A Surgeon Son Performed Plastic Surgery on His 68-Year-Old Mom, Who Was Amazed by the Results — Before & After Photos Stun

Would you trust your child to perform surgery on you? Well, that’s exactly the choice one woman made when she turned to her son not just for support, but to be the one holding the scalpel.

After a major turning point in her life, 68-year-old Linda Truesdale decided to refresh her appearance with facial plastic surgery. However, rather than consult a stranger, she placed her trust in someone who knew her face better than anyone.

The person in charge of her transformation was her son, Dr. Carl Truesdale, a board-certified surgeon celebrated for his natural-looking results and strong digital presence.

However, on the morning of the first surgery, Linda admitted to a spike in anxiety — and explained why.

Their close relationship, along with Carl’s reputation and track record, made him the only person Linda considered for such a personal transformation. For her, this journey wasn’t just about vanity or pressure.

After a significant weight loss, a move from Corning, New York, to Conyers, Georgia, and a conscious effort to cut out things in her life that no longer served her, she finally felt it was the right time.

In fact, she had brought up the idea before. For years, she’d asked Carl if she was ready for any work. However, his answer had always been the same — “Mom, you don’t need anything.”

But the more she stepped into this new phase of life, the more serious her questions became. Carl finally responded, “Well, Mom, you think you’re ready?”

Linda answered, “Yeah, but let’s just kind of take baby steps.” That moment marked the beginning of a two-part transformation journey. For Linda, the goal was clear. She wanted to address the visible effects of aging but didn’t want to erase all signs of time. She said:

“I was only 31 when he was born. I didn’t want to go that far back. [Looking] 40 was good.”

The first procedure took place in the fall — an upper eyelid and lip lift. It was performed in Carl’s office under local anesthesia. Linda was awake the entire time, which was exactly how she wanted it.

“I’m the type of person that wants to see it,” she said, revealing, “I’m the type of person when I had my baby, I wanted to watch everything. It’s like, ‘Give me a mirror, let me see what’s going on.'”

Being awake allowed her to stay aware that her son was right there, doing the work himself. “[That] really makes a difference,” she shared. However, on the morning of the first surgery, Linda admitted to a spike in anxiety — and explained why.

She revealed, “I stopped listening to this little voice in my head that said, ‘He’s done all this wonderful work for all these other people and now he’s getting ready to do his mom and what if…?'” As a result, during breakfast, she and her husband took time to exhale, pray, and talk it through.

As Linda calmed her nerves before going under the knife, Carl did what he does with every patient — evaluate health and readiness first. “The first thing I wanted to do was make sure my mom is healthy enough for this surgery,” he explained.

He then carefully mapped out the first phase of her treatment, which included removing excess skin from her upper eyelids, tightening the area beneath her lower eyelids, and lifting the skin just below her nose to refine her upper lip.

Plans for a fat transfer and brow lift were intentionally postponed until the second stage of the process. Then, after two hours, the first procedure was performed successfully and Linda’s recovery exceeded her expectations.

But the physical transformation wasn’t the only change.

“I was expecting that I would be bruised and all of that, but you see no bruising. Very minimal swelling. I’ve not had any pain, really,” she shared. However, later on, there was one small hiccup.

Despite Carl’s post-op instructions to avoid salt and keep her head elevated, she slipped up. “One night I ate half a bag of kettle-cooked potato chips and I went to pick up something off the floor,” Linda admitted. That led to some swelling, but it resolved quickly.

She was back to normal within two weeks. Then, after waiting about four months, she returned for her second, more extensive procedure — a deep-plane facelift to address sagging in her neck, jowls, and chin line. However, this time, she wouldn’t be awake. Linda said beforehand:

“The surgery that I’m gonna have later on will be my deep-plane facelift and things and so I will be under anesthesia, so that I think I’m a little more apprehensive about that. Like I said, I know I’m in good hands. So I’m going to be okay.”

The second surgery lasted seven hours and included the postponed brow lift. Carl maintained the same focus and precision, explaining, “As I worked, I kept thinking, ‘This is the person who gave me life.’ And I found myself wondering if my anatomy mirrors hers.”

Still, he made sure to treat Linda as he would any other patient. “The only difference? Instead of going home to recover, she healed in my back house — with her son checking in on her every step of the way,” he revealed.

Again, Linda expected more post-op pain, but that didn’t happen. The only lingering tenderness was near her hairline, where the brow lift had been done. She compared the sensation to the tight pull of freshly braided hair or a weave.

She also felt numbness around her earlobes, which took a bit of adjustment, but overall she felt back to herself in five weeks. But the physical transformation wasn’t the only change.

However, while their story has touched many, some viewers had questions.

As Linda approached her 69th birthday, her confidence had surged. “I feel better when I look in the mirror,” she said. “I was at Lowe’s the other day, and this woman walked up to me and said, ‘Oh my God, you have absolutely beautiful skin. What do you do?’ It’s just good to be able to make people feel good when they see you.”

Carl has since shared his mother’s before-and-after journey on TikTok, where the results quickly gained traction. He also featured Linda in his “Beyond the Surface” YouTube series, offering viewers an intimate look at both the physical process and the emotional impact.

“Imagine if you were a plastic surgeon and your mom is seeing you do all these before and afters — she’s going to ask you about plastic surgery,” he said.

One netizen shared, “Wow looks fabulous. Subtle and excellent work.” Another echoed the sentiment with excitement, writing, “She looks so good omg 😲 he did that ❤️.” Another person typed, “She was beautiful before but now she is stunning and timeless! Fabulous job Doctor!!!”

Another netizen remarked, “She looks phenomenal and is glowing!!!” while a fifth commented, “Just beautiful mama!” Someone else added, “She look [sic] absolutely beautiful ❤️ He is an amazing doctor.”

However, while their story has touched many, some viewers had questions. They wondered whether Linda even needed surgery in the first place and Carl didn’t disagree. “A lot of people in the comments were saying my mom didn’t need surgery, and I completely agree,” he said, adding:

“Even though she doesn’t need to look younger, it makes her life better [and] improves her quality of life. And we only have so much time to live, so we better be as happy as we can be. Let’s make ourselves happy.”

Linda on the other hand never second-guessed her decision to let her son operate. “If he could do any kind of surgery on me that I needed, I would go to Carl,” she said, humorously adding that she would have her son do her hips if she could.

As for the cost of such extensive work, Carl’s full facial rejuvenation procedures typically run between $60,000 and $120,000. However, Linda paid nothing. “What I paid was giving birth to Carl. That was a gift to mom,” she joked. Carl put it simply, “How do you charge the woman who gave you life?”

In the end, for Linda, the transformation was never about turning back time for the sake of appearances. It was about honoring a new season in her life with renewed confidence.

“Carl’s always been that type of person — wanting to know more than you thought a child his age should know,” she said. “He was always challenging me to step it up because it’s like there was no limit. The sky was not the limit for Carl.”