Despite her virality online, Mae has only told one of her friends, in addition to her husband and six children, about her makeover. “I thought a lot more people would be more judgmental. That’s why I kept quiet.” But that hasn’t kept others in her close circle from noticing a little oomph to her look. She says one person went up to her and said, “Well, gee, babe, I don’t know what kind of surgery you had, but I want it.”

Mae is feeling more confident than ever before, thanks to her transformation. “My biggest thing was, I’d be driving down the street and think, oh, people are seeing my ‘turtle neck’ because that’s what it looked like. Now, I drive down the street and hold my head high.”

She has some ways to go until her results fully settle in. Still, everything in her life feels like it’s falling into place.

“I am enjoying myself,” says Mae, who is getting back into her active lifestyle with yoga and spending time with her grandkids.

Another transformation might be in her future. “I wouldn’t mind doing a mommy makeover,” she says. She doesn’t know how her body would react to the surgery, which typically involves a breast augmentation and tummy tuck, but moving forward, she hopes her outward appearance becomes a true reflection of how she feels inside. “I look great in clothes. I’m down to 107 lbs, and I feel really good and stronger.”