Tired of looking tired

I have been called “sleepy eyes” since I was a child (I am 43 now). I have spent lots of time every day piling on the layers of concealer and color corrector since I was a teen in an attempt to cover my dark under-eye circles, which remain visible anyway. I have used countless eye creams without major benefit. I never, and I mean never, leave the house without makeup; in fact I wear makeup 7 days a week—and this is mostly because of my dark circles.
Finally in June 2017 I consulted an oculoplastic surgeon, who recommended that I would benefit from both fillers and a lower blepharoplasty for my tear trough deformity. He also noted my ptosis, though I had really just consulted him for the dark circles. He gave me an eye drop which temporarily opened my droopy eyes and I was surprised not only how much better I looked, but even how much more alert, energetic, and relaxed I felt. At the time, though, I wasn’t ready for surgery and opted instead to have Juvederm injected into my tear trough as well as cheekbones to treat the dark circles. It certainly helped, though by no means eliminated my circles.
Fast-forward to April 2018. By this time, I was really noticing my ptosis (droopy eyelids). In order to keep my eyes open, I subconsciously “force” them open by straining—you can see that my forehead Is permanently wrinkled and my eyebrows lifted, especially on the right where I guess the ptosis is worse. It’s second nature, and I do it pretty much 100% of the time while I’m awake. It was starting to cause headaches from all of the muscle tension. I went back to see my oculoplastic surgeon and he had me tested for medical necessity on the ptosis. It was bad enough that my insurance actually is covering the ptosis surgery.
I scheduled surgery for bilateral ptosis repair and bilateral blepharoplasty with Dr. Brian Beisman for this Friday 9/28/18. I am nervous, and dreading the recovery but can’t imagine what it will be like not to look tired and strain my face all of the time!

Woke up at 4:55 am to get to the surgery center by 6 am. I am nervous. The prop nurse gave me meclizine for dizziness, zofran for nausea, decadron (a steroid), and versed to sedate me. My surgeon came to see me and mark my face for surgery. He joked with my mom that he had seen the surgery on You Tube and stayed at a Holiday Inn Express so “I should be good!” My anesthesia was “twilight” and I was given propofol. The nurse and anesthetist came to wheel me to the operating room but that is the last thing I remember...

I woke up in recovery with a lot of eye pain. They gave me some fentanyl, which they’d already given me introperatively. I became very nauseated and they gave me an essential oil diffuse at first but eventually more zofran. The nausea lasted really for the rest of the day. The surgery took around 2 hours for both the bilateral ptosis repairs and bilateral lower blepharplasties.

My parents took me home and stayed with me until my husband got home from work. I went to bed on a wedge pillow and neck pillow. My mom helped me change out my ice and dressings. My postop regimen consists of ice water-soaked gauze placed over my eyes, followed by ice packs and lots of rest. I change the ice packs for cold ones as often as I can. I have eye drops 3x a day and am using Tylenol and tramadol for pain 3x a day. I am still using arnica for bruise and Bromelain for swelling which I was using prior to surgery. I am supposed to put Vaseline on the stitches to moisten them.

I didn’t take a look at my eyes until nighttime, because honestly I just felt too bad! Wow, I am bruised! I have a lot of swelling and stitches so I can’t get any idea yet of my final results. I put on some special bruise cream I bought on Amazon and then it is time to try sleeping elevated on my back when I am a hard-core flat stomach sleeper...