Shedding an incredible six stone in three years while on weight loss drug Mounjaro, LeAnn Hawks was shocked to discover that her transformation came with an unexpected cost, her confidence.
The once outgoing and bubbly nurse, 45, barely recognised herself and was left feeling self-conscious and withdrawn after developing what she called a ‘turkey neck’ due to the skin on her face sagging as a result of her thinning.
She also developed perimenopause around the same time, explaining to The Daily Mail: ‘I was really outgoing, go-all-the-time kind of girl, and I just didn’t even want to go out anymore. I just hated the way I looked. It was really affecting my self-esteem.’
But while scrolling TikTok one evening, LeAnn stumbled across a woman who had undergone an incredible facelift transformation by Dr Espino in Tijuana, Mexico.
After doing some research about his work, she decided to take a ‘leap of faith’ and booked in with him for a deep plane neck and facelift, an upper and lower blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery), brow lift and fat transfer to face and lips.
The surgery, which she underwent in July this year at a price of $15,500 (£11,800), completely transformed her appearance, leaving her looking more like her 20-year-old self.
As well as the operation, the cost covered an overnight stay in the hospital as well as ten days in a Mexico hotel while monitored by nurses.
LeAnn Hawks, from Arizona, before, pictured left, and after, pictured right, her facelift
Now, LeAnn, from Arizona, feels more confident than ever – although admittedly, she wasn’t quite as fond of her facelift when medical professionals finally removed her bandages (pictured)
Now, LeAnn, from Arizona, feels more confident than ever – although admittedly, she wasn’t quite as fond of her facelift when medical professionals finally removed her bandages.
Looking in the mirror, she said ‘it was the most horrific thing I have ever seen.’
She said the moment was ‘truly shocking’ and that she failed to mentally prepare herself for that first glimpse of her swollen and bruised face.
LeAnn’s husband Tony Hawks, 51, said she looked like she had been in a ‘bar brawl’- he didn’t expect her recovery to look so drastic, saying he expected she would have a ‘little incision’ around her neck.
She recalled: ‘He thought I was beautiful when I was 80 pounds heavier, when I had a turkey neck, he loves me either way but he was supportive because he knew it was bothering me.
‘I was in a lot of pain for the first few days, I’m not going to lie, but the mental part was the hardest. I cried a lot, I was very emotional for the first week. It was emotional for sure because I was like “what have I done”.’
Recalling how the first week was ‘really scary’ because she didn’t look like herself at all, LeAnn explained that this was the reason she decided to document her facelift journey on her TikTok @leannhawks.
She wanted to give people a real, unfiltered look at the healing process instead of just the glossy before-and-after reveal.
One day after surgery, the fog began to lift and nurses carefully removed her bandages, but looking in the mirror, LeAnn (pictured days after surgery) said: ‘it was the most horrific thing I have ever seen’
LeAnn pictured at university in her 20s
In one viral clip, which has amassed more than 18 million views, LeAnn showed what she looked like a day after going under the knife.
But LeAnn recalled she didn’t take the procedure lightly and initially had her reservations, saying she considered the facelift for a full year before she committed fully.
‘I mean, there was times I was about to back out, because it’s your face, you know? Going to Tijuana on top of that was a big commitment.’
But praising her medical team, she said: ‘They really took care of me. There were nurses who came twice a day, morning and night, to check my vitals and make sure everything was healing properly.
‘They would ask about my pain levels and handle any medication I needed,’ said LeAnn.
She urged others to ‘trust the process’ – but admitted complications do happen and revealed that her chin wound opened up after surgery.
Speaking to the Mail, she recalled: ‘My chin wound opened up on day ten. Dr Espino had put some kind of tape around my chin and under my eyes the day I left hospital after my surgery, because my swelling was so bad.
‘Well, it started draining. I could see it oozing, I was like, “oh my god”. So then I was in panic mode, because I was like, I don’t want a scar!
Since the facelift surgery, LeAnn’s confidence has skyrocketed and she is feeling like herself again. Pictured recently
‘You know, you do have openings, sometimes it happens. One side of my ear did not heal as quick as my other one.’
Being a nurse, LeAnn felt confident in buying wound care off of Amazon and dressing the wounds herself at home, saying eventually they did heal well.
While the emotional side of the recovery took its toll, LeAnn said the physical symptoms were equally challenging.
She explained: ‘The physical things were the swelling, that really got me down. It was tight, I looked puffy, I hated that, and then, sleeping on your back. I had to do that for three or four weeks straight and I’m a side sleeper so that was tough.’
The nurse took five weeks off work to recover, a decision she later described as the best she could have made.
Now three months after the surgery, she said her wounds are healing well but she won’t see the full results until nearly one year after.
LeAnn said: ‘Three months into recovery I do feel red carpet ready, the swelling’s gone down, you’re not looking as puffy, I feel normal now. I feel like when I go out, people can’t tell I had a facelift.’
The surgery significantly improved LeAnn’s confidence, and she now takes a more considered approach to her appearance.
LeAnn pictured at just 17 years old looking fresh faced (left). Pictured right, LeAnn recently
She said: ‘I do feel more confident. I was real bad before the surgery, if I was going to go out and run errands, I’d throw something on. Now, I’m trying to look better, and do my makeup a little more, fix my hair a little more, it’s helped a lot.
‘I feel much better now, I’m excited to go out again, and get together with friends, or go to the bar, go out to dinner, because I’m more confident now, so it’s amazing.’
LeAnn, whose surgery was organised by Elias Ortiz & Company (EOC), Mexico’s weight loss surgery specialists, admitted she has faced criticism for having a facelift at a relatively young age, with some people questioning why she doesn’t ‘age gracefully’.
While she claimed she sometimes worries about the opinions of others, it hasn’t affected her too deeply. She believes everyone should do what feels right for them: whether it’s fillers, facelifts or nothing at all.
‘Life is short,’ she said. ‘If I want a facelift or my neck to be snatched, I’m going to do it. If you don’t want to great, good, you’re going to save money, that’s good for you, but that’s what I wanted to do, so I did it.’
