Part 2 - Corrective Liposuction with BBL: Fat Transfer to Dents, Hips, Buttocks, and Gluteal Fold. - Dr. Mendieta Miami, FL

So sorry you're also sick! I've never heard of Elderberry syrup, I'll have to see if I can order some on Amazon.com because I can't bring myself to go to the store right now... it sounds like a grueling journey for me as weak as I am, lol. Good that you're trying to replenish your good bacteria. I'm also taking 3 kinds of probiotics right now. I've read that it can take YEARS for the levels of good bacteria to stabilize after one course of antibiotics...

You might try musinex to help get you over your cough.

The Gaia herbs one tastes the best but expensive. That is a good idea 3 different kinds. Which ones? I should try that too. I hope you feel better soon!

Thanks. :)

I'll order both the musinex and Gaia herbs, thanks ladies! As far as probiotics go, I also go for the more expensive brands as they're not worth taking if they don't survive digestion. I'm taking Naturenetics brand probiotic, Align B. Infantis, and Enzymatic Therapy Acidophilus Pearls. I figure I need all the help I can get right now!

Yes, I am sooo happy to be home with my puppy loves, I missed them so much! Cannot wait to get back to some physical exercise, but I'm going to take it super easy for a while. I'm contemplating a stroll with the doggies later today as I feel a bit stronger than yesterday, but we'll see. This flu couldn't have come at a worse time! I think if I had to travel after surgery again I'd bring a surgical mask to wear on the plane. Who cares if you look like a paranoid freak right, lol? That recirculated air is just full of germs and I agree with zombie, that the immune system seems to be compromised after surgery.

Lol! I can see the logic in the mask! At least you got the flu after your surgery and not on the way there. But I'm with you guys, surgery does hammer our immunity. Add air travel into the mix, plus your hemispheres winter and you have prime conditions for getting sick. Yea definitely take it easy for the first few months! Gentle walking is a great way to ease yourself into it and allow that magical 3 month number to roll around when the grafts have taken.

There is apparently also a widespread flu outbreak going on at the moment, but you're right, better now than pre-op! You're going to have such long flights back and forth if you end up having surgery here in the US... break out the mask baby and make your husband wear one too!

Oh that flu outbreak wouldn't help either! Yes it's a loooong flight from Aus to the US! If I could fly direct it would be 20 hours but it's usually a stopover in Asia somewhere, so that adds time- and germs for that matter. I guess if you're still feeling groggy and crap after the surgery too, then the mask might also serve as a deterrent from people talking to you on the plane :-)

Yes, I do believe that a mask carries a distinct "don't bother me" vibe! I may have to adopt this for regular flights ;)

Nice of you to worry!

Thanks Afnav! I should clarify that I do still have some non-narcotic pain meds like Ibuprofin, but am out of Percocet, which for me, is the only one that really relieves this body pain and helps me to sleep and stay in bed.I agree that doctors should not be stingy with the pain meds after such a major surgery. They hand these things out like candy to any junkie with a craving, yet after a major surgery they're not made readily available to legitimate patients; seems incredibly ironic to me. I literally had to fight with the nurse for a re-fill FIVE DAYS POST OP when I was in pure physical hell. If I'd known I would have to deal with this after surgery, I would've gone where the junkies go beforehand and stocked up on the meds, lol. It never occurred to me as I only take pain meds when I'm in pain- go figure. I stood my ground, and Dr. Mendieta was nice about it, but his nurse has a personality made for the OR. The only patients she should have contact with are those that are passed out cold. Oh well, this is almost over and I am very happy with my results which is the most important thing at the end of the day!

Yes, it's supposed to improve skin tone and quality which improves the appearance of cellulite. I actually had some Endermologie treatments at a medi-spa a long time ago, and it did improve my cellulite, but I didn't have much to improve at the time as I was still in my early 20s. With lipo it's important to break up the hard tissue that forms to get the smoothest, most even results possible, and Endermologie seems to be the go to treatment. I ordered this thing last night so excited to give it a try!

I second that!!! Merry Christmas Seattle!!

