Faceology Patient's Facelift Diary

Day 1
I've always knew that some day, probably in my fifties, I will get a facelift. As I approached my 52nd birthday last year, I felt that the time has come to look for the surgeon. I've read a lot about types of facelifts and techniques, and originally I was shopping for a deep plane facelift as those tend to look the most natural and give the most dramatic results. I had consultations with 2 surgeons, and I'm sure they are great, but it just didn't click for me. They both tried to upsell and I felt like not all my questions have been answered in detail. Both were Zoom consultations, not in person. I just wasn't sure at that point, so I kept searching.
I found Dr. Lee's office and I looked at the pictures and videos of his patients, and even though those weren't deep plane facelifts the results looked great, matched my esthetics and shown the kind of improvement I was looking for. I scheduled a consultation and prepared my questions. I had my consultation in May of 2022. Dr. Lee was amazing right from the start. He wasn't rushing me. He answered my questions in detail. He showed me how incisions will look, and I was picky about that. I didn't want an incision in front of the ear, and I wanted the incisions behind my ear to be well hidden as I like to wear my hair up.
I also wanted a surgeon comfortable enough to offer a surgery under local anesthesia. Dr Lee didn't try to upsell. He asked me to lift my hair, looked at my face from all different angles. He answered with honesty when I asked about possibly doing also an endoscopic brow lift that my forehead is too high, and I won't be pleased with the result. He also said I don't need ant neck work yet and a mini facelift will be sufficient. I felt confident that I found the right surgeon for me.
I scheduled a mini facelift with Dr Lee for March 16 of 2023. Schedule early, he is booked for many months ahead.
I flew with my partner from Seattle on March 14th. On the 15th I had my pre-op consultation and the surgery was on March 16th as planned. I was kinda in twilight zone for the whole thing, especially the left side which he operated on first. I had local anesthesia, vallum and started my antibiotic a day before. After dr. Lee stitched me up I was instructed about suture and drains care, and wheeled to the car with the help of nurse and my partner. I dozed off once we arrived at the hotel.
That night was the hardest night for me. I only took Tylenol for pain as I'm sensitive to medications, but it was still painful and hard to sleep sitting, so I only took short naps.

My post surgery checkup and drain removal was scheduled for the next morning, and I couldn't wait as drains felt heavy and uncomfortable. However, Dr Lee felt like they should stay in one more day. I got a little more sleep the following night but still felt pain behind my ears and in neck where the drains were running.
On Saturday morning, less than 48h after my surgery I went to the clinic to finally remove the drains. It is normally closed on Saturday but the nurse, Cathy, came in just for me, because it was better for me to keep those drains in one more day. That's how you know, you are in good hands.
After the drains were removed I felt way more comfortable. I was still very swollen and had to wear a compression garment and a lot of goopy antibacterial ointment over the incisions but I threw a scarf around my head and went for a short walk with my boyfriend. It was fun and felt great after being stuck in a hotel room for 3 days. I couldn't open my mouth much at that point, soft foods only. My cheeks felt hard, my lower face stretched. Bruising and lumps on the left side. But less pain at this point.

Swelling at its peak but less pain. I was finally able to wash my hair and that felt great. I noticed hair coming out near the stitch line though. Hopefully it grows back soon.
I still stayed at the hotel a lot, but by day 5 I was going down for breakfast and out for short walks. I still could barely open my mouth. I was eating mostly soft foods, like mashed banana, papaya, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, protein shakes and some soup. I had a toast and on day 6. I started feeling some tingling in my cheeks at night but other than that, no feeling in the cut part of my face. I had some bruising and lumps on the left cheek. My right cheek looked great, no bruising at all. No pain except burning and redness behind my ears. I talked about it to the doctor when I went to remove the sutures and he said it's normal and no cause for concern. I was instructed to use diluted hydrogen peroxide to clean the sutures and then antibacterial ointment. I've been doing that since day 1. Also, on day 6 I finished my round of oral antibiotic.