Acne Scars Laser Co2 Total FX

I have scheduled to have laser resurfacing (Total FX) for moderate acne scarring, mostly on my cheeks. I am female, age 31 with pale skin that tans fairly easily but have not had any tan in several years. I decided to go with Dr. Duplechain in Lafayette,La after doing a little research. As of today, I have my initial consultation and my pre-op appointment. I am a little bit worried because he seemed quite adamant that I be put under general anesteshesia. I am terrified of anesthesia because I have sleep apnea. We decided that they would do it under local anesthesia, using lidocaine shots to the face and taking ativan before hand. He also prescribed some antiviral valtrex as a precautionary measure, as well as an anti-biotic. I also have an RX for some pain medicine, and the nurse said they could give me a shot of demerol. I am a little concerned with the amount of meds there- it seems like a lot. He said it is going to hurt a lot though and may even be unbearable. A lot of the reviews I have read have said the patient remained alert- I wonder if it is because my scars are worse than the other patients, therefore going deeper? I hope it isn't too painful, because this is my one and only shot to have this done and I am getting married in the Summer. I plan to just suck it up, with my skin numbed, demerol, plus lidocaine that should be sufficient,no? I don't have another $300 to be put nder anyway and I really don't want to. I don't want him to be less thorough because I am alert and in pain. I have had my tattoos removed with no numbing or pain meds, it hurt like heck but i tolerate it and power through. I am sure this is much more intense though. I can't control if my body starts shaking or my heart beating fast- I hope those things don't hinder the process. He said I can expect at least 45% improvement and at most 70%. I really hope it's closer to 70%. I also have been instructed not to take any blood thinners, anything with aspirin in it, only tylenol is approved. I have been instucted to wash my hair with baby shampoo the day of, and my body with hibiclens. I have to have a ride home and keep my face covered. I bought a really big sun hat to wear on the ride home, and my fiance is going to drive me. Afterward, I am going to be given a container of cutagenix (which i think Dr. D. invented, or created) to apply on my skin. It's an oxygenated skin cream that is supposed to speed recovery time, or something like that, I wonder how it's going to feel on raw skin. I hope I am not allergic or sensitive to it. That would be horrid. I chose to go with Dr. Duplechain because he has a lot of experience, and he was flexible on the price. He also did a free consultation. I was seriously considering two other providers- another doctor who did a similar laser and a laser tech at a dermatologists' office who would have been a lot cheaper. I ruled out the other doctor because he was too expensive- the price was just more money than I had, plain and simple. Dr D's price was much more but they offered a reduction and I was able to barely come up with the sum they asked for of $2500. The laser tech was much much cheaper, but there were red flags of why I should not go in that direction. One, he is not a doctor, just a technician. This is my face we are talking about. Two- he had no before and after pictures at all. That showed me that he really doesn't care about the results. Three- he is a travelling laser tech, not local. If I had any problems, I would not be able to get in touch with him. Four- and this was the biggest one- they would not even give me his name (so that I could look up his credentials.) They said it was for privacy/liability reasons. That's a big deal to me. I am not letting someone laser my face who won't even give me their name! so Dr. D was about $1000 more than the laser guy- but I figured it was worth the money to reduce the risk. i figure, if things went bad with the laser guy- it could go either way- he might go too deep and damage my skin. with the doctor the risk is more of will i see any results than will my skin be damaged. Obviously, I don't want things to be worse so I put the extra money together. I am on a very very tight budget so this is huge for me to spend this kind of money on something like this- bt I want to look and feel beautiful on my wedding day and for the rest if my life. After the procedure has been completed i will update this- during the healing process and up to 6 months after. I am praying this goes well and I see optimal results.

Well tomorrow is my laser procedure and I am so nervous about having it done. I have filled my prescriptions. I also disinfected my entire house- never can be too safe. I cleaned out my fridge, lysol'd everything, swept and mopped with disinfectant and washed all my towels and blankets/sheets/pillowcases with bleach and hot water- I purchased some brand new washcloths for my face and i am washing them in bleach as well. I have wiped down every surface in my house with disinfectant wipes. This was not per my doctor's instructions- just a precautionary step for me to feel more relaxed while I recover. I spoke with the nurse on the phone today, she said they were not likely going to give me the demerol shot unless absolutely necessary because they don't want to over-sedate me. Yikes! First doctor says he doesn't think I can handle it without being put under and now the nurse says too much medication could be a problem. How will I ever sleep lol. This time tomorrow I am going to be in a lotta pain, and quite uncomfortable. I wonder how long I am going to look not fit to go out in public? Double Yikes! Wish me luck.

Alright, had my laser done today. My mother in law called at the last minute and lent the money for the anesthesia- an extra $300. I guess it was probably worth it for the anesthesia because i didn't feel a thing during the procedure. I was kinda bummed out that I didn't get to see or talk to the doctor before my procedure. I didn't see him until after it was all over- He came out, said a few words, shook my hand and then he was gone. I think doctors in general are pretty rushed. He did talk to my fiance a little. I was out at that time though. The reason i was bummed was because it doesn't look like he zapped under my eyes- i have some fine lines I wanted addressed. I told his nurse that i wanted my lines zapped but i guess she didn't tell him. Those weren't my main concern but would have been nice to have them taken care of while we were at it. They aren't bad though anyway. They did zap my upper eyelids- the top half near the brow to mid lid. So the actual procedure- I was very nervous leading up to it, more so about the anesthesia. The staff is super nice though, the nurses, and the anesthesia guy were so nice and very comforting. I hated wearing the hospital gown. My butt was out lol, I should have worn granny panties or boy shorts. So he gave me the anesthesia in light increments. At some point I was really relaxed and telling them how hot my fiance is. haha. Then I was out- next thing i'm waking up and my face is burning and i am shivering so much. I am not sure why I was shivering- it wasn't too cold in there. They had a bunch of blankets on me and like a hot air fan blowing on my legs which was lovely. I wish i had that here at home, it's so relaxing. They took the compresses off my face and the light was terrible. I had a pounding headache- i felt hungover. i think that was from the anesthesia. The nurse put the cutagenix on my face- which was still numb from lidocaine. It's kind of like a foam that turns into a lotion-"a biologically inert liquid capable of dissolving and exchanging oxygen with the environment. " (I copied that from the website lol) I like it. It's not greasy and won't make me break out like vaseline. My skin wasn't really hurting just burning at that point so much like fire ants on my face. I had a big floppy hat on and put a tshirt on top of that to make sure my skin wasn't exposed to the sun at all. I also put foil on my window yesterday to keep sun out. Maybe it's overkill- but i want to do this right. I was surprised when i got home and looked at myself because it looked so normal- I was thinking he must have went easy on me. It's now 12 hours since my procedure was done and the skin looks sunburt and a little scabby. It looks more intense now. It doesn't really hurt too bad. It was more painful earlier when it looked normal, now it hurts less and looks like it feels terrible. irony! My face is swollen. Right now the scars look great because of the microswelling. I have done enough research to know that this is going to fade, and i am going to be dissappointed at first. I am going to remain optimistic though. In about three months we will have an idea of what the actual results are. Dr. Duplechain said I would see at least 40 percent improvement and at most 70 percent. I hope he cranked it p enough. Since it doesn't hurt that bad and my face doesn't look like raw hamburger, i am worried he didn't go deep enough. He has done it a hundred times before though so he knows more than me. Time will tell and the results will speak for themselves. I think he had it at 3/4 of the way cranked up. I am gonna ask again tomorrow to be sure. The photos are from 12 hours out.