Oliver Fenton, MBBS, FRCS

On countdown for my neck/lower face lift plus upper blepheroplasty in 3and a half weeks. Really excited but getting nervous now! Only about 4 people know so there will be limited pics I'm afraid ( well I will try to put some on but they will be close up! ) but I still wanted to share my experience as I've been so grateful to everyone on here for sharing theirs with me! ( thank you so much! ) Despite my user name, I'm female ( use my dads name for most anonymous things lol). My ps doesn't like pre surgery meds but other than that I would be really grateful for any healing tips- more specifically when to start things like arnica, bromelain. Also some people have mentioned ice/heat? And massage? All tips gratefully accepted! Thank you x

Updated on 6 Sep 2016:
Well this time in 3 weeks surgery will be done! woohoo! I'm excited but now definitely feeling the nerves starting too- I seem to forever have my nose in this site flicking through everyones stories!! Must admit they definitely help....especially the B&A pics! The tips have been really really useful (thank you to everyone for sharing these) although at this rate I will have to turn up at the hospital in a removal van with all the 'stuff' I keep buying as a 'necessity' ....bromelain, zinc, vit B , vit C, protein powder (low salt of course) Ice pad thingys, v shaped pillows etc etc. Me and my fella have booked for him to take me straight from the hospital to a little chalet bungalow at the nearest seaside, over looking the bay so may have to take his truck than my little car! lol. Bless him- I thought it was really sweet of him to organise as I kept obsessing about how the heck I was going to keep the surgery a secret if I was at home for 2 weeks after- and he said he thought the sea air would help (well if it used to be good enough for 'consumption' then hopefully it will do the trick for NL/FL and Blephs!! :) ......Anyway for anyone who is 'waiting' like me I just read that you shouldn't use vitamin E cream for 2 weeks before surgery - I thought it was just the tablets you shouldn't take but once I read this I checked my face cream and lo and behold it had vit E in it!! Typical! Will be looking through the others in my cupboard to try and find a vit E free option....has anyone else been told to avoid vit E cream? xx

Updated on 26 Sep 2016:
I'm getting soooo nervous now, I literally feel sick with it all hoping everything turns out well. I have to fast from midnight tomorrow night as I have to be there for 6 on wed ( so up at 4am on wed) . Don't think a lot of sleeping will be going on tonight either. I keep looking at other reviews and the after pics to try and calm my nerves. This site is a massive help. Thanks everyone for the support. X

Updated on 29 Sep 2016:
Well it's 1.30 am so officially gone into my second day but I'm still awake from my first day so I'm not sure it counts as second day yet! These days are so loooong when all you can feel is pain and tightness. Feels a bit like my head may explode. But then despite my face being much rounder than usual because of the swelling, I look at my neck and chin and I have my original 30 year old version back!! Yaaay I'm so thrilled that it's literally helping me cope with the horrible discomfort. I'm also taking comfort from everyone on here who says that by day 4 ish the worst of swelling is over and it's slight improvement every day after. Please say that's the case.......pics show this morning when dressing first off and hair still full of blood. .... and the dreaded drains still in place. Hated the feel of the drains but after getting myself all uptight about them coming out they came out easily and I never even felt it really!! Hope that makes anyone else with drains feel a bit less anxious. Bradley bruised on my right side of my neck which is giving me most of my pain. I've applied arnica gel just to my neck and am taking bromelain and quercerin to speed up healing. Any advice or tips for sleeping or pain relieving tips much appreciated please. Thank you xx

Updated on 29 Sep 2016:


Updated on 30 Sep 2016:
Can anyone tell me if I can have a shower everyday now or do I now have to keep my wounds dry. I forgot to ask. And has anyone used post op massage? When do you start that please and does it help with the swelling? Thank you. [RS bleep]

