More difficult than I had anticipated but the outcome is worth it

The Jury has been out more than once on this one, and I had come to the conclusion that the whole process was not worth it because of the roller coaster of emotions I have been through, but finally at nearly six months, I am seeing a younger more beautiful version of myself; so the verdict is that the facelift outcome has made it all worth it. I look at least 15 years younger. There is still some inflammation, but that only means that there is still potential for improvement. I want to thank the medical team at FBM aesthetic center for the kindness that they showed towards me in the darkest hours, specially one young man who was so sweet (I forgot his name) and compassionate and helped me to walk around the floor to get a little exercise on my legs. I will never forget his compassionate eyes and his empathy stood out to me.

I had purposely omitted some important details that should be included. On the day of the surgery 1/23/26, I was completely confident and feeling secure and safe in the hands of the doctor. They gave me the needle to put me to sleep and I was immediately under. When I woke up it was a terrible feeling of being under water, and unable to open my eyes. It was a truly horrible sensation, like I was not going to survive. What made it so terrible is that I was partially blind from one eye and almost completely blind from the other eye. There were no nurses there to comfort me only the doctor's girl assistant, kept slapping my shoulder and kept saying, "Blanca, open your eyes, open your eyes, you could open your eyes." I was so scared, I thought in that moment I might not survive, and being blind, I was very alarmed wondering how was I going to get back to the airport in that condition, much less get back home. I needed the doctor desperately to be there to comfort me. It never occurred to me that I would wake up from such a scary procedure and not have the doctor there to comfort me and reassure me. I could barely speak, but I managed to mouth the words, "I want Dr. Hayati Akbas, please, where are you, Dr. Hayati Akbas? Just kept repeating that, still partially anesthetized. The assistant said, "He went home." I later found out that the doctor does numerous surgeries a day, so while I was crying for him, he was probably doing the next facelift, and then, of course, was tired and needed to go home for the next day numerous surgeries. Yes, my eyesight eventually came back, but I can assure you it was a harrowing experience that would have been easier to bear if the doctor had been there. I told him that he should rather go for quality instead of quantity because the outcome would surely be better for the patients.
The other bad experience I had, not to blame the doctor, but all is relevant as repercussions of all the procedures I had at the same time, specially the botched nose job. I was so stressed and confused, and the layover was only one hour and a half, and I missed my flight. I had a meltdown and was crying and looking a pitiful sight. Thank God I found someone who spoke English and guided me to a hotel reservation station. I was able to rest overnight and take a shower and it truly fell so good, and the flight was rescheduled for the next day. The only thing that hurts me is that I spent so much money, because I couldn't communicate properly with the Turkish agent who also spoke English, but not clear. She gave me the receipt which I didn't even look at. Recently, I checked my credit card payment for the hotel and the taxi and it was 2 charges amounting to about $1,200 US dollars.

I was not sure if the whole process was worth it because I do like my eyes and lips, but as I have reevaluated my situation, I have concluded it was not worth it because of all the emotional and mental anguish I have suffered and am still suffering. I had forgotten to mention that one of the results of the facelift is that I am not able to smile normally because when I try the skin around my eyes and cheeks bunches up weirdly. My surgery was on January 23rd 2026, so after nearly 5 months not being able to smile is totally unnerving and heart breaking and soul crushing. My smile was one of my best features, so not being able to smile, totally defeats the purpose of getting a facelift. I should add that this surgery has been an embarrassment to show my family and friends, and the need to explain to them the reason I can't smile. I don't tell my friends I had a facelift. I just say that I had a laser treatment and is the reason why I can't smile. I was totally not expecting to having to explain to people what happened to my face after 3 months of surgery (when it was still very bad). It is improving, but not able to smile normally yet.
The other thing, that negatively impacted my life is that when you have a facelift, the sides of your face have bruises that take time to heal, so if you use eyeglasses, you will not be able to use them comfortably for the first 4 months, specially when adding the eye and browl lift surgery, so potentially you might not be able to work go back to work where you need your eyeglasses to see and work with your computer. in my own experience, I found that the eye strain and tenderness was too much. I still have not been able to go back to work because of the whole trauma let alone the strain on my eyes and sides of my face. I am right now using my glasses because I need to add this update. I love to read but don't read anymore. I listen to audiobooks, which is the only way I can enjoy and finish a book.