Stomach, Flanks and Chin Laser Lipolysis/Liposuction - Schaumburg, IL

I wish I would have done it sooner! My overall experience and results with Dr. Joffrey and his staff at Lift Laser and Body were awesome!

I had stomach (upper and lower), flanks (love handles) and chin laser lipolysis performed. I chose to be put into "twilight" anesthesia instead of being awake for the procedure.

I had been yo-yo dieting and consistently exercising for years and finally reached a point where exercise and diet just weren't working any longer in addition to physical limitations imposed by my arthritic hip. The pictures I've attached are scanned from the prints they gave me.

My stomach prior to the procedure measured 42" and my waist measured 40". When I measured them both again ~1 month after the procedure they both had dropped to 37". At the time of the "after" photos my stomach had dropped an additional 1/2" to 36.5".

During my consultation I inquired about the jowl/chin liposuction because regardless of my weight/fat% I inherited a double chin from my father which had always bothered me, but at that point chose not to spend any more money. However, on the day of the procedure I decided to go for it and have the chin done too. Admittedly I was nervous because of not only spending additional money, but if it didn't turn out well there were very few options to hide it. As the pictures show, that also turned out phenomenal too.

I will continue to update the information with more details about the experience but here's some quick notes for now.

Immediate Post-Op
- a lot of drainage and blood but not too much pain; drainage more or less stopped to light bleeding about 24-36 hours after
- My neck felt a little strained and my stomach felt like I had done a ton of sit-ups
- I found that the pain meds but more so Valium helped me relax and sleep through the discomfort of the drainage and mild pain the first few days
- I took off the compression garment to clean up and change bandages about 24 hours afterwards. I made the mistake of reapplying bandages myself and the whole process of cleaning up and reapplying bandages took me ~40 minutes and I swelled up quite a bit making the compression garment quite tight when I first put it back on. Note: get some help when changing your bandages and buy plenty of thin maxi pads and cut them up ahead of time!
- I fortunately had an additional compression garment I had bought off of Sky Mall that came in very handy during the first 72 hours that enabled me to wash my other blood-soaked compression garment. C'mon...either you have one too or have seriously considered it if you're researching this procedure, right?
- I wore Under Armor compression shirts under the compression garment once the bleeding subsided and then eventually bought a Spanx compression tank top and crew neck compression top. I still wear them because I like the feel and fit of them.

I did workout and changed up my diet shortly after the procedure but the weird part was that I didn't change either of them too much. Believe it or not, the "before" pictures was me working out 3-4 times a week with weights and elliptical for 30-45 minutes coupled with dieting a good 4-5 days per week. For whatever reason the procedure seemed to really kick-start my metabolism again (note: Dr. Joffrey had never really heard of someone having this experience) or at least it kick-started me. The ability to obtain results that normally would have taken a good 4 months of hard training and dieting within a few days was very motivating.

I am looking forward to the continued skin tightening and results that are forthcoming!

Here are the other photos referenced in my review.

I am updating my post with current status, a couple of lessons learned and one potential area of improvement.

Status:
At the 7 month mark I continue to be extremely satisfied with my results. My stomach now measures about 35" as does my waist. I continue to maintain a 183-188 lbs weight which is 25-30 lbs lighter than my pre-op weight.

While my weight has fluctuated a few times due to vacations and holidays, my waist/stomach size did not really change. I noticed a tightness in the areas treated including the jowls but from a tape measure perspective not more than a 1/2" change upwards.

More importantly, I have not experienced any adverse effects from the procedures.

Lessons Learned
1) Plan/budget to purchase new clothes

2) Wait 5-6 months+ post-op to buy any significant amount of clothes since you continue to lose size

Area for improvement
1) Potential lack of skin elasticity requiring in some skin folding if a significant amount is removed/lost

I'm going to sound like some cheesy infomercial but is absolutely true and noted by a friend of mine when discussing the procedure, my results and costs.

One of the unanticipated costs of the surgery coupled with my diet and exercise regimen is that I literally needed a whole new wardrobe. Depending on your work wardrobe requirements this can be rather steep. Kohls got quite a bit of business from me the last few months as did Express.

I had 1 pair of jeans that fit right (not falling off) about 1 month post op but then quickly had to buy more at the 3 month mark and then others at the 4-5 month mark since I lost ~inch. Since my job requires business casual attire this resulted in new dress pants and jeans.

Due to overall weight/size loss I also had to buy a lot of new dress shirts in fitted or slim sizes because I was "swimming" in my old dress shirts especially in the stomach/waist. Similar issue here as well where I had bought some shirts 1 month out but then 4-5 months post op bought yet another smaller size. Sure...I could have just kept wearing my existing dress shirts but they were not only baggy as noted but the other aspect was psychologically I wanted to wear shirts that "showcased" my new trim physique.

The only slightly negative thing I have to say re: my results is that I either have some excess skin or remaining fat that causes sort of a fold/crease ~2" up from my belly button that seems to separate the upper abdominal region from the lower abdominal region. I will give myself another 2-3 months and if still present will consult Dr. Joffrey if a second procedure would correct or worsen this. I had a lot of fat removed and subsequent size lost so I would not be surprised if it's excess skin.

I want to reiterate that I am extremely happy with my results and will take these "problems" any minute any day over putting 7" circumference back on my stomach!