You’re in safe and experienced hands with Dr. Hamza

Dr Hamza and his team are really great and have a lot of experience with this particular surgery, which is more difficult to find in Europe. He was very honest and straightforward and he made me feel very reassured... and I’m a pretty anxious person! His PA/nurse Lamia was also so helpful and patient with the millions of emails I sent with all the questions I had and she was also in the theatre during the surgery, which made me feel much less nervous. Dr Hamza works in London and Paris but I would definitely recommend going to Paris as the clinic there is completely modern and newly renovated and all of the staff are so friendly.
This surgery is all about shaping and body contouring so the fact that Dr Hamza is known as the best surgeon for BBLs made me feel confident, rather than choosing a surgeon that performs predominantly breast implants, for example, which is a completely different technique.
I did a LOT of research with regards to the doctor I chose and I am so glad I went for Dr Hamza. If I ever go for round 2 I wouldn’t consider going to anyone else and I would really recommend him to anyone considering this surgery.

Just an advance warning, I’m going to give a lot of detail as it’s what I would prefer if I was looking at other people’s experiences, I wanted to know exactly what to expect!

I did a lot of research into the doctor I would choose for this surgery and since I lived in the UK I decided against Dr Bednar as it wasn’t feasible for me to travel that far and take the amount of time off work /pay for a very expensive hotel for so long.

I chose Dr Hamza because he seemed to have the most experience of this operation of any doctor I could find in Europe, and his specialty is BBL which is a very similar concept as an operation - liposuction and body sculpting. What some people maybe don’t consider about this operation is that liposuction in itself can turn out badly if you don’t have an experienced doctor in this field, so it’s best to find someone who excels in both these fields, which Dr Bednar definitely does!

He works between London and Paris and so I saw him for the consultation in London but the operation itself was in
Paris as the cost would be less because of the price the hospital charged him to perform the operation there. I saw both hospitals actually because I had the consultation in the London one, and I personally thought the one in Paris was really nice - newly renovated and really beautifully designed, it made me feel like I was in safe hands!

After the initial consultation, I was asked to pay a deposit and I was given a prescription for a blood test which had to be done at least ten days before the the operation. For people who live in the UK, it is a private prescription but you can also do this on the NHS if it is easier for you. I was also prescribed diazepam for the night before the surgery as I’m very anxious and I was really worried about what would happen during the surgery. They assured me on the day of the surgery that being very anxious with a higher heart rate than usual doesn’t affect the effectiveness of the anaesthesia but it just means that when you wake up you will still be in this mood, so it’s better to relax if you can.

I should also say that I used the noogleberry in the couple of weeks before my operation but not very consistently. I was just trying to cover all bases, it wasn’t something that Dr Hamza had requested.

