2008-03-10
Today I went to the plastic surgeon�s and he removed a few of the under eye stitches. The bruising is getting worse before it gets better and although he�s given me the go ahead to hide it with makeup, how much can you hide when he wants you to wear these strips on the side of your eyes to support the tissue that had the stitches removed?
But I think I see a tremendous change. I have a license picture that was taken ten years ago and I think my eyes compare to it now. In any case even though I start aging again right this very second I think I will always look about ten years younger than my contemporaries and that�s fine with me. I have no intention of being 80 and looking 40, but 80 looking 70? Sure! I can�t afford to, nor do I desire to have ongoing continual �touch ups� for the rest of my life.
My �upper face lift� is now complete and I only want the neck thing, or �lower face lift� to match it next year and then I am done. But take a look, even unhealed it�s a big change. It�s still swollen but will look better as time goes on.
BEFORE
AFTER
What surprised me that I didn�t know going into this? Well, I knew my hair line would rise as they did a coronal brow lift slicing ear to ear and removing about an inch wide strip of skin right across the top of my head. (there are endoscopic brow lifts that don�t change the hairline as much, if at all. I didn�t know that going in and wish that I had) But what I didn�t expect was that it would also pull back my sides near my temple so that my hairline changed there too. It doesn�t look bad but my hairdo now looks like a bowl cut, like Moe in the Three Stooges until it grows out a bit more. Actually I�m considering growing out my hair and pulling it back. I think it has a nicer line now.
Also I always had downward sloping eyes and brows. I was kind of hoping that would change a little. It�s really the same but higher and wider. I also wish I had known that the stitches would come out in stages so that I wouldn�t have told work that I�d be back in tomorrow. The rest of my eye stitches get removed this Thursday and the head sutures get removed next Tuesday.
I also wish that the doctor hadn�t used Vaseline in my hair to keep it away from the incision site. It took me three days and ten washings using Dawn dish detergent and a box of corn starch to absorb it between washings. It was awful. Nothing gets it out and I was afraid that I�d have to shave it or that I�d damage the incision site while scrubbing with Dawn. I mean that�s HARSH on a wound, but I just couldn�t stand being slathered in Vaseline.
But do I think I look younger? Yes.
Do I think I look better? Yes.
Was it worth it? Yes.
Do I wish I had given myself more time to heal before I returned to work? Yes.
But I do have to say that it feels like getting a tattoo. It�s a permanent change that you can�t undo and so once done can�t be undone so you better like it or it�s tough titties. So far Fred thinks he�s going to like it. He�s trying to get past the bruising to see the final result but it takes a bit of imagination at this point.
Personally, I don�t think my eyes have looked this good without liner and/or mascara in more than ten years. I think once I can really do them up it will look great.
BTW I�m of two minds about my return to work. Which do you think would piss my boss off more after being out since last Thursday and saying I�d return on Tuesday. I have a bone density test at 8AM Wednesday and the rest of the eye stitches coming out Thursday morning. So should I return looking badly bruised (they had no idea why I was going to be out) telling him I will be late coming in Wednesday and Thursday or should I just tell him that the stitches didn�t come out on time and I can�t return until Thursday morning, period.
I don�t know if the coming and going will piss him off more than just being plain old out.
