Butt Implants With a Little Lipo to Flanks and Fat Transfer to Hips

Today is surgery day! I'm super nervous but can't wait to get this done. Dr. Heistein in Southlake, TX will be performing the surgery. Of course I researched a lot of surgeons, but I landed on Heistein for a variety of reasons, but one of the biggest is that I really wanted to be close to home for recovery. If anything were to happen (infection, seroma, etc) I feel really good about being 30 minutes from my surgeon rather than a plane ride away. Better to be safe than sorry. Heistein is meticulous, and I have high hopes that we will have a successful surgery with no complications.

We'll be doing round implants intramuscular - hoping to fit 360cc, with the back up plan being the 310cc. The dimensions of those implants are 13.5 diameter with 4.1 projection (for the 360) and 14.5 diameter with 4.1 projection for the 310cc. They are Implantech implants, smooth surface. I am about 5'4" and weigh about 120 lbs, with fairly muscular legs and very minimal fat. I decided to go ahead and do the lipo to flanks and fat transfer anyways, because the results always look better in all the pics I've looked at of the ones with fat transfer versus just the implant only. Even if we only get a little bit of fat I think it will still be better than nothing. Oh, and Dr. Heistein only does the round implants since he doesn't like the odds of 1 in 20 ovals rotating.

The cost I was quoted was $8,050 for implant only, with and extra 1,000 for lipo of flanks, and an extra $1,000 for fat transfer. Since it wasn't that much more, I decided to go for it all. (These prices are as of May 2018).

I did visit Dr. Obaid in Southlake as well, and although I love his work and he seems like an amazing doctor,, they made me wait for 45 minutes past my appointment time for my consultation before the nurse came to talk to me, and the office was super busy and crazy. You don't actually get to see the doctor in the consultation, but he does look at your pictures and give his recommendation, and follows up with a personal phone call that evening saying he would love to do your surgery. The price for implants alone is 10,500 and with the lipo and fat transfer it was over $16,000. For me having such a small amount of fat, that price didn't seem worth it to me. That was another reason I went with Heistein. Obaid recommended the 379cc round implant for me (AARC) with lipo and fat transfer to hips, which is in the ballpark of the 360 I want to do. I'm a bit scared to do anything bigger which pushes me up over the 400 mark. I want a subtle change, not a "that's gotta be fake" look.

I have allowed for plenty of recovery time, since today is my last day of work and I have the whole summer off. So that's good. But we have a family trip scheduled 3 weeks from today, so I will need to fly on a plane at week 3, so I'm not so sure about how that's going to go, but hopefully I can make it work. I've read such a variety of things about different people's recovery time, and it can really be so different from person to person. At least I won't be doing anything on this trip other than reading, watching shows, talking with family, so it's very relaxed and I can take it easy, but I still don't like that I have to fly at week 3.

I will be getting drains, which I know are really uncomfortable, but I like being on the safe side and not taking chances, so if they will help aide in a successful recovery and reduce the chances of problems, I am all for them. I had a full tummy tuck 2 summers ago, and had drains, so I know what a pain they can be, but I guess I'm prepared for them since I've done it before. I'm very curious to see how the pain will be for this surgery compared to the full tummy tuck. That was pretty rough, but I survived it! At least with this one I'll be able to stand up and walk around and look fairly normal (although I've read I'll be walking like a penguin or something for a while). With the tummy tuck, I couldn't straighten up for several weeks. I walked around like a hunchback until those muscles could stretch out a bit.

Surgery is at 3:00 today! Luckily he's going with the 8 hour rule for food and drinks, so I'm up early today having my final meal and water! I pre-hydrated really well all day yesterday, so I'm hoping that helps get me through the day today.

It will probably be a few days before I can post again, but I'll update you with the after pictures in the weeks and months to come. I feel like I owe it to the community since I have read about so many other people's journeys and learned so much. Thank you all for sharing and helping others make the best decisions for their bodies!

