Anxious for my Appointment Today- First Time Botox and Filler - Portland, OR

I ended up getting 20 units of Botox in the glabellar area and 6 units to the chin. I'm most excited about the filler results, but I'll post that review to the appropriate section. Overall, I was very impressed with the clinic and with the NP who injected me. I am an RN and set out to be extremely discerning. Even though I'm also a penny pincher, I decided I wasn't falling for a Groupon on something this important. I spent a decent amount of time researching clinics. I used this site, Yelp, CitySearch, and anything else Google brought up. I also used Angie's List which is nice because provider's can't pay for good reviews there. At first I was going to have the surgeon do it, but they spend a lot of their time doing surgeries and all things surgery related. NPs and PAs often only do injections. I decided I wanted someone who really specialized in injections and went with the mid-level provider instead. The NP I went with had over 10 years experience including in So Cal.

As for Botox, I didn't have very strong 11's, but I wanted to prevent them from getting deeper. My chin was not wrinkly, but just lumpy for lack of a more attractive word:) The Botox is doing what it was intended to do. I still look like myself with normal expressions, just muted -although I guess it's only been 3 days and it could still kick in more. The discomfort of the injections was really minor with the numbing cream. Currently it doesn't feel any different when I'm not attempting to move the muscle. When I do attempt to move the muscle, it feels very slightly weird, but only if I'm trying to notice. It's nothing that bothers me at all. The chin is looking slightly strange, but there is a definite improvement in the lumpiness. I don't have enough chin projection which pretty much can only be fixed with an implant (maybe someday?). But right now, actually, the 6 units of Botox are sort of making part of the muscle kind of "ball up" and project more, which actually helps my profile. I am very happy so far with the results.

I'm turning 36 and have really hated being in photos for a couple of years - I just couldn't put my finger on why. Is this painful and lonely realization just a cruel part of life? I finally realized that while I was trying to not notice and not care that I was aging and just "age gracefully" - I really was aging and why be in denial when I could maybe do something about it. I definitely have mixed feelings - the cost is so high, it's risky, and I worry that once I start I'll start obsessing about what to fix next, rather than just being grateful for what I have. So I'm trying to tell myself "it's not what you got, but it's what you do with it" to help provide some balance, while I slowly proceed with hopefully technology boosting my self-confidence a bit. I feel like I have realistic expectations-I don't want to look like a celebrity, just like myself but a little younger. I feel like I've done my due diligence with research and my appointment is today. I plan to get some Botox in my 11's and also some dermal filler to help lift my sagging, flattening cheeks and diminish my nasolabial folds. I would also love to try filler in my weak chin, but I think this is off-label and I'm not sure if they do this.