Breast fat transfer with Vaser Lipo to upper & lower tummy & flanks

Long post ahead - pre-booking to 18 days post-op.

Was weighing up between the fat transfer with cosmos and implants with Dr Liew (around the same price), and ultimately decided on the transfer due to a family history of lymphoma. I didn’t want a massive increase in size anyway, just enough to fill out a bra you know? Anyway I was swayed by the cosmos IG, their patients looked fabulous and while I’m not fat by any means a flatter stomach would be a bonus. The Sydney clinic has two locations, one at Double Bay, and one at Randwick (which is where the surgery takes place). Consults and post op care can be at either clinic.Dr Fascetti is the only Dr at the Sydney clinic to do breast fat transfer. Booked the first consultation via email on Oct 6 for the next available day which was Nov 22. Nov 22 Consultation: Agreed to lipo to upper tummy, lower tummy and flanks. ½ to 1 cup increase in breast. The Dr advised that a bit of weight gain (5kg) would be good but not necessary as I didn’t have a lot of abdominal fat. I was happy to oblige as I needed to quit vaping nicotine at least a month before the procedure and knew I’d put on weight. We discussed breast fat transfer, medical history, risks etc. Not much was discussed about the lipo though. The Dr said the procedure would be about 2 hours.I was advised to get a blood test and breast ultrasound before the procedure. Right after the consult I booked the surgery date with reception, the next available was March 23. Prior to that would be the garment fitting and pre-op photos, one month before surgery on Feb 23.I got the blood test and ultrasound within the next couple of weeks, no dramas. Jan 7: First day without by precious nicotine. Withdrawals for the first 5 days are the absolute worst. I don’t think I slept the first couple of nights. I didn’t have to quit so soon (4 weeks is the recommended minimum) but I had run out of vaping hardware and mixing juice so it seemed like a good time to stop. That was hard but I didn’t want to risk the surgery complications from nicotine and I sure as [RS bleep] don’t want to take it up again just to go through withdrawals again. I don’t want to vape when I’m old lol. I tried replacing the vape with gum, sugar free candy etc but was still managing to pack on a bit of weight.Feb 2: Had a small freak out about not discussing the lipo enough in the consult. It kept playing over in my head, one of my friends was a nurse for a plastic surgeon who said sometimes doctors get lazy and basically stop lipo when their arms get tired even though there’s fat left. We didn’t discuss lipo expectations in the consult at all so I was pretty worried he’d take just enough fat for my breast and get lazy with the lipo (of course he didn’t but if I’m paying thousands I need that reassurance because I only want to do this once. [RS bleep] second surgery). So I emailed, they booked me in for another consult for March 9. But I thought look, the Doctor is just gonna tell me that everything will be fine, the clinic is pretty far away and I’d have to take half a day off work. So I called the clinic, they reassured me that if I needed a second surgery because I had too much fat the doctor would have told me. And that there would be plenty of time to remove the fat (cos I was scared they’d run out of time with the lipo, 2 hours didn’t seem long enough for 3 areas and fat transfer). Anyway, I felt better about it and cancelled that second appointment.Feb 23: Garment fitting. Had a couple of nurses (one was training) take my measurements for the post-op garments, go through the post op care information (nappies, iodine, gauze, puppy pads, pre and post op meds, etc) and what to expect on the day of surgery. Had preop photos for both abdomen/flank areas and a separate set of photos for the breasts. You do not know what time the procedure will take place until the day before surgery, the only info I had prior was that it would be sometime early morning. The first lymphatic drainage massage is the day after surgery. Unfortunately you do not know when or at what location your massages are (there are 4 complimentary massages within 2 weeks of the procedure) until the surgery is complete, the massage appointments will be listed in your post-op info pack. Because I live pretty far away I booked a hotel near the surgery for the night before the procedure and the night of the procedure so we didn’t have to drive so much between appointments. My sis was looking after me for those two nightss. I also bought a kneeling ergonomic chair because I realized the couch would be difficult to maneuver, I work from home and sit on the couch with my laptop. The kneeling chair would be more comfortable as there was less of an angle at my hip when sitting down (see post op bandage photos, the chair is in the background). I have problems with constipation at the best of times and painkillers would exacerbate this so I bought dried lentils as I read they were good for constipation. The pre-op info also advised to purchase a certain type of gentle laxative (which I didn’t end up needing as the lentils worked a treat).I stopped taking the contraceptive pill to reduce the risk of blood clots (as directed). I start taking bromelain and arnica tablets two weeks before the procedure (as directed)I got the call the day before the procedure that I needed to be at the clinic at 11.30 for the surgery. So I didn’t really need the hotel room the night before, but it was nice cos I could catch up with my sis over dinner and not rush around in the