Pop Recovery Systems

Liposuction is still surgery. 💜

Junis Maldonado was 27 years old. A mother of three. She went to Sono Bello in San Antonio for a routine liposuction.

Her blood pressure dropped during the procedure.

That is a warning to stop.

According to the lawsuit, they kept going.

She now lives with a severe brain injury in a life her family says she does not even recognize.

The surgeon named in the lawsuit? Dr. Dare Ajibade. The same surgeon connected to multiple patient deaths we have been covering on this page. Sono Bello has confirmed he is no longer employed with them.

But here is what this is really about.

Sono Bello is not a back alley clinic. It is a national brand that makes liposuction feel like a spa appointment.

It is not a spa appointment.

It is surgery.

And the industry will never stop selling you accessibility until patients stop dying from it.

Prayers for Junis and her three babies.

Im pretty sure thought she was getting a tummy tuck with muscle repair.

She discovers she had actually received a panniculectomy.

Those are NOT the same procedure and this is exactly why education before surgery matters so much.

Too many women walk into cosmetic surgery knowing the result they want, but not necessarily knowing the name of the procedure, exactly what will be removed or repaired, where their scar will be, what their consent forms actually say, or what they should realistically expect when they wake up.

And I understand why. If this is your first surgery, how are you supposed to know what you don’t know?

That’s where having an experienced advocate can make a huge difference.

Before surgery, you should understand:

• Is my surgeon board-certified in plastic surgery?
• What EXACT procedure am I consenting to?
• Is muscle repair included?
• What will this procedure address and what won’t it address?
• What should my scar and expected result look like?
• Where is my surgery being performed?
• How should I prepare beforehand?
• What does my recovery plan look like afterward?

There are incredible surgeons out there. There are also practices where patients may feel rushed, confused, or inadequately educated. Your job is to slow the process down until YOU understand what is happening to your body.

Whether it’s POP, (thanks for the video) or another experienced patient advocate you trust, if you don’t know where to start, don’t do it alone.

Get educated. Ask the uncomfortable questions. Read your paperwork. Know your procedure. Know your surgeon. And have a preparation AND recovery plan before surgery day.

Because the time to discover that you and your surgical team weren’t talking about the same procedure is not after you wake up.

Save this before your consultation and send it to someone considering surgery. 💜

A reminder from our Resilience Coach
Food is fuel..
Food is joy…
Food is NOT THE ENEMY

We are not against medical tourism. I personally went to Colombia for my mommy makeover and would do it again. 💜

But when a post goes viral telling women that Turkey is better than the United States for surgery, we cannot stay quiet.

Because that is not the whole story.

You cannot put 7,500 board certified plastic surgeons across the entire United States into one category based on your experience at one facility overseas.

And that $50,000 to $100,000 price range thrown out for US surgery? That is a very wide number. We still do not even know the full list of procedures she had done.

Here is what nobody is saying in the comments.
I went to Colombia. I had a complication. I stayed six weeks longer than planned. I could handle it because I had the resources, a daily nurse, a chef, a maid, and my mom home with my kids.

Most women looking at a $15,000 package do not have that safety net.

And that letter to fly home?

That is not a flex.
That is your body telling you it was not ready to board a plane.

Part 2 coming. 💜

Because we need to tell the whole truth about what traveling for surgery actually costs and why there is more affordable talent right in the US than people realize.

Before the kids. Before POP. Before moving to Latin America. Before this life I could have never imagined…

I was the same age my daughter is now on September 11, 2001.

25 years later, no matter where life takes me, I will always remember where I was that day.

We remember. We honor. We never forget. 🇺🇸

She was not a doctor.
She was a convicted felon.
The substance she injected them with…unknown.

One needed surgery to drain abscesses.
Both have permanent scars.
One lost her job.

The question is never just where you go for your procedure.

The question is what kind of patient are you.

Verify before you book. Every time. 💜

📰 Credit:

Skipping meals doesn’t make you disciplined!

