Know Before You Go - West Palm Beach, FL

I was having eyelid surgery to improve my droopy eyes and decided why not go ahead and get a facelift while I was at it. Big mistake. The facelift turned out to be more invasive and severe than I had thought or imagined it would be. Nothing went wrong really, but it was so intense. I just want anyone thinking about having this surgery to realize that half of the backs of your ears are cut into, as well as the edge of the front of your ears and the rim of the back of your neck. This is very, very painful. It is not a superficial cut, it is a deep cut from which they pull the muscle. Then they cut the excess muscle before they stitch you up. The day after my surgery I felt I was being chocked. I had to take off the elastic bandage. The bones on the front of my neck felt crushed. The first week was pure torture. My face was numb and swollen, the sides of my face felt unnatural and hard. I had to sleep in a sitting position for weeks. My neck, shoulders and back were under a lot of stress. Pain pills were the only relief. When I finally took a look at the back of my ears and neck, I was freaked out, my husband jokingly called me Frankenwoman. It was funny, but true there were so many stitches he lost count. He took pictures and I was incredulous. I couldn't believe I had done this to myself. I touched the stitches and they felt like barb wire. After the stitches came out the following week I was expecting a great relief, but there was none. The tightness, numbness and stiffness were still there. I am now in my fifth week post op. yes, it has improved. There is still significant numbness on the sides of my face and under my chin. Had I known then what I know now, no I wouldn't have done it. I feel that the suffering I went through and yet have to go through just wasn't worth this pain and discomfort. I may have turned the clock back, but this suffering has aged me.