Goodbye Ozempic Face: “It Looked Like I Had Melted”

Kerry: Hello, welcome to Once Upon a Surgery. I’m the host Kerry Berlet, wife of world-renowned plastic surgeon Dr. Anthony Berlet. We’re here to dive deep into the stories behind the transformations, both inside and out. Today, I’m so excited to introduce my guest, Kim, and hear her story. She has a journey of resilience, self-love, and empowerment.

Kerry: We’re going to spill the tea over plastic surgery with Kim. All right. I know some of your story, not the whole thing. So take me back. I know you lost a lot of weight. How tall are you, and what was the most you ever weighed?

Kim: I am 5’2″. And at my highest weight, I was 277 lbs.

Kerry: Wow. And what do you weigh right now?

Kim: Right now, I am about 127.

Kerry: Oh my gosh. So you lost more than you weigh right now.

Kim: Yes, I did. I lost like a person and a half.

Kerry: And when you were at your highest, how did you feel about yourself?

Kim: Oh, it was awful. I was embarrassed. I didn’t want to be seen in public, really. I tried to hide under big clothes, and I just didn’t want to be out there.

Kerry: And so what motivated you? You first lost weight using bariatric surgery?

Kim: I had gastric sleeve surgery about five, seven years ago.

Kerry: And how does that work?

Kim: This is the gastric sleeve, where they actually take off a portion of your stomach, and you’re left with kind of a banana-shaped stomach. So it doesn’t have that much room for food anymore.

Kerry: And how much weight did you lose? How long did it take?

Kim: It was about a year, year and a half. I got down to 130. And I was able to maintain that really, really well. And then COVID hit, and I did what everybody else did. I sat home and I went through the cupboard and decided, what shall we eat all day today? And I started to climb back up.

Kerry: And how much did you gain back?

Kim: I went back up to about 170. I didn’t go all the way back.

Kerry: And the sleeve is permanent, right? Because they remove part of your stomach.

Kim: It’s permanent.

Kerry: But you can still gain weight after you have that.

Kim: Yes.

Kerry: So you gained back 40 lbs. And then after that you went on Wegovy?

Kim: Yes. I tried with all my might to lose weight again, and it just was not happening. So I reached the point where I qualified.

Kerry: Because insurance is a big thing with all of this, and it’s expensive.

Kim: It’s expensive. And if you can get insurance to cover it, that’s huge. So I hit the point where insurance would cover it. I’ve been on the Wegovy; this March was just a year. And I’ve been maintaining my weight the whole time.

Kerry: So you went from 170, and now you’ve lost how much?

Kim: Now I’m down to 127. Close to 50 lbs.

Kerry: Wow. And how long did that take once you went on it?

Kim: It was a slow start, because they start you out on a low dose. And as it slowly increases, your appetite decreases. So it was a slow start and a little bit disappointing, because you kind of want it to come off overnight, and it doesn’t. You want instant gratification. But once it finally kicked in, it’s been a breeze. Probably about 6 to 8 months of being on it, I hit my goal weight, and now I’m maintaining.

Kerry: Wow. That’s a lot in six months. That’s drastic. And so you’ve lost all this weight. What do you think of your body at that point?

Kim: I’m thinking I look like I’ve melted. I really do.

Kerry: Literally, like you have a person of skin.

Kim: I have this person of skin. My face looked melted. My thighs looked melted. I put on a pair of shorts last summer and was horrified at what I saw. You want to wear a cute top, and you go like this, and you’ve got these great big bat wings. Like I said, I’d look in the mirror, and it looked like my face had melted, because it all hangs, and you’ve got jowls, and you’ve got all this skin under your neck. You feel great in one sense, but then you feel horrible in another.

Kerry: And was it specifically the Wegovy? When you had lost the weight previously, did you feel that way, or do you think with Wegovy you lose it differently?

Kim: I think because I’m older, I lost it differently this time.

