Upper blepharoplasty Monday - HELP!

[FannyBawz]

I’ve got an upper blepharoplasty booked on for Monday.

My husband has to go away…it’s a last minute work thing and he’ll be away until Wednesday. surely I’ll be ok getting a taxi home and letting my very capable teenagers help me out? Or am I being selfish? My children aren’t at a driving age yet.

will they literally let me leave without an adult escorting me off? I will have been under twilight sedation. I really don’t know what to do.

if anybody had this, can you tell me how you were right after the operation?

cannot believe he didn’t notice, that’s crazy. It’s a huge change!

So the incisions fade before the bruising? Blimey. I’m got very fair Irish skin so am gonna look a mess I reckon. Ten days later supposedly going to a party so hope I don’t look too rough by then

I didn't have sedation just the local injected into my eyelids with some adrenaline, something to do with helping the bleeding. Mine was at a private clinic.

What I will tell you is they put a strong eye cream into my eyes as they finished, it is used for conjunctivitis if memory serves so I was completely blind, blurred vision. They laid me down in a recovery room for 20 mins with some gauze things over my eyes and a cold gel eye pack on top of that. After 15 mins or so the pain relief wore off so I was given paracetamol. It does hurt for a couple of days. I had a lovely cup of tea too.

Dh had to escort me to the toilet as again I couldn't see and then into the car. This was probably about 40 minutes post op. I wore sunglasses in the car. I was provided with a whole aftercare bag with 2 gel eye mask (with eye cut out so no weight on the eyelid) one to have in the fridge, one to have on. I had that conjunctivitis cream, loads of packs of the gaze too. I had a silicone scar gel thing which means I have no obvious scars at all. Yes it was a massive improvement. I could see my eyelashes in my vision before the op. It was 2 years ago.

I bought those hard plastic eye shields and taped them to my face so I didn't touch my eyelids when I slept, propped upright. Don't touch your stitches or the scar even after they have removed the stitches.

Don't wear eye makeup for a bit, it isn't the putting it on it is the trying to take it off. You can reopen your wounds. Follow their advice. I would say if you trust the taxi company people then you should be fine especially if you have helpful teens.

My teens found my face traumatic because I fell into the rare (but not unexpected for me) swelling and bruising category so I looked like I had been attacked. I have pale skin and I react to lots of things normally (most shampoos, moisturisers) so I was prepared but it was way beyond anything I could have envisaged. The vast majority of people look fine within 24-48 hours. There are loads of videos on youtube. I have no regrets even looking like I did.

That's what I was worried about too, the smell. I have a nose like a labrador and all strong smells make me feel really nauseous but, honestly, it really wasn't that bad. I think, the surgeon talking to me throughout and distracting me, plus the half diazepam, really helped alot.
I noticed you mentioned you had sedation for a colonoscopy previously, as have I (and then another one with gas and air which was hysterical. Apparently, I wouldn't give them the pipe back, so they eventually left me with it but unplugged it at the other end!) The pain of going around a loopy bowel is really not the same as an upper bleph, I hand on heart promise you. It is more of a stinging sensation, when the needle goes in for the local anesthetic, than anything else. I never felt a thing. Honestly.
When you get home make sure you're already stocked up on what I previously suggested, as well as some painkillers; paracetamol should be fine but ibuprofen is good too as it is anti inflammatory so the swelling will go down quicker.
I have to say, I was actually quite lucky with the swelling but I did bruise quite badly (I always do with polyonucleotides/ jalupro/ botox etc too) so the bromelain really helped - if you like real pineapple, get some in and make sure you eat the core too as bromelain is concentrated in the core. You could always while away the time until your husband returns with pinã coladas! Great excuse to have pineapple! (Well, that would be my excuse anyway and I'd be sticking to it. Haha. Or Pimms? With floating pineapple? After all, it is June tomorrow!)
I promise, please don't get yourself worked up like I did, you will be fine.
Which clinic ate you going to? I had mine done at Signature with Dr Aoife Turner but she doesn't work for them anymore x

Oh yes, I forgot about the antibiotic eye cream. You need to use that for about a week and the clinic.gave me that to take away too.
I have to say, my vision wasn't that blurry and I could walk to the car myself but we're all different so I don't want to invalidate another person's experience.
The gel they give you is like the stuff you use if you get conjunctivitis. Is it called Brolene? I plucked that out from my memory of bygone times! I am actually amazed at my poor menopausal brain being able to remember that. Haha x

Isn't it interesting how we're all so different? I only had uppers done but I took my stitches out myself and, whilst on one side, there was a little bit of tugging, it was actually a breeze and didn't hurt or bleed at all!
How are your husband's eyes? Do they look great? Did he have them done due to ptosis or cosmetic reason? J x

No, if ‘you’ plural don’t know, if people
don't know what it is then they can’t help.

