“Quad Bleph + Juvederm Upper Lip: LOVE the Results! - Gainesville, FL”

The bags under my eyes really started to bother me in my late 40s; they became impossible to hide with makeup. I do a lot of public speaking in my job and was just getting really uncomfortable with how I looked. My eyes were also aging at differnet rates and were noticably different sizes due to sagging upper lids. My doc suggested both lower and upper blepharoplasty with specific attention to my right eye to make it match the left a little better. I was also due for a renewal of Juvederm in my marionnette lines and asked the doc to address the pucker lines around my upper lip. He suggested boosting the upper lip a bit; I took a lot of convincing because my husband HATES the trout pout look, and in the weeks leading up to surgery that's what I was most concerned about.

The staff gave me Vitamin K cream to use for two weeks before surgery to reduce bruising. On the day of surgery my husband dropped me off at 8:30 a.m. and they called him to pick me up around 2 p.m. They gave me Ambien and a scopalomine patch to reduce nausea and wheeled me in to surgery; I remember the doctor drawing on my eyelids with a marker and that's about it until they were waking me up. It wasn't full anesthesia; it was sedation like when you get a colonoscopy, which was good enough for me. Maybe I was awake but I sure don't remember it. Apparently I was pretty hilarious on the way home. I never experienced any pain at any point during surgery or recovery...discomfort, sure, but I never needed the pain meds. I took a half of one each night just to make sleeping upright easier, but nothing ever hurt. The worst part was trying to get my eyes open every morning (swollen and very sticky).

I had the surgery the day before Thanksgiving, so instead of an office-visit follow up, the doc called me on Thanksgiving and told me to come in Monday (Day 5) to have the stitches out. That made Days 2-4 kind of scary...is it supposed to be that red? Is it infected? Am I messing with it too much? Do I have a fever? I'm going to post some healing photos because that's what I found most helpful and reassuring during this phase -- being able to look at other people's healing process. Hope the photos don't gross anybody out.

As soon as the stitches came out, the healing process accelerated. (P.A. took them out; didn't see the doc again until Day 14.)I was able to go out in public with minimal explanation to clients (and big sunglasses) starting on Day 6.

Today is Day 15; the doc cleared me for makeup and working out yesterday. I could not be more delighted with the results, and they get better every day. My left eyelid is more swollen than the right, but evening out more each day. The doc did a great job evening out the size of my eyes and opening them up. I'm very happy with the subtle change to my upper lip. And the horrible bags? Gone, baby, gone.