Looked better pre-lipo - Tustin

Had lipo of inner and outer thighs (not much to remove there just some stubborn small pockets of fat that would not go away with exercise), also did flanks and abs (had a decent amount of fat on flanks and lower abs due to gaining around 22 lbs over the last year).

Height 5'-3"
Weight 2 weeks before lipo 152 lbs
Weight day of lipo 148 lbs
(started dieting 2 weeks pre-lipo and working out, weight started coming off)
Weight post lipo 158lbs
Weight today 144 lbs (2 weeks post lipo)

The procedure was done through water-jet and tumescent lipo, I believe there was a laser at the end to tighten the skin, so it was a combination.

The Doctor did not spend much time with me the day of, she took a whole 60 seconds to mark up my skin but did so more to appease me, I had been asking a lot of questions about exact areas (where they would start and end and if there would be feathering).

The procedure seemed to last forever, it was actually 4 hours. I was awake but very sleepy and I felt nothing for the most part, it wasn't until she got to my outer thighs that I really felt it on one leg only, seemed like she was digging in or something. I was really worried about pain because I have zero tolerance for pain so that part was okay.

Went home and felt nothing that evening, got up every hour to walk for 15 minutes through the night in my compression garment and reston foam with a stomach brace over it, I felt so bandaged I could barely move but I managed.

The pain hit the next day, it was pretty unbearable, I could not lift myself from a sitting or lying position, it felt as if someone was holding a flame to my skin (inner thighs, abs and flanks felt on fire). Went to my post op, took off the garment and cried as everything looked worst than when I went in (in terms of shape), it seemed my inner thighs were disfigured and dented all over with huge dents, ripples all over my stomach. My Doctor assured me I did not look like that on the table and this was normal and reminded I hadn't even been 24 hours post op. I went home, took a xanax and slept.

Day 2 pain was even worst, I had planned on working from home but it was too uncomfortable to sit.

Day 3, pain not getting better and I called in sick. Whoever said you can go back to work in 2 days was a liar (I thought). Either that or something went terribly wrong.

Day 4 starts getting better, I finally remove the garment and the bruising is awful, looked like I was beaten by a gang with steel baseball bats. While the pain was slightly better it was still an 8 on a scale of 1-10. I felt I made a huge mistake.

Day after day I stuck with the garment, massages the reston at night and still wearing the tight brace during the day to work.

Today is 2 weeks post op, the phot I uploaded was 12 days post op (two days ago). I have seen improvements daily, and I know I still am VERY swollen and have a long way to go, but I am relieved my body does not look as horrible as it did the firt day in terms of all of those massive dents on my thighs.

To be honest I can definitely tell my stomach although very swollen still is flatter and it looks as though it will shape well once the swelling subsides.

I can tell absolutely no difference in outer thighs or flanks. Seems to look exactly as they did when I went into the operating room.

My inner thighs looks ok, but when I don't use the foam there are some weird imperfections (I did not previously have), I am hoping this is still due to the healing process.

The pain is very much there, especially on inner thighs, I am about 80% and can function normally but sitting for prolonged periods and walking kills my inner thighs still, feels like the skin is being stretched from inside. Strange and weird feeling. The garment does not bother me as much as other people, it actually feels better when its all sucked in and held together by the garment.

I did not go through all this for nothing, so I will definitely continue the garment and make the sacrifice for as long as it takes. If that means three months to improve results so be it.

I don't have regrets yet, the jury is still out on whether my results will be significant. I hope so, this was not as easy as it had been explained to me (and I asked a lot of questions). Additionally I did not have a bad body to begin with so if this heals in a way that my body is deformed I will be incredibly depressed. But I am still in early stages and I just have to keep reminding myself of that.

Also, I may be a slow healer.

The bruising is almost completely gone, I have religiously taken arnica and bromelain and I know it has made a huge difference. I have some odd lumps and roping in areas that were not suctioned which I'm a bit confused about, hopefully that resolves as well.

All in all I hope this helps anyone considering this, I will post updates as time passes. Sorry I did not have a pic taken before, but not much is different other than stomach.

Updated on 3 February 2013:

Here is the update, I am 3 months and 1 week post lipo, still very swollen (I hope), still very numb and sore. I did go back to the Doctor and had them re-measure me since their measurements were so off at 1 month (from my real measurements). Again, the numbers were different (less than my actual measurement), then I asked to see the measuring tape and compared with mine which I took with me. Their measuring tape had longer/bigger inches therefore the measurements seemed a lot smaller, meaning my circumference would come out a lot smaller than they actually were. My measuring tape was purchased at a sewing store and I have compared to several others, it is accurate - theirs is not. VERY UNETHICAL! I have since lost 15 lbs on my own but still have a ridge on my stomach (right in the middle) as well as a huge deformity on my right thigh, huge indentation you can see from the front, back and sides. I will update with pictures when I get to a month. I did get vela shape (at another clinic), had 8 on my inner thighs, 8 on stomach and 4 on my outer thighs. Nothing has helped with swelling or smoothing. I am still wearing the garment, have actually purchased two sizes smaller. Working out daily and eating clean. I believe Athenix deformed my body.

There's no diet and exercise on the planet that could fix the damage done by Athenix in Irvine. Dr Marguerite Bernett has moved on, I noticed she's a Image Center in Newport Beach (beware folks) there was not one area of lipo that didn't come out terrible and I did a lot (inner/outer thighs). Entire stomach, flanks and bra-line.

Dr Maurice Sherman (I believe was the head surgeon there) was able to fix my right inner thigh that was left by Barnnett with a hole in the middle, he did some fat grafting, I was really careful with it and it luckily stayed put. My flanks are uneven but outside of 1/2 smaller than original, they are still there. Outer thigh, well the doctor went beyond my outer thigh, she removed fat from under my butt (which I didn't ask for, didn't pay for and wasn't needed) the result is a butt that collapsed with a line from the inner thigh to outer (looks like a 80-yr old butt). The stomach still has a ridge / shelf across the middle and it's the one area that makes me want to cry every time I shower, I cannot wear a bikini. The more the swelling went down / the more weight I lost, the more this "shelf" protruded. I'm posting pics taken yesterday, keep in mind I had a baby last year and still have 12lbs to lose from that weight gain which really wasn't much to begin with. I've consulted with a few doctors for a revision and have been told Tummy tuck is my only option, well, with a one year old that is not an option... Have done a lot of research on CoolSculpting and have a couple friends who had the procedure with uneven results, so I don't want to make this stomach look even uglier, currently researching SculptSure. I am not seeking a washboard 6-pack tummy, at this point, I just want some improvement so I don't look deformed. There's a lot of irony in having paid someone a lot of money for an improvement and resulting in deformities.