HUNTSVILLE, AL—
Hollywood is notorious for plastic surgery. There are even websites dedicated to before and after shots. What you may not realize is how much plastic surgery has moved from Hollywood to your own neighborhood.Bill Neville is 52, and keeps up with his four-year-old son, Will, better than some parents in their 20s. But he's become increasingly sensitive about looking the part. Bill shared with us, "He's going to start t-ball, swimming, and I don't want to be out there with the rest of the dads and have them looking at me like, 'Hey! Grandpa is out here to watch his grandson!'"
Bill started noticing small changes over the past few years.
"I could feel the skin of my eyes, resting on my eyelashes and I feel I'm always having to go bright and open up my eyes to see everything," he said.
Then other things started to bother him.
"My wife, always tugging on my neck and pulling it back and trying to see what I used to look like," Bill said.
Neville realized he could change some parts of himself with diet and exercise, but would need a little help turning back the hands of the time. So, he made a life-changing decision. He told us, "I just want a newer version of myself, really."
Men choosing to get plastic surgery is less taboo then it used to be. Neville turned to Huntsville plastic surgeon Dr. Deason Dunagan to have work done on his eyelids and his neck. Dr. Dunagan told us plastic surgery on men has always been done, but it's more commonly talked about now.
Want to learn more about this procedure? Dr. Dunagan will join us for a web chat Wednesday, May 26 from 5:30 to 6:30pm. Just pull up WHNT.com and fire off your questions!
We were able to attend Bill's final consultation with Dr. Dunagan before his surgery. Dr. Dunagan shared the specifics of what he'd be doing during surgery and answered any final questions or concerns. Bill wanted to make sure he'd still look natural and not like Olympian Bruce Jenner, who has been ridiculed in the media for his obvious and somewhat unnatural plastic surgery.
"You'll still be you and still have your basic facial characteristics, but you will look more like back in the day, so to speak," Dr. Dunagan said to Bill.
As we spent time with Bill and his wife during the final moments before his surgery, it was obvious that nerves had been replaced by excitement.
"Just rolling back the clock a bit on this turkey gobbler and possibly getting the skin off my eyelids would be great," Bill said.
Inside the operating room, a montage of pictures of what Bill used to look like helped the doctor during surgery. This is where medicine meets artistry. Training and 30 years of experience guide each move, and each decision. Bill was put under anesthesia for five hours for a surgery he was hoping would take away decades.
We had to wait two months to see Bill after his surgery. It takes weeks for the bruising and swelling to go down, and we wanted to give him plenty of time to recover. The anticipation had been building as we prepared for the big reveal. We weren't sure what to expect.
I rang the doorbell and patiently waited for Bill to answer. I was floored by the results. He truly did look exactly as he did in pictures he showed us from 20 years ago. He loved the results, too.
"I was hoping not to look real plasticky and stretched, and I don't think I do," said Bill. "I think it looks real natural and everyone I've talked to thinks it looks great."
It's safe to say his wife loves the results, too.
"It has definitely improved my relationship with my wife," Bill told us. "She has this little twinkle in her eye when she looks at me. And she doesn't have to pull back on my face to see what I used to look like anymore."
Bill didn't tell anyone he was doing this, and most people he runs into just think his Jenny Craig weight loss program is going really well. We asked Bill and he said, surprisingly, he never felt any pain. For the first few weeks, it was more of a sensation of having a mask on.
For what Bill had done, which included his eyelids, face lift, neck lift, laser resurfacing of his skin and fat injections to fill in wrinkles, you can expect to pay between $10,000 and $20,000, but that changes depending on what each person has done.
Not only has there been a transformation on the outside, there's been one internally as well. Bill admits, "It's made me feel younger and more energetic, and I think it will open more opportunities for me."
Bill says it's wonderful to look the age he actually feels. He held up a before and after picture of himself. He pointed to the before and said with a smirk, "This is my dad." He pointed to the after picture and said, "And this is me."