When I arrived at the surgery at 7.30am, I was asked to sign a lot of paperwork and then I was shown to the room I would be in before and after surgery. It was a really nice room with a private bathroom and it felt like a hotel! My boyfriend waited with me in this room and even though I’d had a shower the night before as instructed, they asked me to have another one here and then dress in a hospital gown with also things to cover my feet and hair. This is to avoid infection issues in the surgery - they also asked me to remove all jewellery and kept it in a safe with my other valuables while I was in surgery.
I should mention that they also ask you to fast from the night before (at least six hours). I ate at around 6pm the night before and then I drank some water at 6am in the morning. They said it was okay if it wasn’t too much but it’s better not to even drink water if you can avoid it. If you have anything in your stomach, it can increase the risk of being sick during surgery which can cause issues (you will also have a tube in your throat during the operation).
When Dr Hamza arrived with Lamia (his nurse who is also the lady I communicated with via email, she was very nice and I was glad to see that she would be in the operating theatre with him), he took some photos of me pre surgery and drew a lot of lines where he was going to remove fat. My lipo areas were:
Flanks
Outer thigh
Inner thigh
Waist
Stomach
I made sure I was very clear what I was hoping from the surgery here so I knew we were both on the same page. I like Dr Hamza because he is very straightforward and efficient but at the same time he had a friendly attitude, and I really felt that he was very experienced. Incidentally, I asked one of his team how often he performs this operation as there aren’t a million reviews online for breast fat transfer like there are for Dr Bednar. Apparently it’s around three times a week, which I’m very happy with and the other operations he performs are almost all Brazilian butt lifts which is basically the same thing for your bum.
After I had been marked up they walked me to the operating theatre, which was the scariest part. I said goodbye to my boyfriend and when I went into the theatre there were around six nurses and anaesthetists all waiting for me. I got onto the bed and I couldn’t see Dr Hamza and I felt worried so I asked Lamia and she got him for me immediately even though I said it was no problem. As soon as I saw him I started crying because I was nervous (very embarrassing but probably not a problem for you guys- I’m a big crier), but he made me feel better immediately and he looked very relaxed which relaxed me. After they had put a drip in my hand (I had numbing cream first which I think was nice of them to offer), I fell asleep within seconds and I woke up in a specific post surgery recovery room linked up to a machine that was monitoring my vitals.
I’m not going to lie, I was in so much pain when I woke up. It felt like the worst workout I’d ever done! My boobs didn’t hurt at all really but I think that’s because the lipo sites were hurting so much I didn’t notice. They gave me some pain medication through the drip but I stayed in this room for a bit longer than usual because I wanted another dose of pain medication!
After a couple of hours they wheeled me back to my original room and my boyfriend was waiting for me. He told me later I looked like I was dying haha, but it’s just because the pain medication makes you so sleepy I was in a haze. It was really difficult to get into a comfortable position in the bed and being on your back is the only option. The bed was adjustable which was helpful and I was trying to drink and eat as much as my body would allow (slowly!) as I knew it would make me feel better. Lots of sugary things are good and your throat will be sore from the tube so they gave me compotes and soup and some cheese as well. I tried to stand up a few times over the next few hours and the first few times I felt very dizzy so lay back down and ate some more. By 6pm I was okay enough to leave the surgery and I should say I was lucky enough that I was able to sit down to wee and I also wasn’t sick, which I have read happened to some other people. I don’t know whether this was because the surgery went smoothly but usually I’m someone who is always sick so I was really expecting it!
I have to mention Lexane in case anyone decides to see Dr Hamza and go to the Paris hospital like I did. She was looking after the people in these recovery rooms and she was the loveliest person ever. She was so helpful and really kind and she was always reassuring me. She even gave me her number when I left and said I could call her at any time if I had any problems. I would go back just to see her again!
My hotel was a 20 minute taxi ride away and it was very painful because every time the taxi hit a bump it hurt so much. Try to stay a close to the hotel as possible! I actually saw a sign for a Sofitel hotel next to the surgery so that’s maybe better. However I stayed in Novotel Issy-les-moulineaux and it is such a nice hotel. The first night I slept on a sofa they have in the room because it is dark fabric. They inject a lot of liquid painkiller into your lipo sites and when it leaks out it looks pretty horrific. there’s a lot of it, but no need to worry because it’s just a little bit of blood with a lot of clear liquid so it looks worse than it is! But I slept on the sofa because I was scared of ruining the bed, even though my boyfriend went out and bought Tena bed protectors (an essential). I also was given a prescription for two painkillers which I should take alternatively but I didn’t take any on the first night because I didn’t feel like I really needed them.
When I was at the hotel, we ate dinner, which was salad and half a quiche and some chocolate biscuits - she said not to eat anything too heavy. we watched tv and it was pretty hard to get comfortable but not the end of the world. If I lay down I needed help to get back up and I made sure I got up to walk at least every hour. It actually feels more comfortable to stand I think, although it’s tiring. Even when I was sleeping, I would automatically wake every few hours and when I did I made sure I drank lots of water and went to the bathroom. Water helps with the lipo swelling and there’s a risk of UTIs after the surgery so the more water I drink the less likely that is to happen!
To finish this section, I should say that Dr Hamza said he had removed over two litres of fat and he also said he had injected around 370cc to each of the breasts. He was really positive about the shape he had achieved of my body which made me feel much better. I was really worried about him not injecting enough but he did warn me that injecting too much can just cause the fat to die because of the pressure, plus if you have quite tight skin, only so much is possible. My main issue with my boobs is the shape although I would like a bigger size of course. I feel like the upper pole is very empty so I’m hoping that this will fix that a little, but let’s wait and see.