40YearOld Woman-AqualipoonUpper/lowerAbs, LoveHandles, BraRoll, Inner/outerThighs, BananaRoll W/FatTransfertoButt. Nashville, TN

I had been thinking about doing some type of liposuction for awhile and finally got the courage to go have some referrals. I looked at aqualipo and laser lipo. I had a couple of reasons of reasons that I didn't go with the laser option. First was, I didn't like that the fat wasn't sucked out. I wasn't sure exactly what happens to it after it was melted and the other reason was from a time commitment. The doctor told me that I should come 3 times a week for 4 weeks, and that was to only treat my mid section. To do my thighs, I would have to commit to another 3 times/week for several weeks. I just didn't have that amount of time to commit to it.

I liked the aqua lipo because it is less invasive than the old school lipo. Minimal bruising and downtime. I decided to have aqua lipo on my upper/lower abs, flanks, bra roll, inner/outer thighs and banana roll. Then will also have fat transferred to smooth out the indention/lump that I have on the inner portion of both butt cheeks.

The doctor is splitting up my procedures into 2. During the first session, I will have the upper/lower abs, flanks, and bra roll. Then 1 week later, I will have my inner/outer thighs, banana roll, and the fat transfer to my butt. I don't really have the true banana roll, but I wanted to go ahead and smooth out the back of my legs. The fat transfer is only going to go to the lower portion of my butt. I didn't want a full Brazilian butt lift.

My lower abs are still very sore. Upper abs and flanks are mildly sore but not too bad. Virtually no soreness on my bra roll area. All the drainage has stopped so I am finally able to shower. Bruising is minimal. I actually expected it to be much worse than it is. Swelling has gone down some but there's still significant swelling. I can't fit into any of my clothes that I was wearing before so I'm not sure what I'm going to wear to work when I go back next week. As far as my weight goes, I actually weigh 3 lbs more than I did when I went in for the procedure. I guess that is excess fluid??? Not real sure.

More of the swelling has gone down. Still have a significant amount though. My stomach is very tender and definitely feels different. I can tell that the skin is a lot more loose than before. Really hoping that the skin tightening happens fast, but I know that takes time. The bruising is starting to fade, but still there. But, overall, I'm really surprised at the amount of bruising. It wasn't near as much as I expected.

I go back to the office tomorrow and had been worried about what I was going to be able to wear due to all the swelling. But, thankfully, it's gone down enough that I'm able to wear my pre-op clothes.

Today, I put on a pair of jean capris and a fitted shirt. My husband has just seen me wearing extremely loose clothing all week since the procedure and today he say me something very fitted on. He told me I looked great and said that he had to do a double take to me because he thought I looked incredible. Very nice to hear given the swelling/discomfort that I still have. But, I will have to say, that I was very happy to see my silhouette in the clothing I was wearing. It's only been 5 days, but I'm already much happier with my overall appearance. I'll post some more pics either tonight or tomorrow.

I have my next procedure on my inner/outer/back of my thighs in 3 days. I'm looking forward to having it done so I can start recuperating from it and see the impact on my thighs.

Most of the soreness is gone from my abs/flanks. But I am extremely sore and bruised on my thighs. I'm experiencing some type of nerve or tendon damage/irritation. I get a very sharp burning pain that goes down the back side of my left thigh to my knee. Does anyone know what is causing that? I don't have it on my right side at all. I can hardly bend over to put my leg into my pants. I hope this isn't some kind of permanent nerve damage. Has anyone else had something like this?

Overall, I can tell an immediate difference on my outer thighs. I think once the swelling goes down more, I'll be even more satisfied.

I am 7 weeks post op on my upper/lower abs, flanks and bra roll and 6 weeks out on my inner/outer thighs. I've been wearing my compression garment religiously 23/7 for this entire time. My doctor said to wear it 23/7 for 6 weeks and then at night for another 6 weeks. This past weekend, I had it off for a few hours and I felt my lower ab area really swelled up. That part was past tve 6 weeks, so I'm concerned about only wearing my garment at night now. Is this normal to have this swelling come back?

Another concern I have is I'm not really seeing any more change recently. I feel like I have a lot of lose skin in my stomach area and actually concerned that I may need to have a tummy tuck. When should I start seeing the skin elasticity come back?

I also don't think enough was taken out from my bra roll. I still see lots of rolls where I didn't think there would be any.

I'm also not seeing the scale change much. I think I'm 2 lbs less than I was before the surgery.

I'm having a breast lift done at the end of October. I'm really looking forward to that. But really hoping I see better results. Don't get me wrong, I can tell a difference in my stomach and outer thighs but was hoping for more progress by now and less of a jelly feel to my stomach.

Pics are from a week ago.