Kerry: Well, that’s right. You lose volume when you’re older.

Kim: So this time around it was definitely different, and I don’t think it’s so much the Wegovy. I think it’s more age related.

Kerry: Right. It’s still all very new, but people say it does this, it does that. Stuff just happens when you lose any drastic amount of weight. You’re going to have that skin. So you’ve lost this weight, but yet you’re still unhappy, which is so frustrating. Had you been to Dr. Berlet before? Was he the first one you went to, or did you visit multiple people?

Kim: For the procedures that I’ve had with Dr. Berlet, he is the one that I went to. I did have a procedure prior to him. My bariatric doctor had suggested a plastic surgeon, and I had the abdominoplasty.

Kerry: So that was step one, where you have that unfortunate apron of skin.

Kim: Yep. And that was my first journey into this. But I really wasn’t comfortable with that plastic surgeon. Dr. Berlet said he did a great job, but we just didn’t have the chemistry that I have with Dr. Berlet. His office is so easygoing. He’s so easygoing. Continuing with what I was doing, I wanted to be comfortable with who I was with.

Kerry: Yeah, I know. There’s just something about the environment in his office where you’re not intimidated in any way. Everyone’s just so warm.

Kim: Warm and welcoming and kind of homelike. You walk in and everybody’s on a first-name basis, and they know you when you walk in. It was nice. It’s comfortable.

Kerry: And so then you meet with him. During the consult, what did you discuss with him?

Kim: The very first thing, because the first thing everyone sees is your face, right? So that was definitely the first thing that I wanted to have taken care of. Years ago I had had some skin cancer, so I had a big scar running down the corner of my face, down my cheek, that I wanted to have taken care of. That was one of the things that I brought to his attention, that I was really concerned about. I didn’t know how that scar was going to change. Was it going to spread? Was it going to disappear?

Kerry: Because you had loose skin, the scar was more visible?

Kim: The scar was definitely more visible. Because when my face was fuller, the scar was filled out. And then as I lost weight and everything started to change, you could really see the scar. So when we talked about the lower facelift, that was one of my concerns.

Kerry: So when it all got lifted up…

Kim: It was on this side. There’s a little bit left. It’s not visible like it was. And like I said, because the face is the first thing that everybody sees, that’s what I wanted to have done first.

Kerry: So you did your face first, like a facelift?

Kim: I did the neck and the lower facelift. So it took care of the melted jowls and the loose neck skin.

Kerry: You have a very defined neck. They call it Ozempic face, or whatever, and I don’t know if that’s what you felt like you had, but I don’t see a scar, and it looks very defined.

Kim: And that’s exactly what I was going for. I didn’t want to look all pulled back and stretched and plastic. I still wanted to be me, but without all the loose skin.

Kerry: And how long ago was that?

Kim: That was October 30th of ’24. So 6 months ago.

Kerry: That’s amazing. You can’t tell at all. And with the facelift, you can kind of hide it, right? How long after the facelift were you back at work?

Kim: I was back to work in 2 weeks. I was fortunate, I had very little bruising. And there were only a couple people at work that knew exactly what I was doing. Anybody else that I came in contact with, nobody really knew.

Kerry: Because it looks like you, and so natural. Did they say something looks different?

Kim: “You look like you were on vacation. Were you on vacation? Where’d you go?” Those kinds of things are what I got.

Kerry: All right. So you’ve done your face. Did you talk about doing your face first and then more? Or once you had your nice face, you started looking at other parts of your body?

Kim: Then I started looking at other things. Because when you’re 277 lbs, you don’t want to go clothes shopping. But when I got to my goal weight and I wanted to go clothes shopping, you’re standing in the dressing room trying on a cute pair of shorts, and you’ve got all this extra inner thigh skin. And you want to wear a cute tank top, and you raise your arm, and you’ve got these horrible bat wings. Or you want to wear a short sleeve, and you have all this stuff that makes you uncomfortable. I wanted to feel comfortable in my clothes and in my own skin.

