64 Year Old Wanting to Get Rid of Sagging Neck. Dallas, TX

I haven't had the procedure yet, but am looking forward to it. I am still decided which other procedures to add...such as upper eyelid, lower eye, brow lift.
All of the staff and especially Dr. Standefer were so kind and took all the time I needed during my initial consult. I am expecting wonderful results.

For years I have hated my neckline, especially in photos! It didn't
matter about how much I weighed, as I had this neck even in my 30's. I
had talked to 3 doctors - 2 plastic surgeons & 1 dermatologist about
this procedure or something less invasive (like the threadlift). After
reading and studying about different procedures and talking to those who
had both types of neck procedures, I decided on Dr. Standefer for a
full facelift and upper eyelid surgery. I saw him on a morning Dallas TV
show and then looked at before and after pictures on his website. He is
a double board certified plastic surgeon and has the most amazing soft
spoken attitude! Each person on his staff that had anything to do with
me were also just fantastic and friendly! After my initial consultation I
decided to go ahead with the full facelift and upper eyelid surgeries.
He had recommended the lower eyelids, too, but I read about possible
complications on that so I decided not to do that one at this time.
After seeing my before and after photos from 5 weeks, I wish I had done
the lower eyes, too, though!
I went in on a Monday morning and took my prescribed 4 pills with me.
They were what put me into a dreamlike sleep while both of my
procedures were done. I don't remember any of it. There were no IV's or
anesthesia involved, which makes for an easier recovery. My husband took
me and was my nurse for our overnight stay in a nearby hotel...keeping
my ice changed out and being the best nurse ever! We went in the next
morning to have the drains removed and for the doctor to look at
everything and then were on our way home. I don't really remember much
of this either. I didn't feel any pain, but was just very sleepy for the
first 2 days. The pain meds he prescribed seemed about like the Aleve I
take sometimes, but I only took 3 of those the first few nights before I
went to sleep, even though I don't think I needed them. There was an
elastic head wrap that I wore day and night for the first week, then
only at night for the next month. I also tried to sleep as upright as
possible with several pillows and for the first 2 weeks I used a travel
neck pillow to keep my neck upright while sleeping.
I
went in at one week to have my stiches removed from my upper eyelids and
along my hairline on the sides of my face. The other stitches behind my
ears and neck dissolved on their own. No problems with the stitches
either. The doctor had recommended rubbing them with vitamin E oil to
help with the healing and scarring.
I did not have any
complications and very little bruising, either. Dr. Standefer had
recommended taking arnica for 1 week prior to the surgery and drinking
or eating lots of pineapple juice or fruit. Those things are supposed to
help, and in my case, I believe they did. But I also religiously used
ice with my head wrap and on my eyes for the first 2 weeks. Most of the
bruising I could see was actually a yellowish tint along the sides of my
face and neck. I did have some red bruising under my eyes right at the
top of my cheekbones for a week or so. I didn't try to use any eye
makeup until 2 weeks after and that was when we actually went out with
friends to an outdoor concert. I had not told the friends what I had
done because I wanted to see if they noticed anything different about
me. One of the 3 kept looking at me and finally said "You look
different, have you lost weight"? That was the kind of question I wanted
to hear!
The areas along the sides of my face from my
temples, around my ears, and all along under my chin were numb for
several weeks. In fact at the 5 week mark on 7/20/2016, there is still
numbness on the sides of my face from the top of my ears to the bottom
of them. There is also still numbness under my chin into my lower neck,
but every day more and more feeling is coming back to those areas.
Today
I went in for my month check (it has actually been 5 weeks). I am
totally pleased with my neck and upper face. The eyes have been a bit
more to get used to, as they show more pinkness still without any makeup
and I have some inner eyelid bumps on the right eye. Dr. Standefer
injected some steroids into those today to help easy them down (it did
not hurt at all) and told me to come back in another month for possibly
another round of steroids to help. He said it really takes at least 3
months and sometimes longer for the eyes to heal, so I am not worried
abut this.
I am glad I finally had my neck surgery done,
as that was the main reason I went to the Fresh Image Cosmetic Center in
Dallas and to Dr. Standefer. I am amazed at the before and after photos
they took of me in their office. I will try and get those images to
load here, as they are much better than mine. But for now, I will post
some of my own photos I took along this journey. Sorry that some of them
are sideways, but I could not get them to straighten out. I am one
happy 64 year old lady, who looks a lot younger today because of Dr.
Standefer's work!

I can't stress enough how I NEVER GO WITHOUT MAKEUP! Posting these pictures was really hard for me, but since others have shown their "real self" photos, I did too. Some of these look like I got in the wrong end of a fight, but by 10 days after surgery, most people who saw me didn't even notice any difference. I had been wanting to do this for at least 10 years, but am glad I visited several doctors, looked at many before and after photos on lots of PS web sites, and talked to 3 different doctors until I felt comfortable with the one I chose, Dr. Joh Standefer in Dallas. I am trying to get the photos from his office to post here, as they were much better than mine.