The Best Plastic Surgeon and The Most Wonderful Staff - La Jolla, CA

The “after” selfie was taken at about 6 weeks post-op. Pretty incredible… right? I am so glad I did this. I am still healing but the results, so far, are pretty amazing.

My doctor, Dr. Bolitho, is an incredible surgeon and I am so happy I found him. Dr. Bolitho, Sharon, Kandie, Karen, Carole, and Elizabeth, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I could not have done this without the level of care, compassion, and encouragement you have given to me.

Thanks for the compliments! I've had a few questions asking for more details so, I thought I'd update my posting so everyone could see this without having to dig into a sea of comments and replies. I think the number one question has been about the procedure that was done. Yes, I had a lower face lift with the neck lift. To be honest, I have no idea what the technical name is for the procedure Dr. Bolitho did (is this what you are asking about?). What was important to me was that he would tighten and reposition the underlying tissue and the ending result would look natural and not overdone. It took me about 2 minutes to feel confident that this was the plan and then I moved on to wringing my hands over all sorts of other details. Like.... Will anybody be able to tell what I did? Hiding the incisions is extremely important to me. I was very apprehensive about facial plastic surgery because of this. Then, one day last year I read Dr. Bolitho's response to someone's question right here on Real Self about the possibility of having a neck lift/lower facelift with concealed scars. He answered her and explained how it can be done by a surgeon who is very experienced in placing the incisions inside the ear and hidden within the hairline. In the end, she should be able to wear her hair in a ponytail or bun. I wanted to know more so, I made a consultation appointment with Dr. Bolitho to talk about what it would be like if I decided to do it. Fast forward a few months and... Yes, Virginia, you can have a neck lift and lower face lift with the incision inside your ear behind the tragus instead of in front of it. (Thank Google for the body part name because 10th grade Anatomy and Physiology class was a looooong time ago!) That's not the only incision, let's be realistic! I do have incisions that follow the contour of my ear and then down into my hairline and a small incision under my chin. These have healed, as in, they are closed. To me, they are still noticeable but, they are getting better week by week. I know that this part takes time and it will be a while before I can wear my hair up when I'm out in public (actually, I have to keep reminding myself that it's only been x number of weeks). For now, I wear my hair down and tucked behind my ears when I go out of the house. I don't feel at all self conscious that "everybody knows" because I don't have a visible scar in front of my ear. This was a big deal for me and I'm really happy I have Dr. Bolitho as my plastic surgeon. His work looks really natural and it is our little secret!