Deep Plane Face Lift w/Fat Grafting

I've been stalking RS for 7 years and finally I took a leap. I'll probably post a couple of times as I heal up. I'm 52. After wearing masks for 2 years during Covid, I didn't like how much my face had aged - hollow cheeks, noticeable nasal labial lines, and a sagging neck. I had always planned on going the surgery route but not what procedure or when. I had use fillers for my tear troughs and Botox for my crows feet and lopsided smile. I loved Botox but the 2nd tear trough injections looked bad. I got the blue haze and it hadn't dissolved completely after 16 months on its own. That got me thinking that I didn't want to use fillers to keep my appearances up. I also wanted to have the procedure done before menopause because of the drop in collagen production (Im not peri menopausal yet). So, last December I had a consultation with Dr. Yirae Ort. I chose her after seeing her reviews here on RS, but I also wanted to have a female dr. I guess I just got it in my head that women know what women want. She recommended a deep plane face lift and while I was somewhat scared of all that surgery, I booked for a day in June when I could get some time off. We had a second meeting in early June where she dissolved the filler in my troughs and recommended the fat grafting. I agreed to that. Surgery day was uneventful. Dr. Ort marked me up, the anesthesiologist asked me questions, and Nurse Victoria was very kind and calming. They put me under and 7+ hours later I remember getting help to get dressed.That night after surgery was awful. Because I had a breathing tube, my throat was so sore that I could hardly swallow or talk. Taking pills and being thirsty sucked. Also, my whole head throbbed and not really where the stitches were. Just all over my head. I could only sleep about 2 hours at a time. And I was careful to monitor the pain meds but they didn't stop the pain, they just lessened it a bit. I definitely was regretting my surgery decision when 1, 3, and 4am on the clock rolled around. Today not quite 24 hours from the procedure, I feel more able to cope. I haven't had any pain meds since 4am and my throat is getting better. I will be seeing Dr Ort this afternoon to get my drains removed. Hopefully I will get some better sleep tonight. I will upload photos of the stitches when I can see them. I don't plan to include photos of me that can id me. I know that may disappoint the RS followers, but I'll do what I can.

It has been rough. I saw Dr. Ort the day after surgery in the late afternoon. She removed my drains which I was thankful for because I had a lot of pain across the back of my head. I had drained them, but didn’t close them properly so she had to milk the lines. I didn’t realize that once you drained them you needed to squeeze them before closing the seal so that they could continue to suck the liquid out. My husband knew but forgot to tell me. In the end it was okay. I spend most of my days napping for an hour or two and managing the pain. I cycle between naproxen and Tylenol until the evening when I have an oxy for bedtime. At night is when I feel the most pain. All over my head and behind my ears. I can’t eat any solids because I can barely open my mouth still. Swallowing is better but still difficult. I have had yogurt, soup, fruit smoothies, and applesauce. My face is extremely swollen and today is the worst. My vision is somewhat obscured with my left eye because of the swelling. I’m trying cold packs and hope that things will subside soon because I look terrible. I apply aquaphor to my incisions 3-4 times per day. I have not washed my hair or face. I don’t think I’ll wash my hair until the staples are out because I don’t like feeling them. Today the pain has lessened and I might not have oxy tonight. I’ve been in a mind fog since the surgery from the pain and the meds and I just look forward to being on the other side of recovery. I’ll update again.

To break it down so much pain day 1 and 2 then so much swelling day 3 and 4. I took a shower yesterday with a handheld spray. I was able to shave my legs. I washed my hair as best I could because it smelled bad. Probably because it was full of dried blood as I discovered when rinsing my hair. It took a while to comb out the knots along my temple where the staples are and some hair did come out. Hopefully it will cover my scars when it grows back. I felt better after my shower but was physically wiped out while combing my hair with my arms raised up so I had to take a breather. Or maybe the light pulling near my stitches and staples made me freak out. I didn’t take any oxy yesterday and just used Tylenol and Aleve (naproxen) throughout the day and night. I have been using ice packs on the swelling. My lips couldn’t come together, my under eyes were beyond swollen I could hardly see. I really looked like a monster and his in my bedroom. Today thankfully the swelling is slowly receding and I’m feeling better about the procedure. My under eye area is less swollen but more bruising has appeared mostly yellow/green. My lips come together. I can swallow a bit better and was able to get my Invisalign in my mouth since be out on Monday. Still can’t chew or open my mouth very wide but was able to eat very creamy garlic mashed potatoes for dinner. Yum! I guess one upside to this procedure right now is that I have lost 10lbs and I imagine I’ll lose a few more because of the stiffness of my mouth/jaw. I’ve uploaded 2 photos of my stitches around my ears taken 3 days post op. I have tons of aquaphor on them.