Day 27 — Started doing some extra aftercare treatments at a post-op care spa on the side. (They said my fibrosis was about average, but that I still had a lot of swelling left to go.)
Day 33 — Went in for a follow-up and booked a date for my second round of fat grafting. (They told me to just keep doing exactly what I'd been doing since round one — I'm taking that as a compliment.) My husband has had a front-row seat to this whole transformation, and somewhere along the way he decided he wanted to do it too, so since we were already there he squeezed in a quick consultation of his own. Dr. Jeong Yu-seok must have been swamped that day, but he still answered every single one of our questions so patiently. I'm so grateful!
Day 63 — Second graft. (Face: about 20cc total. Hip dips: 150cc on each side.) My hips were more sore this time whenever I moved around or sat down, so I've mostly been lying down.
Day 66 — Well enough to go out for a short walk in the evening.
The month or so of RF treatments I did before the second graft seemed to help, so I picked up a device to do simple sessions at home too. Between how the surgery went and the occasional RF session at home, I've had barely any fibrosis at all — I'm around Day 86 now, no hardness anywhere, and full range of motion.
As for scars, the ones on my hips aren't anything I'd worry about. If I had to pick one, it'd be the one on my arm, but I'm staying on top of it with scar cream. (It felt raised at first, but that's gone now, and honestly it's just the color that bugs me at this point. They said laser scar treatment isn't an option until after the six-month mark anyway, so for now I'm just keeping up with the cream and watching it. It's also in a spot you can't really see unless I lift my arm way up.)
After the second round, I saw my little niece for the first time in ages and she went, "Auntie, why do you look so pretty today?" Even a little kid could see the change in me. If an adult had said it, I would have brushed it off as the polite thing you say when you haven't seen someone in a while — but coming from a kid who has no reason to say anything but what she actually thinks, it landed completely differently. It really made me proud.