Her name was Andreia Vieira Gaspar. She was 51 years old. And she saved for years for the surgery she had always dreamed of. 💜(cite index=“31-1”>She underwent a combination of six procedures over eight hours at Hospital Ankar in Goiânia, Brazil. The surgery cost around $23,000.

Hours after the procedure ended her family noticed severe swelling in her face and tongue. She was struggling to breathe. They raised concerns with the medical team repeatedly.

A nurse told her sister she was being too nervous and was making Andreia nervous.

(cite index=“33-1”>Her condition deteriorated approximately six hours after surgery. She suffered cardiorespiratory arrest and could not be resuscitated.

(cite index=“33-1”>The family alleges the hospital did not have an intensive care unit or an ambulance available when she experienced complications.

(cite index=“33-1”>The Public Ministry of Goiás has since requested a police investigation into the possibility of involuntary manslaughter.

We need to talk about what this story is really telling us.

Six procedures in one sitting is not a dream package deal.

It is a compounded risk calculation that requires extraordinary preparation, the right facility, an ICU on standby, and a team that takes every post operative symptom seriously.

Breathing difficulty after facial and neck surgery is never something to observe casually.

It is a medical emergency until proven otherwise.

And a family member raising an alarm should never be told they are being too nervous.

That dismissal cost Andreia her life.

We have seen this same pattern in Houston. In Miami. In Brazil. Across the world.

Women saving for years.
Walking into facilities that are not equipped for what can go wrong.
Being dismissed when they raise concerns.
And families left without answers.

This is why POP Recovery Systems exists.

Not just to support recovery.
But to make sure patients know the right questions to ask before they ever get on that table.

Rest in peace Andreia. 💜

This video found us at the right time. 😂💜

Shoutout to because this is literally every woman who is serious about finding the right surgeon.

Dehydrated. Running on 4 hours of sleep. Dragging from consult to consult.

And every surgeon in that room thought a fellowship certificate and a pretty office was going to be enough.

It is not.

Because the right patient walks in with one question and is not leaving without the answer.

Are you board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery?

Not fellowship trained.
Not cosmetic certified.

Board certified.
By the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

3 consults.
Same question every time.
3 surgeons getting uncomfortable.

And the search continues. 😂

This is what an informed patient looks like.

Tired. Unbothered. Standards completely intact. 👑

If you have consultations coming up, save this energy. Take it into every single room you walk into. The question is simple. The answer should be even simpler.

And if they hesitate
you already have your answer. 💜

Two patients are dead.

Adebola Britt was 49 years old. She went into cardiac arrest in the recovery room after liposuction. She died five days later. The 911 call from the clinic said — we have a patient not breathing.

Junis Maldonado was 27 years old. She suffered multiple seizures and cardiopulmonary arrest during her procedure. She survived but now relies on a tracheostomy and a feeding tube for the rest of her life.

A third patient paid $15,000 for liposuction and says her surgery lasted 10 hours. She suffered a third degree stomach burn that required skin graft surgery.

And a fourth patient — Susan Easley — a mother and international development executive — went in for liposuction on a Friday. Her son could not reach her that weekend. He found her body on Monday. Four days after surgery.

When she called the clinic to report her complications after leaving — they dismissed her concerns.

The Texas Medical Board was contacted and issued a remedial plan against this surgeon for failing to meet the standard of care.

A remedial plan.

Not a suspension.
Not a license revocation.
A remedial plan.

And he continued to operate.

Now here is the part that ties everything POP has ever said together.

He was not board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

He was board eligible.

Board eligible means you completed the training.
Board certified means you passed the exams and met the standard.

Those are not the same thing.
And that difference cost women their lives.

This is not a scare tactic.
This is four families who will never be the same.

Before you hand anyone a deposit —
ask for their board certification.
Not their fellowship.
Not their before and afters.
Not their follower count.

Their board certification.
From the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

We will never stop saying this. 💜

Rest in peace to every patient this industry has failed. 🚨