64 Year Old Getting Upper and Lower Eyelid Surgery, Fat Grafting, and TCA Peel.

I've been wanting to do something about my droopy eyelids for a long time, and in a few days I will have eyelid surgery. I'm alternating between excitement and nervousness over the procedure. I had consults with two surgeons and did lots of research. The reviews on RS have been so helpful on how to prepare and what to expect. I will have IV sedation, and found out in my pre-op phone call with the surgery center that I need an EKG before the procedure because of my age and my heart murmur. That is scheduled, I have checked out several audio books from the library, and will have some easy meals prepared.

I am one day post-op. The check-in at the surgery center was easy and everyone was helpful and professional. I had to initial forms and one of the parts to initial was that it was okay to have others participate in my procedure under the supervision of the surgeon. I only wanted my surgeon to operate on me, and it was explained to me that the surgery center was not a teaching hospital and that my surgeon would be the only one working on me. If there would be students/interns/residents in the operating room, I would have to give my written permission, as well my permission to have any of them participate in my procedure. The pre-op nurse talked about taking it easy, even when I started to feel better, to not bend over, even to tie shoes, and to not lift anything heavy. I knew I would have IV sedation, and the anesthesiologist explained I would also have a tube inserted in my throat, with a possible sore throat after the procedure. I did not have a sore throat after I woke up. I also received antibiotics and nausea medicine in my IV, and am on a prescription antibiotic for 7 days post surgery. My future daughter-in-law went with me to the procedure, and since she is a nurse she was able to ask some pertinent questions. The surgeon spoke with me, confirming the upper/lower eyelid surgery, fat grafting, and laser peel under my eyes. He said my eyes would be dry as he places contacts over the eyeball during the surgery. He said there would be a lot of swelling in the area of the chemical peel for the first 24 hours, and that was certainly true. The operating room nurses wheeled me to the operating room, gave me some Versed in my IV to relax, helped me move to another table, and the next thing I knew, I was in recovery. The surgery took 1 hour & 5 minutes. During my pre-surgery office visit I was given before and after directions on the pre-op and post-op care, and before the procedure the nurses, as well as Dr. Bortnick, talked with me about post-op care. They also gave that info to my future DIL. Once I was in recovery, the recovery nurse asked if I was in pain, which I rated about a "4", and she gave me some pain meds through my IV. The pain was mainly from the chemical peel. Later she said my vitals showed I was possibly still having some pain, and she gave me a little more of the IV meds. I would highly rate the Overland Park Surgery Center, the anesthesiologist, Dr. Henderson, and my PS, Dr. Bortnick for my surgery experience. Once home I stayed propped up on pillows, and slept for about 2 hours in the afternoon. I have not had any pain from the surgery, and saw the PS today. He said everything looked good, and to be sure to keep Vaseline on the sutures and on the area of the chemical peel. I had not noticed, but the left eye was not closing completely and he wanted me to use the artificial tears 5 to 6 times a day. A lot of fat was removed from the under eye area. He said he thought I would have a 10/10 result. The nurse said to be prepared for more bruising to show up, and I am using ice packs on my eyes throughout the day, as well as when I wake up at night. I go back in a week to have the stitches removed. So far my eyes are healing as expected. I prepared some food ahead of time so I wouldn't have to cook, and just microwaving something to eat has been good. Since I wasn't in pain and hadn't taken any narcotics, and I could see ok, I drove myself to the surgeon's office for the appointment today. I knew I would not have anyone to drive me to the appointment the day after surgery, and one of my questions was if I would be able to drive myself. He had told me if I didn't think I could safely drive today to send a digital picture of my face to his office for him to look at, and come in a day or two later, but there were no problems in driving myself.

I'm now 6 days post op. I have had no pain, and continue to sleep propped up on pillows and use the ice packs. I found that the soft gel ones work best. I had thought about using bags of frozen vegetables, but the gel ones conform more to the eye area. My laser peel has not been painful, and I am keeping Vaseline on the peel and my sutures. I wear glasses, so I'm often cleaning them as the lenses get Vaseline on them. For anyone who has had this surgery, how was the stitch removal? Mine is in two days.