Merry Christmas to both of you! Thanks so much for that, you're very sweet! 1 more day of movie marathons, and then I get to go home tomorrow, yay!

Merry ASSmas and Happy New REAR! ENJOY!!!!

lol, Merry Assmas to you too!

I hope to have a Merry Assmas soon.

You will, I know it!

Thanks. You're very kind. Happy healing and hope you have safe trip home!

Ugh! Why can't they let us edit our posts?!I noticed I misspelled merry and I couldn't fix it...darn! Anyway, are you feeling well enough to travel tomorrow. I bet you are anxious to go home. Hopefully you don't have to go back to work right away. Well, I want to wish you safe flight back. I wanted to also say comfortable, but that's probably wishing for too much...just kidding! But, do take all the happy meds you are allowed to take. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of this journey. I know you still have healing to go through, but I think the toughest part is out of the way. Now you just sit-no, don't do that!-relax and enjoy having your beautiful figure back. Lots of hugs!!

Thanks, happy holidays to you too!

I've been meaning to ask you.... what type of correction did Dr M perform on your gluteal fold?

Thanks curvaceous quest, I think he does the best hip shaping and lipo hands down, but doesn't do the over the top gigantic butts, which is fine by me, because that's not really what I was after. I had tons of irregularities on my stomach before and they're GONE. My stomach feel like cement right now, so swollen it's as hard as a rock, but when it softens up a bit I'm going to try to take some pics in the glare of the sunlight to show how smooth it came out. I am sooo happy :)

Callsmebabydoll: He only used fat on my gluteal fold. I know he does butt lifts, but I wasn't ready to think about that until I tried to first have it corrected with fat. The problem was created by removing that shelf of fat in the banana roll area, so it made sense to me to first try to re-volumize it before any type of lift which would leave a scar. I obviously still have a gluteal fold, but so far I think it's definitely improved. My butt is looking much perkier but it's my hips that I love the most!

Hell yes! He seemed to fill in all the right places!

He is obviously a VERY skilled Surgeon. I am so excited watching your page. I am going to see him for a consult. I think I'm 3/4 of the way of where I want to be and I feel like he would be the one to be able to fix my dents. Not all surgeons would even attempt to address the banana roll area.

Yes, fat grafting to that area is very tricky, but it can make quite a difference if done well. The only other surgeon that I've seen do a good job with grafting fat to the over suctioned banana roll is Dr. Sydney Coleman. I was considering him for a while before I finally decided on Dr. Mendieta. There is a realself review of a woman who had her gluteal fold horribly botched and Dr. Coleman was able to greatly improve it for her. I know you don't have that problem but here is the link for anyone interested: http://www.realself.com/review/marietta-ga-liposuction-bad-lipo-result His practice focuses on primary/revision lipo/fat grafting so I think he is really good at correcting irregularities, but I personally don't think that he has the eye for shaping that Mendieta has. To me, many of Mendieta's transformations are truly spectacular. I consulted with him in person and saw some photos of patients who had similar problems with the gluteal fold who he was able to improve, so I really wanted to try that before doing anything more invasive like a lift. Large scars scare me. I agree that your primary surgery did bring you quite a ways from your starting point, so though it is quite devastating to have ended up with those dents, thankfully all is not lost. You just need someone to bring you to the finish line!

Finish line it is ! :)

I actually contacted Dr Sydney Coleman's office by email and they responded after like 2-3 months later.

Hi callsmebabydoll. How much weight have you gained or were asked to gain thus far?

Really? Wow I guess I got lucky. They contacted me back within 2 weeks. When did you email curvaceousquest?

Hi caterpillar777. I emailed Dr Coleman in late Aug/early Sept. The very tardy response and mixed reviews make me a bit wary.

They responded to my fairly quickly as well, I think within a week or two, but yes, he does have some frightening reviews. His reputation with other doctors is very stellar, but he has made some of his patients very unhappy. It's basically impossible to find a doctor without a few negative reviews if he has a lot of them, but I always look to see what the actual complaint is. To me, the nature of the complaints with Dr. Coleman seem very serious, there are many people that claim that he disfigured their faces with fat grafts. Again this leads me to believe that he may be technically good, but without an artistic eye, and you absolutely cannot teach someone that. Still, for filling in irregularities or correction of an overly suctioned banana roll, I think he's one of the best options.

