Review of Elite Body Sculpture, New York - Airsculpt M/28 - Full Abdomen Including Love Handles With Dr. Schaffner

I will continue to update this review as time passes and I continue to see results. If you have any questions, comment here and I'll answer them
Age, weight, and body type:For starters, I am a 28 year old male, about 5'11" and I weighed about 190 pounds with 15% body fat. I am what some people refer to as "skinny fat". I have defined muscles in my pecs, shoulders, arms, neck, and legs, but for my entire life (except for a brief stint in summer 2019 where I ate nothing but grilled chicken and rice) I have never been able to see my abs. This is not for lack of trying as I've always watched what I eat and went to the gym regularly. I am generally a VERY healthy guy and I eat organic foods and lean sustainably farmed meat (mostly poultry and occasionally beef).The backstory of why I decided to do airsculpt:I got tired of putting in all those hours, being disciplined, and not seeing the results that I wanted commensurate to the effort I was putting forth. I even injured my back because I was pushing through pain in order to continue working out so I wouldn't put fat back on my body. It was an unhealthy lifestyle.I decided I finally had enough and looked at my options. Airsculpt seemed like a dream come true, so I went for my consult. Pre-ConsultNot much to say here except that the team is great. Alexandra was so accomodating and took care of every question I had. I rescheduled this procedure twice, once due to work reasons and the second because my girlfriend came down with COVID. Obviously, they were very understanding and helpful. Alexandra did such a great job, so thank you. ConsultThe consult was fantastic. The doctor looked over my body and heard my complaints. He told me his opinion, which was actually to NOT do one of the body sections I had marked down. I felt it was honest of him to not push me to do an area I had requested, and I took his advice. He was very knowledgeable and experienced, and outside of the consult, I had also read several reviews about his work, professionalism, and follow-up. The reviews were overwhelmingly positive and so I felt that he was the obvious choice to perform the procedure. I DID notice that he had A LOT of female reviews and could not find a lot of males reviews for airsculpt in general - I later found out from the nurse that males don't generally write reviews (so I'm here to help with that)The procedure:The night before:I made overnight oats with almond milk and berries for the next morning. They told me to eat a big breakfast because of potential nausea caused by the drugs.5:30 - 6:30 amI woke up (barely got any sleep because of all the anxiety running through my brain). I showered with the disinfectant soap they prescribed me and shaved my beard so I didn’t have to worry about it throughout the rest of the recovery. I quickly ate my overnight oats and then got an Uber from my apartment6:30 amI arrived (this was my pre-scheduled arrival time)6:45 - 7:15Signed paperwork. The paperwork is pretty scary, to be honest - it lists all the risks associated with the procedure which is extensive. They don't list a percentage chance any of these things will happen, however, they do say that they are all very improbable. I felt like it was a bit dishonest on their part to not give me this list at the consult a couple of weeks prior. The financial agreement states that if you cancel the day of the procedure you lose 80% of the cost. So picture you are reading through all these scary risks and effectively weighing 80% of your total cost of an expensive procedure verse walking out the door. To my knowledge, that was the first time I had seen that list, and seeing it the day of the procedure just fell a bit jarring. My Advice: Ask for a full list of the risks prior to the day of your procedure, so you can ask questions about them and at least be educated.7:15 - 7:45 amThe nurse came to get me around 7:15 am. Nurse Jessica was awesome. She had me change into my operating clothes which is just a set of blue shorts. The first thing she asked me was how I was feeling (she must've seen the look on my face after reading the potential risks). I told her I was a bit nervous. She asked me what specifically I was nervous about, and I told her it was the list of risks I had just signed. She was so comforting and explained her own personal experience with airsculpt, highlighting how the risks are incredibly unlikely and even less likely for a healthy guy like me. Her own personal anecdote which included how she herself chose the doctor that I also chose, made me feel instantly better. I was very nervous prior to that and she took my anxiety from an 8 to a 3. Shout out to her for helping me through that tough moment.7:45 - 8:00 am Doctor came in around 7:45 to talk to me and mark me up. He answered all of my lingering questions. He then took a sharpie and started drawing on my body where he was going to take fat from. We looked at the drawing together in the mirror. He then asked where I wore a bathing suit so he knew how far below the beltline to make the small incisions. ALL of my incisions are hidden below the belt and are invisible except for one in my belly button which is ALSO invisible unless you are looking for it. He again answered any final questions I had. I have a list of them and I will include them at the end.8:00 - 8:05 am They gave me my first dose of antibiotics, a Xanax, and anti-nausea medication under my tongue. Then Nurse Jessica brought me into the operating room.8:05 - 8:50 ish amI laid on my back and the nurse put a blanket on me, asked me if I was comfortable. She gave me a shot in the leg which was slightly painful but nothing crazy (pain scale 3/10) and then just hung out in the room with me talking to me while the drugs were kicking in. She asked what music I wanted to listen to. I connected my phone and played a playlist I felt was calming while the Xanax kicked in. Xanax is a hell of a drug. I felt like I