Elizabeth had a plan. She’d been coming to Plastic Surgery Austin for over a decade and had entrusted Dr. Sharma with several face and body procedures. For half that time, she’d expressed concern about changes she noticed around her neck and jaw — loosening skin, excess fat, jowls and a ‘turkey wattle’ that was a growing source of self-consciousness.
“It was a long time ago that I noticed my neck,” Elizabeth says. “As the years passed, my neck became elongated. It just continued to get worse. I talked to Dr. Sharma about it first in 2013 or 2014. I would go in for a consult once a year and we’d talk again. I had been wanting to do this forever.”
Elizabeth finally booked her facelift in 2017. But there was one thing she hadn’t planned for: breast cancer.
With years of consultations behind her, Elizabeth felt confident a facelift was the right decision for her.
“It was like when I had my breast reduction. After I had my son, there was a lot of sagging and a lot of skin that needed to be cut away. There was a lot of excess skin under my neck, too. Sometimes surgery is the way to go. I didn’t try anything else. I knew what I wanted and stuck with it.”
Dr. Sharma recommended a facelift focused on the lower region of Elizabeth’s face. The procedure would address the extra fat and skin that had bothered her for so long, restoring definition to her neck, chin and jawline. She scheduled the surgery in July of 2017, but her carefully made plans quickly changed.
“As I lay in bed that night, I put my hands on my chest, and on my left side, I felt something like a big Duplo block in my breast. I was like, ‘Holy hell, what is that?’ It concerned me, so the next day I saw the doctor, and come to find out, I had breast cancer. That day I had seen Dr. Sharma and we’d planned the surgery. I think I’d even put down the deposit. We were getting really close. Needless to say, I had to cancel all that.”
Elizabeth suddenly found herself at the beginning of a new journey.
“I had to be treated for my breast cancer. I had to do chemo, a double mastectomy, radiation and a reconstruction. I finished all that in May of 2018. Then last year, in May of 2019, I finally got to go in and get my facelift.”
Elizabeth’s relationship with Plastic Surgery Austin is 12 years strong. She first met Dr. Sharma in 2008 after gathering multiple plastic surgeon recommendations from other doctors. He impressed her with his attitude and patient-focused approach.
“I met with all of them. For me, it came down to the fact that Dr. Sharma was conservative. I didn’t feel like he was there to sell me services. I felt like he was there to help me get what I wanted and not what he wanted. He’s there to do what he can to meet what you want.”
Elizabeth also appreciated Dr. Sharma’s patience, attention to detail and honesty.
“I constantly had questions if I didn’t understand something. He never blinked at all the questions I had. And he’s not afraid to say ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I can’t do that’ or ‘That’s not realistic.’ In plastic surgery, that’s a very good trait. You don’t want somebody promising something they know they can’t deliver. He’s very thoughtful. I had a good feeling while I was there.”
Some would call that good feeling their ‘gut’ or ‘intuition.’ For Elizabeth, it’s ‘peace.’
“I have a very strong faith and I totally rely on having peace about things. I’ve come across situations where I’ve wanted to do something and all of a sudden, I don’t have peace about it — something doesn’t feel right. I’ve never had anything that didn’t feel peaceful when I was doing these procedures. I felt comfortable with Dr. Sharma. I trusted him. I had a lot of peace there.”
When the time finally came for Elizabeth’s facelift, there was no question about who she would see.
Entrusting a plastic surgeon with the appearance of your face is a considerable act of faith. Your face is a window to the world — it is one of the primary ways you communicate and a key aspect of your identity. Understandably, some patients feel nervous before undergoing such a life-changing surgery.
Elizabeth, however, felt nothing but excitement as the day of her facelift arrived.
“I was ready to go. I had been wanting to do this for years. My friends knew how excited I was and my husband was excited for me.”
For Elizabeth, who previously saw Dr. Sharma for a breast reduction, a tummy tuck and a blepharoplasty, there was little difference between a procedure for the face and a procedure for the body.
“I never thought of it like that. Because the facelift was for me, and I see everything. I realize everybody else doesn’t see my breasts or my stomach all the time, but I see everything, and this was for me. I’m the one who was dissatisfied. So it didn’t really seem any different.”
She knew what she wanted and felt confident she had the right team to make her vision a reality.
“I wanted my neck to be gone — all that extra fat and skin — and to have a jawline and a flat place under my mouth. And I wanted my jowls to be lifted so I didn’t look like Sad Suzie. I wasn’t worried about it. I just knew Dr. Sharma could do it. I wasn’t scared I was going to look like a different person. I knew I would still be me — I’d just look better.”
In part three, Elizabeth shares what surprised her most about recovery, how her life has changed since her surgery, and her advice for other patients considering a facelift.
If you’re interested in learning more about facelifts or would like to schedule a consultation with Dr. Sharma at Plastic Surgery Austin, please give us a call at (512) 324-2765 today!
Contact our office to schedule a private consultation with Board Certified Plastic Surgeon, Sanjay K. Sharma, M.D., F.A.C.S.
