Lower Facelift/Lower Blepharoplasty

50 is nifty. Well at least that's what they say. While I am a very happy, upbeat person, I felt for some time that my looks were starting to age me beyond my still "young" age frame! For as long as I can remember, I have hated my eye bags and my neck that was heading south. I knew from the genetic standpoint that things were definitely not going to be kind to me. From my grandpa to my parents, we all had/have a leaning towards the bags that increase with time. I felt that it was probably a good idea if I was to have any work that it would be while I was a little younger and with that in mind, that I would possibly heal a little easier. On to the surgery......

I had my lower face lift and lower blepharoplasty on March 14th. The surgery took 4 1/2 hours to do (wow, worse than I thought!). I chose to stay at the hospital the first night after surgery so I could have my pain managed and help where I needed it. That was a good idea! While I wasn't necessarily in pain from these procedures, I felt that even though I would have help at home, this was the way to go for me. I was a lovely sight the first time I looked in the mirror. Head wrapped around with gauze and a head compression device, eyes actually looking pretty good with stiches underneath, and my all time favorite look which was drains coming out from each side of my head that kinda made me look like a science experiment! Gladly took the vicodin from the nurse to help take the edge off and get some sleep.

Next morning, PS came in to reassure me and take the drains out. I was released later that morning with my pain pills in hand and looking forward to being in my own bed. Not going to bore you with all the minor details of going home, will now move to my recovery so far.

I am now 10 days post-op. When I talked to my PS about the recovery time from these surgeries I was told that I would probably feel pretty decent after 2 weeks and that was the amount of time I would need to take off of work. I actually will end up with 17 days off, so I thought I will be ready to slide right back into life like nothing ever happened to me. Well, now I think I might know better. While I felt not a lot of pain from these surgeries, I have and do feel the discomfort. Probably the worst part of the lower face lift is the tightness. It radiates from around my ears, down the jawline and under the chin. I lose sensation from right above my jawline to half-way down my neck. It is definitely still swollen, but the bruising that turned my neck yellow is starting to go away. Basically feels like your skin is three sized to small for your head! I had most of my stiches out last Thursday, with the last couple coming out on Wednesday. Swelling in front of my ears seems to be subsided more each day, but still not a pretty sight. I am glad I have hair to cover it!

My lower bleph has been a different story. My bags are definitely gone, yea! My scars are awesome. Can barely see them at all already. Just a little lump on the inner corner of one eye that I think is due to stiches. Still bruised and swollen a little around cheekbone area, but much better than I thought it would be. My PS definitely did great job. Now to the frustrating part. I developed chemosis about 1 week out from surgery. Starting with excessive watering and then swelling in the lower white part of my eye. Come to find out, this is not an odd occurence with lower bleph procedure and it happens to about 11% of people. Leave it to me to be one of the lucky ones! My PS has been awesome keeping tabs on me, even calling me on the weekend to check up. It seemed to be starting up on my other eye, so PS sent me to eye doctor to get things checked out. Don't have an infection, no foreign bodies in eyes, but almost like an allergic reaction happening. Currently on a cocktail of antiboitic, steroid and antihistimine drops to see if this helps. But, from what I read, it could/should resolve on it's own, but a time limit is completely up to my body I guess. Ah, the price of vanity!

This sugery is certainly not for the faint of heart. You will have up and down days and question yourself. My fear is that I won't be well enough to go back to work when I think. I believe that while you are given a time frame on when you should be back to presentable, that is definitly the short side of the story. I keep reading that you don't see final results for at least 6 months. Do I wish I wouldn't have done this to myself? Well at times yes, but just for the frustration part. I am pretty confident that one day I am going to look back on this and be happy. The hard part is the waiting....