Updated on 1 Oct 2016:
I'm one day behind posting I think - will do one later as a day 3 one to catch up. Was so swollen today on day 2. I felt like I couldn't stand it at times. Felt a bit fed up and weepy because by face was so wide in the middle section with swelling that it didn't even look like me! Had to 'give myself a talking to' and remind myself that a few days of horribleness would be worth it to get the end result! You can see from the pics how bruised my neck is where one of my drain were though and I think that isn't helping. So I literally iced my face most the day ( on for ten off for ten) took my potions of bromelain, quercetin, zinc and arnica gel over my neck. .... oh and my pain pills regularly or the tightness really gets painful. But when I do feel like crying from feeling sorry for myself the thing that helps the most is looking at the pics i keep taking of my newly emerging pointed chin and the lack of turkey waddle!! ???? and then all the pictures everyone else has so kindly put on here of their progress too... helps me see light at the end of the tunnel! So many fab transformations [RS bleep]

Updated on 1 Oct 2016:
I'm still running a day behind on updates but thought I would write about my turn- around day for anyone who reads this and feels like I did on day 2. I felt like my face couldn't swell any more on day 2 and started to worry a bit that I couldn't stand the discomfort. My fella cheerily tried to lift my mood by telling me I looked like a 'cute little alien with Toby jug ears'. Thank you darling lol. Anyway I went for a nap on day 3 with my support on and woke feeling huge relief and my face had definitely gone down a bit. Can't tell you the relief both in terms of worrying and pain! I washed my hair thanks to advice from some of you lovely ladies and it all felt like a big step forwards! Thank you to everyone for the support and encouragement :) xxxx

Updated on 2 Oct 2016:
Can't sleep tonight due to throbbing neck, despite pain relief so thought I would update with pics from today (day 4). Other than my eyes looking quite black and swollen the main of my discomfort is from where the drain were in my neck. They continue to throb and be sore which can be a bit wearing! My face was wider again today due to swelling which I know from here most people say is pretty normal this up and down progress( although frustrating when it happens) .... but I'm trying to keep myself upbeat by looking at my little pointy chin and waddle free neck in the mirror, following advice from some of you lovely ladies!! Thank you it does help :) [RS bleep] I already feel like it's been worth it


Updated on 4 Oct 2016:
Had a much better day as far as swelling and feeling 'down' is concerned. Went for eye sutures out from upper bleph and really pleased with results although still got some bruising round my lower eye socket ( which is to be expected at such an early point).. Tape taken off ears and some of scabs cleaned up and again really happy with outcome so far (small amount of tape put on lower ear and will come off next visit) PS really happy, and very informative as usual, giving me tips on facial/neck massage to help with swelling esp where the drain sites were ( although this seems to be massively improved). Nurse in clinic did neck massage for me which helped too. Bruises turning yellow on chin and jawline now. Staples in my hair out on day 9. Can't wait! :) thanks to my partner in crime ( we befriended each other on here) and everyone who have left me messages for getting me thro day 4 &5. They are a godsend for helping you feel 'not alone', coz despite us all choosing to do this it's still a bloody scary business!! Hope anyone reading this who is going through the same is doing well! [RS bleep]

Updated on 7 Oct 2016:
Had my staples removed to scars within my hair. Didnt count how many there were as I tried to chat to the nurse to take my mind off it all! They kind of pinch a bit in an uncomfortable way but from what I read on here not anywhere near as bad as having stitch s out. No stitches to take out around my ears as these are dissolvable ( phew). Notice a bit of swelling between stitches at temples ( 2 small bumps). Was told to massage these twice daily- does anyone have any advice about these as to anything that makes them disappear quicker please? Felt a bit fed up today ( not sure why as I'm thrilled with my chin and neck!) but my eyes are still quite bruised ( still obvious purple rings) which won't cover with concealer and are pretty much stopping me going out along with my swollen face - I've been taking bromelain and arnica ( dread to think what I would be like otherwise!) Any tips for speeding this up gratefully accepted! [RS bleep] ps excuse the greasiness on the pics. Just massages with e45 cream xx

