I'm almost 2 months post-op. June 2, 2017 was my procedure. I'll get photos at my 3-month followup in September.At 52, my motivation was 99% about health, & of course as a woman I like looking better. My BMI was high & I wasn't sure they'd even approve me, but as it turns out, I think they approve just about anyone who can fit through the door.Overall, I'm very happy I did this. My goal was to reduce belly fat & kickstart weight loss after a rough year that packed on nearly 40 pounds. I've definitely been losing weight (15+ pounds so far) & eating healthier, & so far it seems the belly fat is reduced (hard to say how much while still recovering).My pre-op experience was financially annoying. The cost is something like $1,300 per area + doctor fee ($1,500-$2,000). I wanted one area. They upsold me to 3 areas with discounts. The doctor upsold me to 4 areas. In the end is was $6,500. $1,500 over my budget.The operation itself was a breeze. I LOVE not going fully under with anesthesia. I had zero anxiety about "will I wake up?" & knew there would be pain meds to keep me "happy." During the surgery, while in my drugged stupor, I remember saying "ouch" & the doc maxed out the pain meds so that the next time I said "ouch" he apologized that he couldn't give more, & I was in such drugged-out bliss I didn't care. It was never REALLY painful. Just uncomfortable.When they walked me out of the surgery room, they showed me 3 large pitchers of fat & blood they'd remove. It was a lot.Post-op was very rough the first 24 hours. Lots of pain the first week, but pills made it tolerable. I was apparently intolerable to my sister who cared for me & she brought in the big guns to recruit my 81-year-old mother to help. I was doing light computer work on Day 3. The first week involved a lot of swelling below the treated areas as my lymph system worked overtime to get rid of all the garbage, & I was regretting my decision (thus I found realself.com). A bad side effect from the garment, besides pinching where it was too tight, was that it gave me vaginal itch. Never had that before. That got better once I bought a couple new/better garments and used a lot of Vagisil.TIP: if you ruin anything with all that blood & meds that oozes out in the first 72 hours, just spray it with OxiClean Laundry spray. It even worked on a new white pillow that couldn't be thrown in the wash.Second week everything improved a lot, except that the compression garment was inadequate with side zippers & too many hooks that broke & dug in. I was in tears at my first followup visit over the garment situation. It was just too hard to get on without help. They were trying to get me in something that was 4X too small. The idea is to put on something 2X too small. So I bought my own garments online from Colombia (avg $125 each). Best decision ever, but initially I had to try about $900 in garments from a dozen companies to try out. The two I kept are a S/M & XXXL - same company. Sizes vary widely!After the trauma of the first 3–4 weeks I finally started to see that this may have actually worked in reducing belly fat, though I still have some swelling & numbness. My tiny incisions have healed fine, though the lowest ones were pretty stubborn for a couple weeks. I was off all meds by week 3.I have opted not to use any of Sono Bello's aftercare products/services at this point. Starting Day 15, I began 2x/week 30-minute lymphatic massages, which eventually became a combo Swedish/lymphatic 60-minute 1x/week. I'll probably keep that up through at least the 3rd month post-op. Helps if you can find someone trained in lymphatic & who doesn't break the bank. Mine is close by & basically charges $1/minute. She's great if anyone needs a recommendation for the Conway area in Orlando. Twice a week I use a massage belt at home. It helps with compression, heat & lymphatic massage. Cheap on Amazon. Hilarious that I can't use computer devices while it's on/plugged in. Makes them go haywire.I expect to wear compression garments at least another month if not through the 6th month. Whenever I take it off, I get a painful "pooling" sensation after sitting or lying for any length of time. It's like the garment is keeping everything in place so it all can reconnect & heal.One lasting benefit is really odd: my electric bill has gone down. Even though it's summer in Orlando, I find myself turning the A/C temp to 77 during the day & 72 at night. Before losing all my "padding" it had been opposite: 72 daytime, 77 nighttime, ensuring my A/C never turned off in the daytime, but now it does. And when it runs at night, it's more efficient.I won't know how successful it's been overall for a few months, but I would recommend it to anyone NEEDING it. If you've exhausted every other way to get rid of flab, go for it. Just go in knowing that they'll upsell you from the start, & some of it is genuine concern for the end result, but most of it is bottom-line BS. Be ready to walk out if they don't lower the cost for what you came in for.