Cosmetic. Ageing. Hereditary. Looks fab.

@JaneM99 I had Chloramphenicol eye ointment and I was meant to use it for days and after the second day I stopped because of the blurred vision and I couldn't watch anything, only listen. I didn't like not being able to see properly.

My stitches were a continuous running stitch from one outer eye all the way across the bridge of my nose to the other outer eye. I had tape on either end and the bridge of my nose. They snipped the bit in the middle and very slowly pulled the thread, it didn't hurt at all. Healed beautifully.

I just remembered I had saline solution too to wipe over my eyes. I found cotton ear buds helpful for any itching I had and a mirror so I could see what I was very gently itching. They were dipped in saline.

I’ll also add I’m super squeamish but still found the procedure entirely manageable.

i had no pain either during or after but I looked like an absolute wreck after though and found that quite distressing. It was much worse than I expected.

this is about two weeks post.

It’s brilliant that it was so easy for you. As this thread shows though, it isn’t for everyone. Mine took an hour and it was somewhat of an ordeal tbh. Although the team were brilliant.
I had one eye much worse than the other, and a fat prolapse, so it wasn’t straightforward.

You simply can’t say with confidence how simple or complicated the OPs case is.

Wow your eyes look amazing! I am contemplating getting this done but I am scared in case it goes wrong, could u tell me if there are any downsides please and who you went with. Thanks x

I had mine done last year with Valium and local anaesthetic. The procedure is fine, very easy, I couldn’t feel a thing. I was so relaxed I fell asleep at one point! It took half an hour per eye and the result has been a-maz-ing, I’m so glad i got it done. The difference is truly incredible, not only in how it looks but also in how much light I have coming into my eyes! Wonderful. My surgeon recommended I had someone take me home and stay with me that night, and I was glad I had someone with me to run to the pharmacy and make dinner that first night. After that I was fine at home on my own for the week until the stitches were taken out, happier on my own even, to just recover with no pressure from anyone. The hardest thing about the whole thing was having to sleep half sitting up for the week to help with the swelling. Good luck! It’s 100% worth it.

Had mine done in central London and got a train 1.5 hours home alone, no escort, even forgot my sunglasses to wear whilst in public and I was totally fine and came home to my 3 children all under 5 and looked after them no problem. Best thing I ever did, results are so fantastic, bruising etc gone down by 1 week, was a very easy surgery and recovery. Good luck, happy to answer any questions :)

If you can afford it ask for the upper eye brow lift at the same time. I wish I did it. It’s really easy for them to add it

Ok

@FannyBawz sorry just saw your message. Yes there’s no way I would have been able to hide my surgery in the fist week! I didn’t leave the house while I had my stitches for the first week but luckily I had it in February and the snow was bad for a week so it wouldn’t be unusual to stay at home. I took 2 weeks off work but unfortunately my bruising was bad! I’m blonde and really fair skinned and bruise like a peach. I had two black eyes for almost 6 weeks so was so glad I got Dermablend camouflage make up beforehand-this covered the bruising really well. I was really unlucky though according to the nurses and they rarely saw bruising like mine!
My DH on the other hand is really dark skinned and when he got his 2 years after me he didn’t bruise at all and went to work (he works for himself in a small office and the staff knew he was getting it done) the next day and out with pals at the weekend just after getting his stitches out. He just had some slight swelling.
I also can’t remember any smell at all in the theatre. And I don’t think I got chloramphenicol eye ointment but my memory could be failing me.

I have been reading about lid lift goggles which seem to be the thing for minimising bruising and swelling… often supplied by surgeons in US. Just wondering if anybody has used any compression goggles? Too late for me to order anything really.

No, I read about them after I'd had mine done! Typical.
I bought the bead eyemask from Amazon. You can get it for delivery tomorrow!
https://amzn.eu/d/3COSzED

I just used cold packs and the bead eyemasks, but didn't really bruise that much either.

I got mine provided. You pop them in fridge and wear them 3 times a day for 10 mins. Freezing is a but brutal.

Hi all, how did you go about choosing a doctor to perform the eyelid surgery? I would love to get this done but I am so scared of something going wrong. Does anyone have any personal recommendations for a doctor in Cheshire please? X

Mark Halliwell.

I did it with sedation and it was the easiest thing ive ever had done.

Go on to the website of the different surgeons and you should get photos etc. i was recommended by a friend and looked into it. I an in NE Scotland.

I had mine done at Coppergate Clinic in York. I’m in Manchester and it’s only an hour and a bit. Fantastic place with fantastic surgeons. Would definitely recommend x