Woman, 65, Gets Plastic Surgery to Treat ‘Turkey Neck’ — Before and After Photos (Exclusive)

After plastic surgery, Ana has a new life.

The mom of four, now 65, tells PEOPLE that she got to the point where the “energy” she felt inside didn’t match her appearance, and she wanted to do something about it. Although her four sons were nervous about going under the knife, Ana knew she had to do this for herself. Her goal was to “make” the eyes and “turkey neck,” and after a year of research, she turned to Dr. Paul AfroozCoral Gables, Florida based plastic surgeon.

“It was a journey and it gave me a second chance to still be here and enjoy myself,” Ana tells PEOPLE of her overall journey. “I was scared because obviously it’s surgery. I also asked, ‘If I do this, will I be the same person?’ That was my main concern because I’ve seen some projects that would make me petrify, like, ‘Oh my God, I still want to see me. I’m just fresher, something close to who I was.’

At first, Ana just wanted to address the aging around the “little top of my eyebrows,” but while consulting with Dr. Afrooz, asked for his professional opinion on her overall look. After sharing that she didn’t like her “turkey neck,” the doctor said a neck and facelift could give her the brighter, more “youthful” look she wanted.

“She took that leap of faith and trusted me,” Dr. Afrooz tells PEOPLE. “We really got an amazing result on her. That’s really the difference between an okay B-minus result and a result that can really, really positively affect someone’s life and their self-esteem and the way they behave. So it’s a case that I’m really proud of.”

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For her surgery in March 2024, when Ana was 64, the two performed a revision facelift, neck lift, brow lift and upper blepharoplasty. Before her six-hour surgery, Ana says she put her nerves to bed as soon as she walked into Dr. Afrooz.

“I was anxious,” she says of how she felt the morning of the surgery. “I’m getting goosebumps [thinking back]because I’ll never forget that morning when I went to see him, the moment I walked into his office, I was relaxed. I’m a very nervous person, but the truth is that once I was there and I was in front of him, I was very relaxed. I felt I was in the best hands.”

Dr. Afrooz is happy to report that not only did Ana’s surgery go according to plan, but so did her recovery. Because Ana’s surgery was a “revision facelift,” meaning the surgery had been done previously, Dr. Afrooz says it’s a little “difficult” because he has to deal with scar tissue under the skin.

“I do it very well or very badly, so it’s something I’m very used to,” he says of his experience doing review procedures. “These layers of tissue are no longer virgin. Once they’re separated and operated on, they heal, but they heal with some scar tissue.”

She navigated the process with ease and tells PEOPLE that Ana didn’t go “bumpy in the road” throughout the process.

Ana’s recovery was so smooth, in fact, that she went to a wedding in Italy shortly after her surgery. She says she laughs a little looking back at these photos because at the time, she didn’t think her swelling was bad, but in hindsight, she sees how visible it was. However, he felt well enough to make the trip from the US

For the most part, though, Ana says she just stayed home and kept “pampered” — but she couldn’t resist looking at herself in the mirror as the swelling went down and her new look started to shine.

She had the support of her sons – despite their earlier reservations about the surgery – and her mother during the operation and recovery. Other than that, she says she mostly kept it to herself to prevent any judgment or negative comment.

“I didn’t want anyone to pollute my energy,” she says, keeping the news to herself until she heals.

Ana’s mother, who has since died, was “so excited” about her daughter’s operation because she knew how much it meant to her and how much better she would feel about herself at the end. That meant a lot to her any of the times she felt nervous, she says.

But now she’s happy with her results and can’t resist taking — and sharing — photos of herself. The “too many” pictures she takes aren’t of anyone but herself, she says, despite what anyone else might think.

“I don’t pretend that I either feel like I’m the most beautiful woman or more beautiful than others,” she says. “No, no, no. It just feels amazing. When I talk to someone, I’m not afraid of how my neck looks. It’s a really big deal. I love it.”

Neck lifts by Dr. Afrooz start at $30,000, revision lift starts at $35,000, brow lift starts at $10,000 and upper bleph starts at $6.5K. The plastic surgeon transparently shares starting prices for all procedures offered on his website, however, prices will vary from patient to patient.

“I think I fit in inside and out now,” says Ana. “When I came to the conclusion [of how she felt before surgery]i was afraid to even bring it up at all, it actually made me a little depressed to see a person kind of melting down. I am 65 now. I’d say I’m back to 35, 40. Basically, to be honest. I like it more now than when I was that age.”