54 Years Old—buying Myself a Face/neck/eye Lift for 55!

54 years old—buying myself a facelift for 55!
I’m a healthy, in-shape 54 year old. Lost 50lbs 5 years ago, no sugar for 6 years, no alcohol for 16. I swim 150 laps every week & enjoy water aerobics 3x/week. I have taken very good care of my face; started moisturizing my face/neck 2x/day since the age of 12. Most mistake me for at least 10-15 younger than my age. My only downfall is tanning 3x/week, although I do use sunscreen when in the real sun.
I started with Botox 4 years ago for the 11’s, that made me look tired & angry all the time. Then Juviderm & other fillers for the jowls & deeper wrinkles. I had Ultherapy 3x, the 3rd time they also did my neck. I have been using Retin-a at night for the past 15 years. I exfoliate 2x/day & this year bought a Clarasonic brush, which I love! In the mornings I use a 14% Glycoloc AHA serum, along with Revox on my chin, under eyes & between brows & Nectifirm on my neck (2x/day). It’s gotten to the point that my neck is starting to sag & my lower face looks terrible, despite all this. I also have been noticing my upper eyelids drooping & I can’t see as well at night driving as I used to.
I scheduled a consultation with a very nice, open, friendly Dr (Leonard Lu) at the facility I have been going to for the past 4 years. He agreed—I need a neck lift & lower facelift. He said the owner of the facility is the eye specialist (Daniel Ritacca), so I also consulted with him about an upper eyelift.
It turns out my insurance will pay for the eyelift! So all I have to pay for that, is a little under $500. The lower facelift & neck lift will come to $9500 & that’s with their discount club I joined. I paid $5000 up front & charged the rest to my Care Credit card, which offers up to $10,000, INTEREST FREE for 2 years. I did the math & that comes to around $187/month. I usually paid them $200/month, when borrowing from them anyway (for the Ultherapy), so I always pay it off early.
It is now 6 days before my surgery. I stopped taking my fish oil & krill oil a week ago. I started taking the recommended 50mg zinc last week, 3x/day. I started Arnica Montana 3x/day & 500mg Bromelain & discontinued Retin-a last night. I know after filler, I always peel extra because of the stretching skin, so I can imagine what I’d look like with all the swelling to come. I know I’m not going to be able to exfoliate for quite some time after surgery & don’t want to look like a giant lizard!
I am starting to freak out after reading many of the reviews on here. What I DIDN’T do was consult with any other plastic surgeons. I’ve been speaking to Dr Lu for all the years I’ve been going to the Ritacca Laser Center & feel very comfortable around him. I also read his educational profile & he excels in everything he does. But I read here, you should consult with several Drs & also see MANY of their before/after photos. I can’t get them to send me a single photo, because of the HIPAA law??? My other concern is I can’t find a single bit of information about him doing facelifts on anyone—only breast work & a few other body parts—all positive reviews. But just because a surgeon does great work on one body part, doesn’t mean he’s an artist in others, right? I mean, you can be a wonderful artistic dog groomer. That doesn’t make you a great cat groomer, does it? (I know, because I’ve done both for 30 years.)


I did get a referral from the doctor/patient liaison--someone who had the same surgery I am, by Dr Lu. She was really nice, answered all my questions & sent me a before/after pic. She also said she did consult with 2 other surgeons & picked Dr Lu above the others. She had Dr Lu’s cell phone number & he answered all her queries after surgery. I’m hoping to get in to see Dr Lu one more time before the surgery & maybe he can show me before/after photos in his office. Of course Hubby says maybe all my fear is because I shouldn't be doing this surgery in the 1st place. He keeps telling me it’s all based in vanity, that I look wonderful to him…

I took everything I learned from you gals on my post here & brought it all to the PS. He sat with me & answered all my Qs to my satisfaction. While waiting in his office, the PT liaison gave me 2 more referrals to call. On of them gave raving reviews, says he's an artist in his field, came highly recommended by her oncologist & has NO scars (same as the 1st gal I spoke to). She picked him over 3 other PS. The other gal kinda went into it like I did & from doing business with the cosmetic clinic for 11 years & having previous surgery eyelid by the PA who will be doing my eyes , just went with this PS for her face. She's very pleased with her results too. I saw lots of before/after photos on his computer & explained to me how most women do not want their face lifts plastered all over the internet. I'm going for it on Saturday!

I slept about 5 hours last night. Took my last sublingual Arnica in the morning & Hubby drove me to the surgical center. Surgery was scheduled for 8am. I arrived at 7am & they prepped me. Lots of forms to sign. I was totally calm—not nervous at all—just excited. They didn’t even have to give me the normal valium to calm my nerves. My eyelids were 1st but the facelift surgeon came in at 7am to see me, because he didn’t want me not to be able to see him before I was put out. I was impressed by that. He also marked my face. The eyelid surgeon came in 2nd, to mark my eyelids. Then I was out. Hubby went golfing. I was in recovery about 1 ½ hours & wheeled out to go home.

Hubby set me up in his leather Lazy Boy recliner, with my Temperpedic pillow vertically behind me. It’s very comfortable! I slept a lot. Tried to eat some creamed broccoli soup but everything came back up. Yogurt stayed down later in the evening & so did some Jell-O. In & out most of the day. Hubby put ice on my eyes, 20 minutes every hour. My face was too bandaged for ice to help any there. Took my evening pills & threw them all up. Lots of pain in my TMJ (jaw) on both sides & my throat. I have previously had serious TMJ problems—don’t know if it was the surgery or the heavy bandaging pressing against it but it hurt really BAD. I can’t stand tight things on my neck (cut the collars off all my t-shirts), so Hubby called the surgeon to see if he could cut the bandages away from my neck a bit. He cut a notch from where it was pressing against my trachea & it helped a lot. Slept on & off during the night, taking 1 Norco every 4 hours.