After Lupus changed her face, Atlanta woman turns to surgery for second chance
Atlanta woman sees plastic surgery as second chance after Lupus diagnosis
Antonette Currie said she feels more confident after plastic surgery returned fatty tissue to her face, which she lost due to a rare type of Lupus. With the volume in her face back, she said she feels better than OK with her scars.
ATLANTA - At 35, Antonette Currie of Atlanta says her life is good.
She runs an herbal supplement company, Live Love Juice, and feels like she finally has Lupus under better control.
But, life with the autoimmune disorder has been an uphill battle.
Antonette Currie underwent two fat grafting procedures to restore fullness to her face. (Antonette Currie)
Currie, a former model, was diagnosed at 22.
She had no idea what Lupus was, or what lay ahead for her.
"I ended up getting a blood clot in my lungs and lost half of my right lung, and then caught the flu," she says. "I got down to, like, 103 pounds."
By 2013, Currie's face had begun to change, growing increasingly gaunt.
She had developed lupus panniculitis, a rare form of the autoimmune disorder, which can destroy the collagen and fatty tissue underneath the skin.
Antonette Currie of Atlanta (Antonette Currie)
Currie developed hard nodules underneath the skin on her cheeks that caused a scar to form.
Dr. Dzifa Kpodzo is a Morehouse Healthcare plastic surgeon Currie eventually turned to for help.
"So the fatty tissue was very thinned out, and pretty much non-existent for her," Dr. Kpodzo says. "For the layperson, the person on the street, you probably would notice that, 'Gosh, this person looks so thin.'"
Working in retail, Currie says, could be brutal.
"A lot of people would come up to me, and would stare at it and look at it," she says. "So, I was really uncomfortable. I'd get questions, like, 'Did you get in a car accident?'"
By 2019, Currie decided she wanted to do something about her gaunt appearance.
She underwent the first of two fat-grafting procedures.
Dr. Kpodzo gently liposuctioned fat from Currie's abdomen and then reinjected it into her face.
Before and after photos of Antonette Currie, who underwent two fat grafting procedures to restore fullness to her face (Dr. Dzifa Kpodzo)
"In the beginning, it wasn't going to be possible to address the scarring," Dr. Kpodzo says. "Why? Because there was basically nothing underneath."
But Kpodzo was able to restore the fullness to Currie's face.
Because the grafted fat tissue contains stem cells, she says, it will grow a new blood supply.
Currie says it took about 3 months to recover after each procedure.
She loves her new, fuller look.
"It just brought my confidence back," she says. "Because I felt like I looked like a skeleton because I didn't have any fat in my face. And, I even felt like my dimple came back over here."
Currie's health insurance company covered the cost of both procedures.
With the volume in her face restored, she gradually realized she is okay with her facial scar.
Antonette Currie after two fat grafting procedures to restore fullness to her face. (Dr. Dzifa Kpodzo)
It’s a sign, she says, of what she has come through over the last 13 years.
"It has become her tiger stripe of sorts, something that shows her journey," Dr. Kpodzo says. "And, that is a positive thing."
"I love it now," Currie says. "It's me, it's my testimony. Lupus has taught me to be a stronger person, and I am a strong, powerful woman."
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