I guess the 4L limit for lipo in Florida did not effect you even after the 22 lb weight gain? He took enough fat out for sculpting? It's really a delicate balance of removing just enough fat during lipo and leaving behind just enough fat, w/o causing distortion of the donor site and causing skin laxity, that gives beautiful results and, ofcourse the grafting has to be done extremely very meticulously.

It certainly would make life easy for me to get it done in NYC since that's where I reside. I consulted Dr Shulman and he referred me to Mendieta. I tried to stay in NYC for my Reconstructive Sx for convenience. Believe me!

I wanted to gain as much as I possibly could, even though I knew he couldn't remove all 22 pounds. Liposuctioning a really lean body is more risky as far as irregularities go, and of course that 22 pounds is going to be spread out, so I wanted some good, localized pockets of fat. When he was marking me up he was all excited about my armpit and back fat, lol. If you tend to gain really evenly, then you may need to gain more, because, you're right, the last thing you want is to solve one problem and create another. He ended up doing Vaser on me. He said he doesn't know until he gets in there which type of lipo he'll do, as he needs to see the quality of the fat and the amount of scar tissue. Vaser supposedly has some skin tightening qualities, and so far my skin is very taut, but I am also still extremely swollen. I wouldn't worry about the weight gain giving you loose skin if it's only there for a short period of time. I also took EXCELLENT care of my skin throughout this entire period. I dry brushed it to stimulate circulation and improve exfoliation, and slathered it in lotion twice a day. I use Nivea Skin Firming lotion with Q10 during the day, and cocoa butter at night. I also wanted to stay local if possible, and for my first attempt at fat grafts to fill in the dents, I had it done by a Seattle surgeon. He didn't do me any harm and was very conservative with his liposuction, but the grafts just didn't take. These Miami BBL docs have been doing this the longest and they do it day in and day out which is what you want. In NYC I think you'd be hard pressed to find a doctor (other than Coleman) whose whole practice is focused on fat transfer/lipo!

I forgot to post that I also asked Dr. Mendieta yesterday if I need to stay heavier for a period of time in order to keep the grafts. There was a lot of talk about this. He said that if I go back to my regular clean diet, as long as I get enough protein and nutrients, I shouldn't compromise the grafts if I lose weight. Apparently he did a BBL on his wife, who is slender, and she had to gain quite a bit for the surgery. She went back to her original size shortly after but retained her new shape, losing weight everywhere, not just in the grafted areas.

You were incredibly lean to begin with and looked so perfect prior to liposuction. I agree I don't want to undergo a serious procedure just for the sake of convenience of location. Too risky! I don't think I may have enough fat left afterwards to do a revision since I'm already too lean at 5'3", 130-132 lbs. I was concerned abt more skin laxity and stretch marks on my torso, since that's where the fat will be harvested, to graft to the banana roll area, gluteal crease, and lateral buttocks/saddle bag area. That's what Dr Daniel Markmann of Baltimore said to me. He has been doing BBLs for about 15 yrs. He said since I have no support for my butt, due to loss of the ligament due to aggressive lipo under the butt, weight gain will cause further ptosis of the buttocks, my chief complaint. He recommended a butt tuck procedure, where an incision is made in the groin, extended along the entire length of the crease and then extended all the way out to the lateral thigh for skin laxity there as well. Not something I'm interested in. At first, w/o examination, he scolded me for weighing too much for my height (5'3", 130-132 lbs) based on the paper work/forms I completed, but upon disrobing and examination, he told me I was very small and had very little body fat for fat transfer and anyone who offers me fat grafting as an option, at this current weight, is only in it for the money, for fat grafting will do nothing for me. Too much skin and too little filler. I didn't have much of an opportunity to speak, explain to him abt my uphill battle to try to gain weight, or discuss my goals with him, fr he didn't really encourage it. He was very honest overall. Not the things I wanted to hear. I was a bit disappointed after the consult bc getting the travel was very stressful, but it is what it is.