was on a cloud. Never taken it before but I can see why it is addicting! All my anxiety slipped away. I was talking to the nurse and texting my girlfriend the whole time. 8:50 - 10:50I know the exact time we started and stopped because I sent one last text to my girlfriend before and one immediately after. "Time" itself kind of became blurred at that point with the myriad of drugs, but the fact that I was lucid and pain-free enough to be texting my GF directly after was pretty amazing to me. I'm getting ahead of myself - see step-by-step belowIncisions:The doctor came back in and we began the small incision hole part. I could not feel a thing during this portion. Took what felt like 5 minutesNumbing liquid:At this point, I was given the laughing gas to ensure there was absolutely no pain. I held the mask and could pull it on and off to control how much I inhaled. If I felt anything, I would take another long hit. This was probably the most "painful" part of the procedure. It ranged from a 0/10 to a 4/10. If you've ever done ab exercises and felt that deep burn in your abdomen after a particularly hard set, this is what it felt like for me at its worst. Again, the pain was not bad at all - I've had worse teeth cleanings.The nurse was always asking me how the temperature in the room was throughout the whole procedure. At one point, because I said my feet were cold, she put a heater on underneath them which made me incredibly comfortable.At this point from the laughing gas, while I was completely coherent, time really got blurry. I'm not sure if they used the laser before or after they sucked out the fat, but I do remember having glasses put on me for a brief couple minutes to protect them from the laser.Cannula to suck out the fat:The doc then began to use the "airsculpt patented cannula" to start the liposuction process. At this point, I didn't feel a thing. It felt like an electric toothbrush on my belly. There was one point when he got to my belly button area that was particularly sensitive, but I just took a hit of laughing gas and felt fine.Dissolvable SuturesThe doc put in dissolvable sutures to close up the small incisions. 10:50 amI got to take a picture with the about 1 liter of fat they sucked out of me. That's the equivalent of like 2lbs of fat. Again this isn't a weight-loss procedure it's a contouring procedure, so I wasn't expecting to drop 10 pounds overnight.I got up and was brought to the recovery room where I told my girlfriend to come pick me up (in an uber)! She was so surprised I was texting. Couldn't have been happier to see her when she showed up in the recovery room 20 minutes later. The rest of the day of surgeryThe rest of the day is a blur because I was still coming down from the Xanax and the laughing gas, but as soon as I got home I ate something and took my first dose of Oxycodone so that there would be no gap in pain meds and I could sleep soundly. I remember getting into bed and passing out for a few hours. When I woke up, I felt great. It was uncomfortable, but not painful. I felt so good, that I even decided to go outside for a walk. My girlfriend and I went grocery shopping that afternoon....pretty fucking unbelievable. I have pictures of myself smiling and holding a pineapple that I was buying because it has bromelain which is good against swelling and bruising. So their claims you can go out afterward were true for me, although I didn't feel 100%, I felt pretty damn good. I went to bed very early that night after taking my second dose of antibiotics and slept through the night, not waking up once. Day after Surgery (Day 2)Pain level - still pretty low (probably a 2-3/10). I STOPPED taking my oxycodone that morning and switched to Tylenol extra strength so the pain wasn't really an issue for me AT ALL during recovery.At around 3 pm I took my first shower. When I took the dressings off and the compression garment, I expected to see a massacre, but in all honesty, there was barely any blood or leakage. I didn't even really have much swelling in my front abdomen region and could see immediate results. My back area where my love handles are was also visibly smaller, but not as drastic as the change in my abdomen. This was due to swelling I was told. In fact, during the pre-op, the doctor actually told me that I wouldn't see ANY difference until like 3 weeks after, so I was pleasantly surprised by my day 1 results. I followed post-op care instructions carefully. Day 3I'm not going to talk about pain levels anymore because they were virtually non-existent at this point. That morning I stopped taking Tylenol. I had prescheduled my first lymphatic drainage massage for that day (first of 10) and she arrived at my apartment and got to work. I highly recommend a lymphatic drainage massage. Afterward, my genitals were actually swollen because of all the fluid I was retaining that she was pushing towards my lymph for them to drain the external fluids out. My abdomen looked better after 1 hour. This is a great way to reduce swelling and speed up recovery. Day 4-7Today is day 7 and I feel like I could run a marathon. Pain is there, but again virtually non-existent and only upon pressing on the area. My biggest complaint: The compression garment is so annoying. I wish I didn't have to wear it but I know it is very important to recovery. I also want to stress the importance of having someone who can help you recover. While I didn’t feel a lot of pain during my recovery, my girlfriend was there on an emotional level as well as helping me cook and making sure I didn’t pass out the first time I took the compression garment off. She helped me research recovery hacks and find the best lymphatic drainage masseuse. She’s amazing and I love her. You can definitely go at it alone, but having someone there for you is priceless. I'll continue to write updates as time passes but my review so far is that this was worth it, the experience has been great, all of the people involved in my care went above and beyond, and I was scared and anxious for no reason.