1.5 Years Later - This procedure ruined my face

I had nothing short of a fantastic experience getting the Buccal Fat Removal procedure at Dr. Mesa's office. First and foremost, the results of the surgery were exactly in line with my expectations and desires, a consequence of Dr. Mesa taking the time to thoroughly assess my face and speak with me about what specific areas I was most concerned about. My recommendation to anyone considering getting their buccal fat removed is to do yourself a favor and see a professional (see Dr. Mesa!) who has consistently demonstrated (through a plethora of positive results) unmatched expertise in this procedure. Immediately upon speaking with him I knew that my face was in excellent hands. In addition, he was able to customize my procedure to provide the exact results I was looking for.
Referencing the before-and-after photos, it is evident that a substantial reduction in the roundness and heaviness of my lower face has occurred in the months following the surgery. Dr. Mesa said that he removed ~70% of my buccal fat (somewhat on the aggressive side, which I requested), and concentrated this removal on the posterior (back) part of my face, resulting in a slimming of the external portion of my cheeks and jaw. In addition, I notice that when I speak and make facial expressions there is substantially less fat moving around in my cheeks, another desire that was aptly fulfilled by the procedure.
The surgery itself was relatively painless thanks to the local anesthesia and took ~30 minutes. The swelling lasted only a couple of days and the incisions in my mouth healed over ~2 weeks. I noticed the partial results immediately after the procedure and they were generally visible after 1-2 weeks. It became more difficult to track the changes after this point, but I would subjectively say that my face has continued to thin out over the last few months, just at a significantly slower rate than directly after the operation.
An additional note must also be made regarding the excellence of all of the staff members who work at the practice. Every one of them was kind, considerate, professional, and responsive to any questions and concerns I had before, during, and after the procedure, even going above and beyond to aid me in acquiring a COVID test result within 8 days of the surgery (which I had some difficulties with).

A warning to anyone looking to get buccal fat removal with Dr. Mesa - despite the experience this man has performing this surgery, it has become entirely clear to me that he has absolutely no concept of what it actually does to one's face and will simply agree to do what anyone wants without a second thought. His Youtube channel has videos of him removing **100%** of patient's buccal fat! I can barely even watch these videos due to how horrific the effects of 70% removal on my own face went. I can't imagine the pain and grief they'll soon feel when they realize what they've done to themselves and that the surgeon they chose didn't even consider the long-term consequences of what he's done.

When I told Dr. Mesa I wanted to be slightly aggressive with this procedure, I specifically asked him if he thought my face could handle it and that I didn't want to look overly hollow or aged. I trusted his judgement as a professional and now I'm paying the price for it.

For anyone considering this procedure, please understand that the buccal fat pad goes back behind the masseter/jaw muscle and, when it is pulled out, your face loses an incredible amount of support and becomes baggy. I'm 24 years old and have a giant dent in the center of my face that looks bizarre in almost all lighting scenarios. I have jowling now from the loss of support that the fat used to provide me. There is no reason EVER to remove more than 20-30% of this fat pad, if any. I have anxiety about how poorly I may age into the future and whether I'll ever look or feel like myself again. I'm currently looking into fat grafting options to open the buccal space back up again and try to restore the volume there. Please save yourself and your money from making a horrible mistake and do not get this procedure.

Just wanted to provide a couple more photos to truly highlight the severe consequences of this procedure. You can see from the photos that my entire face has collapsed and I look like I've been abusing methamphetamines. In other words, I still look like I'm in my 20's, but I look like a 20 year old with the cheeks of a 70 year old. Nowadays the only time I look normal without giant dents in my face is when I'm in ideal lighting scenarios (i.e. mirror lighting). The results have gotten more and more severe over time. No one talked about how important the buccal fat pad truly is in the face. The fat pad quite literally holds up and supports all the adjacent tissue, which, considering that the buccal space is in the center of your cheeks, quite literally translates to it holding up practically everything in your face.
I cannot emphasize what I would give to go back in time and stop myself from pursuing this procedure. It has become difficult for me to go outside, focus on my assignments at work, engage with people; all of my previous ambitions in life have become overshadowed by my desire to repair the damage that I've done to my face. I'm only 24 - I should be enjoying my youth and building the foundations for the rest of my life, but instead I'm stuck trying to fix a life-altering problem that I have myself to blame for. I'm adding onto this review with the hope that I can stop even one other person from damaging him/herself. Appreciate yourself and your health before it's too late! I look back at my old photos and only now can I finally see how fortunate and blessed I was. Even if you've put down a deposit and/or scheduled a buccal fat removal surgery with any practitioner, take the financial loss of a few thousand dollars and get out while you can. You will be thanking yourself for the rest of your life.
Also, Dr. Mesa, if by chance you read this review, please consider how dramatic the effects of this procedure be and that the true results (particularly the negative ones) don't necessarily showcase themselves for many months after the surgery. There is never a reason to remove even remotely close to the amount that was removed from my face (70%). You didn't strike me as someone with bad intentions, so I ask you to please strive to be extremely conservative in the future despite what a patient may ask for.