43 and Self Conscious - Chevy Chase, MD

After my last baby 14 years ago, I still looked like I never had a baby. I went on Depo and started to gain weight and lost my hair. Shortly after, I had a tubal, got off birth control, and had my gall bladder removed. That's when my issues started. I think some combination of hormone imbalance, change of metabolism, and no gall bladder, had me looking 7 months pregnant on my best days. People would ask me when I was due and I would reply "14 years ago." I diet and exercise but within two weeks on not fully focusing, my big belly would return. As I turned 40 (the pictures from my birthday party made me want to cry), I was feeling less attractive and after I went on a 90 day challenge at my gym and lost 25 pounds, I decided it was time to take the plunge. I found Realself and was encouraged by the stories and it took the fear out of the procedure and even helped me clarify in my head what my ultimate goals were. I went on several consults and Dr. Khalifeh kept coming up in my searches as a local doctor who provided good results. He offered a free consult.
My first consult with Dr. Khalifeh was wonderful! He has an excellent bedside manner and made me feel beautiful and worthy even though I wasn't happy with the skin I was in. The clinic requires that you put a $50 deposit that is returned on your visit. Dr. Khalifeh encouraged me to get a full tummy tuck as we were both worried about skin laxity but the truth, I was being cheap and didn't want to pay for the anesthesia and surgery facility. I was happy to not have the perfect results you would get with a tummy tuck and opted to simply have a more flatter appearance. Dr. Khalifeh prides himself on being a natural look practice but assured me that he would not do the liposuction only (without the tummy tuck) if he didn't think I would be happy with the results. Because I had seen my stomach go from big to small in a matter of days, I was less worried about the skin laxity. I wasn't ready to purchase at the time and since I was on such a roll with my diet and exercise, I decided to see if I could continue my results and not do surgery.
8 months later, I gained all my belly back and decided I had enough. I went back to Dr. Khalifeh and scheduled the service for the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend. As an aside, I think the beginning of summer is a terrible time to have surgery. You are trying not to drink alcohol so the tissue heals, you can’t really be immersed in water so no swimming. I think you really want to have surgery 3-4 months before swim season. I decided on Friday because I thought I could return to work on Wednesday and only take one day off after the Monday holiday. That would have worked if I worked in an office setting but my job can be physical and I just had the drains removed on Wednesday so that did not work for me although I was not in pain.
About the surgery--my friend who is a physician accompanied me. I was marked up, pictures taken, and took my cocktail for an awake procedure. It did not feel great but it was manageable. At times the sounds of the fat coming out were disquieting but Dr. Khalifeh was listening to 80's music and every once in a while I was distracted by my youth and tried to sing along. The surgery was about 2 ½ hours. I immediately saw a flat belly when I looked down. The assistants outfitted me for my compression garment with those hard compression pads inserted and I was off.
I became nauseous and vomited in the car but I traditionally don't tolerate narcotics well and this probably would not have happened if I didn't take the Percocet for pain, or if I would have taken a phenargan before. Later in the day of the surgery, I went over to a friends house to take pictures of her son going off to prom. I was fine. The day after the surgery and the next, I became more stiff and had some difficulties with getting in and out of the bed and was annoyed by my compression garment and having to remove the onesie like garment every time I had to go to the bathroom. On Monday, I went to a Memorial Day party and sat down the whole time laughing with friends which hurt a little. By Tuesday, I just wanted the drains out. The oozing guck from the drains was irritating but well managed with underpads for the bed and gauze strips. I had much fluid coming from the drains in the first two days, but it was just minimal until the drains were removed on Day 5. The drains would cause some minor irritation as they would catch garments or the bed. The garment did not smell good. I should have bought two and later did.
Dr. Khalifeh was easily assessible by phone. I had a few things come up and he resolved them immediately. At the 5 month mark, when I was ready to take my final photos, I had what appeared to be lumpiness on one side of my belly button. This was actually present before the liposuction and shrunk with the liposuction. It was barely noticeable and I could not decide if it was worth the revision fee that is stated in the contract. Dr. Khalief was about to take the final pictures and also did not immediately notice it, but as he went to take the final photo, he saw it and immediately did the revision without cost to me.
I have very minimal scarring that continues to fade and happy for this instead of the tummy tuck scar although some friends have told me about embrace and scar away which I have used. I really wanted my breasts filled and lifted but even Dr. Khalifeh suggested that with the stomach gone, they don't won't bother me as much and he is right. When they were sitting on my round belly, it seemed much more of an issue. I went from a size 14-16 to a 10-12. I've been sticking to dresses because I feel that I am still reshaping.
I have had difficulties maintaining an exercise routine since May. Two months post surgery, I had swelling that was not tolerable after exercise. In October, I developed a bursitis in my hip which prevented me from properly exercising. Now I'm just lazy. Trying to get back in the swing of things. When I can't exercise properly, I try to focus on my diet.
In January after the surgery, I went to a beach in a two piece. The liposuction has sparked weight loss and my body continues to change since the surgery. I still have weight to lose but am so much more motivated. The only thing now is my double chin and linebacker arms . . .