Home & doing great!

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.

Welcome home, Vickie! I know you are glad that part is behind you. Sounds like it went really well and that you are recovering nicely. I long for the day I can say my jowls and turkey neck are gone!! Take good care of yourself as you continue to recover. Betty

Thanks Betty! It will be nice to say goodbye for good to the jowls & turkey neck!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that when I'm fully healed they'll be gone for good! Vickie J.

glad to ehar you are doing so well. You ahve been in our thoughts. Heather

Thank you for your good thoughts! Vickie J.

Congrats on the first part of your surgery! Take good care of yourself!

Ruth, Thank you! I'm trying to follow the surgeon's orders and do NOTHING for another week! It was easier to sit/lay around doing nothing while in the hotel, but at home I see things that need doing (laundry, mess in the kitchen, etc) so it is harder to be good & follow his orders, but I'm trying!! Vickie J.

So happy things are going well, you can be our gauge for PS now since most of the others dont come to the board anymore or rarely pop in. Keep us posted on your recovery! Amy

I'll try to keep everyone posted. I was trying to update my profile before I had ps and something went wrong and I lost most of my profile. The OH help desk folks are trying to figure out what happened. I'm going to wait to post any updates & pics after they've gotten my profile put back together, but I plan to update my profile with pics & reports. Vickie J.

Vickie, So happy that you are home and doing well. I had been talking via phone to Sarah Margaret and she said you looked great! Send some pictures when you feel up to it. Maybe Sarah and I will call you from Disney next weekend! Terri