morning.Mar 23 Surgery – got to the clinic at 11.30, greeted by a nurse with my prescriptions with instructions for my sister. They would call her when the pick up time was known. I was shown into the back area which was like a mini hospital wing with separating curtains, reception desk, and surgery rooms. I changed, signed a consent form with a nurse who put a cannula in my hand. The blessed doctor came in and he asked if I gained weight (you betcha), I showed him a couple of photos of his previous patient for my expectations, he said he would take out as much fat as possible (maybe word got back him about my freak out, I don’t know). He was very calm and relaxed, we talked about his little newborn bebe. He then marked up my stomach, flanks and breast. A few more minutes wait, then the room was ready (this was probably 30 mins after I arrived). I short video was taken (neck down) outside the theatre for IG, I lay on the table, there were about 5+ around me in scrubs, photos we taken, then the last thing I remember was lying on my side (they were doing flanks first) and the doctor injecting something into the cannula and suddenly I waking up on my back getting wheeled out of the room.I was pretty groggy but awake and one or two of the nurses came in to put my compression garment and binder on. I sat happily in my little room on my phone, listening to another patient get a massage (she described a burning sensation and started crying ?), Dr Fascetti came in to check on me, as did another doctor from the clinic. Dr Fascetti reminded me not to wear any tight bras and said I could unhook the support bra to keep the pressure off. Then the nurses made me pee, which is when I discovered my shorts were crotchless :D, and said I could leave at 5.30. My sister later said they called her at 4pm to let her know what time she could get me. I calculated the procedure must have taken at least 3 hours cos I definitely didn’t doze off or lose track of time after they wheeled me out.My sister picked me up, with a nappy and long tie up knitted jacket. They went through post op care (first time showering, when to take meds, etc) with my sister. When I was ready to leave the nurses helped me into the nappy – I recommend definitely bring a nappy or make sure you can wear one before you leave the hospital because I was leaking everywhere. Then I walked back to the hotel with my sis. Painkillers and local anesthetic were still going so it was fine.I knew I had to eat something as I hadn’t eaten since dinner the night before. They told my sis only soup and crackers but I bought some congee and my sis gave me some pho broth cos I was starving. But didn’t end up eating much.The painkillers started wearing off around 9pm, I took some Panadein Forte and had a small existential crisis, regretting everything and just wanting to go home to my boyfriend and tell him I had made a terrible mistake and he was right (he was against surgery but was supportive). I told my sister but yeah [RS bleep]  too late now isn’t it? Anyway the meds kicked in and I fell asleep.Mar 24 (1 day post op) – The massage was first thing in the morning at the Double Bay clinic. They told my sis I should take painkillers beforehand. The therapist was lovely, the stomach massage was fine, but the flanks were absolute murder, I spurted blood all over the wall and felt like I was going to faint so she stopped the massage and gave me a piece of candyFinally got home, I wasn’t hungry but I really needed to eat I was weak so I made really quick lentil dhal with poached chicken breast. I’ve been eating lentils with every meal ever since (2 weeks post-op) because they seem to be immune to the constipating effects of painkillers. Obviously didn’t do much that day except sit around a feel uncomfortable.Mar 25 (2 day post op) – My shower was at 1pm (48 hours post op). You can see in the photos how bloody my binder is. My garments are the compression garment (knee to under-boob body suit with hole in crotch), a separate support bra which I’ve only done up to two bottom hooks, the white binder, and a plastic board that slides in under the binder. And a nappy. There was a lot of fluid coming out. Pain wise I didn’t feel anything around the drains or incisions, it was more from the binder crushing me, and the bra was also cutting in under my boobs. The boobs were very swollen but not that sore unless moved or pressure applied but it was manageable. The most uncomfortable thing was the binder and the bra band.I had drains either side of my crotch and at my belly button, incisions on the side of the hips and around the back at the flanks, and dissolvable stitches under the breasts and at the nipples. The incisions at my left hip and crotch drain started to hurt as I was moving around, I think they were catching and rubbing against the compression garment (that’s what the burning sensation the other lady was talking about) so I put gauze over them during the day, continuously replacing with dry gauze, and removed the gauze at night (the clinic ok’d it).So for about two weeks my routine was:Remove garments and binder, wash with disinfectant and leave to dry[RS bleep] , massage myself with moisturiser and showerDab iodine on wounds, apply arnica cream on bruising/discolorationEat while waiting for garment to dry (took longer than the 1 hour time limit).Before putting on garment, reapply iodine and apply baby power to itchy placesMar 28 (5 days post op) - Second massage, I forgot to take painkillers so it hurt like hell. At this point I’m not wearing the bra, I’ve got it on at the massage but not hooked