Dr. Hughes is AMAZING! - West Los Angeles, CA

Alright, here is my opportunity to contribute to all of us who made the decision to do this and to, hopefully, guide all of you wanting to take this journey. A little bit about me. I am 40 years old, woo hoo! I have an amazing husband and two beautiful children. I had wanted to have a tummy tuck for a long time. Probably before I even had my children. I never had a flat stomach and was self conscious about my mid section even as a teenager. I read so many reviews and read everything I could about doctors in the Los Angeles area. I researched doctors in Pasadena, Beverly Hills, Culver City and Marina del Rey. After doing about 2 YEARS of research I decided that Dr. Hughes was the cosmetic surgeon for me! He is Harvard trained, Board certified and his reviews are some of the best you will ever find. I know that I could have gone to Mexico or Dominican Republic to get this done for a lot less. I, however, did not want a mediocre or "bargain" procedure. It took a lot to come to this decision! I'm a mother and didn't want to be far away from home and something go wrong or not have the support I would need immediately following the procedure. The first time I met Dr. Hughes he was still at his Beverly Hills office. He was polite, knowledgeable and very professional. I made my appointment that day and was scheduled for July 11th. They had an opening and since I had my blood work and prescriptions filled by the 5th when I went for my pre-op, they called me, because I had asked if they could do so if they had a cancellation, to come in the next day. The best part of this was that Dr. Hughes had moved to his own office and it was so awesome because it is brand new with a state of the art operating room! They will give you a tour if you want. I got mine from his very friendly and super smart father. He was so proud showing my around and telling me about the new office. He is a pleasure to talk to! As an aside, everyone at the office is extremely friendly! If you are talkative, like me, they will all talk and make you feel like a friend. Some people are more reserved and the staff, being respectful as they are, also respect that some people are more private. Either way, the staff is amazing specially Sandra! When I got in at 6 a.m. I was greeted and taken to the consultation room. They reviewed my health history and the anesthesiologist came in and introduced himself. Great Dr.! Very friendly and answered all of my questions. Dr. Hughes came in next, to take pictures. I was then taken to the OR and prepped for surgery. I don't remember anything. The following are some of the memories that I have after having the procedure:
- I had burning pain and the anesthesiologist told me he was going to give me medicine to control the pain.
- I was put on a wheelchair and was escorted to my car with my husband
- As soon as I got home I took my first antibiotic pill and pain medicine.
- I slept the first day and a half
- I took the antibiotics every 6 hours and kept up with the pain medication every 4hours the first 3 days which meant I had very little discomfort
- The discomfort was from having to use my muscles to get up every time I needed to use the restroom.
- Cleaning the drains was a pain! The first two days the output was 75ccs
- Let people help you! You will need support!
Here are some pictures from before my surgery and pictures from 1 week post-op. Unfortunately, I still have my drain after 1 week.

I had my two weeks post-op on July 21st. Everything is healing well so far except that I still have my drain. I am only draining about 25ccs every 24 hours but it is still dark red. Every one heals differently. I'm trying to do as little as possible and not do much other than walk inside my house for a few minutes every hour to help my body heal. Dr. Hughes will see me in one week.