Face-lift Chronicles: 28 Days Post-surgery

July 12 – 15 Nearly one month after the surgery
My face is considerably less swollen, and I’m beginning to see a difference, especially when I compare my before picture and a current one. My former undereye circles are WAY better, though my neck and jawline seems about the same (I didn’t need much there). My former “deputy dawgs”—the loose skin on the cheeks—is mostly gone. I look like myself, but better. Definitely better. I’ve never looked at my face so much in my life. I was trying on a scarf in a shop, and looked into a tiny slice of mirror—I finally had that “ah ha” moment that so many others have told me about. I could see that I looked different, and pretty darn good. Of course, it didn’t live up to my fantasies of having the face of an airbrushed teen model in the cosmetic ads—but that’s just what it was: a fantasy, like having the “perfect” marriage, career etc. My right eyelid is almost normal, and the left is still continuing to catch up to it. I fear that I may not be able to raise that eyelid all the way again. I wondered if this was a by-product of the surgery, but when I took a good look at my “before” picture, I see the eye was not as open as the other. Things we don’t notice about ourselves! I’m visiting Dr. Leon for a checkup on July 15—30 days after—to see if I’m progressing normally or if something else has to be done.
On the 15, one month after the surgery, I voiced my concern over the swollen eye again, and was told that I needed to give it time to heal from the prior infection. Neither doctor in the room looked closely at it. I’m happy with the rest of the work, however—I’m still getting “pings’—those sharp shooting pains that last a few seconds to tell me my nerves are reconnecting. I think it’s a good thing I have “dead zones”-as feeling increases on the sides of my face (from the inside out, which is normal), I’m beginning to feel the healing muscles that were cut—feels like a bruise deep under the skin. Not bad except when I press on it. Sutures remain itchy—it looks like I have lice. I have to be careful about that in public.

The Face-Lift Chronicles: 12 Days Post-Surgery

Friday, twelve days after the surgery
I think the Arnica Montana really saved me from a lot of bruising. The sides of my face were bright yellow for three days, but I never had the black-blue-red spectrum to deal with, and no pooling under the eyes.
I had  a dream about a former boss, who (in the dream) is my boyfriend and terribly sweet and affectionate. I liked him in real life, too--maybe more than I thought at the time.  It also starred a couple of family members I haven’t seen much of in the last few years who came to me for advice about another relative we’re all concerned about. It felt pretty good. What’s with all the romance and familial affection, though? I’d be embarrassed if I had any sense.
I opened my door to the most wonderful sight. Friend Nick had sent me a couple dozen wonderful roses. They’re on my dining room table right now.

I’m still swollen on the sides of my face and neck. Dr. Chung said it would take anywhere from two weeks to two months for the underlying muscle sutures to heal—the muscles are folded in on themselves, sewn together and cut. I also have “dead zones” in front of and in back of my ears—all this was expected. Now comes the waiting, for my skin to relax into the new contours that have been rebuilt for it. It’s only painful if I touch the sutures—plenty of scabs that have to fall off, but the cuts around my ears are virtually undetectable. I suspect they won’t even show with my hair pulled back thanks to the precise cuts very close to the back of the ear and the careful cutting around the front and into the hairline both front and back. I wasn’t shaved at all. I don’t know how they did it.

 

