On my Way to Looking Better

It's now almost 3 months past the procedure.  My right eye is completely healed except for a barely visible scar in the crease.  My left eye still has some numbness on the inner lid and some "bumps" on my scar, that I hear are pretty common, in the same place.  Also still have a bit of slight discoloration underneath my left eye.  I sleep more on my left side so maybe this is why.  With makeup no one can I've had anything done.  I like the results but did this procedure fairly young so I'm not having anyone come say "Wow, you look so much better."  I think I notice it more than anyone else does and did it as kind of a preventative measure for as I get older.  A word of advice, I think that part of the reason I still have some (minor) issues with my left eye is that the skin on my lid grew over the sutures pretty quickly and I don't think they were all removed when I was at the doctor's.  I was a bit peeved that I had to call to see if I should get the sutures removed and was not told to come in to get it done.  If I would have waited til their follow-up time I believe I would have had a bigger problem. Overall, still very glad I did it.  It's been a challenge learning to apply makeup a bit differently with my new eyes, but hey, that's not a big deal.

Well, I'm now two weeks past the procedure and it's nice to see the results coming to pass.  I still have a tiny bit of brusing under my eyes (which can be covered by makeup - albeit thick makeup).  The scars in the upper creases are healed but still visable, and not quite ALL of the swelling is gone.  I also have some persistent areas of blood on the whites of my eyes.  But I can easily go out in public. Still no pain, but there was some numbness that is subsiding on my upper lids, and eyes have been dry.  Using a lot of drops.  My left eye is healing slower than my right one but that's supposedly no big deal.  Getting my "after" pictures in January so should be completely good to go!

First I would like to say how helpful it was to have this site and to read everyone's reviews ahead of time.  I decided to get the procedure because at age 40 my under eye bags and sinking upper lids were making me look tired all the time.  Since bags run in my family I thought better take care of them before they got a lot worse and my skin loses more elasticity (thankfully I'm pretty blessed in that department). I found a doctor in my area whose specialty is blepharoplasty and Smart Lipo (I had that procedure done at the same time as my bleph but will review on a different page).  It wasn't the warmest/fuzziest office I've ever been in but they are efficient and professional.  They gave me all of my meds to get filled before the procedure with directions on what to expect and post-op to-do's.  If I ever had a question someone was there to answer it for me. The day of the procedure (exactly one week ago today) I took two pills, one to relax me and one that was anti-anxiety.  I took my contacts out and wore glasses to the appointment.  My husband drove me and waited while I got the bleph and Smart Lipo on my upper/lower abs.  The whole thing took about an hour and a half.  The eye procedure was not fun, by any means but wasn't horrifically painful.  The worst part was the injection of local anesthesia.  I also did feel some pressure.  But I couldn't tell what was going on because they put a black "contact lens" over your eyes.  They let a bit of light in but that's about it.  The whole thing is a blur.  One of the nurses was nice enough to hold my hand throughout the procedure.  Then I got the lipo which was a cake-walk after the eye procedure.  I don't know why but after the procedures I got sick at the office and then again when I got home. One word of advice here.  In retrospect I and the plastic surgeon's office should have been more communicative with my husband about what he would expect to see and have to do after the surgery.  When I came out of the surgery with my eyes looking like I had been in a fight with Mike Tyson and with some residual bleeding and the sickness, he was understandably upset.  I couldn't see well at all for about 5-6 days so he had to drive/run errands, etc., which he was happy to do.  But anyone considering bleph should fully brief their husbands/wives/caregivers with this information and ask their office to do so as well.  The other thing that I should mention is that if you usually wear contacts and don't wear glasses much (like me), make sure that your glasses prescription is up to date and that you wear them a few days before the procedure to get used to them.  I could have forgone a lot of eye strain if I would have thought to do this. It's been what feels like a LONG week of healing at home.  Did everything the doctor told me to do.  Ice packs, sleeping elevated, using the drops and goop they asked me to put in and on my eyes.  One eye seems to be healing faster than the other which my doctor told me is normal.  The hardest part for me was not seeing clearly for almost a week.  I have felt no pain during the healing process and only took pain meds for two nights to help me sleep.  You just look like crap for quite a while.  Today what was left of my disolving sutures were removed (yea!) with no pain, and I got to put contacts back in my eyes (double yea!).  I still have bruising and swelling but I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Will add to this entry in a week or two with more updates.