Just getting started!

I meant to add a few close up chin selfies just to be fair. I wish I was smart enough to show side by sides of my before pics. These are not glamorous, but do show a good comparison to be earliest (dreadful) pics of my profile. As you can see, not perfect. But I think I'm okay with my jawline as it is way better than it used to be. Would you be satisfied with this result? (keeping in mind that I am 66). All comments welcome!

Well, it’s been a year! Time flies when you are having fun. I mean, it’s fun being in your 60s, people open doors for you and pick up stuff when you drop it. That’s fun, right? Anyway, here I am, a mere shadow of that crazy wild woman I was a year ago trying to figure out if I was going to grow my hair long or jump in the car and go on a shopping spree to buy younger clothes… and a slimming under pants and and all young stuff! Not.
So I just had my one year check up and my doctor seemed very pleased with my results. He said he always looks at the before pics first then meets the client. He came into the room smiling, so I guess that’s a good indication. I think I’m holding up pretty, not as good as I had hoped, but not bad. My chin has relaxed and my close up selfies are still the things nightmares are made of. But at least my chin is not still hanging like a basset hound’s. I have a whisper of numb right in front of my ears and one side has a bump just below my temple. My doctor has hinted at some injection that would lessen the bump but might leave me with a “dent.” I may take a pass on that.
The big question people on here ask me is, “was it worth it?” Yes, it was. Given my recent selfies, I can’t imagine what I would look like now had I chickened out. (Alfred Hitchcock with hair, probably). I don’t hate the way I look but am maybe a little disenfranchised because the hype had me hoping for some signs of actual youth instead of just a somewhat tighter neck holding up the same old puss. When you start out not loving your face, it’s a stretch to start doing so just because you no longer run screaming from the room every time you look in the mirror. But the selfies I took for this review were sobering. I didn’t scream, just wimpered a little. Do I seem on the fence? Yes, I look better. Do I look the way I want to look. Uh no.
So if you are contemplating this procedure, know going into it that you won’t get a new you, you will hopefully get a somewhat better visual version of you. If that’s not going to do it for you, rethink the idea.
AND if you are planning for a facelift, you should STAY IN THE HOSPITAL OVERNIGHT AND HAVE SOMEONE WITH YOU THE ENTIRE NEXT DAY. Some wise woman on here told me this and being the know it all that I am, I could not imagine little old me (mighty mouse) needing that kind of care, but I DID. That strap felt like a noose for the first 24 hours and the pain was HORRIBLE. My doctor told me it would not hurt that much… HELLO! And they just can’t cope with that level of pain for a short stay in the recovery room. I am quite sure I was a handful but it was a bad sign when the nurse kept peeking at me from the doorway like he was scared. Last time I checked, shrieking was not illegal... So, I opted for additional pain meds on the way out resulting in a puking fit that lasted over 8 hours. I ended up being jettisoned in a rolling office chair at the hotel room (because I could not stand up) and puking all the way to my room. The dear desk clerk kept reaching over and patting my back. He should have been a nurse, not the idiot in the recovery room.
One year later, no visible signs that I had a facelift, very minor numbness, no pain. No noticeable scars. Still one caterpillar behind my ear, but I think the days of my hubby twirling his tongue around back there are over. Except for the bump below my temple, all is good. If I had it to do over again, I probably would have passed on the fat transfer and chemical peel. There might be some fat floating around (I have a theory that it dropped REALLY low) but the chemical peel was a total bust. It hurt, looked hideous and didn’t work. That just about sums it up.
At my one year visit, I did have some veins removed from under my cheekbones with BBL, but like a dummy I didn’t do before pics. FYI, that hurt, too. The little needle felt like the shots my dentist gives, but with an electric current. I may write a review on that anyway. I have at least two more sessions to go.
My final thoughts are, love yourself no matter how you look. Life is short. Whatever your appearance, your insides show more than your outsides if you open your mouth.
Love to all of you. I really do miss my “pen pals.”

Hard to believe that it’s already been 3 1/2 months since my lower facelift, lower Bleph and minor fat transfer! I call it minor because I’m not really sure where it’s at?? Or from whence it came ( supposedly from my stomach and there is still plenty there). My face still seems a little bit off due to the swelling at my upper hairline. Under my neck has smoothed out and my jaw looks good. I thought my jaw had relaxed a little but my doctor tells me that it is a swollen muscle which will go down in time. Basically I think I look about the same except no turkey neck. My daughter begs to differ and keeps threatening to whip out my “ before pics.”
I have minor numbness around my cheeks but it moves farther back consistently and I believe it will disappear in time. I’m wearing earrings again but avoiding my much loved to heavier earrings. My scars are almost nonexistent except the Caterpillar behind one ear. My mouth lines still persist I guess all that kissing has finally caught up with me. :) I have a few horizontal slashes so to speak on my lower face but I’m honest with myself that when working with that much material there are going to be some ripples.
I’m back to half face pictures because I thought someone I knew was studying me too closely and I found it worrisome that she would rush home and scour the Internet for my picture ( paranoid? Grandiose?). Anyway some of you have had the privilege of seeing my entire face, humble though it is.
That’s pretty much it for my progress. Overall feeling pretty much back to my normal. Since I don’t have much more to say about my progress I thought I would mention CPAP issues as the question arises and no one wants to address that. Hang with me, this is compelling. I saw the question come up and wondered myself if I would be able to use my CPAP after my facelift. Since I don’t have much more to say about my progress I thought I would mention CPAP issues as the question arises and no one wants to address that. I saw the question come up and wondered myself if I would be able to use my CPAP after my facelift. (No) first of all let me say that I hate my CPAP machine and tolerate it only because it may save my life. No small concession. But I was happy to hear that I could use it after 8 to 10 weeks (If I’m still alive)? Anyway I did fine without it I think. My husband isn’t so sure. He claims that he resisted the urge to shake me when I stop breathing because I wake up fighting and yelling. Really? His urge was prompted by what he calls the sleeping bear syndrome which is me snoring, snorting, stalling and then starting back up with outbursts of hideous gasps and growls. Now this is coming from a man who loves me LOL. That drama aside, I lived Through it all and you probably will too. I think that’s the real answer.
So life goes on after my lower facelift. I look better in photos but overall life is pretty much the same. I don’t turn heads when I walk into a restaurant, and I guess I’m not going to grow my hair out long which I was sure I was going to be able to do. Darn. I built up all this anticipation and I’m really just still me. Maybe fresher, nicer (just kidding) Maybe somewhat nicer looking. Just happy as a clam as ever. I’m not complaining. I’m not sorry. If I hadn’t done the surgery, I would surely still be obsessing about my turkey neck and now I’m free to obsess on other things. That’s good, right?