It's been exactly 1 week since my surgery. Thank God the hardest part is behind me now! (no pun intended!) Dr. Heistein did a wonderful job. Even the small amount of lipo I had done around the flanks makes a difference and looks beautiful - it's a very nice shape. He was actually not able to fit the 360cc implant,and that it didn't look right for my body. He said it was very tight trying to fit the 310cc (Implantech rounds smooth, 13.5 diameter and 3.5 projection). But he did fit it, and said he added lots of stitching to keep everything in place and prevent infection. He did one incision in the middle, which looks pretty good (pics coming soon). I think the size will end up being just right. They're riding a little high and tight right now, but I'm sure over time the muscles will stretch out and they will be in the perfect spot. He said he only got about 150 cc of fat from my love handles, and transferred that to the hip area.
Recovery is definitely tough, but I was mentally prepared for that beforehand. I got up frequently to walk around, even in the middle of the night. I think it helps to get the blood flowing and move the muscles a bit. So every time I took my meds I got up and walked around. I could get in and out of my bed by myself (it’s a high bed) by laying in the bed sideways and pulling myself with my arms and elbows. I rigged up a face-down headrest (see pic) with some wooden book shelves halfway under the mattress, small crates with air holes in them, and a neck pillow, and slept face down in the pillow. It was very comfortable and much cheaper than buying a massage table! I also spent time during the day on our love seat propped up on pillows and on my knees / belly. That was pretty comfortable too. I didn’t start using my inflatable raft/mattress thing with the hole in it until today (one week from surgery). But this is nice for a chance to “sit” on my back for a while so I can type and be on the laptop. This was made for pregnant women to be able to lay on their bellies, but it’s just the right size for my butt to hang through the hole! I found this on Amazon.
I had drains, which were no problem at all. The didn’t leak or anything, and I had them out yesterday (after 1 week). I got a good tan before the surgery so the doctor could see a definite line of where my bikini would hit, so he made sure and put the drain holes under that tan line.
I’ve done a lot of sleeping and taking it easy. A walk to the kitchen to make a smoothie is the most I could handle on most days. I ate a LOT of protein smoothies (at least 2 per day) with fresh and frozen fruit, oatmeal, spinach, and added some glutamine powder for muscle recovery. I didn’t eat a much of anything else. A little eggs and toast and chicken, cottage cheese and fruit, and that’s it. Luckily, I did not have a bowel movement until today (day 7). I sat there a long time and was not easy, but I survived! I was so darn worried about that first poop! I just took it slowly and let my body take it’s time. I didn’t take any stool softener or laxatives, because I didn’t want to deal with the opposite of constipation either! (I did a cleanse a few days before the surgery, and boy, that stuff will clear you out! That might be why I didn’t need to go for so long after the surgery, because I was all cleaned out prior to the surgery). I actually had this little surgery potty that I found at a garage sale the weekend before my surgery for only $10! What a deal! I was so excited (see pic). It sits above your toilet with arm rests so you don’t have to go down quite so low. It’s the perfect height, and I could get up and down all by myself without any help from my husband. If you can find one at a good price it’s nice to have this first week when squatting is tough. I honestly mostly peed in a red solo cup for the first week though, and only used the toilet seat when it was time to go #2. But it was sure nice to have those arm rests to take the pressure off your butt and legs while waiting for that #2 to work it’s way out! I bought that little purple pee urinal for standing up, but I found the red solo cup to be better, and never had any drippage. It’s just hard to get started when you’re not used to peeing standing up!
So I’m in good spirits and feeling pretty good now, just taking it very slowly and being very lazy (and not feeling bad about it!). My husband was home with me the first few days, and then he had to go back to work, and I was fine without him. My little 5 year old was actually a big help for those little thing, like picking up something off the floor, or getting out the pan to cook the eggs in because it was in the lower cabinets, and I couldn’t bend and reach down there. He would bring me water when I needed it, or put my socks on my feet (I still can’t do that! I can barely put on pants or shorts by myself). If you don’t have a 5 year old, you’ll want to buy one of those grabber things, because inevitably you’ll drop something on the floor that you need!
I’m going to be patient and take this journey slowly, knowing that these muscles will take some time to stretch out. I look forward to seeing the end result when they are a little bit lower. I also look forward to the day when I’ll be able to workout again and do normal physical activity. But until then, I’m just going to be patient, eat healthy, and make sure I heal up as best as I can. Dr. Heistein did a wonderful job, and I know the results are going to be lovely when it’s all said and done.