My breast lift is almost here. Just 2 more days. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. I've wanted this for so long and I'm definitely not second guessing my decision to have the surgery. I'm just getting concerned about the amount of pain afterwards. I'm having the anchor procedure but my dr will also be attaching the breast tissue to my chest muscles, so I think that will be where a lot of the pain will come from. Can anyone tell me how the pain was for them for that type of procedure? How long did it last? I'm suppose to go out of town for a wedding a week later and wondering if I will be able to stand the 7 hr drive.

Here are some of the before pics.

Pics are from day 2. Lots of swelling and pain. My breast are very high. Dr said they will drop. There is so much swelling that my nipples look inverted and squashed into my breast.

I'm at 4 days now and still have drainage from the incision. Dr says that is normal. Pain is still there and at times pretty intense. I have a lot of throbbing and tingling sensations as well as itching. I'm normally a 36dd but right now with all the swelling, I feel like I'm a lot bigger than that.

its been awhile since I've posted an update. So here it goes...

On all the aqualipo work, I can definitely tell a difference but there are some problem areas. First, I don't think enough was taken out of my bra roll. But most importantly, my lower abs have excess skin now. And honestly, I didn't expect that to happen. When I was at my highest weight 7 years ago (180 lbs), I lost 40 lbs and did not have any loose skin anywhere. When I had the Aqua lipo, I weighed 175 but carried my weight in other areas this time (thighs). I definitely had a stomach, but it wasn't near as big as 7 years ago. So, again, I was expecting the loose, puffy skin. I absolutely hate the way it pooches out in my jeans now. It's so flabby and zero elasticity. It's just there.. Ugh.. I discussed both issues with my dr and he told me he would do a revision to my back and to fix the skin issue, I would need a tummy tuck. So, I have been heavily thinking about that. Too clarify one thing, there are 2 dr's in this office. One dr did my abs/love handles/bra roll. The other dr did the aqualipo on my inner/outer thighs and banana roll. He also did my natural breast lift. That dr is the one who told me that he would fix the other dr's procedure on my bra roll and he is the one who mentioned the tummy tuck as well. He also asked me if the other dr told me there was the possibility of loose skin due to stretch marks. I told him the other dr did not mention that to me. If he had, I would have rethought the procedure. I am happy with the aqualipo on my thighs. Only thing is that I can tell things aren't as tight. It's not saggy or loose skin. Just not firm anymore. But definitely my thighs are smaller.

So on to the breast lift review. I had my surgery on October 30. I am 2 1/2 months post op. The dr did a great job. Very natural looking but I had a trouble spot that took forever to heal due to all the tension in that spot. I wires 36dd and did not get a reduction. All the wounds have finally healed and my vertical scars look great. You can hardly see them and the skin is smooth. You can't feel the scars at all. The scars around my areolas still need to fade in some areas but overall it's doing well. The big scars are still on the underside of my breast in the anchor area. The area where I had the wound that took forever to heal is quite big but my dr said he would do a scar revision if needed but to wait 6-9 months to see how the scars look then. I am wearing the silicone sheets 24 hrs a day and change them every morning when I shower. I really do think that has helped lighten the scars a lot.

So as I've been contemplating the tummy tuck, I decided to wait several months and instead start back to the gym and try to focus on my abs. So starting at the beginning of January (2 weeks ago), I started doing Zumba and dance blast classes 5 days a week. During December, I did a lot of research on the ultrasonic cavi-lipo procedure. I went for a consult to primarily ask about my abs. I decided to give it a try but to start with my hips, as the aqualipo didn't touch that area. And the area I'm referencing is the hip part where low rise panties and string bikinis would be. I decided to wait until January to start that due to scheduling issues over the holidays. They recommended 12 sessions total. They are working with me on the payment which is nice. They consider the hips to be 2 areas, so their package of 12 treatments will cover 6 sessions for me. That package of 12 treatments cost $999. Total for 24 treatments (12 sessions) is $1998. I am doing the sessions 1 week apart. I went for my first session on jan 8. Today is Jan 13 and I can tell a difference. The tech is actually covering the area from my love handles down to my mid outer thigh. She told me that the cavi lipo would help on my saggy skin on my abs. So she used the ultrasound wand on my right lower abs for part of the session. My skin is tighter and firmer in all the areas she touched. I can even tell that my poochiness in my right ab area is less than before. Granted, it's still there but I can tell a difference. I feel that I also have a lot more of a defined curve in my waist area and that the initial area of my hips are smoother and slightly smaller, as are my thighs. I have to say that I am really impressed with it so far. Not sure if you can tell from the collage pictures between the 2nd and 3rd pictures. But I can.

I'm posting some pics of my progression (before any surgery, after breast lift and Aqua lipo, and then today after 1 cavi lipo treatment). I also including some breast lift scar and wound pics so everyone can see what I'm talking about.

Hopefully this pic does t show with my legs too cut off

This shows the area that I'm concerned about the saggy skin.