16 days post facelift
I need bodywork too but I decided that I could hide the saggy bits with clothes but my face is on view all the time so I did my face first. You will love Dr. Lev, and I had my surgery at CIMA as well.
The recovery ranch was okay. It was raining and cold there and I wore my fleece-lined jacket almost all the time. Bring long sleeves and long pants and at least one warm sweater. It's lots warmer in San Jose where your appointments are so layers are the way to go. I brought 7 seasons of The West Wing on DVD and that kept me occupied while awake. I didn't feel like reading the first week and there is not much to do at the ranch.
I flew Taca and it was a 7.5 hour flight for me back to San Francisco, then another hour home, so about 12 hours total travel time. I was fine. Lots of the other patients at the ranch were sightseeing by days 7-10.
The recovery ranch was okay. It was raining and cold there and I wore my fleece-lined jacket almost all the time. Bring long sleeves and long pants and at least one warm sweater. It's lots warmer in San Jose where your appointments are so layers are the way to go. I brought 7 seasons of The West Wing on DVD and that kept me occupied while awake. I didn't feel like reading the first week and there is not much to do at the ranch.
I flew Taca and it was a 7.5 hour flight for me back to San Francisco, then another hour home, so about 12 hours total travel time. I was fine. Lots of the other patients at the ranch were sightseeing by days 7-10.
Your thoughts are the same as mine when trying to figure out if I want to do my face or my body first. I can hide my body, but not my face. Also, if I don't do my face now, which is pretty much wrinkle free (but saggy), it's going to be too late to avoid wrinkles that I don't have to aquire in the first place if I get a lift now(before they form).
Movies are a great idea. While I'm more of an Internet person than a movie person, it's probably better to watch tv when you are sore and not feeling all that great. I think I'll follow your lead and take some kind of series.
Is the Internet connection there pretty reliable?
Wow, that was a long trip for you. Glad to hear that it went alright, and that you are home safe.
What have your family and friends had to say about your new look? I know you have months of healing before you see your final result, but I'm sure everyone is already offering opinions, lol.
Movies are a great idea. While I'm more of an Internet person than a movie person, it's probably better to watch tv when you are sore and not feeling all that great. I think I'll follow your lead and take some kind of series.
Is the Internet connection there pretty reliable?
Wow, that was a long trip for you. Glad to hear that it went alright, and that you are home safe.
What have your family and friends had to say about your new look? I know you have months of healing before you see your final result, but I'm sure everyone is already offering opinions, lol.
The Internet connection was fine--I had a little netbook that I used to check email and such. I think it went down briefly twice when I was there. Other people were videochatting without problems.
Only one friend has seen me since I got back on Wednesday morning and she said, "Wow, you are getting so skinny!" I had told her I was getting a facelift but not when. I told her that I had a facelift and she said "Your face is so much slimmer now, you look great!" Actually, I'm still swollen but all the sagging skin and my jowls are gone so my face has changed shape somewhat, from sort or rectangular due to the sagging jowls to kind of oval. I have a dinner to attend next Saturday and that's when I'll hear the comments!
I highly recommend some arnica cream or gel for the bruising. Dr. Lev doesn't recommend arnica pills but has no objection to the topical cream. I saw a big difference when I started using it.
Only one friend has seen me since I got back on Wednesday morning and she said, "Wow, you are getting so skinny!" I had told her I was getting a facelift but not when. I told her that I had a facelift and she said "Your face is so much slimmer now, you look great!" Actually, I'm still swollen but all the sagging skin and my jowls are gone so my face has changed shape somewhat, from sort or rectangular due to the sagging jowls to kind of oval. I have a dinner to attend next Saturday and that's when I'll hear the comments!
I highly recommend some arnica cream or gel for the bruising. Dr. Lev doesn't recommend arnica pills but has no objection to the topical cream. I saw a big difference when I started using it.
Wow, that was a nice reaction from your friend, and says a lot about how good you are already looking at 16-17 days postop. It can only get better from here.
I'll tell you what sold me on Dr. Lev (other than photos of his work and his great reputation). I saw where a lady on another site had gone to him for a facelift. She was obviously very well-educated from the way she wrote. However, she seemed like one of those people who complained about EVERYTHING. She hated the food (it was at the other ranch that he just quit using last month), she hated the dogs that were at the recovery center, she even complained about the percentage of fat in the yogurt and the fact that the hospital administration brought her flowers.
After reading her well-written account, people wanted to know if she was happy with her facelift, because she had not said one way or the other. She said that it had not been long enough to say because she had just returned from Costa Rica.
Well, she came back a few months later and explained that her facelift was "excellent" and that she was really happy. That, coming from someone who was quite critical of nearly every other part of her experience in Costa Rica really sold me. I mean, if a person is going to complain, surely they would complain about their face or body, right? She was obviously thrilled with her results.
Glad to hear the Internet connection is good. I'll order some Arnica cream today (though I honestly have no clue what it is, lol).
I can't wait to hear how your dinner goes on Saturday. Please let us know!
Lynn
I'll tell you what sold me on Dr. Lev (other than photos of his work and his great reputation). I saw where a lady on another site had gone to him for a facelift. She was obviously very well-educated from the way she wrote. However, she seemed like one of those people who complained about EVERYTHING. She hated the food (it was at the other ranch that he just quit using last month), she hated the dogs that were at the recovery center, she even complained about the percentage of fat in the yogurt and the fact that the hospital administration brought her flowers.
After reading her well-written account, people wanted to know if she was happy with her facelift, because she had not said one way or the other. She said that it had not been long enough to say because she had just returned from Costa Rica.
Well, she came back a few months later and explained that her facelift was "excellent" and that she was really happy. That, coming from someone who was quite critical of nearly every other part of her experience in Costa Rica really sold me. I mean, if a person is going to complain, surely they would complain about their face or body, right? She was obviously thrilled with her results.
Glad to hear the Internet connection is good. I'll order some Arnica cream today (though I honestly have no clue what it is, lol).
I can't wait to hear how your dinner goes on Saturday. Please let us know!
Lynn
I go to my second consultation in a couple weeks. The first surgeon recommended upper/lower lids, brow lift, face/neck lift. Was it not too painful? The surgeon I'm seeing next has videos on his website simulation what occurs during each procedure. I had to stop watching them. I have a weak stomach and had NO IDEA!. If I continued watching them I would talk myself out of this. I hope you will post photos. Congrats on having the work done....glad you're feeling better.
No, it was not too painful. My ears were really swollen and hurt if I pressed on them, so it's good that I'm a back sleeper. In Costa Rica physicians are not allowed to prescribe opiates like Vicodin for outpatient use, so I took something like a strong Aleve for pain. I did not have my eyes done but the ladies who did said that they were the most painful part of their procedures.
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