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Secretary Jo Smithies worked hard to slim down for her wedding day.
When she walked down the aisle, back in 1997, she had shed an impressive two stone, slimming down from 12 stone to 10 stone for her big day.
She was delighted, but there was just one problem.
No matter how hard she dieted and exercised she just couldn’t change the shape of her legs.
Although her torso and waist were a slinky size 12, she says her thighs and upper legs still looked like “tree trunks” – and that as a result when she wore jeans she was still stuck in her size 16s.
“I just couldn’t change the shape of my legs,” she said. “They were very tree trunky – and I couldn’t shift it with diet or exercise.”
Four years after her wedding, she decided liposuction was the answer, and chose plastic surgeon Dalia Nield, who is based at the London Clinic, to carry out the operation. Mrs Nield is a member of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) and liposuction and liposculpture are among her specialisms. Jo knew of her work and reputation and was sure she was the right person to help.
Before deciding whether to go ahead, she sat down with Dalia Nield for an hour for a formal consultation that included going through her full medical history and an indepth analysis of Jo’s body shape.
“We also talked about how I would feel afterwards and that I would need to have stitches removed after the operation.”
In addition, she was warned that there would be bruising and that the affected areas would feel very painful after the operation.
Jo did have moments of doubt about going through with the procedure, and asked herself whether she really needed to go through a non-essential operation.
To say that she was nervous about going under a general anaesthetic is an understatement.
“I was really, really petrified. It wasn’t really the after-effects that I was concerned about, It was the thought of having general anaesthetic that frightened me.
“I hadn’t had one since seven or eight years before when I had my tonsils out and had quite a bad experience with it. I thought what if I die while I’m under an anaesthetic?
“I also felt quite guilty because it wasn’t for anything life-threatening. I think quite a few people do feel like that.”
Despite her worries, Jo decided to go ahead and have liposuction. She decided to have the fat removed from an area extending from her waist, including the back of her waist, to her knees.
“I did have doubts, mainly because I was frightened, but I had made my mind up and I wanted to do it,” she said.
Jo had the operation, which typically costs in the region of £4,500, in St Luke’s Hospital in London. She had help in covering the cost of the operation.
On the day of the operation, before she went into theatre, the areas that were to be treated were drawn on to her with marker pen, as she was standing up.
Next stop was the operating theatre where she was given a general anaesthetic.
Although she wasn’t conscious, she knows that during the five-and-a-half hour operation she was injected with a solution that helps dissolve the fat before it is drained away using cannulas. The cannula, a piece of medical equipment, is inserted through small incisions in the skin.
Although her worries before the operation had been about general anaesthetic, Jo later realised she had underestimated the amount of pain and bruising she would have in the days following the procedure.
“When I woke up I was in quite a lot of pain,” she says. “I was also black and blue for the first couple of weeks. That is really what causes the pain.
“I had had quite a large area done and because of where I had had it done I had problems sitting down – it was uncomfortable for the first few weeks and it’s difficult to find a comfortable position.
“Also you are numb for up to six months afterwards in the area where you’ve had it done. After a few days I did feel much better.”
Describing the pain, she says: “ It is like you have been to the gym and you have had a really hard work out. I didn’t expect it to be as bad as it was.”
Jo stayed in hospital overnight before going home the next day.
She then took three weeks off work, as she had been advised, and says she did need it.
“There was no way I could have gone back to work after a couple of weeks,” she says.
She was also advised to stay active as possible in order to prevent possible complications such as deep vein thrombosis. That included going for gentle walks every day.
When she had questions about the after effects and whether they were normal, her surgeon was available to answer them and provide reassurance.
It did hurt, she says, but the results were absolutely worth it.
“It was really good,” she says. “I was really pleased – it has made a world of difference to me.”
“After the operation, I could go out and buy a pair of size 12 jeans and at last they fit perfectly.
“It was wonderful to be able to go out and buy normal clothes. After my experience I would definitely recommend it to other people, especially if they were someone with a specific problem area that they want to change.
“Liposuction is about sculpting the body dealing with stubborn areas that won’t shift rather than going down to a size 12.”
So would Jo consider having liposuction again?
Jo says that not only would she consider having liposuction again, she has already had it a second time since her initial operation. That was because following the first procedure it became noticeable that she had a small abnormality on one of her thighs.
She has now had that removed using liposuction – and says the second time around it was much easier to handle.
“It was fine,” she says. “I thought I’d got this far so I might as well finish the job. It was much less painful – and I think the amount of pain there is does depend on the area you have done.”
The pain might put some off, but Jo is clear that for her the way she looks today is worth what she has gone through to achieve it.
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