Second Blepharoplasty-Eyelid Surgery-Lower Eyelid Only This Time (First Was Unsatisfactory/left Me WorsewithWrinkles) Fresno, CA

I walked readers through my very thorough upper/lower blepharoplasty surgery 2 years ago. Now I'm going in for what I hope to be the end of this long harrowing experience for my second blepharoplasty surgery. This time I will just be having loose wrinkled skin removed from my lower eyelids, which only appeared after the first surgery and was caused by loose skin left after the fat bags were removed/repositioned unsuccessfully. It has been a very traumatic two years as I had no wrinkles under my eyes before my first surgery. I was just 38 years old and spent almost $5,000 for fresh, bag-free eyes. I was mortified at that outcome! I am now 40 years old with the wrinkles of a 50 + year old, but I've finally saved enough money for a second surgery. I will share my experience with you.

CONSULTATION - 9-4-15
I went in for my consultation today with a new occuloplastic surgeon, Dr. Truong, at Faces in Fresno, Ca. He viewed my eyes, and suggested that I have exactly what I'd already had done 2 years ago, which was a CO2 chemical peel, fat repositioning to the tear trough for added smoothness and filler. I explained that I'd already had upper and lower bleph 2 years ago with a chemical peel, and fat repositioning. Dr. Truong said that surgeon must have used a very low in chemical percentage, and didn't comment on the fact that the fat that still needed to be positioned in my tear trough only that it still needed to be done. I explained to the doctor that it had taken me 2 years to save up just enough to get the wrinkled skin removed, and chemical laser treatment and anymore fat repositioning would have to be another time. Dr. Truong indicated that I could expect a 50-75% improvement without just the simple lower blepharoplasty, without the chemical peel and fat positioning. I am very excited to finally get this procedure as I have felt old and ugly for 2 very long years. I am ready to go forward with surgery asap.

We scheduled surgery for September 23, 2015 at 8:30 am, and I paid for the surgery in full.

PRE-OP APPOINTMENT - also on 9-4-15 immediately after consult (as I scheduled surgery for a little over 2 weeks from now)
I was then taken immediately in (the same office) for the pre-op appointment. I gave my medical history, took pre-op photographs (about 6 photos of all sides of my face/eyes), and the nurse and doctor went over pre-op and post-op instructions. The doctor then wrote me a prescription for pain medication, without expecting me to experience much pain, and the eye antibiotic Bacitracin/Erythromycin Ophthalmic Ointment. The whole appointment (consultation/pre-op) time was 2 hours. Most of that time was spent with the office girl who took my history and information.

I spent about 10 minutes with the doctor. He didn't do much examining, but it's pretty apparent what I want. The wrinkles/loose skin show significantly. Dr. Truong's bedside manner seems calm and gentle, but not overly friendly. Pretty neutral, which seems common for doctors.

I called the doctor's office later to request a script for a strong antianxiety medication called Halcion as I remembered getting that as well for the first surgery. They will call me back after they speak to the doctor. The office girls are very friendly.

My pre-op items to get:

1. Frozen peas 6 small bags (one for each eye) for icing the eyes and to swap out throughout the day as I need to ice for 20 minutes on, 10 minutes off for the first 2-3 days.
2. Medication Prescriptions - Vicodin, an antibiotic ointment Bacitracin/Erythromycin, and, hopefully, Halcion, which are being filled to have the day before surgery.
3. Over-the-counter medication - Bromelain and Arnica for swelling and bruising. These two homeopathic medicines worked wonderfully for me last time so I will definitely use them again. I am supposed to begin taking the Bromelain 3 days prior to surgery too.
4. Hydrogen Peroxide & Q-tips - for cleaning the stitched incisions 2x a day
5. Gauze Pads - to wet and put between my eyes and the ice for comfort.
Bion Artificial Tears Eyedrops - for dry eyes.
6. Ice chest - to store the frozen peas bedside since I shouldn't get around too much the first days.
7. SOMETHING TO LISTEN TO - BOOKS OR MOVIES YOU CAN HEAR, BUT DON'T NEED TO SEE - FOR 2-3 DAYS!

Since I have done this before, and reviewed it in such great detail, I will not be as detailed with my preparations this time. If you are interested in how I prepared and what I did, which was exactly what I was supposed and very comfortable for me please see my prior review when I had the bleph surgery two years ago. The review is on this site, and you should be able to find it if you go to my profile. It is very detailed and thorough. I had many comments and helped a lot of other people getting ready for this surgery and you may benefit from the first review more so than this. This will be fairly thorough though. I will have nothing else to do for a few days.

I have requested to bump my surgery up to this Monday, September 14, 2015 at 2:00 pm. I am super excited for this to be over. I am all ready with all the necessities. Just have to pick up my written prescriptions today. I will list everything I have gathered to ensure a comfy recovery a bit later as I am off to work now. Wish me luck on beautiful and bright eyes!

I had lower blepharoplasty today and everything went fine. There were no complications. I am at home now icing my eyes for 20 minutes on, 10 minutes off. It was fairly painless. I did hear the nurse say to the doctor "Is that a tendon"? and the doctor replied "no", but that made me nervous; however, nothing looks out of the ordinary so I feel better. My eyes already have purple bruising underneath and lots of swelling. I took my pain medication and I'm about to relax. Not looking forward to sleeping propped up for the next 2 nights. I am able to move around, but with the ice packs on my face the majority of the next 2 days I won't be doing much, which is good because I am not supposed to. I have all my medications and products in baskets at my bedside along with my computer, and some music. I will check in as the day progresses with an update. Here are some Post Op Photos.