up. I explained it was digging into my ribcage and was too uncomfortable (restricting my breathing uncomfortable) and the therapist made some cuts in the bra band, which definitely helped. From then on kept the bra on with two bottom hooks hooked up. Mobility slowly returning and still plenty of fluids coming out.Mar 30 (7 days post op) – Third massage, this time I remembered painkillers, lucky I had someone to drive me to this apt because I felt pretty darn feel sick on the way home. Either way it is a bit unsafe driving as the plastic board restricts mobility and you can’t really move much anyway. Still a lot of fluids coming out. Feet are insanely swollen (see photo) – I think because I returned to WFH and started sitting for long periods again, the fluids were pooling in my feet. You can see in the 8 days post op photos the bruising to my breasts. They don’t look that big and the swelling is reducing, but if I put them in my hand I can defs feel the difference.Apr 2 (10 days post op) – Decided to drive myself to the last massage, removing the plastic board for the drive. That means no painkillers. A head nurse removed my drains. All the incision sites pretty much stopped leaking that day. Started wearing underwear the next day.Apr 5 (13 days post op) – I noticed indentations in my back, possibly from the binder stitching digging in (see photo). I considered buying another binder with vertical metal boning in the back, like a corset, but eh, there’s only 1 week left full time with the binder and the weird pocket of fat in my lower back seems to go away after a shower and massage. It’s not hard like the other lumps, which I’m concerned about cos the massage I have to do to myself is pretty painful and doesn’t seem to make that much of a difference (or the lumps come back). Good thing they do go away on their own eventually and its not completely dependent on the massage working (I had to look that up but yes the hard lumps will eventually go away on their own).Apr 6 (14 days post op) – See photos. Like I said, my breasts don’t look huge and have shrunk even more but in my hands they feel like, you know, actual breasts compared to before. The most uncomfortable thing is the binder, I’m wrapping it as tight as possible and trying to keep the back taut but obviously cant do that unless I stand all day. I’ve positioned it a bit lower around my torso and that seems to have stop the squishing indentations from the elastic but after a few minutes of moving around, or sleeping on my back they come back anyway. My knees also hurt from this kneeling chair and this [RS bleep]  bra hurts my shoulders now lol. Feet swelling has definitely reduced if not gone, I need to move more than I am but with work its really hard to remember to get up every hour. Can’t wait to stop wearing this binder and start my pill again! I’m massaging twice a day now, once in the morning after no 2 cos I have to take the garment off anyway, and once in the evening before shower and eat. I found that eating while the garment was off was so much more relaxing so I timed to wash it then eat & shower. The lumps look horrendous when first taking the garment off but smooth over a lot after massage and shower. April 10 (18 days post op) – 4 days left of full time binder then 3 weeks of part time (12 hour/day) binder. I cheated and took everything off yesterday (binder, compression garment) when I went to a baby shower. The binder was making me feel sick and I had a weird headache/migraine/nasal pain from the night before and I just wanted to go out and see my friends and enjoy it instead of feeling sick and restricted. So yeah I took it off I cheated and I don’t regret it one bit. The bit of back fat roll I was worried about seems to be lessening, my torso is less horrible bruised but more yellow bruised in areas that weren’t bruised before because of my intense massaging. I know the lumps eventually go away on their own but I read if left alone there’s a chance they can develop into something more so I’m happy massaging that stuff even if it’s a bit painful at first. I found the stretching they told me to do (side bend with arm overhead) really helps, or feels good at least, to loosen the tissue up before massaging flanks.Things I didn’t realize, despite reading up on the procedure as much as I could1. If you get constipated lentils help, a cooked 1/3 cup with your meal keeps things going2. Sleeping on your back for 8 hours is insanely uncomfortable. When you wake up the blood has pooled in your back basically and abs and back hurt from essentially being flexed/arched by the binder all night, being unable to slouch or bend forward. You will not want to sleep in. Lucky I’m a back sleeper otherwise this would have been even worse.3. Nappies were awesome. I drained so much, again lucky because that meant my swelling reduced quicker, without the nappies I would have had to change clothes multiple times a day. Have some nappies ready for at least the first few days.4. It will be uncomfortable and your mobility is severely restricted for a while. Yes, vaser lipo is not as invasive as other surgeries but the binder, my god the binder, is so uncomfortable plus the plastic thing – my boyfriend had to keep feeding the dog the first few days because I couldn’t pick her bowl up from the floor. Have someone to help or at least check in at your home the first week.5. Prepare everything a month before hand (disinfectant, wound care, meds, even food). Your doctor should tell you well in advance the meds you need, there might be shipping delays or whatever so get it organized6. Walk