Today is day 10 after surgery. Things are healing up well. The scar looks good, and drain holes look good too. Everything is dry, no leaking or blood. I shower once a day and apply fresh gauze once a day (no neosporine or anything else, just gauze and tape). I use the antibacterial cleanser in the shower. I also wash my compression garment once a day so it's fresh and clean after my shower. I'm starting to really like the extra little shape I have back there now! I wore a comfortable stretchy cotton skirt today, and my butt looks really good in it. Just the perfect size. Not too big, but not flat at all.

The implants are still feeling tight and a bit high, but with the compression garment on, the shape looks perfect and not "double bubble" at all. When I have no clothes on, it looks slightly "double bubble-ish" from the side view, but it doesn't bother me because i know that will go away with time as the muscles stretch out.

I like the little bit of hips I have now too! I think the round implant helped with that (and even the little 150 cc of fat that he put on my hips helped with that too). The implant seems to be in a really good pocket and blends, since it's covered by enough muscle.

So I'm off the pain killers now, and just finishing up the last few days of antibiotics. Well, I use the hydrocodone to sleep at night, but not during the day. I'm also just about out of muscle relaxers, so I'll probably not ask for a refill of that. I can move around the house fine during the day, just taking it at my own pace. I did a bunch of walking around the house today, cleaning, helping the kids with writing and math, making breakfast and lunches, but by 2:30 I was ready for a nap. I hit the bed and literally felt all over my body as if I had been moving furniture all day! You know that feeling, when you're super exhausted and it feels so good to finally stop moving! Only thing is, I didn't do anything strenuous all day except walking, doing dishes, standing, and a few attempts at bending to pick something up. (If you have something to support yourself with your arms you can manage to pick something up, but it's a lot of effort!)

Sleeping at night is a bit difficult. I am up frequently changing positions, and get up to stretch my legs out and walk a bit. I finally discovered a very comfortable position last night, on this air mattress thing wit the hole (see pics in my previous post). If I put a small pillow under my lower back, and have my butt through the hole, it felt great, and I got a few solid hours of sleeping, on my back nonetheless.

I'm working on the sitting too. I actually have this perfect chair (see pics in this post) with no bottom on it, covered in foam around the leg bar, and a pillow in the back. It was a front porch chair that my neighbor was getting rid of because the material had ripped and it was no good anymore! Perfect for me though! I cut out all of the material in the area you sit on, and rigged it up to be comfortable for my butt to hang through! I can handle a good 30 minutes in that chair, in a sitting position, but with my butt not actually touching anything. All the weight is on the back of my legs and my back in the chair. I switch positions frequently though - any one position doesn't feel great for too long. I also have this rolled up yoga mat with duck tape around it that helps if I want to sit on the couch. That goes under my legs and my butt sort of hangs off the back of it.

I haven't attempted driving yet. Too scared to! I think it would still hurt too bad at this point. But I'll try it for my last follow up appointment on the 13th, which will be almost 3 weeks after surgery.

Oh, and I did start taking one stool softener pill per day. That combined with a decent amount of fiber in my diet seems to be just right, and not too much. I'm back to having a bowel movement once a day at least now, so that's good.

So far I'm very pleased with everything. I knew coming into this surgery that it's going to be a journey, and that the pain and stiffness will be around for a while, but imagine how great it will be when a year has gone by and I'm completely back to normal! And without a flat butt! I'm optimistic that it will all be worth it. I do have to remember to not push myself too fast though, because I know once the pain goes away I'm likely to start jumping back into things like working out and rollerblading (yes, people still do that! I go while my kids ride their bikes! They take up a lot less space than another bike in the garage!).