Jowls Be Gone! - Tucson, AZ

Hi everyone! Just thought I'd drop in and update y'all on my progress. I'm about 4 months post op and still happy (for the most part) with my results. I've still got significant fat in my right cheek area and I'm not thrilled about that. (Am posting a few pics...my gradual transition to my natural grey/silver hair color is almost complete, and I do believe I like it!!) Hoping that the doctor will provide some more insight other than telling me no one's face is asymmetrical, which I realize. I've been massaging the area in the hopes it would help break up some of the excess fat and then help it be reabsorbed (even had one of the doctor's assistants recommend doing so), but so far I do not see any improvement. Still have a ways to go in terms of total results, but this excess fat issue seems to be one that will hang on unless something is done about it. Nobody has mentioned anything about my face, but I feel the difference and see it daily in the mirror, and also in pictures. Otherwise, all is well. My husband and I are doing well in his retirement...didn't really have any serious issues to begin with. We are anxiously awaiting the delivery of our new motorhome in mid-January so we can begin our adventures!

I hope all of you are doing well. I still am very grateful to have had this forum to go to and seek info, provide encouragement and receive support and encouragement from. I'll be back sometime soon...in the meantime, have a safe and Happy Halloween!

Thank you all so much for your positive comments! What a great community this is.

I'm including a picture that I just took. I found out the "swelling" in my right cheek is not actually swelling, but likely fat from the fat grafting. Sometimes it takes the excess fat longer in some places to be absorbed and settle in. So, apparently this is what has happened in my cheek area. It is puffy when I smile and looks a bit uneven with my other side in certain pictures, but all in all I'm hopeful it will soon be gone and things will look more asymmetrical. There is still a small amount of bruising in front of my left ear, as well. When people tell you it could take up to a year to see the "final" results, they area not kidding. The good thing is most people would not notice these things, but we tend to focus on them ourselves and in our minds they seem much more apparent than they really are.

Life is a bit more busier with my hubby retired. We are keeping busy exercising and such, and will soon be traveling to an RV show in order to make our final decision on which one we will buy. Then, within a few months we expect to be able to hit the road (although learning to drive one of those huge coaches will be a definite challenge!).

Take care, everyone...and hopefully I'll have more chances to come back and keep up with y'all!

Good to be back on here and browsing around. Love seeing all the gals who had their surgeries around the same time I did...results are fabulous! Thank you all for your support, kind comments, and sharing. If not for lots of you who went before me, I would have walked into my surgery feeling as if I had no clue. Which is a big reason why I joined in and shared my journey, as well. Any way I could help others with my experience makes it worth while, for sure!

I am living life, exercising, and we are planning our future in terms of retirement and what that is going to look like. Getting excited because we will be having some neat adventures! We will be visiting some of my family (sisters, mom & oldest son's family) next month and it will be interesting to see if anyone notices anything different about me. None of them know I had the facelift/fat grafting.

Right now I'm nearing the end of a series of BBL treatments to get rid of a few dark age spots on my face. They are stubborn!! Hoping the last one the other day will be the end of it, but I'll have a "touch up" in two weeks if they need a little extra boost. The great thing is they do the "touch ups" for free...love that they do that!

My right side along the jaw line is still a bit swollen, unfortunately. It has gone down a little but is definitely still looking different from the left side, which has settled in nicely, other than stubborn bruising along the area just in front of my ear on that side. That has also diminished but has a ways to go. I do hope the apparent swelling on the right side is just that, and not something that will need to be revised. The doctor told me nobody's face is perfectly symmetrical on both sides, but this is definitely not something I want to be permanent. I understand a slight difference, but this is just too apparent to me, plus it feels odd. Seems like two months is a long time to still have obvious swelling and bruising...but I go back to see the doctor in October and will talk with him then if it is still an issue for me. I will say that I am quite happy with my results, otherwise, and glad I decided to do it! When I look in the mirror I no longer see jowls!! They are gone!! ;)

Hope everyone has had a great summer! I, for one, am looking forward to cooler temps here in the desert. Winter here is wonderful and I am eager for those cool, crisp mornings and pleasant afternoons spent outside.