Danielle’s Story

Danielle is a 36-year-old childminder from Bournemouth. Following the birth of her two children, she felt self-conscious about the loose skin around her stomach and decided to have a tummy tuck in December 2020 to remove the skin and restore her self-confidence. Here’s her story.

After having my first child at 18 years old, my tummy became very saggy and I had a lot of loose skin and stretch marks. I then had my second child at 21 and this just added to the problem. I began eating very healthily and going to the gym, however no amount of exercise or dieting shifted the loose skin. I then fell into a bad cycle of yo-yo dieting and losing weight, but my loose skin would look worse, so I put the weight back on to make my skin look better.

I lost all my self-confidence and hid behind baggy clothes. I hated my photo being taken and would hide whenever there was a camera around. I was too scared to do anything new because I was always worried about what people would think of me. I can honestly say that I hated myself. On top of this, I had back ache all the time because of my muscle separation.

I started looking into ways to help my loose skin and quickly realised that a tummy tuck was the only way to remove the skin.

I researched tummy tucks for years, watching videos, reading up on the process, and following people on Instagram that were documenting their experiences. I knew that I had to find the right surgeon for me. I had a few consultations with surgeons in Bournemouth, but I wasn’t 100% sure, and then when I saw Amir on the TV show Plastic Surgery Undressed and I fell in love with his work. I put his name into Facebook and spoke to loads of his patients who were all so happy with their surgery. I booked a consultation with Amir in October 2020, and he put me at ease straight away. He was very knowledgeable and professional, and I booked my surgery with him there and then.

Lisa, my patient coordinator, was fantastic. She was cheerful and helpful, and answered questions for me at all times of the day. Because of my work as a childminder, the Christmas holidays were my only real window of opportunity for the surgery, and Amir and the team were amazing and made space for me within six weeks of my consultation so that I wouldn’t have to wait another year.

When I arrived at the hospital on the day of my surgery, I was a nervous wreck, but everyone put me at ease instantly. Everyone was so caring and took time out to come and have a chat with me and introduce themselves. Honestly, I was so nervous that I think I would have run away if it wasn’t for them!

All the theatre staff introduced themselves to me too, and they talked me through what they were doing before I was put to sleep. This gave me confidence and understanding of what was happening.

After waking up from surgery, I was made to feel so comfortable. The staff made sure I had everything I needed and nothing was too much trouble. My aftercare was amazing and I honestly couldn’t have asked for anything more. It’s been 16 weeks since my surgery, and I’ve been very lucky with my recovery and had no complications. I’ve had two in-person follow-up appointments and have another booked in for the six-month point.

I feel so privileged to be part of the Bella Vou family, and I’ve been so pleased with the experience that I’ve even recommended it to my best friend - she had a tummy tuck with Amir last week!

Since the surgery, my self-confidence has grown and grown, and I am learning to love myself again. I am in love with my belly button and my hourglass figure, my scar is amazingly neat and I truly feel a million dollars. I’ve treated myself to new clothes I would have never dreamed of buying before, and I join in activities with my husband and children that I felt too self-conscious to do before surgery. My family love watersports, and I’ve always wanted to try paddleboarding but would never have felt brave enough to wear a wetsuit before. Now I can’t wait to give it a go!

I am more confident, happier and healthier than I’ve been for years, and I have no more back ache after my muscle repair, which makes my job looking after 10 children significantly easier. This surgery has been absolutely life-changing and my only regret is that I waited so long to go through with it.