55 Yrs Old, "Empty-Nester" Mommy Makeover Phase 1/Lipo of waist, abs, back, bra bulges, mons. Pix are out of order, can't edit.

I first saw Dr. Halpern a few years ago about a possible facelift and was so impressed with him, although I didn't do the facelift because I didn't have the downtime from work, I remembered how kind and personable he was, and impressed with his before and afters, and how much care he took with me that he was my first choice when I was looking into a "mommy makeover". I am now semi-retired and my wonderful husband said, "let's do whatever you think you need so you will be happy with yourself and can enjoy life more" He felt it was for him too, because I won't be so self conscious to be seen without clothes on. I had some other PS lined up, but cancelled them because he still spent so much time with me at my consult (I know I must have made him run over his appt. time) and he was very detailed in explaining what would work for me. His before and after pix were amazing, and he has a lot more than is shown on his website, or on here. My plan was to do the lipo first and see what my results are, then 6 weeks later a "donut" breast lift with small implant for upper pole fullness (I do not want to be bigger than what I am). I was totally impressed with his plan, I then brought my husband in for another consult and Dr. H. again spent a good deal of time with us. My husband was very impressed as well. So today, I am 6 days post op liposuction of upper and lower abs, back, sides of breast and mons. My surgery went well and I am very happy with Dr. Halpern and all his staff. He is super meticulous about infection control, as well as my health and well being. I only needed pain meds for the first 3 days, then maybe some Tylenol if needed. I'm still a little tender in spots and there is a little bit of bruising that I can see. He made sure I had every kind of anti-nausea medication possible which really helped. He sent me home with pretty flowers and called in the evening to check on me. I have been considering this procedure for quite sometime as I can never get a normal, feminine proportion from working out and weight loss. Genetically, I have an "apple" body type which, in my opinion, is very challenging to sculpt an attractive figure. I have always had narrow hips, flat butt, broad shoulders and a thick waist even when I was very fit with less than 20% bodyfat. No matter what size I am, 4 or 12, I have the same proportion that makes it very difficult to find clothes that fit. I've been a yo-yo dieter, and have carbohydrate metabolism issues (not diabetic), and my daughter and son were both just over 10 lbs at birth (1990 & 1994) which totally wrecked my midsection! I was in very good shape after I had them but still looked pregnant (it was very discouraging) So in 1999, I had a full tummy tuck with muscle repair due to a significant diastasis recti and the PS did a little lipo on my flanks. The tummy tuck was probably one of the best things I ever did for myself, but it did little to improve my waist, it was still thick. So hopefully the lipo will correct the uneven fat distribution that I have and give me a more attractive figure. I'm not expecting to look like a Victoria's Secret model, I just want to look nicer in clothes and have them fit better and not look so thick and matronly. I know it takes months to see final results after this and I will update my review as I progress in my recovery.

I am in some sort of a garment with a binder and additional elastic bandaging wrapped around me. There is one drain and a bunch of foam panels that are meticulously covered by all the wrappings. I can't wait to get rid of this foam, I feel like a turtle, lol. The foam panels go from just under my breasts to down to the mons. I can't go out in public like this! On about the third day I started to get itchy where the foam was stuck to my skin so we called Dr. H. and he had me come in and he placed some cotton fabric between my skin and the foam and that resolved the itching. I couldn't really see much since I was lying flat but my husband noticed a definite difference. I can't wait to see it tomorrow. The protocol for the first week is I have to be completely straight most of the time, either lying flat or standing upright. I can sit down to eat and go to the bathroom. When I'm up I'm walking around the house for exercise, or doing calf raises or working on the computer. Dr. H is very strict about not doing housework or allowing me to be exposed to dirt, or dust, etc. I ordered myself some compression garments that I should get this week. I'm not sure what he's going to put me in next but I'll have some spares.

Sorry to say I didn't get the results we planned on. I came out nothing like the example pix of women w/similar body type to me. I have a boxy butt now, dents on the waist, he never did anything with the armpit fat, or the anterior abdominal wall. Waist fits into smaller pants but have square butt that's obvious in clothing. He was supposed to sculpt and taper the waist, remove iliac rolls, and lumbar fat. I told him I wasn't happy with his work but he told me, "no surgeon could do anything with that (boxy iliac rolls) because it's 'muscle and bone'" What? I happen to have a background in anatomy, physiology, kinesiology and know what he said is a lie. He assumes people are dumb. I consulted w/other PS for 2nd opinion and they couldn't believe this was his work. They all said he should have done more, tapering it down to get rid of the iliac and lumbar fat to get rid of the square butt, and he could have done a lot more for the anterior abdominal fat. He barely touched it because of my over 18 year old FTT. Using his "artist's eyes" for "aggressive waist lipo" resulted in dents on both sides of my back. I think he was unsure of himself that's why he was afraid to do anything with it. Because they all kept saying I look great! and I'll continue to shrink, which is BS, I don't trust him and would never go back for a redo on this $12,000. botch job. My husband is pi$$ed.