Neck Lipo and Muscle Tightening, 45 Years Old

Surgery is all set for tomorrow and I'm starting to get nervous! I'm having neck and jowl lipo as well as a platysmaplasty. I take after my mom when it comes to my neck, that is to say there isn't a good angle to it, it just slopes. My mom is now in her 70s and her chin just drops to her chest. She has aged amazingly well otherwise but the neck does age you so much. Mine isn't too bad right now (although a 10 pound weight gain this winter hasn't helped) but I thought if I took care of the muscles now I could hold off on a lift for a while longer. My doctor seemed to think my skin elasticity was good enough to go with this option over a half face/neck lift and I trust him.

I feel like my neck makes me look older and heavier than I am (I'm 5'6, 135 pounds). I work in the public eye and this year I have to do some on camera stuff. It was our pre-interviews that convinced me to finally do this.

I have loved reading and seeing everyone's reviews here. The community seems to helpful and great. If anyone has any tips for before and after I'd appreciate it. I've been taking Arnica pellets (200ch) since yesterday, and I have the Arnica gel and Bromelain for after. I've also bought a bunch of stuff to make smoothies in case I don't feel like chewing or opening my mouth too wide. My biggest concern is how tight my throat will feel once the muscles are tightened as well as nerve damage. I picked a more expensive doctor because his reputation is stellar, but I still worry!

Thank you guys for your kinds words, they mean a lot! Espcially because IRL I've only told one person so it's nice to talk to people about it. Thanks Elle for your tips and reassurance, given you've done this before and quite recently.

It went incredibly smoothly. The PS's surgical suites are gorgeous and even have facilities for people to stay over and recieve care. The only thing that really bothered me was how thirsty I was because i'm a HUGE water drinker (like, wake up in the middle of the night to drink it), but, as my doc said, soon enough you'll be asleep and when you wake up you can have water.

I opted for IV sedation because of the significant price differene and also because the recovery and risks are less. The nurses were lovely and put me on the IV drip while they prepped, slowly bringing me under. I had a few moments of awareness where I felt something tug and winced a bit, but other than that I recall nothing. I don't even remember how I got to my bed. The nurse came to check on me 5 minutes later and I was up wanting water. When she came back with my water I was reading my book. She said she'd never seen anyone bounce back so fast. (I bet she says that to all the girls!)

My friend came to pick me up around 10:30am (surgery was at 7:30) and the doctor came in to see e before we left. He pulled off the banages to check and my friend said it looked good.

I've been home now for about 6 hours and managed to eat a few bananas and some yogurt. I magivered the ice pack I have for my knee. It had two tabs on the same side that velcro to the fabric on the other side, but I cut one tab off and put it on the opposite side and now use it as a 'sling' ice pack and velcro the tabs to my wrap. I've been setting my timer to have it on for 20 minutes and off for two hours. I took a pain pill after taking it off and conked out. I woke to my alarm to put it back on again (2 hours!) but was so disoriented I thought it was the morning and I hadn't had surgery yet. It took me a minute to remember what was going on! Ah, drugs.

I just took off the wrap to put Arnica gel all over me and took these pictures. I am definitely bruising! It couldn't be helped, I'm a bruiser, but I'm doing as much as I can to minimize it. It looks good so far though! I'm quite pleased. I'll have to round up some better before photos for comparison sakes.

Hopefully this continues as smoothly as it has so far. I'm not pain free, it's definitely uncomfortable, especially the way you have to sleep, but it's only a few days of awful for the results to be optimal so I can suck it up. Plus, you know, drugs!

Excellent suggestions Elle, thank you!! I put a nice soft sock under because I had noticed a lot of lines from the wrap. It's much more comfortable too. It is very difficult to sleep though. It's 4:45am and I've been awake since 1am. I managed about 3 hours (in and out) before that but I gave up for this time period and have been reading my book. I think I'm finally feeling sleepy enough to catch another hour. You definitely need time off work to deal with this crazy sleep pattern. I'm determined to sleep propped up though but don't know if I'll make it for a full week.

I did a side-by-side before and after to show improvement. Tomorrow - SHOWER!