Dr Marten gave me back my swagger

I got a face lift, necklift, temporal brow lift and fat grafting.
I made the absolute best choice in plastic surgeons. Dr. Marten is patient and highly responsive to questions and concerns. And most importantly he’s the best. I spent months researching and getting comfortable with the idea of surgery. I liked the work he did the best of all of the doctors that I researched. He’s listed as one of the top 3 surgeons in face lifts in News Week. I think he’s better than the #1 doctor.
It takes a long time for the changes to soften and look more like yourself. One of the confusing side effects is that I now have young boys (teenagers and 20 somethings) flirt with me. I look like I’m in my 30’s so I wasn’t expecting that.
I went from being invisible to people staring at me. People who weren’t always nice to me are much nicer. I didn’t realize what a premium there was in youth. I’m grateful that Dr. Marten gave me back my swagger.
Here are my observations and recommendations.
1. Read all of the documentation. Read it again the week before you get your procedure.
2. If you don’t live in SF, get there a day ahead and take a small blender with you. Hit one of the close by grocery stores (Bush Market, Market Mayflower, Sutter Fine Foods, Le Beau Market.) I got spinach, ripple, pineapple juice, oat milk, bananas, carrots and salt free chicken broth. I only had broth the first day or so and then smoothies. I had some leftover chicken, rice and broccoli from Rooster & Rice and I microwaved it and blended it.
3. I sprang for a nurse to help me for about 4-5 days. She was worth every penny. Your family won’t know the right things to do.
4. Don’t touch your scabs if you get a brow lift, even if they itch. I think I caused hair loss on one side because I scratched.
5. My hearing was really bad after surgery. It was at its worst the first few weeks. It lasted for several months. It’ll get back to normal. Be careful in traffic.
6. My vision was affected. This lasted a while as well. Do the eyelid exercises early and often.
7. Avoid red wine even when you can drink. It causes swelling.
8. I got gerd from the anesthesia (I think.) It hurt my throat. I took Prilosec and it went away.
9. During the first week, I felt like I was choking and it was hard to swallow. I could only drink through straw.
10. I wish I had worn the compression suit longer to contour. It can leave unevenness or flattened areas without the suit.
11. My ears looked like donuts the first couple of weeks. People will know you had something done. You’ll be extremely swollen.
12. I looked fake for about 2 months.
13. It was hard to talk and laugh for about 6-8 weeks.
14. My sideburns have somewhat grown back. However, they are now too close to my ears so I have to use nair.
15. 6 months in, I started to look good.
16. 8 months in, I am starting to look really good.
17. The only thing that I’m not as happy with is the lateral brow lift. I’m half Asian but didn't really look particularly Asian. It made my eyes smaller and my friends comment that I look Asian. I was hoping to open up my eyes more. This is a tradeoff though, as my eyes look younger than before.

I forgot to come back and update that my eye shape change was temporary. It was the result of the swelling and the fat grafting. Once the swelling went away, my eyes looked normal again.

I have lost some of fat in the temple area, my eyelids and under my eyes. It still looks good, but I would love to get a little of the fat back.

Also, I failed to mention how amazing Dr. Marten's nurses are. Kelly, Helen and the overnight nurse took excellent care of me.