Yes, body composition is more important than height and weight. After the weight gain I was 5'4" 137, but had lots of fat on my frame at that height and weight. Sounds like you probably have more lean muscle, which of course, weighs more than fat so at 5'3" 132 you might still not have enough fat to get a good result. I got a lot of very dismal opinions from plastic surgeons as well, but like I said in my PM, surgeons are basing their advice on what they know to be possible based on their own skills and past results, and some surgeons are simply better at this than others. Most have huge egos, so they tend to have this attitude like "If I can't do it, then it's not possible", lol. The butt tuck procedure you described would also have me running for the hills!

Great! That's just great news! My set point range for my weight is like 122-126 lbs. What is your normal weight set point? That's where you'll end up most likely. I was told most Pts don't like gaining weight bc it goes to their arms, legs, face and they must maintain the heavier weight bc they may lose the fat graft and what's the point of making the fat cells larger just to have them get smaller again. Let us know how much fat was required to graft the crease and the banana roll area?

You LOOK AMAZING Girl. Cali.....please make sure you read all the mendieta reviews. Because he is not perfect. Seatlle, this is not to undermine you or your results, because you look so damn good. I telling our girl to be prepared. I would hate to see you travel to Miami stay there for one month only to be disappointed.

Yes, even Dr Shulman referred me to Dr Mendieta for a butt tuck procedure bc I was very lean when I saw him-124 lbs. I trained seriously as a bodybuilder for a number of years bc I was so pissed off at the results of the botched lipo. I decided to put on as much muscle mass as possible, esp in the posterior chain to fill out the disgusting saggy skin. It did absolutely nothing for me. I just got tired!!! I've been a bit frustrated, disappointed, and down bc of what's been suggested thus far. But, I'm still not going to give up. I'm so happy you've posted your story and feel extremely encouraged. I'm really excited for you! I wish you a speedy recovery and lots of happiness! What an incredible way to start off the New Year!

My normal weight is 110-115. I'd never been above 120 before and had dieted myself down to an unsustainable and scrawny 105 when I was young and stupid. I did gain some in my face and arms but mostly for me it was back and lateral chest wall. You just won't know until you do it. He did lipo my arms a little. My face doesn't look too bad at the higher weight but I definitely prefer my face at my normal weight and I am certainly not throwing away my entire wardrobe which I would need to do if I stayed this weight. I do plan on going down to at least 120 so we'll see if I will maintain my new shape in a smaller package as Mendieta says I will, or lose my grafts like some of these other surgeons seem to think. I am not going to go on a diet, and will refrain from heavy exercise for the next 2 months. I'm just going to go back to clean eating and will eat maybe a little more than normal as I really don't want to stress my body in any way. I haven't weighed myself since the surgery but will post my weight when I get home. I emailed Dr. M about how much fat was removed and injected so I'll post that info when I hear back from him (probably not until next week bc I think they're closed for the rest of the week).

Justenhanced: No worries! Yes, I read some of the negative reviews as well, and you're right, no surgeon is perfect! Every one of us needs to look at all of our options and weigh the pros and cons because there will be both for every surgeon. The choice is very personal and it's not one that should be too heavily influenced by anyone but yourself!

Hi CurvaceousQuest. I gained aprox 23 lbs. I was not asked to gain any weight , although I knew I had to. I am glad I did because there would have been no way to obtain the amount of fat I needed for my But grafts. I still have not lost any weight since my surgery in August. It's a mental thing. I am almost 100 percent sure that when I loose the 20 lbs, most of my But graft will be gone as well. I will loose it because I don't want to be unhealthy. Not sure when because now I need my fat in order to correct the issues I currently have.

Thanks JE. I am mentally prepared to have a revision but physically I cannot so that to my body at this time. It will have to wait so I will have to research hard. Overall, I am good with how my body looks at this time , although I definitely will get those dents fixed. Im still waiting to see if my Left but cheek will go down a bit to match the right . it's bizzare. You can see from my post 2nd injections , they were perfectly symmetrical. Everything was. So I want to give my body enough time for any future changes . It's only been 4 months , so a revision is probably at least a year away for me.