Kerry: Literally comfortable in your own skin. So you had the facelift 6 months ago. At what point did you feel committed, that this weight is not changing, I’m ready? Were you ever worried about gaining the weight back?

Kim: That’s crossed my mind, but we’re not going to let that happen.

Kerry: Right. Now you’re full on. So tell me about the other stuff you had done.

Kim: So the beginning of March, I had the thigh lift. That took off all of what I call the chicken cutlets, because it kind of looked like chicken cutlets.

Kerry: And with the thigh lift, where is he cutting?

Kim: It runs from your knee all the way up to your groin. And he basically takes away the loose skin, brings it together, somehow folds it in, and you’ve got a clean incision. He does all this in his office.

Kerry: Wait, in his office? You don’t have to go to the hospital?

Kim: I don’t have to go to the hospital. I don’t have to go to a surgery center.

Kerry: And were you under, or were you awake?

Kim: They give you Valium. It’s just like the facelift. It’s all done in his office. So you’re with your friends, because the office staff is like your friends. And you’re there for about two hours, and you know what’s going on around you. You can participate in the conversation or not. You can sing with the music or not.

Kerry: And he sings too, right?

Kim: He sings. I think he sings opera. He sings all kinds of stuff.

Kerry: Good or bad. Maybe he sounds better when you’re under.

Kim: But you’re very relaxed, and it’s comfortable. And about a week and a half later, I did the arms. Back in his office again. And after each thing, I was back at work in 4 days, 5 days.

Kerry: Wow. And you can walk out of the office? So you’re there, he’s cut off all that skin and sews it up, and then you can just walk out?

Kim: Just walk out.

Kerry: Wow. I wonder what he does with the skin.

Kim: I know, right? I’m the type of person who wants to ask.

Kerry: I’d be like, “Oh, that’s cool.” But that’s kind of weird to think about. That’s interesting garbage that they have from that office. So the thigh lift, and then you were ready to go back a week and a half later to do your arms too. And you said this didn’t even hurt?

Kim: These two procedures did not really bother me at all. I wasn’t uncomfortable. There’s a tightness, obviously, when you go to move your arms or your legs. And even now, if I sit with my knees kind of up and then go to straighten out my leg, it still feels a little bit tight. But not painful, really.

Kerry: Wow. And what was the date of the arm lift?

Kim: The thighs were March 3rd. The arms, maybe the 13th. Somewhere in there.

Kerry: So you’re just a month and a half out. And we’ll have the before and afters. I would never think that you were someone that had big arms. I didn’t know you at another weight, but this looks totally natural to me.

Kim: And I’ve been sleeveless all day today, and no one at work even noticed, because the incisions are on the inside.

Kerry: I wouldn’t even think about that. And are you open about it at work?

Kim: Well, I have not hidden anything I’ve done. If someone asks, I’m very open and honest with it. It’s a journey that I’ve taken in my life. And there are other people who may want to take that journey or are afraid to take that journey.

Kerry: Because I would think people are noticing. Do you get questions like that, or do people not want to talk about it? Sometimes with work there’s HR, right?

Kim: No one’s been very specific about did you have this or did you have that. It’s just, you look really good.

Kerry: Which is fun to hear. And in a year, you’ve taken off this weight, and then now you have the skin. And maybe since it was cold, they hadn’t noticed it.

Kim: Right. But it’s something that I definitely noticed. And it was upsetting. It was disturbing.

Kerry: And do you feel like you look like you did when you were younger, or do you look better than you’ve ever looked?

Kim: I would say I’m more comfortable than I’ve ever been. I was never thin thin.

Kerry: Well, now you’re thin thin.

Kim: I’m kind of not used to it yet, but I’m excited about it.

Kerry: This is such a beautiful dress. Have you worn a dress like this before?

