Facelift: Stories

Hi - thanks - today was beyond awful - but I got good news this morning. I called the doctor's office and was told he takes the insurance I'm on. The doctor told me some would probably be covered of what he does for me, not all. I can live with that... I'm scared of revision, but sometimes I think there are no alternatives. I'm pretty crucial right now - pushed to the edge. I'm praying for you - thanks for your interest and concern - (o:

I went in to an ocuoplastic surgeon today - he did a through examination of my eyes. He said only the top half of my eye was getting any tears, but that the lower half wasn't, as a result of the surgery, thereby exposing my corneas resulting in severe irritated and dry eyes. He said the lower lids lost their tight seal against the eye, and are very weak now, so doesn't provide protection to the lower parts of the eyes. Also, the outer corners of the eys are pulling down taut - which is making everything worse. He said I need to start massaging the taut corners up and out (using a lotion) to soften the tightness there. He said if he did revision surgery now to fix my eyes, it would last about 3 weeks, because it would fall right back the way it was, because of the taut outer corners pulling down. He prescribed me 3 diff eye drops/ointments. 1 is $134.00 and the other is @90.00. I'm on disability, and am going to broke really fast! Oh how I wish I could go back and not have had plastic surgeons that performed general surgery to ever touch my eyes. Well, I know this is going to be an ongoing problem. But I do know, however, that Jesus Christ fights for me, and He will bring me through. My mistake, but He's incredible and filled with mercy. So I believe I am in good hands with this new doctor. I'm very grateful to have found him. I'm praying for everyone out here who made an effort to improve their appearances, and which resulted in devestation. God bless you all. Jill

To misinformed 9. We hear so much bad publicity about going overseas and having surgery but very little bad publicity about our own Australian doctors. Time to name and shame to get rid of these doctors who are only interested in the money. Australia is full of greed, greed, greed. You have my heartfelt sympathy.

I'm very sorry for what you are going through. I too, am tortured each day by this decision. Truly not worth the risk. I wish I could undo this. No other doctors recommend revision for me - indicating it would be too risky - implying live with it. Seriously debilatating - prayer is my only hope - that the Lord will lead and guide me out of this to someone who can really help, or to take away the extreme discomfort I'm experiencing more and more each day - which I find odd. Why is it getting worse. It's been over one year. I'll pray for you. Jill

if I could only go back! Not worth going under the knife. Where do you go from here? Further surgery to correct mistakes. Ouch - how painful and scary is that? My eyes are miserable. They pull down at the outer ends, you can actually see the tautness of skin pulling down from the corners when I turn sideways. It's very disfiguring. I paid for this and am continuing to pay for this. Why are some people so lucky?

I really sympathize and identify with your comments. I was also sold on a deep plane facelift, lower eye bleph and neck lift when all I initially consulted for was a little filler in my marionette lines. I am older than you (59 at the time), but I looked much younger than that and only first starting to see the signs of aging, which sort of freaked me out. The recovery was horrible and for months I looked pretty bad. I didn't really need a neck lift, and it is now much too tight. I have staining above my cheekbones because I was horribly bruised. My jowl line which had only only dropped a bit is now sort of above my jaw and just looks wierd to me. The terrible pulling sensation in my neck is still there and I am almost 11 months post surgery. There are glands in my neck that seem enlarged and are very visable under my chin. For the first time in my life I am self conscious about my appearance and I am always checking mirrors to see if I look strange. No one has mentioned that I look different, not even my mother, so I guess I still look like myself but certainly not younger, just a little narrower in the lower face and I cover the discoloration with a lot of concealer. Thing is, I was prettier before the surgery. The softness is gone from my face replaced by scars, discoloration, and ridges I can see in low light. If I could take all of this back and just do non-invasive things I would do it in a second. All we can do at this point is hope that our faces relax in time and the soft natural look returns. I envy the women who have posted that they are thrilled with their results, as I know not everyone has a bad experience, but I was not prepared for this to be a nightmare. All the best to you.