genioplasty, cheek implant and buccal fat removal

I have always wanted a slimmer face that was more defined but was scared because I have read so many negative reviews from so many different people. Of course I read positive ones but people tend to remember more of the bad then the good. Anyways, I talked to probably 4 facial surgeons and am so very blessed to have found this surgeon. The one thing I recommend to anyone getting facial surgery is to get it done through a maxillofacial surgeon/oral surgeon because they completely understand the whole dynamics of the face/mouth/ cheek area. From my perception, it is much better then just an facial surgeon that also does body stuff And other things. Get someone specialized!

The beginning process was an initial phone interview with a woman named Sarah! She is actually quite wonderful and very down to earth. You almost feel like you are talking to a friend. I really appreciated our almost one hour phone consultation. The one thing that left me impressed was that she gave me advice regardless of what Doctor I chose. She recommended that whoever I left do my surgery that she would not recommend certain procedures for the same reasons I was weary about them! I appreciated that she was looking out for me instead of trying to sell me into something. We also decided based on photos I sent her that the best thing to do was genioplasty, buccal fat excision, and cheek implant to life everything back up. She said over the phone the final decision would be made in person the day before the surgery!

Then came the part about paying. I will say I got a bit worried because they have another woman who is working the front desk, I think she got confused a little bit between the back and forth emailing but there were a few times where I would say "I will be here on this day at this time" and she would email me back asking the same thing like once or twice more. That worried me but whenever I talked to Sarah everything was a lot more transparent and got through quicker. The office manager maybe was new.... Not sure.

Anywho, I am a full time student and I drove up alone (5 hour drive) without really getting a hotel or anything (terrible mistake) because I had just finished up midterms before the actual procedure. The following day after arriving I went in for my in person consultation and finally met the doctor and Sarah! They are really nice and let me know everything we were about to do. I told them things I did want, things I didn't, but I really trusted the doctor because his key words over and over again were "natural". As this was very important to me since I didn't want to change my face, just semi enhance it. Any doctor who just wants to put an implant here and there and call it a day is clearly not looking out for you. Dr. Wittenberg analyzed my whole profile so I could get the exact look I wanted in a very naturally appeasing way :) we decided to go forth on all three procedures at one time!

The day of the surgery came and all the staff werr super friendly. There is this one younger lady who was also with Sarah a lot who was realllly really sweet! He has great people working for him. Anywho, I got X-rays done before hand, and then I was was in my little surgical gown ready to go. Dr. Wittenberg and his staff hung out with me before the anastethics went in which was nice because then you don't get all lonely and scared. I woke after like 2 hours and the doctor came in to check on me and said everything went perfectly.

Like I said before, I came up alone and Sarah and the staff were really kind and helped me find a nurse to go and helped me book a hotel a lot closer to the hospital. They didn't have to help me even since I did not properly plan everything but they did anyways. The doctor called that night to check up on me and their email response since then has been awesome!

My face is super swollen at the moment but I'm really happy I got so lucky. I really recommend him to anyone who is looking for a natural change to their face by a very experienced doctor! I will update weekly to keep you all posted :) (will post pictures soon once I figure out how to block my eyes)

So the pictures are in line from the day of surgery, day after, 3rd day, and now fourth day post op! :) I have huge black swellings under my eyes but today I woke up and it seems to have gone.

Hello everyone.

Just thought I would share an update with you all. This last week has been REALLY hard for me. I got really depressed around day 4 -7. I think this is because I was not anticipating the after effects of surgery. I have always been a really active, independent person that is always on the go. Having surgery stops everything, it stops your life, it stops your eating, it hurts to talk, and the swelling and bruising around my eyes was giving me a headache. My boyfriend (who is the most amazing man to walk this earth) had to sit in the bathroom with me for 2+ hours during those days just talking with me, letting me know it is was okay, etc. I also think I was depressed because my right side was a lot less swollen then the left side. School sucked (I hated it) but by day 7 my mood started to get back to normal again which is good.

I also want to write a little bit about the procedures I did. After getting them, I thought it was a great idea to look at all the horror stories of what happened to people that did the same ones. SUCH a bad idea. After talking about it over and over again with my boyfriend, I realized maybe a lot of people are misinformed on here on what to get. Maybe they did not know what they wanted before hand and trust the doctors opinoin?? I am not sure. The first thing I want to address is Buccal Fat removal. First off, I think it is ridiculous to say it ages people. Yes it ages people if you take fat out from someone who clearly does not need it. But buccal fat (lower/cheek and jaw area) is hereditary and has to do with genetics. My grandma still has really chubby cheeks and to be honest, why would you want to wait until you are 40 to get the look you want? By then we are already "older" and if we are satisfied with our cheeks then maybe we are not satisfied with another part. Removing some buccal fat on the right person can actually help you look younger as it doesn't look like everything is weighing heavily on the bottom half. I got partial done (on a scale from 1 being none being removed and 5 being everything- my doctor removed 3.5) and I think that is the best way to go as you leave enough but take out the stuff that is unneeded. Secondly is cheek implants. I dont really have much of a say either way. I got the cheek implants because I wanted to enhance my whole profile, so higher cheek bones would advance the look and proportion everything out. Again, some bad reviews but I also think it depends on the surgeon. I had a guy with 35 years of experience who excelled in facial surgery/maxiofacial surgery. The cheek implants are most uncomfortable but to say it "ages" someone is not accurate in my opinion. The whole point of getting them is to give you a more youthful look. Lastly, I had a genioplasty which was the main thing I wanted because my chin was not proportionate to the rest of my face. This procedure has been the easiest one of them all, and again- please please please go to a maxiofacial surgeon. I would highly recommend my daughter as he does them weekly. I have also had a consultation with Dr. Jamali before choosing my doctor and thought he would also be a good surgeon for the job.

Sorry for the long rant, I just feel like for the amount of surgerys that get done, not enough people take the time to write the GOOD reviews, the positive experiences with the great doctors. Think about it, most of the time people feel the need to talk about something or review something is because they are unhappy. Imagine all the people that had the procedure that loved it and never thought about it again.

So, my recovery is going swell now. My left cheek is getting a little less swollen which is great for me! I think my week 2 or 3 everything should be pretty good. Still hard to talk and smile and etc but it has barely been over a week so I expected this. Bruising on right eye is gone, left eye is getting better. I think the swelling goes down with bruising... so my left maybe will be getting much better in a week perhaps :)