Kim: More recently. This is kind of my new wardrobe, and I’m not afraid to be sleeveless or have short shorts on. It’s fun.

Kerry: That’s amazing. Were you ever the person that would wear a tank top before?

Kim: No. Not really. So it’s all new, and it’s fun, and it’s exciting.

Kerry: It’s like a whole new life now. A whole new body, literally. I’m sure you had to replace your entire wardrobe.

Kim: My entire wardrobe has been changed. A lot of clothes have been donated.

Kerry: You’ve lost so much weight, you can’t possibly tailor anything.

Kim: No, it’s not even worth it. It’s exciting. It’s fun to go into a fitting room now and try on sleeveless shirts or shorts or a skirt that maybe is a little bit shorter, because you don’t have all this extra skin.

Kerry: Wow. And do you sleep better, you think?

Kim: I think I sleep more comfortably. Because, believe it or not, skin is heavy. Extra skin is heavy.

Kerry: Did you lose weight from the skin?

Kim: There have been a couple pounds that have come off as just pounds of skin. So it definitely makes a difference. And you move easier without all of the loose skin. It’s hard to describe unless you’re in that position, but it’s different when it’s gone.

Kerry: That’s amazing. And what kind of exercise do you do?

Kim: I’m a walker.

Kerry: That’s me, too.

Kim: I had done Pilates for quite a while, but with all of this, I’ve kind of stepped back.

Kerry: I’m sure you can’t be stretching right away.

Kim: Eventually you can get back into it. So I’m hoping to get back into it.

Kerry: How long is the healing before you can do intense exercise?

Kim: It depends on the procedure. The facelift was a little bit longer. The arms and the thighs, it’s just skin being removed. There’s nothing underneath. There are no lymph nodes being touched. There’s no muscle being touched. None of that. So that recovery was a lot quicker.

Kerry: That’s so fascinating, because it’s not something you think about, literally removing skin. And I know there’s something where you need your own skin, right? You can’t donate skin.

Kim: No, you can’t. Not like donating blood.

Kerry: So fascinating. And I think you look amazing.

Kim: Thank you.

Kerry: So do you have any new plans with your life now, in the new body? And you said you actually have plans for more surgery, right?

Kim: Yes, I do. Again, because everything kind of melts. I’m going to be going to Dr. Berlet in June, and he’s going to do the butt lift, where you actually take the loose skin from the lower part of your butt and lift it up and smooth it out, and kind of give you more of a shelf type look.

Kerry: So there’s more contrast there.

Kim: There’s more contour. Because now, I’ll be honest, when I sit down, it kind of looks like a tire tube around the back, because everything else has been cut and lifted. But this is still loose skin that, no matter how much you exercise, no matter how much you diet, is not going anywhere.

Kerry: You can’t do anything about the skin, other than cut it.

Kim: Right. And I’m told it’s the same type of procedure, where it’s no muscle, no lymph nodes, nothing underneath. It’s just skin. So the healing process should be about the same.

Kerry: And you’re telling me it doesn’t hurt. Are you just super tough? Superhuman?

Kim: I do have a high tolerance for pain.

Kerry: Facelift versus the arm lift versus the thigh lift, which was the most painful?

Kim: The facelift was the most painful. But again, they’re touching muscle. They’re touching underneath, and pulling and moving. And the skin is just skin.

Kerry: That’s intriguing. Well, I just want to say I am so impressed. What would you say to someone who’s considering this? Would you say it’s worth it?

Kim: Absolutely. Because you not only feel better about yourself, you feel better that you can wear fun clothes, and it just gives you a whole new feeling, and it’s a good feeling. And when you see people that you haven’t seen in a long time, and they say, “Wow, you look really good,” that feels really good.

Kerry: And when you look at the old pictures, can you believe that’s the same person?

Kim: I was in someone’s wedding about 30 years ago, and she recently sent me a picture. And I looked at the picture at first, and I’m like, “Who’s that?” And I didn’t even realize it was me. And I showed it to a friend of mine, and he goes, “That doesn’t even look like you.”