The Face Chronicles: More on the Second Week

Wednesday, back to the hospital for the hand-off. Lovely Dr. Chung is moving to New York City on Friday, and I was being passed on to the handsomely boyish Dr. Leon (no pain, believe me). The left eye was still droopy, and there was some concern over a possible infection beneath the skin. The Drs. changed antibiotics (which I had been taking since the operation), and the eye responded by the end of the day. Whew.
What I used in addition to the prescriptions:
Boiron homeopathic pellets (available in most health food stores and now in Longs/CVS pharmacies:
•    Arnica Montana 30, for trauma, bruises, muscle soreness. 5 pellets under the tongue 3X/day
•    Staphysagria 30, for healing of surgical wounds, same dosage. Dosages continued for two weeks (two bottles of each, about $8 per bottle)
To keep the intestines working properly under the antibiotics regimen:
•    Culturelle probiotics ($24 at most pharmacies). This was a winner in a recent sampling to see if probiotic products actually contained what they claimed. I twisted open the capsule and shook out half over applesauce (anything would do) about ½-2 hours after I took an antibiotic.  It worked amazingly well—never had a moment’s discomfort. I never used more than ½ capsule, but always after the antibiotic.
On the 2nd-4th days after surgery, I took a packet a day of Dr. Dahl’s Cold Chaser (www.coldchaser.com), which contained:
•    30,000 IU Vitamin A from fish liver oil
•    2,000 mg Vitamin C
•    1,200 IU Vitamin D from fish liver oil
•    30 mg Zinc from 150 mg Zinc Monometionine
•    10mg Rose hips
•    500 mg Citrus Bioflavinoids
I’ve used this locally developed formula many times to ward off colds—it REALLY works, especially in conjunction with Zicam products—available in most drug stores.
The absolute best (and cheapest) aid I had in healing was ICE. I had a pad that went around the back of my head and neck, two smaller ones up the sides, and a packet of frozen peas across the eyes. Have two sets of everything, especially for the first four days. It’s the best investment you’ll make (the aforementioned Walgreens has a good assortment, all $10 or less), and the most effective at pain relief, and keeping swelling and bruising to a minimum.

The Face-Lift Chronicles: 15-20 days after Surgery

I’ve been walking and driving to the store for several days now; I always wear a hat to disguise my swollen lids without having to wear sunglasses, which irritate the upper ear sutures. I drove over an hour to my daughter’s house, and swam in the pool. Closing the eyes all the way felt strange, as my eyelids are still very swollen, especially the left one, where the infection was. The following Friday, I went to a 4th of July celebration with some friends—my “debut”.  The next day, I went to a party with a bunch of old friends. Everyone was very kind, and I do think I look pretty good for only two weeks. The eye is still dragging, and there’s no feeling on the sides of my face, but every day is a slight improvement. I’m still taking a lot of naps, but there’s no pain—at least there wouldn’t be if I didn’t try to sleep in “face-plant” position, which is a little rough on the ears. I put earrings in my pierced ears for the first time—had to work the lobes a little bit, but the holes were still there. I used to have a line running from the hole in each lobe to the bottom—the result of years of heavy earrings. It now runs nearly sideways. Another thing they don’t tell you: hair loss. After the surgery I began shedding like an alley cat; the only thing that slows it down is extra B vitamins. Ugh.

The Face Lift Chronicles: The Second Week

On Monday, exactly one week after the operation, I woke up with a spring in my step, and took a 20-minute walk--it was too much, too soon. I had to take an ibuprophen, ice the back of my throbbing head and take a two-hour nap. I enjoyed closing my eyes in the morning and listening to a CD I made. In the afternoon, I drove to the drugstore and bought more of my homeopathic medicines. It felt great to be outside. Driving was much easier than walking, though I’m still not a pretty picture: yellowish, swollen, wrinkled and red around the eyes.
I watched two movies: Bottle Shock, which I suppose was meant to ride on the coattails of that other wine movie set in San Luis Obispo (I enjoyed both, flawed though they were), and the Illusionist, which I had seen in the theater and fell in love with all over again. Jessica Biel is way pretty, though I think Edward Norton’s voice is a little high—he can bring on the passion, though, and that was what counted. I seem to be obsessing over period films with dark lighting.
Tuesday, I thought I’d take it easy. Got up at 8, washed my face, and went promptly back to bed to sleep until 10. I AM enjoying my dreams. This one was about living in the same house with my mother, and wanting my boyfriend (a beautiful J. Eagle look-alike, a lover from many years ago in Pennsylvania) to spend the night. A romance novel dream; I'd be embarrassed if I knew any better. It felt great, especially the fact I had confidence that I would just tell my mother he was going to sleep over, not beg for her approval-- though I fretted that I was getting male-pattern baldness (a tonsure, no less). I checked when I woke up—still OK. But the stress from the operation on my body is causing me to shed like a cat in a heat wave. I need to check out various hair-loss remedies, though the only ones I've seen are either ineffective or only work on real male pattern baldness. Time for more vitamin B.