X/P: my facelift

[flex]

(Probably better to post here rather than ML lol)

So I won't go into a long drawn out explanation: I had the surgery done last Thursday morning. Surgery lasted 4 hours. As I feared, I had a bad reaction to the anesthesia. The anesthesiologist tried to use the right medication to keep nausea to a minimum but it wasn't really that successful. I was in total misery with queasiness and vomiting until the general was out of my system: about 24 hours later. Plus the painkillers that they prescribed post-surgery made me sicker than a dog so I'm currently on Tylenol which is working just fine for pain management. The air tube that they used while I was out did a number on the inside of my mouth and my uvula, but it wasn't excruciating.



I had the dressing, sutures, and one drainage tube for the blood removed yesterday--the second tube and the staples will be removed on Friday.



I'm still kind of woozy-ish and haven't been able to sleep an entire night, but I'm working on it. It's hard to lie down with the staples still sticking out of the back of my head. Both sides of my face are swollen and stiff, and feel like two hunks of meat, and there is is yellowish bruising. My face is so swollen that looks like the full moon and it'll take a fair amount of time before my face is back to its usual size. All in all I'm happy with the results (I can be patient for the swelling to go away), and I'm super glad I went ahead with it, but I really really could have done without all the nausea and puking. Now I have a fairly good idea of how the poor cancer patients feel on a daily basis with chemo.

[scout8]

Ugh. Sorry to hear about the nausea, but happy that you like the results.

I had my upper and lower eyelids done a couple of months ago along with a forehead lift. He also injected some fat into a couple of areas on my face "for free". I also had a bad reaction to the anesthesia. It was by far the worst part for me. They kept trying to make me leave the surgery center at the end of the day. I refused to leave until they got the nausea under control. I was afraid I was going to puke and bust all my stitches!

I'm super happy with the results. I looks so much better. My left eye still looks a little heavy so he is going to go back and take a touch more off, but that should be pretty minor.

How long will it be before your swelling goes down?

[flex]

Mar 27, 2018 21:45:20 GMT -5 scout8 said:

Ugh. Sorry to hear about the nausea, but happy that you like the results.

I had my upper and lower eyelids done a couple of months ago along with a forehead lift. He also injected some fat into a couple of areas on my face "for free". I also had a bad reaction to the anesthesia. It was by far the worst part for me. They kept trying to make me leave the surgery center at the end of the day. I refused to leave until they got the nausea under control. I was afraid I was going to puke and bust all my stitches!

I'm super happy with the results. I looks so much better. My left eye still looks a little heavy so he is going to go back and take a touch more off, but that should be pretty minor.

How long will it be before your swelling goes down?

I'm happy to hear I'm not the only one who went through the anesthesia thing!  Ugh.

The doctor said it could take a few months before the swelling goes away.  The good news is I can wear makeup since my stitching is around my ears and a bit under my chin.  That way I won't feel quite as alarming looking when I eventually venture out into public, but I plan on staying home for the rest of the week.  I may go to Easter services, but I'm going to wait until then to see how I feel.

[flex]

And I am glad I waited until I moved to Oregon from Alaska to have it done. It was $5K cheaper to have it done here.

[scout8]

Mar 28, 2018 6:26:21 GMT -5 flex said:

Mar 27, 2018 21:45:20 GMT -5 scout8 said:

Ugh. Sorry to hear about the nausea, but happy that you like the results.

I had my upper and lower eyelids done a couple of months ago along with a forehead lift. He also injected some fat into a couple of areas on my face "for free". I also had a bad reaction to the anesthesia. It was by far the worst part for me. They kept trying to make me leave the surgery center at the end of the day. I refused to leave until they got the nausea under control. I was afraid I was going to puke and bust all my stitches!

I'm super happy with the results. I looks so much better. My left eye still looks a little heavy so he is going to go back and take a touch more off, but that should be pretty minor.

How long will it be before your swelling goes down?

I'm happy to hear I'm not the only one who went through the anesthesia thing!  Ugh.

The doctor said it could take a few months before the swelling goes away.  The good news is I can wear makeup since my stitching is around my ears and a bit under my chin.  That way I won't feel quite as alarming looking when I eventually venture out into public, but I plan on staying home for the rest of the week.  I may go to Easter services, but I'm going to wait until then to see how I feel.

I went out when I was still pretty swollen, but I was tired of being cooped up inside! I didn't bruise that much so that helped. 

[mrsukyankee]

Glad you are happy with the results, flex, and hope the recovery is a lot better than expected, especially with the horrors of the anaesthesia.

scout8, I'm thinking about an upper eyelid thing as I have majorly heavy upper lids and they are currently pressing down on my eyelashes a lot. I don't want them to impede my eyes eventually. I'd love to hear more about what happened in your surgery as well.

[scout8]

Mar 28, 2018 11:45:19 GMT -5 mrsukyankee said:

Glad you are happy with the results, flex , and hope the recovery is a lot better than expected, especially with the horrors of the anaesthesia.

scout8 , I'm thinking about an upper eyelid thing as I have majorly heavy upper lids and they are currently pressing down on my eyelashes a lot. I don't want them to impede my eyes eventually. I'd love to hear more about what happened in your surgery as well.

