Vaser Liposuction of Thighs, Abdomen, Knees and Buttocks

Hi everyone, I'm a 24 years old female, no children, 65kg, 163cm. I thought I would share my journey with everyone and hopefully it will help you on yours too!

So I've been thinking about getting liposuction to get rid of stubborn fat for a while now and finally had a consultation with Dr Komwit (at Bumrungrad hospital in Bangkok) this morning regarding Vaser liposuction.

Initially, I emailed Bumrungrad hospital after seeing so many good reviews and they chose Dr Komwit as my Dr. Of course this didn't mean that I had to go with him but after doing a lot of research I found that Komwit seemed to have a good reputation; I couldn't find any bad reviews and everything I read was reassuring me that he was the right Dr for me.
I was going to be travelling to Bangkok anyway so it made even more sense to get the procedure done there as it's typically much cheaper than in the U.K. Anyway, I finally plucked up the courage to make an appointment for a consultation with Dr Komwit last week as I was going to be flying into Bangkok. I landed late on the 23rd of September and had my appointment booked for today (26th of September) at 9.30am. I was supposed to arrive at 9 to register with the nurse but my taxi decided not to turn up after waiting for an hour and I had to call the hospital to let them know that I was running late and to see if I would still be able to have the consultation. After a stressful morning I finally arrived at Bumrungrad at around 10am and was with Dr Komwit within 15 minutes after registering, and having my weight, height, blood pressure and temperature checked with the nurse.

I felt bad that I had arrived late but Dr Komwit warmly welcomed me in. He instantly complemented on my appearance, telling me that I did not look like I weighed 65kg (at just 5ft4in I'm technically overweight). We then joked about how deceiving my body is when you only see my top half first (as I am much smaller on top and carry most of my weight on my bottom half). He asked me a few questions and then I was asked to take my dress off (I was able to keep my underwear on) so that he could assess the problem areas. We had previously discussed these over email - I had originally told him that I was looking to have lipo on my buttocks and outer thighs but over time I had wanted to add some areas. He agreed that the main problem area was my outer thighs (saddlebags) and even noticed how one side is particularly worse than the other. He also said that he could do my inner knees - which is something I wanted to ask him about so I was happy with that. The other areas which I had already discussed via email with him were: inner thighs, lower abdomen, hips/flanks and buttocks. And once he saw me in person he still agreed that these areas would be good to work on as there is a lot of fat that can be removed.

The original price package that he gave me via email was for abdomen, inner and outer thighs, lower abdomen, buttocks and hips (up to 4 hours of Vaser lipo for 214,200baht). However he ended up adding 3 extra areas (front of thighs, knees and back) at no extra cost.

He explained that there is potential for an uneven texture on the abdomen and inner thighs (due to thinner skin) if precautions were not taken to keep the skin flat after the procedure and we also discussed that only minor shaping would be done to the buttocks to prevent any sagging.

I felt really comfortable with Dr Komwit and trusted that he was giving me an honest and genuine opinion as he had mentioned everything that I had planned to discuss with him anyway.
At the end of the consultation Dr Komwit asked me if I needed some time to decide if I wanted to go ahead with the procedure but mentioned that if I did want to, he would be able to do it as soon as Wednesday 28th September. I decided to book the procedure for that date (just two days away!) and he assured me that if I did need more time to decide I could always cancel it and reschedule for another time (as long as I didn't leave it until the last minute). After leaving the hospital and discussing everything with my partner, I have decided to ahead. I'm feeling slightly nervous/anxious as well as excited but I do feel like I'm in good hands with Dr Komwit.

I will be giving an update soon - either on the day or the day after depending on how I feel :)

So I had my op on weds 28th Sep. I had a really weird day preparing for it at the hospital. I had to be there for 9am and had my op booked for 1.30pm. I had my blood pressure taken and then went straight through to see my Dr. We spoke again about what I wanted and agreed that he wouldn't touch my buttocks as we were both concerned about possibly sagging. Everything was staying as it was and I was told up to 4 hours was what I would pay for (as a package price including everything apart from take-home meds). Anyway after Dr Komwit had drawn all over me and had me prepared for the surgery, I then had to sit and fill out a whole load of paperwork which explained everything that was and wasn't included in the price, the possible complications etc and then I went for blood tests, a chest x-ray and then to the cashier to pay. After the payment was made my boyfriend and I were shown to my room. I had a single room with private bathroom and kitchenette. There was also a long sofa type thing for my boyfriend to sleep on. The room was quite big, had a large Tv with a number of movies and tv channels to choose from. My bed was really comfy and I was able to adjust it as I pleased. Once we had settled in the room nurses came in and took my blood pressure and told me they would be back to collect me at around 12:30pm to prepare for surgery. Within the time I'd been waiting I'd had my blood pressure taken numerous times and had a drip attached. I was constantly questioning whether I was making the right choice (it's safe to say I was very nervous and anxious).

