43-year-old Female Having Much-needed Bilateral Upper Blepharoplasty. Ontario, ON

Hey RealSelfies :) I thought I'd provide another update since a lot has happened over the past week in terms of healing. On Monday (7 days post-op) I returned to the PS to have my stitches out. I had a little mishap with my stitches before he could remove them, which led to one eye not healing as fast as the other. Somehow I managed to snag the outer corner of the stitches on my left eye on a shirt as I was pulling it over my head and it pulled my continuous subcutaneous stitch out about 3/4 of an inch...OUCH!! I had immediate pain and swelling in that eye afterward, and then I sort of tried to *stretch* my eyelid so that the suture would go back in place...I don't recommend that anyone try that! :P Then when I got to the doctor two days later I said "I think I messed up my left eye" but he said that I didn't but it would probably heal more slowly that the right eye, given the added trauma that it endured! Eek! So I can still see evidence of that today as I notice that my left eye is noticeably more swollen than the right.

At my one week post-op visit, I chatted with my doctor about several things that I was curious about, so I'll share these tidbits of information (in no particular order), as well as our general discussion about my progress. When he removed my sutures he said that my incisions were about 50% healed, and would need another full week at least before the skin created a closed seal. Because of that, he said to keep applying my antibiotic ointment twice a day for one more week. Right now my incisions are kind of tight and rigid, and where the skin meets at the incision line, the upper part of the incision line sort of protrudes over the lower part (I hope that makes sense, I can't think of another way to describe it). He said that the incision will smooth out and soften a lot in the next month and not to worry what it looks like now (I wasn't worried anyway, in fact I'm pretty elated with my results!). What I am actually most pleased about is how my incision is barely noticeable where it came out from the eye toward the temple area! It's almost gone completely! My PS remarked that he was a little surprised (I think in a good way) that I had no bruising at all, but he said that I was still very swollen both in the upper and lower eyelids. I agreed. He told me to start gently massaging my incisions after 3 weeks post-op using the antibiotic ointment for a lubricant. I inquired again about when I would be able to return to my regular fitness routine (yoga, running, and occasionally weight training) and he advised me not to start any of those activities until he gives me the all-clear at my one month post-op check up. I think he is a surgeon who errs on the side of caution, but I don't mind, because I am sort of that way myself :) Until then, he said to stick to light exercise, such as walking. I also inquired about the numbness along my upper lash line and asked if/when that would go away. He said that in every eye surgery patient he has treated, the numbness was temporary but that the feeling came back at different times for different people. Since my appointment on Monday, I would estimate that about 80% of the feeling has come back on my right eyelid and about 50% on my left (I attribute that to the clothing mishap). Regarding makeup, he said that mascara was fine, but recommended that I not apply any makeup to the incision area. He said that irritation/infection was still possible and also that dark colours could actually permanently stain the incision line. I actually waited until today to apply mascara for the first time, and I can't tell you how (pleasantly) surprised I was to look at myself! I just kept looking at my eyes in the mirror and thinking "wow, is that really me looking back?!" I must say, it was very exciting :)

Okay, I think I've written too much, haha! I am just making up for the several days that I was M.I.A. Have a great day, everyone!!

I'm now 12 days post-op and have been neglectful of providing updates as I progress through my recovery. I'll provide newer pictures and a written review over the weekend, but here is a before and after photo (after shot was taken 10 days post-op). I can now confidently change my review status from "not sure" to "worth it"!! :)

Here are some late-day pics. I realized that all the pics I've taken are in the evening so I'll try to remember to take some in the daylight so you can see the color/bruising a bit better. I know I'm not out of the woods yet in terms of healing, but so far I am really happy with this surgery! ps: I'm a little more swollen in these pics than normal because I tend to swell in the evening and plus I just realized I have iced since this morning...tsk, tsk! :)