Great Experience with Dr. Taghva: I have always wanted double eyelids since I was a kid

It has been 7 months since my procedure and I wanted to wait to write a review after I knew that I have fully healed. I have always wanted double eyelids since I was a kid and dreamed of the day that I would finally get the procedure done. At 35 years old, I noticed that I had some ptosis (drooping of the eyelids) and I felt that my eyes looked tired and small. I did extensive research on Real Self for years! I knew California was the place to do it. There were many other plastic surgery doctors in the OC/LA area, ones that were very active on social media and most of them were male. I wanted someone who would have a female perspective and was detailed and discreet and this is where I found Dr. Goretti Ho Taghva. I was living in the Midwest at the time when I did a FaceTime consult. Dr. Taghva was very genuine and patient with all my questions and seemed very grounded and down to earth while being professional. After waiting a few more months and doing more research I decided to make an appointment with her. I was moving to southern California in October and knew it would be the perfect time to finally get this procedure done. I spoke mostly with Carolyn at the front desk through email and text. Everything was very easy even though I was in a different time zone. Carolyn was super organized and sweet and willing to answer any of my questions beforehand.
The night before surgery, I drove up from San Diego and stayed with my girlfriend in Orange County. She drove me to the LEA Plastic Surgery office. The office is gorgeous! All the women who work there were so helpful and kind. I finally met Carolyn in person and Donna who are both great at making you feel at ease when you are nervous. Dr. Taghva did all her measurements in the office and answered all the questions beforehand. She said that I would need a fat transfer due to my eye sockets being somewhat hollow; along with ptosis repair. The surgical center is just down the hallway from their main office. Dr. Taghva did a little more double checking with her measurements before hand and I was whisked away. Surgery was done while I was still awake and under twilight sedation and lasted about 40 minutes. The only time there was a little discomfort was when she was removing fat from my stomach region to inject into my eyelids otherwise I don't remember much besides that.
Afterwards, I had to keep my eyes closed, they were very sensitive to light. My friend gently guided me back home and I slept in a darkened room with icepacks over my eyes for 3 days taking the arnica supplements that Dr. Taghva had given me. I was going to head home the next day after surgery but didn't feel safe driving due to the sensitivity to light I had, so I stayed a few extra days at my friends house. Lots of podcasts and audio books! My eyes have always been more sensitive and I believe other people may have felt fine compared to my experience. The first week was a bit tough, I religiously used ice packs and took the supplements. But my eyes were very sore and teary and my corneas felt scratchy. Looking in the mirror, you definitely think, "what did I do!!!" This is normal after having any sort of plastic surgery.
One week later, I returned to get my sutures removed and receive some light stim to help with the scarring. Afterwards, my eyes felt so much better. I am not a fast healer, even though I stayed away from salty stuff and drank tons of water, my eyes were swollen for months. Dr. Taghva was immediately available whenever I texted her when I was freaking out and she told me to trust the process. I went back to her office multiple times for checkups to make sure everything was okay.
For those who are receiving any type of procedure, just know that people have different healing times. My healing took a little longer than most. I had some milia and bumps that formed over my scar incision in the first few months but they have disappeared now. I also had a little bit of post op ptosis due to my eye muscles needing to learn how to work without using my forehead. Dr. Taghva gave me some eye exercises to work on for this. I still get a little swelling if I'm dehydrated or eat really salty foods or even with allergies but I think that in more months time these things will subside too.
Overall, I'm so happy with doing the procedure with Dr. Taghva. I feel that a lot of times doctors can be dismissive after they have done the procedure. Dr. Taghva was always there to answer questions and quell my fears afterwards and it's been 7 months! For those who want a kind, compassionate, detail oriented surgeon, you should look to Dr. Taghva and her excellent staff. I'm so glad I went with her instead of the other surgeons in the area.
I wish I had more quality pictures to document my journey since Real Self helped me a ton with my research. But these are the only ones I could find on my phone. Hope this helps others in making their decision.