Soon enough the nurses came back to take me to the preparation room. I'm not quite sure what the purpose of this was as I was literally just put in a small room on my own for over an hour and (again) just had nurses constantly taking my blood pressure. Dr Komwit also popped in to see if I was ok which was nice. I was finally wheeled into the operating theatre where I was stripped of my gown and rubbed down with some sort of solution by one of the nurses before finally being put to sleep at 2pm.

I ended up being in surgery longer than expected - I was supposed to be back in my room by 7:30pm but didn't return until 9pm because the surgery ended up taking up to an hour longer. When I woke up I was already in my compression garment and was so so sore. The worst part was that whenever I needed to wee (which was a lot) the nurses would take the garment off and give me a bed pan. I wasn't sure why they took it off as it had the necessary hole already in it and I do wonder whether it's been detrimental considering I was told it would have to stay on for the first 3 days and was only allowed to take it off to shower after those initial 3 days.

I ended up staying in hospital until around 5pm the day after surgery as I was suffering from severe nausea (and was also sick a few times). I was also really dizzy from loss of fluids. It's also took a long time to get discharged j

It took a long time to be discharged as we had a disagreement with added charges. I'd already paid the full bill before the surgery but my Dr had me in the operating room longer than he had anticipated and so I ended up being charged extra for that (even though it was all supposed to be included in my package and no one explained that this could happen). Obviously I wasn't happy as I was not expecting this. The actual charge came from the hospital as my Dr did not charge me extra for his own time. I refused to pay as believed it was unfair and nowhere on the paperwork said that this would incur an extra charge (the only extra charge would come from actual complications). Anyway, I had a number of staff members telling me that I didn't need to pay and that it would be resolved with my Dr (who also said he didn't believe I should pay it) and I was finally sent on my way. However, the next thing I know, we were about to get in the taxi back to the hotel and suddenly one of the nurses appears and is trying to force me to sign more papers since I didn't want to pay the extra. It was very stressful, I wasn't even 24hrs out of surgery, I was in a lot of pain and feeling really awful, was being wheeled around by strangers in a wheelchair and they just would not leave me be. Had this not happened I wouldn't have had any faults with the process.

I've since had two post-op check ups with my Dr and on my second one they said that they were refusing to let me see him until I paid. They said that I had to wait for a supervisor to talk to me about it but no one ever turned up and eventually my Dr called for me. He said it wouldn't allow for them not to let me see him as he has a duty of care to me and that's nothing to do with the hospital. He also never charged me for the check-ups (they are all included in what I've already paid).

During my check ups I was still really sore but my Dr insisted that the best thing I could do was to massage as much as possible and as hard as possible to push out any lumps and bumps to ensure the best outcome for a smooth skin surface (especially on my stomach). He also said that the compression garment was not as important anymore and that it could actually do more harm than good due to wrinkling which can cause permanent dents/wavy lines in the skin. So I started only wearing the garment while I was sleeping and massaging as much as possible throughout the day. However I'm now two weeks post-op and not wearing the garment at all as it now doesn't fit properly and leaves some minor indentation. So until I can find something more suitable I am just massaging. I'm also almost free of pain - my stomach and inner thighs are still quite sensitive but I am able to walk around and swim etc without too much discomfort. My incisions have also healed really well and are so small and neat.

I had 5.9 kg/litres of fat removed altogether (which apparently is a lot). I don't look like I had that much removed at the moment but straight after surgery I looked much smaller.

This is the first time I was allowed to fully take off my compression garment and take a shower. I was very swollen and really sore.

My stomach was still really bloated at this point. Still really sore and my feet had swollen which was causing a lot of pain in my legs, especially when sleeping.

For the first week or so I was in so much pain that I could barely lift myself off the bed. I was really swollen and hard and my feet also swelled so bad that it was painful to walk, sit, lay, anything... I tried to go for about an hour a day to get moving about a bit but it wasn't a pleasant experience. Sleeping was also awful. I couldn't get comfy as my legs would constantly go dead or have shooting pains. I couldn't lay on my side (which is my favourite sleeping position) as it was too painful so this made sleeping even worse. I'd also stopped taking the painkillers as they were the cause of my nausea so this probably didn't help. The first few days after lipo I was constantly needing to wee - and it would come on very suddenly and it was a case of I had to go straight away. I also had a loss in appetite so didn't each much at all for at least the first 5 days. After that I was eating very little, maybe one or two small meals a day.

