Lisa VerMeer always knew she was going to get cosmetic surgery. As she approached her sixties, she made the decision to undergo the procedure.
“I’ve always said, from my 30s on, when the bloom is off the rose, I’m going under the knife,” she tells PEOPLE, laughing. “I knew I would. I’ve always known that. I’ve always looked younger than my age, so I could put it off for a long time. But when I reached the age of 60, I realized it was time to make a serious decision.
Vermeer says the turning point in her choice occurred one evening when she looked in the mirror and didn’t recognize who was gazing back at her.
VerMeer asked one of her children to help her find a surgeon. The mother of three admits that she expected she would need to travel from her home in Iowa to Los Angeles to find the best surgeon.
Her daughter directed her to Dr. Laxmeesh Mike Nayak of Nayak Plastic Surgery in St. Louis, Missouri, who she had been following on social media.
“I loved that he was in the Midwest like me,” VerMeer recalls of her first reaction to Dr. Nayak. And after she saw his before-and-after photos, she was well-sold. She submitted her information and performed a Zoom chat, but she admits she was unsure whether she would follow through. However, she claims she had a “gut feeling” about Dr. Nayak and believed the timing was perfect, the doctor was correct, and everything else would come into place.
However, she had to wait a year on Dr. Nayak’s famed waiting list. She was also thinking about the pricing, which many people ask about on Dr. Nayak’s social media pages. His website clearly lists his cost, with deep plane facelifts starting at $150,000. This is the most expensive operation he offers, and all other procedures are priced accordingly. However, each patient’s specific price is negotiable during a consultation.
VerMeer, who was 65 when she had surgery in June 2024, flew to St. Louis to meet Dr. Nayak for the first time.
Her surgical operations comprised a deep plane facelift, deep neck lift, brow lift, upper and lower blepharoplasty, fat transfer, lip lift, earlobe reduction, and CO2 laser resurfacing. Dr. Nayak reports that VerMeer’s surgery took around six hours. He also lasered throughout the procedure so that patients might “capitalize” on their recuperation time.
“What Lisa looked like before had nothing to do with who Lisa was because she just looked contracted, like everything had come, not just down, but forward into her face,” according to Dr. Nayak. “All of her features became smaller, and she appeared bottom-heavy and constricted in the face. Additionally, her skin showed signs of aging, including wrinkles, brown patches, and coarseness.
One thing Dr. Nayak observes regarding facelifts is that clients frequently believe that the skin is being dragged upward, although this is not necessarily the case. Dr. Nayak tugs the skin in the direction that best suits each patient. Vermeer looked up as well as outward to allow her face to be more open. The pose also allowed Dr. Nayak to show her cheekbones and jawline.
“She has fantastic cheekbone and jawbone structure,” adds the doctor. “All I had to do was just reveal, not even augment or improve her cheekbone and jawbone structure, just reveal it so the lower face and neck lift was just to show what’s there.”
Dr. Nayak tells patients they won’t be “presentable” for two to three weeks after surgery. He and his colleagues monitor the healing process at his clinic in St. Louis.
Considering the strain her body had endured, VerMeer claims that her rehabilitation in St. Louis was effortless.
“Your face is swollen, you’re bruised, you’re [experiencing] highs and lows emotionally, but never any pain whatsoever, and people can’t believe that,” she tells me. “I underwent nine operations on my face. I was in surgery for more than six hours, so you would expect discomfort. None.” Some discomfort, but no pain.”
After that, doctors send patients home to finish their recovery, giving them instructions on how to maintain their skin and sun protection.
Vermeer says she’s a huge admirer of skin care (and has become even more so recently) and enjoys taking care of the job Dr. Nayak has done. She and her husband spend part of the year in the Florida Keys, and she is now more careful in the sun.
“We’re huge on offshore fishing, so what am I going to do? I enjoy fishing. I would rather not give that up. So I ended up buying this equipment that makes me look idiotic, but it totally covers me, and I go fishing, and it has had no effect on that,” she laughs. “But it’s quite a scene to see me get on the boat!”
She promises she will do “everything she can” to safeguard Dr. Nayak’s “work”!
VerMeer reports that her spouse and kids had extremely favorable reactions to her surgeries while she recovered. They’d been rooting for her the entire time, understanding how important it was for her confidence.
She adds, however, that it’s been amusing to observe how friends — and nonfriends — have responded to her new look.
Vermeer claims she’s recently encountered a few folks who have been bold enough to question her about how old she is and whether she’s had work done. She claims the matter is usually brought up at cocktail parties (by people she doesn’t know) and after they’ve had a few drinks and are courageous enough to inquire. But, because she does not believe plastic surgery should be a taboo subject, she is always willing to answer.
“I do not mind.” I’m not offended at all,” she says. “I’m delighted to respond. I am not embarrassed by what I did. I simply find it amusing how people ask questions.
VerMeer recently visited Dr. Nayak’s clinic for a 10-month check-up, during which the doctor added “a tiny drop of filler in the right cheek because it’s real life, and building materials are imperfect,” he adds. Aside from that, VerMeer is delighted with the outcomes of Dr. Nayak’s efforts.
“My self-esteem and confidence have come back,” she tells me. “Let me tell you what occurs. I believe that around the age of fifty, women become almost invisible. We do. I have regained my motivation. “I suppose that’s the best way to put it.”
