Tear Trough Implants -Austin, TX

My whole life I've had eye bags. My dad has them, one of my brother's has them, my sister has them (although she has booked the same surgery I had with the same doctor, so she'll join the no bag club soon). I was constantly asked "are you tired?", "do you have bad allergies?", "have you been crying?" Sometimes I wasn't even asked, but simply told "you look so tired!". Thanks folks. I didn't seriously think about surgery until August/September of this year. Honestly, I didn't know it was truly an option. Once I found Dr. Apostolakis in Austin, TX and read all of his posts here on realself, I knew I wanted to go in for a consult. I already knew I'd want the surgery, and the consult just confirmed that. The surgery couldn't come soon enough, I bought a wedge to sleep on, read everything under the sun on how to prevent bruising, swelling, how to get the best results. I was ready. The only problem, I was a little scared. Now, I'm a nurse, so I stick people all the time, and I'm not afraid of needles. But I had never had a real IV- I say "real" because I've had friends practice on me, but I've never actually had an infusion. I've never been sedated. So I was a little nervous. But everyone put me at ease. I realize I'm kind of rambling now. So I'll try to be more concise and break things down in time line form. Week before surgery: filled all scripts. Antibiotic, Pain and Nausea. October 7th- night before surgery, nothing to eat or drink past midnight. They gave me valium if I wanted to help me sleep, but I didn't take it. October 9th- my sister picked me up and took me to the appt. I changed into a gown and washed my face twice. IV was placed, and blood drawn, not for labs, but for PRP (platelet rich plasma). basically, your blood is drawn, its spun down to separate the platelets, then Dr. A injected my platelets to the surgery site (during the surgery) to reduce bruising. Back to pre surgery info-- I was given an oral antibiotic, Dr. A marked my face and then I walked to the OR. I laid on the OR table. Arms strapped down, Hooked up to a vitals machine, Dr. A enters and starts pushing meds. Taste disgusting and then I'm out. I wake up with an ice pack on my face. No pain, I walk (with help, I can't see, ice pack on eyes) to another room. My sister arrives, I get into a wheel chair and then into my sister car and home. My sister makes me eat (mind you, still have an Ice pack on my face). I eat maybe a half an egg, then go to sleep. For the next 20 hours I'm sleeping, reapplying ice packs, sleeping, reapplying ice packs. October 9th. I wake up, somewhat in pain, but fear it might get worse so I take 2 lortab (did not take anything overnight). My sister picks me up and we head to the post op appt. Everyone is pleased. We head home, not after stopping by the store to get some more saline eye drops. I feel pretty nauseated. I get home and vomit. Then go back to sleep, ice, sleep. The next several days get better and better and I feel better and better. I spent about 10 days after the surgery sleeping on a wedge, I did not drink any alcohol, I did not take anything other than tylenol for pain (no NSAIDs), I drank approx 48ounces of fresh squeezed pineapple juice a day and really only ate "green goddess" soup (spinach, celery, brown rice, broccoli, garlic) I am so incredibly happy I did this. And like I mentioned, I used realself religiously in looking up info- so if anyone has any questions I am more than willing to be of any help! I'll try post a few pics too.

Hi All-
Sorry I'm only now posting another photo- and responding... we've moved over 2,000 miles away... So this photo is without makeup, post shower- taken about 10 minutes ago, over 2 and a half months after the surgery. Everything is smooth sailing, no issues, no complaints. Still very happy I had to procedure!

Hi All,
Everything is still going great. I was actually back in Austin last week because my sister had the same procedure with Dr. A- so I flew back to help her out. It's been a week and 2 days and she looks great and is also happy with the results (sorry, no pictures- she didn't want to). Her procedure was just as smooth! Anyway- it is 630 in the morning- I just snapped a picture so you can see the results after almost 5 months. Thanks!

Hi Everyone. I've had requests for an updated picture. Here it is. 15months after the surgery. I am still very happy. This photo is without makeup and I've been running errands all day. Not to mention I had a hellish/stressful week that was nearly void of sleep!