My Real Experience with Facelift

I am putting 5 stars unil I fully heal. I cannot give a real star rating until that time. I was waiting to write about my experience until I could post a good photo showing my results. It’s almost 4 months post op, and I still cannot post a good photo of myself bc I just really do not look good... so I will start to tell me story now so it might help others.
I read all the reviews on this site before going to consult with some of the doctors. I was overall happy with how I looked, but had a few areas that I wanted to refresh. Double chins and hooded eyelids run in my family and I’d had surgery on mine 15 yrs ago so it seemed like the right time to fix it again. I’d also had an chin implant that was a little to wide so I figured i could have that replaced at the same time. My eyes looked tired all the time. I had my hooded upper eyes done 15 yrs ago, and now I had slight bags/puffiness underneath and some hooding again. I felt that fixing that would make a big difference, to make me look refreshed. Then I also had a few light wrinkles on my forehead and upper lip (not enough to bring me in for surgery, but if I’m having it anyway, it would be a plus not to see them anymore). I also have freckles and a few darkest spots on my face.
I was impressed with Dr. Jacono’s amazing reviews and then with him as a person once I met him. He was very nice and down to earth. He seemed caring, and understanding of why at 48 I felt ready to refresh my eyes and to fix my double chin appearance. I really decided to trust his judgement based on these reviews. I asked him what he felt I needed, based on my complaints. I was surprised when he said I needed a brow lift to lift the hooding from my upper eye. I thought he’d just need to remove a little skin from that upper eyelid area. Didn’t realize I’d need a browlift to do that. My forehead (other than a few very light wrinkles) and brows, and my cheeks looked perfect to me. I also had worries about my hair thinning so I didn’t want to do anything that could possibly make my hair look more thin.
I asked him if he felt my neck/double chin was going to be difficult for him to fix, and he said no it will look great... not a problem at all.
So he suggested I do way more than what I thought I was coming in for, but I did resign myself to trust him bc his before and after photos looked amazing... people looked 15 yrs younger and I’d be thrilled to look 5 or 10 yrs younger. I would get rid of the few light wrinkles I had in the process, and I assumed dr. Jacono needed to do the browlift for reasons that weren’t obvious or clear to me. I trusted his judgement.
I was given an estimate for the following procedures: brow lift, lower eye bleph, facelift and chin implant revision. It was a huge amount of money but there is no price you can put on your face. I wanted to use the best doctor, and I thought it was great that dr. Jacono really only does faces and seemed to be a miracle worker. This is his specialty. I was so excited and nervous to have a beautiful neck like the after photos I saw on RealSelf.
I asked about the CO2 laser if it was too much to do in 1 surgery at the same time as the rest. I was told that many people add it and it’s great to do while you are under the anesthesia still... so I added it on. Then I emailed another question asking dr Jacono if I should rethink the browlift bc I am very worried that it could make my hair look thinner. I was told not to worry, and that it wouldn’t.
So I set the surgery date and followed the directions to prepare for surgery. I was very excited and very nervous.
I will write more soon and will include before and after photos. I’m still healing so my journey is not over yet, but you can see how it’s been so far.

Dr. Jacono comes in to talk while he draws on your face and ties and tapes your hair back before you get wheeled into the operating room. He has a great personality and is so warm. He loves his work and it shows. He went over the procedures I was scheduled to have done and then he mentions that I would really need to do an upper eye lift as well to fully take care of the hooded eyelid appearance. I was confused bc he was supposedly doing the brow lift for that reason. I said ok bc I was resigned to the idea of trusting him. I was there already, so I felt I should go with his vision. I didn’t want to come out still needing anything done. This was my big chance and i planned to never do this again. As soon as I said yes, a staff member ran in to grab my credit card to pay before I could proceed to the operating room. It felt rushed and odd... made me feel more nervous. Then the assistant dr came in to take the photos I brought with me to hang up in the OR. I felt a bit foolish bringing photos but the dr said lots of people do. I brought photos of myself at younger ages and photos of eyes, necks and chins that look how I wished mine would look. A few minutes later I was completely unaware of the surgery being done.
I woke up very groggy and mostly blind. I couldn’t see anything but maybe some light. I wasn’t expecting that. I was swollen, and had a bad headache/migraine. There were drains in my face above my ears. I had a gauze wrap around my face. I had a catheter in that I didn’t expect and it really bothered me bc I wanted to get up to use a bathroom. I insisted that it come out right away bc I felt uncomfortable. I had a nurse that I hired through dr. Jacono’s office who stayed with me until the next morning. She put cold compresses on my eyes, aquaphor on my skin, and she held my hand and helped me to the bathroom bc I could not see.
The next morning the assistant dr came in to check on me, take out the drains and I was given Instructions on when to come back for stitches to be removed. With my sister’s help, I headed home still unable to see much. No hair washing so I went home with a bloody scalp and instructions to clean it with q tips, and hydrogen peroxide and bacitracin. That was a big job each day and I was thrilled days later when I was finally allowed to wash my hair. I had prednisone to take for swelling, and a pain killer that I tried to take only once a day and then used Tylenol. I did not know I wouldn’t be able to see, so when I got home I had to have my son move all my things downstairs.
I kept thinking that I really got this impression from the doctor’s staff that I’d be fine right after surgery. I thought I was overly prepared getting the nurse. If I knew ahead of time, I would have had to get help at home too. The first few days were very uncomfortable and not being able to see was the worst part. I think I should not post photos of those first few days bc I looked really scary. I had black eyes and was beyond swollen. I had lots of stitches, in my scalp, on my ears, and under my chin. I also had marker that i couldn’t wash off bc I had the co2 laser. I had to keep aquaphor on my face aNd I saw grid marks from the laser on my face... to be continued...