Hanging Wattle Please Be Gone!

Ok... so I'm channeling my inner zombie and for the past few days have looked like a newly buried corpse who has clawed their way out from their coffin - flesh hanging from their face with red, weepy eyes.... ooh! So - at this point, I have to laugh, even though my remaining skin is too tight to do so as it has not fallen off yet - it just looks brown and in a mid-state of decomposition. I also have sent my husband text updates with the latest grossness - though I can be critical of him at times, he is very sweet with his replies to this all and even did his own research on chemical peels just so he could reassure me at one point. Bless him! And, I DO think it is appropriate as Halloween is right around the corner and I appear to be one of the walking dead in this pretty town of Asheville. This is part of the reality of getting a facial peel. It's JUST a point in my recovery and a facial peel involves PEELING of the skin and that's what it's doing. I can see some of the fresh skin emerging from the globby flesh balls around my mouth/chin area. It is VERY soft and pink and, at this point, the nasolabial folds that were very deep for my age are not visible. I do think this is also due to the sustained swelling that I also have from the BL but it IS a happy thing in the midst of this.
I will definitely post when I am on the other side of this as I don't want to deter anyone from getting a chemical peel from Dr. Harley or anyone else - I CAN see glimpses of what my skin will look like and I like what I see so far!
One thing though: everyone's skin is different and will peel at different rates. I thought I would be almost done peeling at this time (6 days out) but depending on the person, the peeling itself can start a bit later and then it does take time to slough off... and, it's nasty! So: my advice is give yourself at least 2 weeks before you have to go to work or see many people if you get a peel as it so varies from person to person in how long it will take. There is NO way I could wear makeup at this point and even sunscreen which is a MUST if you do a peel is very problematic as it is difficult to rub in and gets caught up in the flesh globs... really!
I can kind of smile on the inside at this point as this is so extreme AND I know it will pass - but it would seriously stress me out and not be good for my overall healing if I thought I would have to face many people/co-workers in the next 10 days.
Ok - the eyes: At this point, I definitely cannot see what the final result will be as my brown, dead skin is crinkled toward the eyes too. I have been putting in some soothing eye gel in the night but, though this is recommended - it has not been soothing and it messes up my vision even when I'm awake and it feels blurry. One eye of mine that was chronically irritated before this as I have an eye condition called Pterygium (aka: surfer's eye) and had a tendency towards mild redness, seems redder now. I bought some new eye drops this morning and, hopefully, they will work better.
My suggestion though: talk to Dr. Harley or people at his office or people here on Realself as I stood for about half an hour this morning at CVS with my flesh hanging off of my face and trying to figure out WHICH eye drop/tears could bring me relief. I ended up going w/ the fast acting preservative free tears and they have brought a bit of relief. I get my sutures out tomorrow morning and will ask if they have a specific recommendation.
Again: once I'm on the other side of healing - hopefully in a few weeks, I will post how my eyes look now vs. before.
My Biltmore lift: It is so nice to touch my chin and not have a flappy thing to fiddle with - I like the curve of my neck, it doesn't hurt at all but it's still tender. I have ALOT of swelling that makes my face somewhat diamond looking - this is the alien look for sure and have a feeling this will continue for a few weeks. I have been icing but haven't seen it help so much so feel a bit discouraged with that but will continue to try. I don't have very much bruising - a bit, but mild.
If any of you have any suggestions that were helpful at easing out sustained swelling, please share with me as this also makes me feel self conscious.
Last thing: I had to move from my hotel (Country Inn & Suites) to an airbnb my last 2 nights as I got mixed up on when my sutures would actually be removed. In the spirit of frugality and trying to save money, I got a place that wasn't the lowest price at all but was on the lower end of the scale. I have used airbnb successfully before and been VERY happy. However, this place is not nice. And it has a treacherous drive down a gravel hill that is not in good shape. I can kind of handle it now though it makes me tense that I'm going to damage my car but if I was just out of surgery any earlier, it would have been really stressful for me and dangerous. And it has sugar ants in the bathroom (no food in there) ... it's not conducive to a relaxing recovery. AND, the walls are so thin that you can hear the person in the next room reading the paper and turning the pages...
Since there are so many airbnbs in Asheville and so many places - my suggestion is only choose one that has quite a few pictures of the property, the actual dwelling and room, etc.
I made my mistake on this one and have learned my lesson. If you do your homework and make sure you know what to expect with numerous pictures, you will probably be fine for sure. BTW: this place had good reviews but I do think that people are hesitant to post bad ones on airbnb unless the reality is quite extreme.
That's it for now - Happy Halloween Everyone!
Also - wishing well to all the women on real self who are recovering from their procedures right now or are up in the next day or so - good luck to you all!

