65 Years Old. Lost over 100 Pounds with Diet and Exercise. Toned at Gym. Now Have Rubber Neck. - Albany, NY

I have been very up and down about this. I lost the weight starting in December 2012 with just exercise For the bulk of it. I started riding a recumbent bike after maybe 50 pounds were gone. Last fall , October 2015, I started strength training at a gym in Colorado. I was able to tone up most of my body despite being already 65. My arms have definition, very little underarm dangle, compared to the bat wings I had. I am a performance poet and am onstage quite a bit. Many of the performers are younger and that makes it difficult--sad to say but it is way worse for women even in 2016. BUT it is. So I had friends who had had face and neck lifts. They all seemed happy with them. I had had Restylane in my Cheeks, marionette lines and nasiolabial folds. It worked okay, but was lasting shorter and shorter periods as I continued to age and lose more weight. Now I am done with the weight loss. When I see photos from gigs, I am usually onstage. The cameras are below and all I see are necks and jowls. I want them off. I went to the plastic surgeon some of my friends have gone to for lesser procedures. I saw Dr. Tauber and his staff. I wanted just a neck lift . They pointed out that there was really no good way to do that because how would they pull it up and then what would my jowls look like? I saw their point. I am now scheduled for a neck lift (without chin incision as I have no muscle problems just extra skin) a lower face lift and cheek fat graft. I am scared about it as I have Sarcoidosis and a weird EKG (for decades with no problems from it) and renal insufficiency . (CKD 3), and I am just scared I might look worse, You know like the horror stories. I hear so much differing information. I was told by my surgeon that the one benefit of being older is that the scars seem to fade better, but I have also heard the adage recovery for 30-3 weeks, 40 4 weeks and since I am 65 does that mean 6.5 weeks. I have a performance June 18th. I hope I don't look like a plum colored melon by then. So here are my pics. I posted them in the doctors questions area. But I want to hear from people who are or who have had these things done. I don't know anyone who has had cheek fat grafts for instance. First I will post the unnaturally bad pics . Then a few with make up and in regular settings.

I have a handicapped daughter whose debit card got hacked badly. She has lost all the money in her account. I am pretty sure the bank is insured against fraud, but not sure what it is going to take to get this fixed. So I am going to postpone my surgery. I am a performer so I will have to postpone until my down time next March. Dr Tauber and his secretary Ro Castillo, were so great and understanding about it all. Really good people. So now I guess it will be a touch up with restylane and juevederm maybe ultherapy on my jaw, a peel and whatever else has no recovery time and can be done in one visit. They mentioned I think IPL or something as well as some other stuff like cool scupt. So I will tell you all what comes of it. I am very disappointed, but it is what it is and no need to dwell on it. Life is short you have to live it to the fullest and roll with the punches if you want to remain happy at all. Below are pix of me at a recent event. I hope the fillers and such can tide me over.