Over the last few days the pain has significantly subsided. I can now walk about with almost no pain, apart from when my inner thighs rub together as they are still fairly tender and swollen. I've also been getting much better sleep as my feet are no longer swollen and the pain in my legs is almost gone. I am also able to partially sleep on my side (although I try to avoid it as it causes imprints which I do not want!). The bruising has also almost completely gone which is great as I'm still in Asia and will be for the next few months so it's nice to be able to start wearing shorts instead of long pants or leggings which were just too hot for this weather. Each day I can see minor improvements. My stomach is so much flatter, as are my hips. My outer thighs are still not as I desired and the right side (which was always more protruding) is still bigger, but I can definitely see an overall improvement, especially when wearing certain clothing. I can now fit into shorts that didn't fit properly before the surgery which is great. I also feel so much more comfortable in a bikini - yes I've even been swimming in public already which is fantastic as that's something I struggled with before as I was so self conscious of my huge saddle bags. All in all everything is going well, I'm so glad that I'm over the worst of the pain and discomfort and now I'm just hoping to see even more improvements over time.

I just wanted to do an update on how everything is going and show a few before and after pics...

So I'm a day from 3 weeks post-op and I must say that I'm feeling sooo much better. For the past week I have almost been back to my normal self. I've been swimming, doing a LOT of walking and also climbing a lot of steep steps. Considering that just over a week ago I could barely get myself out of bed I feel like this is a big accomplishment in my recovery process. I can also now get out of bed with almost no pain/stiffness. It mostly only happens now if I've done a lot of waking and then sit and stand up again. I'm still massaging as much as I can but I don't feel like it's doing much; my partner keeps telling me that I worry too much and that it will make a difference over time. I wish I could feel like this was the case but obviously I'm going to worry. I also have two horrible dimples in my stomach which just will not go away, no matter how much I massage the area. My right thigh is also still protruding more than I'd like - I'm hoping that this is due to the loose skin and that it will just take longer to go back in place. Other than that I'm happy with my results; especially when I'm trying on clothes which now fit me so much nicer than before. I am slightly concerned that I didn't wear the compression garment long enough - I feel like I need to have trust in my Drs advice but I have been looking for a new one (not an easy task when travelling Asia). I ended up settling for a new pair of tight Nike dri-fit pants for the time being. They seem to pull everything in so I'll wear them during the day. I'm just hoping that this isn't going to have a major impact on my final result and I'm also kinda angry at the hospital for giving me an ill-fitting garment (which I paid for by the way).
I'll post again at 4 weeks with photo updates :)

So these are my photos from the 4 week point... a little late, I know! I was still a little swollen and was still having some pain in my legs (especially when getting out of bed). I was also still experiencing a strange burning pain in the left side of my stomach but I'm not sure if I mentioned that before. I also still had the horrible two lines below my belly button as you can see in pics...

So the leg pain has stopped and the burning pain on my stomach is also pretty much gone. I'm overall happy with the results, my thighs/bum look so much better in clothing now. However I am slightly unhappy with my stomach. I've been massaging the whole time but somehow it's got this awful uneven part on the right side. The two lines are also still there and it's really getting to me.

Everyday I try to massage it away but it just doesn't go. It's been like it for about 4 weeks now and I'm concerned that it may be permanent. I'm not sure if it's due to my Dr making a mistake during surgery or whether I've done something to make it go like this as it wasn't always like that. I hoping that it's maybe just some uneven swelling that will go in time but as for the actual lines I'm assuming they are from the compression garment early on and therefore are more likely permanent :(

On another note I still have loads of lose skin on my thighs which, again, I'm hoping will get better over time.

I'm not so happy with Bumrungrad at the moment as they only seem to be interested in the money and not your welfare. I've tried to contact them regarding a rude letter I received from them about the extra money they wanted me to pay but they have not been back in touch (it's been well over a month now). Obviously it's a difficult situation as I already paid for what they are asking for and I was never told at any point there would be extra charges for such things.

Also the way they dealt with the situation (Harassing me hours after surgery) was really unfair and they tricked me into signing some papers (I still have no idea what I signed) whilst I was in a bad state with sickness and nausea. I'm just hoping that I can get the situation resolved sooner rather than later as it's unnecessary stress.