Rhinoplasty, Open Browlift, Modified Rhytidectomy, Lower Lid Blepharoplasty - Santa Barbara, CA

I looked better and was happier when it was all swollen. I still have a really funky nose. I might have liked my old nose better. The inside on the right is pushed out so that I have to be really careful to pull hairs there. The deviated septum, as far as being able to breathe, is fixed, but at what price? Every appointment he puts off really talking about results until the next appointment, like it is miraculously going to change and it has been 10 months.

I was very adamant about the band on my neck bothering me and I understood that this was a doable fix. Now he says that if I wanted that taken care of, it would have taken a different procedure. But I was very specific about hoping to be rid of that. We had spoken about putting some fat in the wrinkles on my lower face, and had agreed on that, just avoiding the upper lip because that one often looks so obvious. After a couple of post ops, he said that I said no to that. Actually, we were very specific and decisive about that. He just forgot to do it. He offered no recourse.

I would not recommend this office. I don't usually post negative reviews, choosing to instead give personal feedback, but he shrugs it off when I do. I am very unhappy especially with my nose. It has a very strange shape now. Not sure what I will do about that.

So, I think I am just short of 7 weeks in. You would never be able to tell that I had anything done unless you really looked for it. The stitch line that goes out from the corners of my eyes is red, but I think that, again, if I knew how to apply make-up, I could easily cover it. If I had a complaint it would be that the line on one side goes up and on the other goes down. But they will eventually both fade. My nose is still very swollen inside and is by no means perfectly symmetric if you look at my nostrils from underneath. Still, for the first time in my life, I think my nose is kind of cute. And I am still me. I think the doctor was a little too conservative with my neck, however before I tried to hide it and now I would flaunt it if it wasn't so cold out. I still have some lumpiness on my neck that I can feel but is only noticeable if I show you. I have lots of bumps where the knots from stitches have not dissolved, but again you can feel them but not see them. The bags under my eyes are all but gone. I think this took 10 years off easily. People tell me I look great, but they don't suspect anything. I would do it again for sure. I wish I had done my nose 35 years ago. I went on a vacation at about two and a half weeks, and nobody knew anything.

So, my surgery was a week ago Monday. Ten days in, I actually think that I will be passable in a week when I am in Mexico. I have annoying red bruises that make me look like I have a fu manchu mustache, but I can hide them, although not completely, with make-up. My face is a shade of green and you can see a definite demarcation from forehead to chin where the skin is pink closer to my ears. The bruising is so widespread that it mostly looks like I just have jaundice. And I still have some red spots under my eyes. My cheeks are stiff and I have a couple of really creepy hard bits, but it all goes down daily. With the right make-up, which, since this is the first time in my life that I have used make-up so I don't know what I am doing, I could probably hide most of it and if you didn't know me, might not notice anything. That is saying a lot in a week, since a week ago people were making the paths clear for me as soon as they saw my face, out of pity.

My nose is just changed enough so that I have to get used to a new me in the mirror. I like the nose, but until everything else goes down, I am not sure that I like it on my face. Hard to tell if you like your look when you have chipmunk cheeks and swollen eyes, you know? But the doctor did a good job fixing what had to be fixed on my nose without doing anything drastically alienating. My kids still wanted to look at me and see mommy, even though they are in their twenties.

So far the most pain has been getting the stitches out. I wish that I had a little more attention regarding how to care for all this in the healing stage. Especially the staple area in my head. Now that the staples are out, how should I take care of that area? And anything that will encourage a nicer healing to all of the scars from the stitches? My eyes are tired. Anything to help that? Cucumber slices? I have no idea.