Woman, 55, Addresses 'Accelerated' Aging and Results of Weight Loss with 'Undetectable' Facelift (Exclusive)
Tami turned to Dr. Amir Karam for a full facial rejuvenation that included a face and neck lift
Hedy Phillips
Tue, February 3, 2026 at 9:30 AM UTC
7 min read
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Dr. Amir Karam
NEED TO KNOW
Tami, 55, recently lost weight and decided to get plastic surgery to address "accelerated" aging
She turned to Dr. Amir Karam in San Diego
Her procedures included a Vertical Restore (Dr. Karam's version of a face and neck lift), facial fat transfer, upper blepharoplasty, lower blepharoplasty and a lip lift
Tami has a whole new lease on life.
The Las Vegas resident, 55, has had plastic surgery on her mind for a few years, but it wasn't until she lost "a lot" of weight and saw herself aging in a way she wasn't pleased with that she decided it was time to take the plunge.
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"I kind of kept it in my back pocket thinking, this is something I might be interested in doing," she tells PEOPLE of considering plastic surgery. "I have lost a lot of weight recently, so my aging accelerated quicker than I thought. And I thought, okay, now's the time."
Tami had been following San Diego-based plastic surgeon Dr. Amir Karam on social media for years, and she turned to him immediately upon deciding she wanted to address the signs of aging on her face.
"It's kind of like wedding dress shopping. The first dress that I tried on was the dress that I chose," she says of meeting with him and deciding he was the one to do her surgery.
Dr. Amir Karam
From the moment of her first consultation, Dr. Karam says Tami simply brought good vibes.
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"She represents really the spirit of the practice," he tells PEOPLE, adding that he feels "lucky" to work with people like her.
He says that meeting with Tami was similar to how it is with most of his patients coming in with a "very singular desire," and that is to "look as young as they feel."
"They feel like the aging process has stripped them of their identity, their sense of who they are, and they're looking for a solution. The reason they end up coming to me is always the same. It's because they effectively have faith that I can give them a super-natural version of themselves."
Tami says that when she met with Dr. Karam, it felt like he was "family" because he just understood what she was looking for in her appearance. Upon discussing what Dr. Karam would do for Tami's procedure, they settled on a full facial rejuvenation. It included Dr. Karam's signature Vertical Restore (his version of a face and neck lift), facial fat transfer, upper blepharoplasty, lower blepharoplasty and a lip lift. She's also been using Dr. Karam's Trifecta skincare products.
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"Vertical Restore takes care of the entire shape of the face," Dr. Karam explains. "[Including] the laxity that occurs as a result of downward sagging of the fascia, which happens somewhere around the late 40s, early 50s. There's just an on switch that occurs, likely hormonal. Corners of the brow, mid-face, jawline, the neck all start to sag. That gives the face a different shape. Instead of being this uplifted heart shape or upside-down triangle, it becomes rectangular and heavy."
Dr. Amir Karam
When it was time for surgery day, which Tami traveled from Las Vegas to San Diego for, she says she doesn't remember much, but she knows she wasn't nervous.
"It's funny because I remember the morning getting up before, getting ready, feeling excited, doing some meditation, saying some prayers, just having a calm morning out by the ocean," Tami says. "I remember driving there, and that's about it. I just kind of remember coming out of it and going, 'Oh my gosh, this is so amazing.'"
Dr. Amir Karam
Her surgery — done with IV sedation and local anesthesia — went according to plan, Dr. Karam shares. Her recovery did as well. He jokes, though, that people love him ahead of the surgery, but a few days post-op they start to get scared by what's happening to their faces.
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"Three, four days after, when the swelling gets really big, they get scared that they're going to be the 'exception' to the whole thing because everything's puffy," he says of people worrying that they won't heal properly. "They don't look like themselves. Then they hate me. Then by day seven through 14 after surgery, things really resolve fast and get better very quickly."
Dr. Amir Karam
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Tami stayed in California for a week, and while she was healing, she says she did experience some of that swelling that Dr. Karam warned her about. It was the most "surprising" part of her recovery process. In addition to that, she says the mental toll was more than she anticipated as well.
"I thought, okay, I've got this. I want this so bad. I've heard of others saying there's a mental aspect of it. It hits you and you're thinking, why am I feeling this? What am I feeling? Why am I so emotional about the way my face looks? And so I'm still kind of sitting with that," Tami says. "Why did that hit me that way? What resonated with me? I'm not sure yet. Maybe there's a disconnect in what your brain sees and how you feel. Because I'm happy with everything. I love it. Everything went smoothly. It's emotional."
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Tami has been sharing her recovery process with Dr. Karam's social media followers since getting her surgery at the end of 2025. For the past several weeks, Tami has taken viewers inside the process, and she tells PEOPLE she wasn't afraid to do so because she's always been an "open book."
"I don't have anything to hide with anything. I was happy to do it," she says.
However, with sharing on social media to Dr. Karam's million followers, she's leaving herself open to all sorts of comments — including the good and bad.
"Some of the comments are crazy," she says. "They're wild, but I enjoy that. I think it's funny. I just laugh along with everybody."
Dr. Amir Karam
There are an abundance of comments on Tami's videos praising Dr. Karam's work and raving that they can see a change in Tami's whole being. Several people are telling her how good she looks. Some have jokingly asked if Tami's videos are AI because her appearance is so different. And at least one person was blown away by the "undetectable" work that Tami had done.
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Even some people in Tami's life haven't been able to tell what has changed about her appearance because it's so subtle and flawless. A few people who didn't know she got a facelift asked her what she did with her hair.
"They can't pinpoint it, which is bizarre," she describes.
Dr. Amir Karam
Tami is so pleased with her choice to get plastic surgery, and she is grateful to other patients who were open about sharing their journeys publicly. They helped convince her to take the plunge — and she's happy to pay it forward by sharing her own story.
"We have these same emotions, 'Oh, I don't like the way I look today,' or, 'I'm not enjoying how I'm aging.' So to see other women take this step and see positive results, that's why this has resonated," she says. "Not even with just women, because I know of a lot of men that are doing this now too, which I think is so awesome. But why not? If you have the means to do this, do it. Why not? We take care of our homes, and if we remodel a kitchen, we want to show everybody. You remodeled your face. It houses what our souls live in. It's incredible."
Read the original article on People