37, Looking Desperate for Sleep! - Weston, FL

Since my late 20s I have heard comment after comment about how tired I look or how I need a good vacation or a good night's sleep. I was unhappy with constantly agreeing, even though I had just had a good 11 hours of sleep! It's hard to tell an acquaintance, co-worker, friend (or my grandmother) "no, I slept great, I just have a genetic predisposition to under eye bags". How do they respond to that?

I was very apprehensive about having anything done to my face, but I have a wonderful doctor who did a Tummy Tuck for me about 14 years ago after I had my son, and I knew if I was ever going to take the plunge, it would only be with him. After some encouragement from my sister-in-law (who also had great success with this doctor) and a close friend, I decided to schedule a consultation. I knew even before I met with Dr. Messa that I wanted to do it, but I was terrified! Dr. Messa's demeanor is really what helped me decide to do it. He's so calm and confident that he immediately put me at ease during the consultations. (I had two). I already know he is an amazing surgeon, so I decided to go for it. Now, I'm so happy that I went through with it!

I went in on Monday, 12/30 for my procedure. My appointment was at 12:30 p.m. When I got to the office, I was checked in promptly and attended to by Jill who was very kind and reassuring. She started my IV and talked with me a bit about my procedure. After a while, the anesthesiologist came in and spoke to me about the anesthesia. He had a detailed questionnaire and asked me lots of questions to be sure he had a thorough history. He answered all of my questions and explained exactly what medications I would receive and how they would be administered. He reassured me that he would be there monitoring my vitals throughout the surgery. Next, Dr. Messa came in to answer my last minute questions and make markings for him to use as a guide during surgery. After assessing my eyes again, he told me that I had good tone under my eyes and he thought the best approach would be to make an incision in the inside of the lower lid, which would not require sutures. He thought this would produce less bruising an an easier recovery for me. I was very happy to hear that! Then he left and I was taken into the operating room a short while later.

Once in the operating room (which is immaculate and looks state of the art!) I was greeted by my anesthesiologist and surgical nurse, Corinne (not sure of spelling). She helped me get situated on the operating table. She put a warming blanket on me and made sure I was comfortable. The anesthesiologist then explained that he would be putting a sedative in my IV and that shortly after I would be out and he would then administer the anesthesia throughout the procedure. He reassured me that I would not wake up during the surgery. (I think a lot of people worry about that).

After waking up in recovery, my husband drove me home - I have little to no memory of leaving the facility, riding home, getting in my bed or anything! What I do remember is looking in the mirror and being completely shocked at how little trauma it looked like I had endured. I was expecting to see a lot of bruising and swelling, but I was very fortunate and did not! I chalk that up to Dr. Messa's delicate touch, following the recommended supplement regimen and all pre-op instructions, and a lot of luck!

Hi everyone! Things are progressing well with my healing! I haven't posted much because I got locked out of my account and couldn't remember my password. We are on Day 12 and I have slight swelling, more at the top of my cheek bone than anything else. No visible bruising. I had two visits to the doctor for a check in since I'm a little panicky! First, I think I did a little too much housework on day 5 (was feeling really good) and noticed a little bit of watery blood in the corner of my right eye and along my lower lid so I immediately called the doctor and went in. He examined me and told me everything was fine but to take it easy! Then I noticed a small bump under my left eye with some of the lower lashes falling out on day 9 so I went back, he took a look and said everything was fine again, just healing. He said the bump was swelling and the lashes sometimes fall out temporarily but should grow back. He did tell me that it looked like I was about a month out from surgery in terms of healing, so I don't want anyone to be too optimistic about how quickly the healing goes because apparently mine is going freakishly fast! I will upload a few pictures next.

This was a photo from the evening of day 8. You can see the little bump that was worrying me.