Kerry: Really? And you think you look better now than 30 years ago?

Kim: Yep. My face is not as big and round.

Kerry: That’s amazing. And this is not for everyone, right? But if you’re sitting at home and you’re not happy with your weight, or you’ve achieved something amazing, like losing a person, and you don’t like your skin, you would recommend it? You think it’s worth it?

Kim: For sure. Absolutely. For me, it was definitely worth it. I don’t regret any of it. I’m not ashamed of it. I don’t hide it. I’m very happy with it. And like I said, with Dr. Berlet, you go into his office, and you’re dealing almost with family, because everybody is warm, they’re welcoming. It’s comfortable.

Kerry: And the idea of the thigh lift and the arm lift, did that come from you? Or were you like, “Okay, what should I do?” Had you researched it?

Kim: It was a little bit of both. When I first went in there, I’m like, “All right, I’ve lost all this weight. This is what’s gone on.” And we talked about different things, but I had to prioritize what I wanted to do first. And that was definitely the face, because, like I said, that’s the first thing everybody sees when you walk into a room. And then afterwards, I kind of worked on it on my own: what is going to make me feel better? And that’s when I decided the thighs and the arms, because summer’s coming, and that’s what’s going to be out there next.

Kerry: Exactly. And with these, do you have to stay out of the sun at all?

Kim: You have to be careful, because they are new incisions, so the skin is like baby skin. You have to be very careful. Sunscreen is your friend.

Kerry: Awesome. And do you think you’ll be done after you do the butt lift? For a while, at least, with your body?

Kim: For the time being. Eventually, the bags under the eyes run in the family, and I have that too.

Kerry: I did the fat, which I think helped with that. But I don’t know that you would need that. I don’t know if he’s talked to you about that.

Kim: We’ve talked about it. But that’s kind of down the road.

Kerry: I think your face looks amazing, refreshed. How old are you?

Kim: 55.

Kerry: Wow. You look great. You would never know. I’m 50. I thought you might be younger than me. That’s funny. And it’s so natural. Did he do anything with your lips?

Kim: He did do the SMAS.

Kerry: Oh, he did? See, the SMAS, I think that’s miraculous.

Kim: And it’s nothing I even knew about. And then when the day came, they’re like, “Oh, are you going to do the SMAS?” I’m like, “I don’t even know what that is.”

Kerry: I had just learned that phrase recently, and my friend who had it said he put this worm in my lips, and that’s exactly what it feels like. Could you see it when he put it in?

Kim: No, I couldn’t see it, but you feel it, because it’s almost like a threading from one corner of your mouth to the other, but it’s all done inside. It starts here and he runs it through and comes out the other side, on both the bottom and the upper. I’m not sure if it’s muscle, but from when he’s doing the facelift, he takes strands of that and then runs it through your lips.

Kim: And I said, I just don’t want those terrible lips…

Kerry: That come in the room before the rest of you comes in the room.

Kim: Exactly. I did not want that look. And I don’t think I have that look.

Kerry: You don’t at all. Do you love the new lips?

Kim: I do. And I notice them, but it’s very subtle.

Kerry: It’s your lips, but just with a little more oomph. Awesome. So we have Princess Kim here with her happy ending to her story, and I want to thank you so much for coming. I found your story so inspiring. I learned so much. I didn’t know about these procedures before. I think you’re going to educate a lot of people and also inspire a lot of people. These days there might be people in your shoes, or in your skin. Congratulations on the new you, and cheers to Dr. Berlet.

Kim: Cheers to Dr. Berlet, and thank you.

Kerry: All right, so I hope you enjoyed the latest episode with Kim. I loved hearing her story and the journey of her transformation. Please remember to subscribe, write comments, ask questions, and we will see you next time on Once Upon a Surgery.