Mirror, Mirror On the Wall....

Hi! I am posting this review to introduce my doctor and his work and to hopefully help others make better decisions. RealSelf members share photos of procedures and the doctors who did the work. RealSelf is actually how I found my doctor. His name is Dr. Athre (pronounced 'aw tray'). Dr Athre is pleasant and well educated. He is also blunt and to the point. (Which I appreciate and admire). He will tell you what he can and can not do and why. There is no sugar coating or tip-toeing around the bush. He is sure of himself but not stuck on himself. I went to Dr Athre to find out about having a mini-face lift or a facelift. I was not sure which procedure I was actually after. I explained to Dr Athre what I wanted and what I saw, then he explained to me what he saw and could do. It was very important to me that he understood what I wanted. I had looked at a lot of photos showing mini-facelifts and facelifts and they all seemed to be fixated on showing the face at 45 or 90 degree angles. I do not talk or walk around with my face at a 45 or 90 degree angle. What was most important to me was straight on or face to face results. I did not have the 'virgin' face that a doctor wishes for. I had what was supposed to be a mid-face lift done previously. (That is why this was a facelift revision). The doctor really messed my lower eyelids up doing this procedure. I ended up having to have 10 plus eye surgeries (by another doctor) to correct what this doctor supposedly 'specialized' in. Please REMEMBER if A Doctor Specializes in Everything, then He Specializes in Nothing. Dr Athre specializes in the face...nothing below the neck.
My surgery was done in the office with local. If you want, Valium will be give for before the surgery and painkillers for after the surgery. I personally wanted only local. The surgery was about 3 hours and was very easy for me. Dr Athre sings to the radio while he does surgery which passes time and believe it or not makes the surgery pleasant. (His next career will probably be as a rock star.) After the surgery, a cotton gauze compression was put around my head and neck...I looked like a Teletubbie. I did not need drains so the next morning I took off the gauze, took pictures and waited to here back from Sandy (Dr Athre's assistant...who is wonderful) as to if Dr Athre needed me to come in to the office or if I could get a shower and proceed with my day. I got to get a shower! I had to wear a jaw bra which to me reminded me of Hannibal Lecter's thing that went over his head and face. I did not care for it. It made my skin itch. It pulled my hair and was a general nuisance BUT I faithfully wore it all day and all night. I went back in the following week and Dr Athre took photos and removed a few stitches. He said I could go back to the gym but to stay with cardio...no weights yet. On 4/17, Dr Athre removed the rest of the stitches and the staples. He said I could do as I was before the surgery with my workouts and I did not need to wear the jaw bra anymore. (I did wear the jaw bra 2 more days because I had told myself I would wear it for 2 weeks following surgery).
I still have swelling. I still sleep on an incline pillow to help with swelling and pressure. When you see your self in the mirror everyday, it is hard to tell how your face is progressing so I take pictures to compare. (Which I will be loading on here once I can get the photo part to work. For some reason, it only let me load one photo and that is not what I want to do. So I am hoping after the review is posted it will allow me to add photos. I will not be smiling in the photos. I can not tell what the true outcome is of a surgery when one is smiling and naturally lifting the cheeks and face.)
Right now, I definitely believe my surgery was worth it but I still have worries like when the internal stitching dissolves and the swelling is gone so will my terrific results. I return to Dr Athre's office on 5/15. He will check on my progress and I am sure calm my worries.

Photos

More photos...a little bit of chipmunk cheeks and bruising