Benjamin L. Villaran, MD

Epidural is not a local anesthetic, but rather a regional anesthetic that blocks painful stimuli to the thorax and abdomen. If used instead of general (gas or i.v. anesthesia) it must be accomlanied by intravenous sedation, otherwise you will hear and feel everything but in a painless way. Abdominoplasty can be performed in this way and even liposuction, but always with additional sedation to knock you out. All told, it’s up to both you and the anesthesiologist to choose the right anesthesia for you.

I quite understand your point regarding the usefulness of a face and neck procedure in the case  of continuing bone and soft tissue depletion. However unless you do not wear dentures, I believe the procedures would greatly enhance your appearance and turn back the clock at least by a decade. The sagging neck has little to do with bone resorption, and a youthful neckline will be your reward. 

Best regards,

Dr. Ben Villaran

Congratulations on your weight loss. Although you are a good candidate for 360 lipo, of you do manage to lose an extra ten pounds  the result would be much better. I noticed what appears to be a C-section scar on your lower abdomen. Is that so or is it just a skin fold due to the extra fat that you had before losing weight?

Best regards,

Dr. Ben

Txblonde, while we really need some pictures of the area, I would venture to say this could either be swelling wnd irritation due to the pressure garment you are no doubt wearing or perhaps due to inflammation caused by the subcutaneous suture material. If the area is red and throbby, suspect localized infection. My advice is to check with your surgeon who will determine the cause and give you the appropiate treatment. Good luck! 

In answer to your question on disparity of your eyelid crease height, a picture would be very illustrative to determine the cause of the problem. This very well could be due to a difference in the levator muscle insertion, in which the high crease is accompanied by the whole eyelid sitting a bit lower than the other side. Also helpful would be a preop picture to determine the position of the eyelid.