Home from PS & doing great! (cross post)

I'm back home from my plastic surgery and doing just fine! Dr. Shuster is fabulous!! Because of a previous facial surgery (tumor removal) I was at increased risk for major complications so I searched long & hard for a ps who had experience with my "special" cir****tance and I found a winner! Because he knew how anxious I was about waking up with one side of my face paralysed, one of the first things Dr. Shuster tried to make me understand when I woke up after surgery (I don't wake up easily) was that everything went OK. I was only in the hospital 1 night, then released to revcover at the hotel for 5 more days. When I saw him again on Monday (6 days post-op) he took out a few stitches and released me to return home. He said I'm "ahead of the curve" for the bruising & swelling, having less than most folks. I fly back to Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood on Monday for a follow-up visit and to remove stitches. Sarah Margaret came to visit me on Saturday when I was still pretty swollen and various shades of lovely yellow and purple!! There has not been much pain, but I have been uncomfortable at times. Everything feels like it is pulled VERY tight (like you've pulled a pony tail waaaaaayyyy too tight) so I felt a bit head-achy at times. The bruising has not been as bad as I expected but the swelling has been annoying, especially around the eyes! By far the worst thing is having to keep my head & neck elevated at all times which means I have to sleep lying on my back at a 45 degree angle - not my ususal way of sleeping. Because of this, I'm only sleeping a few hours at a time so I'm feeling a bit worn out. The bruising is clearning up and the swelling has really gone down in my face (still a fair amount in the chin/neck area). I can begin to see the results and I think I'm going to be very pleased! My forehead is nice & smooth, no more "angry/sad" lines! And although there is still some puffiness around my eyes, they're looking so much more open and "rested" than they did before surgery that I can't wait to see how they'll look in a few months!! I think it is too soon to tell much about the jaw/neck area but I'm beginning to see improvement. The jowls are gone & so is the "turkey neck"! So at 9 days post-op I'd have to say I'm very happy with the outcome!! Vickie J.

Good for you! I am glad your recovery is going so well. I can't wait to lose a few more lbs. so I can start my ps journey! Margo

Margo, I hope you'll be at your goal soon! I figure the ps is finishing the job I started with my wls last year! I can't wait to get all the ps behind me but I'm trying to be patient... Good luck to you as you begin your ps journey!! Vickie J.

I'm so happy for you! Please keep us updated on he whole process! Hope you can post pics soon! Thanks for sharing your journey with us!

Vickie, Glad to hear your surgery went well. Good luck with the rest of your PS journey!! (I am so jealous as I need a tummy tuck badly but insurance won't cover it...maybe if I win the lottery...) Mary Ellen 280/160/160