I always had hooded eyes and they were getting worse as I aged. They hadn't started to affect my vision, but they would have eventually. My mom had hers done when she was around my age and they still look good. That's what made me decide to go ahead and do it now. I figured if I was going to do it at some time, I might as well do it and get the benefits now.

One thing that surprised me was that both surgeons I talked to said I should have a forehead lift too. They said if they just did the eyelids without raising my brows, it wouldn't look right. Unfortunately, that added a lot to the cost. I decided to do the lowers as I was spending so much money anyway. I figured I might as well get rid of the bags while I was at it!

Outside of the anesthesia, the recovery wasn't bad. It wasn't very painful, more uncomfortable. I had a bit of a headache from the forehead lift. I took the strong pain pills they gave me twice, and then I just took Tylenol. I did feel like my vision was a little blurry for about the first 10 days. 

I looked pretty bad for about a week, and then I looked decent enough. I don't think anyone could really tell other than me. I looked at a photo recently that was taken about a month out and I can see now that I was still swollen, but I didn't feel like it at the time. Over two months out and I don't think I have any swelling.

I'm very happy I did it. I feel a little guilty about the cost, but not that guilty!

[mrsukyankee]

scout8, can you give me a ballpark figure of cost? I know it'll be different in London but at least I can get an idea (or maybe I'll holiday in the States for two weeks for surgery/recovery).

[mryrcn]

I need to see pics so that I can live vicariously.

I'm sorry about the anesthesia for both of you.

I want a tummy tuck and my neck done.

[scout8]

Mar 28, 2018 13:37:31 GMT -5 mrsukyankee said:

scout8 , can you give me a ballpark figure of cost? I know it'll be different in London but at least I can get an idea (or maybe I'll holiday in the States for two weeks for surgery/recovery).

Sure. It was a little under 11K all in. The other surgeon I met with a little cheaper, but I didn't like him as much so I went with the more expensive guy. 

$3500 for the forehead lift.
$4950 for the upper and lower lids.
$2250 for the surgery center, anesthesia, etc.

I'm in Chicago for reference. 

[flex]

I took some before and after (3 days after the surgery) of under my chin. I'm quite pleased with how it looks right now so it should look fabulous in a month or so. Once I get the majority of the swelling down, I'll post before and afters.

[mrsukyankee]

flex, what were your hopes for the surgery?

[flex]

What I wanted was to tighten up my jawline to get rid of the gene pool "Flex Family" jowls. lol  So now I have a firmer jaw and a lot of the flappy stuff on my neck and under my chin has been tightened up. The main sutures I have for my surgery go behind my ears, plus I have 4" incision right underneath my chin. I think that is incision was to allow for the skin to be pulled up and back. I feel my objective has been met at this point, but I'll know for sure once all the swelling is gone.

I now understand that the surgeon can do certain parts of the face, as in the case of scout...it's not all lifted in one fell swoop. My doctor had asked about an eyebrow lift in my initial consultation, but he wasn't pushy about and I personally felt that it wasn't an issue for me.

The cost for mine was a total of $9,385: $5,275 for the surgery, $2,460 for the facility fee, and $1,650 for the anesthesia.

I still plan on getting periodic touch-up fillers around my mouth for lines and Botox for my forehead and the corners of my eyes.

[mrsukyankee]

Thank you flex & scout8 for sharing your experiences.

[Saint Monica]

Maybe you can ask if they can call in a script for Zofran? Or ask the Dr. if going to CVS/Walmart and getting emetrol would help (*check with your Dr. to make sure it doesn't mess with anything else you may take).


flex, I know you wanted this for a while, you researched it, and that you were/are fine the way you were.  I'm wishing you a speedy recovery & look forward to the pics!

[flex]

Mar 30, 2018 4:34:32 GMT -5 Saint Monica said:

Maybe you can ask if they can call in a script for Zofran? Or ask the Dr. if going to CVS/Walmart and getting emetrol would help (*check with your Dr. to make sure it doesn't mess with anything else you may take).


flex , I know you wanted this for a while, you researched it, and that you were/are fine the way you were.  I'm wishing you a speedy recovery & look forward to the pics!

The nausea and heartburn is now long gone, thankfully.  : )

And thank you for your well wishes.  I'm going in this morning to have the staples, remaining sutures, and drainage tube removed.  Yay!

[Linie]

Mar 28, 2018 11:45:19 GMT -5 mrsukyankee said:

scout8 , I'm thinking about an upper eyelid thing as I have majorly heavy upper lids and they are currently pressing down on my eyelashes a lot. I don't want them to impede my eyes eventually. I'd love to hear more about what happened in your surgery as well.

I want to do this as well in a few years, but I don't want to look "surprised" all the time, so I'm a little scared.

[Gato]

flex, thank you for sharing your experience. I am very curious to see before and after pictures, if you still want to share. I don't think I have the guts to do a full face lift, but who knows?

[flex]

May 22, 2018 10:21:30 GMT -5 Gato said:

flex , thank you for sharing your experience. I am very curious to see before and after pictures, if you still want to share. I don't think I have the guts to do a full face lift, but who knows?

Hi!  I can provide pics.  I'm on my way to the grocery store right now so after I get back, I can provide some.  

[mryrcn]

flex, - still waiting on those pics! I'm considering some sort of filler for the lines above my lips and eyebrows.

[flex]

Sorry...I was on a very LONG grocery run lol

mryrcn YGPM