Face Lift Chronicles: After the Cut--the First Week

Wednesday, two days after the operation, my daughter drove me in to
have the tape and stitches on my lower eyelids removed. That burned,
but not much. Dr. Chung did it in the conference room—something tells
me she could operate in a mud hut and it would come out all right. We
then went to a nearby Walgreens, tape, extremely gross bloody hair and
ears, puffy face and all (they wouldn't let me clean anything up before
the Dr. saw me). Yes, they stared at me, and I didn't give a flying
f?!k. I would have sold my grandma for baby shampoo. I do believe that
hair wash was the best of my entire life. Thank you, nurse Nikki—what a
blessing to have so much care.
I was still taped over the top lids. I can almost open my eyes. I had
my first full night's sleep last night (thanks to my old buddy
Temazepam), and I'm feeling, if not exactly perky, perkish. I need to
lay down and re-ice every few hours. I took pictures every day. I
really want to remember this.
After the stitches on my lower lids came out on Wednesday, I could
see better, and was able to start taking NSAIDS like ibuprophen, which
really helped with the swelling. I only needed to ice four times
Wednesday—Friday, twice on Saturday. The swelling and bruising went
down a little every day. I slept at least once each day, sometimes
twice.
Saturday night, I saw Baz Luhrman’s Moulin Rouge,
with Nicole Kidman and Ewan MacGregor: two of the most beautiful people
on the planet, in a gorgeous eyeful of a romance. I may become obsessed
with movies. Reading doesn’t seem to interest me, which has never
happened before. The first few days, the thought of eating appalled me
(now we know how models stay thin), but now my appetite is back,
especially for fruit and buttered popcorn.
On Sunday, good Dr. Chung came to my house in between stints on-call
and took out my upper-eye tape and stitches, forewarning me to take one
Tylenol and one ibuprophen an hour ahead—getting surface stitches out
stings a bit, and I had a good 200 to remove. Dr. Chung mentioned that
good sewing skills really come in handy to a plastic surgeon. I was
surprised to find I could take Tylenol and ibuprophen together, but it
usually isn’t advised because Tylenol is processed through the kidneys
and ibuprophen through the liver, so it’s easier on your body to
stagger them—however, I refused to take an Oxycodone (no more walking
into walls for me!), so I had the next best thing. When the tape came
off and the stitches out, I felt like a new woman, though I had some
trouble raising my left eyelid all the way. This worried me. I’m no
longer taking either Tylenol or ibupropen 24/7, though I do take a
4-hour dose late in the afternoon or evening, and an 8-hour naproxen
sodium before bed. Works well. I can’t believe it’s been less than a
week. I have to add what Dr. D'Amore told me before the operation: I
was a casual cigarette smoker for a few years, but haven't touched one
for more than a decade. He told me it didn't matter how long ago I
smoked or how much--it would impede my healing and make it slower. I
wish I knew that then.