I'm a day out now - very relieved and happy with my results so far. Molena was my caretaker and she was extremely caring and helpful as she drove me bright and early for the 6:15 appt. She was very soothing and that really helped with my nerves and uneasiness - extremely grateful for that. After I took the famous "cocktail" of the pills, we went in and took the pre-pictures. I was feeling very awake and concerned that I might need more meds - I remember commenting that the music was the theme song for "Game of Thrones" and then... nothing. I don't even remember getting into the chair. There was one point where I was half awake during procedure and could hear Dr. Harley and Kelly speaking and feel something on my face but it didn't hurt at all - felt almost kind of interesting.
I don't remember going back to the hotel either. Molena made my pillow structure for me and 'tucked me in" - so nice! And then I literally slept in one position - no movement - for 24 hrs. I was completely knocked out. My family called to check in at one point - I don't remember that either. Molena woke me throughout the day/evening for medication and little spoons of applesauce and water. At one point, I remember getting nauseous and scared that I would have the dry heaves - I think it was after taking the anti-nausea pill but she gave me something that made it go away quite quickly- thankfully.
I had little to no discomfort, not even the weird head hammock - it just didn't bother me - but I was asleep.
Getting the headdress and drain out this morning - again, very easy and I was happy to see Dr. Harley and Kelly.
So - individual procedures -
Biltmore Lift: Love the results so far - very natural. No bruising so far but I think people have said they arise a few days after surgery so will not be surprised when/if that happens.
The chemical peel: I'm posting a lot of pictures. They're fairly grotesque BUT much less so than I anticipated. I hope the pictures can be helpful for people considering this in what to expect in the first few days for chemical peel. It's NOT painful - just looks bad.
The lower bleph: This was the one where I could not decide!! At the face/face consult with Dr. Harley the day before surgery - he said I could have it done at a different time if I wished and I really couldn't figure out whether the results would be what I wanted them to be. I was very concerned about having hollows under my eyes as a result of the fat being taken out. Different doctors I had consulted with had all recommended different techniques and ways of doing a lower bleph for me and that had been very confusing.
When I walked in the door to the office at 6:15 I STILL didn't know my answer - but I decided to go through with it. Right now they are puffy but I really think I'm going to like the final result. Dr. Harley also said this morning that if we decide there is some excess skin after the healing that we could go back and tighten that up - that he had not wanted to take skin at this point as my eyes were not at that point yet (something like that) . I truly appreciate that he took the conservative path with them.
I had the trans-conjunctival - which is where he went in from the inside and only took fat out conservatively. That's it - there are no stitches on the outside for me. They do not hurt at all at this point. Also, I have chronic dry eye and take omega oils to help with the inflammation in my eyes. Omega oils are on the list of things to NOT take for 2 weeks prior to the surgery so they were hurting before the surgery. It's interesting that now - they don't hurt - I hope it stays that way!
Ummm - let's see. I was dreading sleeping upright but I've been really comfy and slept even more today - for hours!
The pain: after Molena left, I went to the tylenol for pain but just took 2 of the hydrocodone to stay on top of it because it was starting to hurt behind my ears. Thankful for those who have mentioned to stay in front of the pain - will do so.
Thank you all so much for the support through this and all who have posted and shared so much information that has made this journey a positive one!

Nervous and excited as I wrap up what I need to before leaving for my week in Asheville, NC. I’ll be driving 4 hours and will be getting the Biltmore Lift and a possible lower blepharoplasty as well as chemical peel.
I’ve been helped, guided and encouraged so much from reading and studying the reviews here on RealSelf and very thankful for that. I’m quite a private person so not used to sharing so much but, like many others, I just want to give back and maybe pass on some details of my experience that might be helpful to others. Though I am not sure at this point if I will be going through with the lower bleph and chemical peel – if I do, I’ll try my best to be as clear as possible about those procedures as there are not as many people who post on that and I have valued those that have.Gosh, where to start? Used to look younger than my years and now look much older than my years and… it sucks! I didn’t used to think of myself as overly focused on appearance but as the aging has become so pronounced and accelerated, I find myself preoccupied with it a lot. I teach and perform with a very athletic art form so it’s hard to teach when I’m usually in front of a wall of mirrors and performing and speaking in front of people has become really hard as I just feel ugly. I could qualify that – but that’s how I feel and then I receive lots of pictures of myself and … yep, right – uglier than I thought and the neck!!! Aargh! So – despite my many fears and doubts, I am SO ready to take this on and, hopefully, come out the other side just looking better and not so very old and tired looking.Why Dr. Harley? I interviewed with 3 local doctors. Of those, there was one that I almost went with who had a good reputation, a long time before I could even see him for consultation because of his popularity, had personally been recommended by an acquaintance and also did a more minimally invasive procedure like Dr. Harley. After all the expenses are added up for the procedure/s with Dr. Harley, the local doctor would have been more expensive but not by much. But really, though he was recommended there were a few things that didn’t settle well with me during the consult and the uneasy feeling grew. By that time, I was considering Dr. Harley but didn’t really think I would go through with going with a doctor that I found on the internet on a plastic surgery site – but I did! Of course, I’ve been second guessing myself and researching all through the process even after my phone consult w/ Dr. Harley and paying the $500 deposit. I’m more than happy to pay more money (within reason) for the best results and after a lot of really careful consideration, I truly felt like I would be better off going w/ Dr. Harley. As many others have expressed: the interactions with both the office staff (Juanita and Laurie) as well as my phone consultation have been great – yes, they seem like kind, caring, extremely competent people. For my lower bleph, we will wait until the face/face consult the day before surgery to make that decision when he can examine me in person. Definitely, he did not try to “sell” me on getting more done or even on the procedures I’m interested in w/ him. He was clear on what I could/could not expect or hope for.As there has been some recent controversy on this site concerning Biltmore and what it can or cannot do. I’m quite clear that this is a “lower face/neck lift” – that the results are going to primarily be in that area. Also aware that I have fairly deep wrinkles for my age (53) and that the lift might help to soften a few areas – but slightly. I get that and I’m fine with that. I don’t want to look pulled or tight. Also, even when I had a jawline, it was never all that defined – that’s just not my anatomy. And though I would love to have that super defined angle that some patients have, it will probably not happen as dramatically for me. Oh well!Posting pix that I’ll probably take down at some point. I really want to think that I look better than the mug shots I sent to Dr. Harley. I look better when I smile, but… I can’t smile all the time ‘cause it’s creepy! I’m excited that there are a lot of women on this site who have just had their surgeries in the past weeks (and look great!) and there are so many who are up this week!