BLEPHAROPLASTY on Both Upper Lids at Age 61 - Los Angeles, CA

thought i would keep up with photos and how i've been feeling about my upper eye surgery and also whether or not to go ahead with juviderm under eye filler.

it's only been 7 days since my first post, but i've been through so many emotions and thoughts i thought i would share them. first, that cosmetic surgery is a much bigger deal than i originally thought, in both a real, practical sense and also how i feel about it. i try not to look at my eyes every day because there is no question that for me, this makes me obsess about what's happening, what do i think of the results, is it looking ok, is it looking like a thought it would, am i happy with it, will i do something about me under eyes, and if so, when and what? i feel like i'm going round in circles.

i've found that if i stop looking and checking every day, i stop worrying.

my eyes on the outside edge, where quite a lot of skin was cut away, still feels bruised and tender if i press it. so i guess it's not surprising that the incision scars are still healing and changing, and also that i won't know what more changes are in store. i was told this before surgery, but hearing it and then living with it are two different things!

i've also noticed that this intense scrutiny, this super detailed attention to my face, is giving me a skewed idea of what i look like. i'm noticing things i never did before - how the two sides of my face don't match up - my left eye inc eyebrow is higher than my right (i checked with pics of myself as a young child - yep! it always has been, i just never noticed it before),but my the whole right side of my nose seems to tilt higher up than the left, and what the heck, my upper lip seems to have a bulge in it on the left where my lips meet. holy moly, my face is a zig-zag of unevenness! i realized that looking at myself in such detail & so critically i was losing sight of the forest for the trees. things i had never noticed before started to alarm and bother me. it started out as keeping an eye on how my upper lids were healing, and did i still want to do juviderm, but quickly morphed into me thinking my whole face needed tweaking.

at this point, i'm not sure if i will go ahead with filler or not. i'm going stop looking at myself so much, and wait until another 3 months has passed. maybe my face is just fine as it is. if i'm happy enough with the wrinkles in my upper lids when i frown - i made it clear to my surgeon that i didn't want my eyes to look inappropriately young for the rest of my face, i just wanted to look rested and unbaggy - maybe i should let go of worrying about my under eyes.

don't know, don't know. will come back to this in late august - the filler procedure is scheduled for sept.

take care all,
x

i am a 61 year old woman who took 7 years to get up the nerve to have cosmetic surgery on my droopy upper eyelids. on the glowing recommendation of my heart specialist, i looked up dr robert goldberg at jules stein, ucla, and went to see him. i also saw two other doctors, both of whom were working in private practice.

what decided me to go with dr goldberg was his honesty about what could be achieved in my particular case, and his knowledge garnered from extensive experience in the field. for instance, he was able to tell me the unbiased pros and cons of laser versus surgery - he is an expert in both techniques and led the field in the use of laser for many years - and he did so clearly and concisely without trying to influence my decision. he also gave me excellent advice about how to minimize my lower eye dark circles and bags without having to resort to surgery straight away.

on the day of the surgery, in a dedicated operation room at his offices at ucla, i was given local anesthetic and so was awake throughout the app. 1 hour procedure. this was my choice as i have a heart condition that makes full anesthetic a not-so-safe option for me. i was comfortable throughout. afterwards i was given written instructions for home care and set up a post op visit for 1 week later.

i had no problems at home, although sleeping sitting up wasn't easy to pull off! i would go to sleep propped up nicely and wake up scooted down on the pillows on my side. even so, all went well, and 3 months later i have to remind myself that i had anything done.

complete healing will continue for several months, and i am looking forward to the fully final results. in the meantime, no one can tell i have had anything done unless they were to stand nose to nose with me and i closed my eyes. and that's without eye make-up, which i only wear in the evenings.

i am returning to dr goldberg for juvederm filler to perk up my tired looking bags under my eyes, because now that the upper lids are more bright and youthful looking, the under eyes don't appear as bad as before the operation (as dr goldberg said might be the case).

as someone who does not like surgery and was very worried about looking 'not like myself' afterwards, i am throughly delighted with the results.