around as much as possible. I had 4 days off before returning to my desk job and was moving around a lot in that time. You’ll be uncomfortable anyway so it’s best to keep switching positions.7. Garments take forever to dry if you don’t have a dryer. I wrapped mine up in a towel before wringing and this helped a lot before putting over a fan. Don’t sweat it if it’s been over 1 hour and you can’t put it on because it's still damp.Would I do it again? I am extremely pleased with the results, they didn’t disfigure me, my breasts are natural, my stomach is flat. On the flip side: After surgery, even before when I had paid everything and it was past the point of getting a refund, I was thinking do I need this? Am I that unhappy with my breasts? What’s all this for?. Look, my breasts had always been a sore point for me, I thought about and researched getting implants for YEARS, had gone to an implant consultation a couple of years prior, so it wasn’t a fleeting insecurity because suddenly social media was throwing large breasts in my face and I felt weird about it. I’d always felt insecure since I dunno puberty probably. I thought, and decided I was never getting implants because of the link to the rare lymphoma. It was a small risk but if I got implants and developed cancer later on it would have been a kick to my mum’s face and the treatment she had to go through. I couldn’t live with myself if the small chance of that thing happening actually happened. So this was my only chance to finally move past my breasts. Or I could have gotten over it and worn padded bras lol. Back to the question would I do it again? Put my body at risk to transfer a piddling 200 mL of fat from one part of my body to another? Hindsights 20-20. You know what? Probably not. I’m not unhappy, I’m thrilled with the results. But it was uncomfortable (and continues to be uncomfortable [RS bleep]  binder) and I had no idea what kind of trauma it really is going under the knife. But here we are and I’m grateful I love the results.Hope this was helpful for anyone considering this procedure, or this clinic. Will post a follow up photo after the 6 month mark. xx

2 month post op - I am posting a photo update and a summary of what has happened since my review... At 6 weeks Cosmos did a follow up appointment where they took photos and removed the dissolvable stitch still clinging to my nipple (they only dissolve when wet so the outside knot survived). There is another follow up booked at 3 months which tbh I might cancel because it's a pain to get to and all they do is take photos. There might be a 6 month one anyway. As of today, looking at how much my body has changed, it feels like its been a lot longer than 2 months. The numbness is mostly gone except for a couple of palm sized patches on my flanks which are partially numb and still slightly tender to massage. It was my flank area immediately post op that had the most numbness, my stomach not so much. I'd say around the time I stopped the binder (6 weeks) was when the numbness reduced, but it was replaced with very strong skin sensitivity. It felt like I had very bad sunburn and bruising whenever the slightest amount of pressure was applied, even jeans were a bit rough. That's mostly gone away now, there are some patches that feel a bit weird when I apply pressure, and sometimes I get a sudden prickly heat feeling, but it is not painful or uncomfortable. I am also posting photos of the deepest scars, at the drains on my crotch, and the darkest one on my left hip. The hip incision was particularly painful while healing, not sure if it's dark because it was so exposed during healing, or because the surgeon made it larger to begin with. I have been using a silicone based scar balm since around 4 weeks post op when they were completely no scab. A bit pricey but we'll see what happens, supposed to give results in 3 months. You can kind of see some hyper pigmentation around my ribs on the side under my armpits. I dont remember scratching those parts all that much so they must be from the compression garments, which made hard red indentations in those areas. The hard lumps under my skin are gone. Wasn't paying attention to when they went away cos it got real tiring stressing about it. When I stopped massaging at 6 weeks it was like well, if the lumps stay sucks to be me. I don't wanna keep massaging and feel my lumps and stress... if they go away they go away I can't control it. It turned out all ok... I think the results speak for themselves. I couldn't have achieved this with diet and exercise (not with a full time job). My breast aren't large, they're not even medium, but the overall proportions are so much better. I like what I see in the mirror. Compared to not just my mental state when I looked in the mirror before (breasts small and deflated, soft stomach, spare tire) but also the length of time, the years, that I had that internal monologue... The surgery has been good value in terms of the 180 my brain did, I'll say that. Which is still different to would I do it again. I think I still have my doubts. Otherwise its given me a completely new confidence mentally and physically.

What I wanted to say in the update below was, after years of looking in the mirror and finding fault in my body, I can now look and consider it perfect (for me). Not a single criticism against what it is now. It is probably the best outcome I could hope for. If something were to change physically, I would never go under the knife for cosmetic reasons again, but I am grateful the procedure gave me confidence I had never experienced before.