“As the weight melted away, I harboured great expectations for life after obesity. I was convinced that my dramatically altered appearance would unveil a new, beautiful me. But the rapid weight loss combined with lack of exercise (due to obesity-related osteoarthritis) left me with an unnaturally aged face, complete with sagging skin, deep lines and droopy eyes.”
Although her health drastically improved when she lost half her body weight, Karen was still unhappy with her appearance. After carefully researching plastic surgeons, she found Mr Alex Karidis and from her first meeting knew she was in the right hands.
“With gentle fingers, he raised my facial skin and brow towards my forehead and ears. The difference was dramatic and I glimpsed the pre-obese, happier Karen. We talked more, and he explained what he could do. He was not going to make me look like Cameron Diaz, nor could he guarantee how much younger I would appear afterwards, but I would look fresher, less exhausted.”
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Why I decided to have a facelift
“My journey started around seven years ago when I began to lose weight. I was very overweight and had an ultimatum from my consultant that if I didn’t lose weight, I might die.
“I went on a low carb diet that changed my life but I was an older woman then and also I wasn’t doing exercise so when the weight fell off, my face was left quite sagging.
“So the fat unhappy person has gone but there was still the shadow of her in my face. A shadow of quite a sad, unhappy Karen. I’ve come now to this point that I want what you and I see on the outside to match how I feel on the inside.”
Mr Alex Karidis on Karen's facelift
“When I met Karen, I knew that she would be a good candidate for a facelift. She obviously had a lost a lot of weight which had affected her facial tissues.
“The other thing that impressed me was that she was well read up in terms of understanding what a procedure like this involves because it is important that you are ready mentally for a big operation like a facelift.
“With Karen, I did a lower facelift along with some refining of the area under her chin. I lifted the skin and muscles to reposition them higher – basically where they were 10 or 15 years ago. I also operated on her eyelids as she had some hooding developing. I trimmed much of the skin back and then repositioned her brows to give her a fresher, healthier look.”
My facelift recovery
KAREN AT 5 WEEKS
“After surgery, I expected to have bruising and swelling that would last weeks and I wouldn’t be able to go out in public. But it’s absolutely not been like that.
“Two weeks after surgery I was up and about. I used to avoid the mirror but now I’m becoming a little bit vain and I check myself in the mirror much more often. For a second, I think wow is that me.”
My facelift results
“A friend who hadn’t seen me for a year just asked me if I’d been on a world cruise or taken a young lover as I was absolutely glowing.”