My butt hasn't shrunk because I'm doing some major weight lifting for my lower body. In fact, my butt is a little bigger with better projection, and the shape is better too.
For those considering to have a BBL. Pay the money to do it right the first time. In the long run, it can be cheaper and you can be happier sooner. Have your surgery done in the US with a highly experienced plastic surgeon that is board certified.
Don’t be fooled by before and after pics. After pics taken before 1 year after surgery are useless since the final result from the lipo and BBL doesn’t appear until after 12 months. If you want a major augmentation, don’t under-estimate surgeons who prefer smaller volume fat injection, such surgeons can still get you to your goal, but they may prefer 2 to 3 rounds. The body changes with age and life experiences. This is why it's best to have smaller volume fat injections at different stages so you can get a better sense of how natural body changes affect your results. Otherwise, after injection of 1000 to 1200 per each cheek during a single procedure, you may need a revision years later.
Also, in foreign countries where there is a big market for cosmetic surgery and medical tourism, plastic surgeons there are under a lot of pressure to find new patients (especially patients who pay with Dollars or Euros) for the following reason:
In those countries, there can be too many plastic surgeons practicing in any given large city. Cali, Colombia alone has over 300 plastic surgeons, and 30 to 40 surgery centers. Each year, a number of new surgeons enter the field and start practicing. This is one of the reasons why surgery is so cheap. The surgeons have to be cost competitive, so they can’t charge too much. The surgery centers there take advantage of these doctors, and treat them like short-term contractors because surgeons that are permanent staff have to compete with surgeons who just rent the surgery facility. This means permanent staff surgeons have to compete to schedule new surgeries, and the permanent staff surgeons have very little leverage for negotiating initial salaries and pay increases. This all affects the quality of the surgery a patient receives and makes the job less rewarding. It hurts the profession. Over-worked, stressed-out, and financially desperate surgeons racing to find the next patient, for who they schedule too little time to complete the surgery (hence poor results); surgeons who are married couples performing surgery on a single patient at the same time, with both getting paid; financially greedy and desperate surgeons who over-promise and mislead patients (especially those paying with Dollars or Euros) by saying they can competently perform several complex procedures in less than 7 hours without assistance from another surgeon, and the patient can fly home in just 7 to 10 days; either poor or no follow-up/after care (not even a telephone call or email message) with the surgeon; and either insufficient or no documentation of post-op recovery protocol that needs to be followed by patients.
These issues would be all in addition to language barriers between the patient and surgeon, and differences in the day-to-day quality of life experiences (e.g., security, amount of traffic, and levels of amenities) between the US and a foreign country like Colombia or the DR. US tourists might not realize these differences exist before arriving to those countries, and they may become very frustrated.