Updated on 9 Oct 2016:
After a very fed up day 9 ( not due to results -which I'm still thrilled with-but due to continued face swelling and persistent black eyes) I've had an action packed 2 days. Decided hiding away and taking repeated pics so I could spot every small change in my recovery was probably not a good idea and was making me a bit obsessive! ...so I put my phone camera away stuck on some heavy duty concealer and some Estée Lauder double wear foundation under my eyes ( obviously blended into nose/ forehead etc) washed and styled my hair ( so much easier now the staples out!). Put on a nice outfit and went out for the day with my fella! Ok so we went somewhere that I wouldn't bump into anyone I know but I felt in so much better frame of mind behaving normally! It was nice for my partner too as he probably felt it was nice not to be on 'face watch' too! Anyway we've done that for 2 days running and it's made life feel more normal and I was nearly too busy to notice that my swelling has definitely gone down considerably! I still do have swelling but my face has lost that 'ready to explode' feeling!! I only noticed when I took my pics ( doing this only once each day now to compare). Other than that eye bruises slightly improved, and all incision lines clean and healthy looking. Still gently massaging with cream. The other thing I did was to teach my partner how to gently massage my face and neck as I was told this would help my face swelling go down! He's been doing this every evening - bless him! -and I'm not sure if it has contributed to the swelling going down ( or if timing wise that would have happened anyway!) but if nothing else it was relaxing and helped us be close to each other ( especially as he's spent a fair bit of time in the spare bedroom as all my pillows to keep me upright keep smothering him!! Lol) So for day 11 I'm more tired ( due to the busy days) but feel in higher spirits all round. Today's pics attached.

Updated on 16 Oct 2016:
Left a few days gap as nothing drastic was happening. Just bit by bit improvement as far as swelling was concerned. Was getting a bit worried about my black eyes which were only very slightly and slowly improving and which had a still obvious black ring under them despite regular arnica tabs/arnica gel/vit k cream and massage to help drainage. It was the biggest giveaway despite concealer and makeup! Anyway I read up about a cream and found it on eBay have applied it for the last 2 days ( about 4 times a day) and within that time they have just about gone! I'm thrilled! I've taken a pic of it for anyone who wants to try it if you are having a similar prob!) Just in time to see some family and friends who had no idea about my op. So the comments I've had have been about how well I look and the weight I've lost and how much younger being slimmer makes me look! Not bad for day 18! :) back to work tomorrow :( still sleeping upright and wearing face mask for bed ... am going to try without after 3 week mark xx

Updated on 29 Oct 2016:
Sorry for gap in posts just life returning to crazy busy! Back at work and been on holiday abroad. My face hated the flight so had to avoid instagram pix like the plague! Face was like a melon for 2 days. My ps had warned me that the swelling would sink lower and then improve so I shouldn't panic- so my jawline has looked a bit less firm on some days but it is obviously swelling as it then goes tight again so I'm trying not to over think it. My scars are healing well apart from a tiny scab here and there and you can tell that now the shaved bits around my scars in my hair are growing back that they will be well disguised. I'd been a bit worried on week 1 about a couple of small tuckers at my temple but everyone on here ( including the ps' who replied to my concerns) said it was due to internal stitches and they would resolve as the stitches dissolved. If you compare pix you can see they are much better. Gone at one side and hardly noticeable at the other. I'm still really pleased with progress other than my face swelling most days a bit ( although it is much less so!!) I guess it's still early days! Thanks to everyone again for the encouragement and support! :) [RS bleep]

Updated on 22 Dec 2016:
12weeks ago today I was feeling pretty grotty and hoping to goodness I had done the right thing! Since then it's been pretty smooth sailing and I've been thrilled with the results! No regrets now! :) the only problem I've had really has been swelling from the beginning ( a daily issue for me!) and I still have the odd day now when under my chin looks a bit puffy but I try and remind myself it's only just 3 months and to be patient. To be honest no one else seems to notice just me really as I haven't yet got out of the habit of being on 'face watch'!! I also never really believed that people wouldn't spot that I had had something 'done' and that was the thing I was most nervous of... but the usual comments I get are about losing weight or how life must be good as I'm looking so 'well'. :) [RS bleep]