What have I done?

[Joanna]

Hi all

This will to some off you sound like many FFS topics started in the past, but to me this feels so terribly real.  I am 5 days post op from having FFS.  The only thing I can see that I like is my mouth and lips. 

I had the following done -
Hairline advance
Brow reduction into eye socket area
Petite cheek implants
Rhinoplasty
Upper lip lift
Chin reduction ( sliding genioplasty)

I look like Jocelyn Wildenstien.  I look awful.  I am looking at my pre surgery photos and wondering if I have had too much work done.  Although far from fully feminine, I had a prettiness about me that is now gone.  When I look in the mirror I cant stand what I see.

I know there is a way to go, but my cheeks are huge!  They were super petite implants so not that big, however I could give Belinda Carlise a run for her money now as they seem very prominent.  I have so much swelling in my chin it does seem very wide.  In taking the height and width out of the chin it now seems a little receded. I did not have a brow lift but the hair line advance has caused my brows to lift to a totally unnatural position. Ahhhhhhhh!  My nose is swollen and looks a little mis shaped.  Oh dear I hope this all levels out and falls into place.  I am terrified it will look unnatural when all has settled down.

I have the usual issues, cant eat or speak properly, I cant feel most of my face.  I am tiered from sleeping upright which is soooo uncomfortable.  I cant breath properly due to swelling in my nose.  The high dose of anti biotic is making me feel sick and upsetting my digestion.  There is still dried blood in my hair even after 2 hair washes. Blah blah blah ( tell me to shut up)

I guess I am looking for a little reassurance

Can anyone help me?

xxx 

[Shantel]

Hi Joanna,
        Relax honey, take a deep breath! It's going to take a few months for everything to settle down and maybe up to a year before you actually get completely settled in to how you will finally look. That's a lot of work to have done at one time, so there is a lot of flesh and bone that has been traumatized. I had a neck lift a year ago and my upper eyelids done. It looked like I had been punched out for awhile and several months to recover 100% and not continue to look a bit puffy. The neck was one of those turkey looking genetic aberrations, almost a year has passed and I get a lot of complements about it, but it looked and felt awful for a long time and I'm still just now getting my full feeling back under my chin because they have to sever nerves and it takes time to reconnect. Hang in there, you're going to be fine! Funny part of the neck job was the bruising, it went down my chest and morphed into wild looking greens, yellows, blues and dark purple, my boobs looked like two Easter eggs! 

[John Smith]

Having followed a facebook friend who had ffs and documented the recovery process pretty detailed, I can only echo the "give it time"-sentiment. I remember looking at her pics for a while after the surgery, thinking she had an unfortunate outcome, and then suddenly she was all healed up and daymn. She looks good!

[eli77]

Okay. You are 5 days post-op. FIVE DAYS! I realize it looks scary right now because it's your face, but you have 2-3 months to go before you will see anything close to what you actually look like. What you currently look like has nothing to do with what you will actually look like.

The sensation? That takes 18 months to fully return. That's 547 days. You've done 5. You have 542 left to go.

As for the rest, it sucks, but it's also really normal. You just had a fairly major operation on your face. It's going to suck for the first 2 weeks minimum. I couldn't breathe through my nose at all for the first week, and I spent most of it sleeping or zoned out on painkillers.

Just please make sure to follow the doctor's post-operative care instructions. A lot of problems with healing from surgery is caused by failing to do post-op care properly.

Didn't they explain this stuff to you before your op? Who did your op?

Oh and what drugs are you on? It's very likely they might be screwing with your head and you won't know if you aren't used to them / expecting it.

[helen2010]

Don't panic. We have been in the same place.  Take a deep breath, relax and let your body heal.  You are going to feel better by the day and in due course be absolutely delighted with the results.  Your face has just had major surgery.  It is traumatised.  You will feel like you have been hit by a truck and no matter what you have been given to read or to view nothing prepares you for the actual experience.  While you will see much of the desired result within 2 or 3 months you won't see the final result for up to 18 months.   You will be hyper critical for some time but you will soon discern the improvements that you sought.  Remember to massage, eat properly and rest well - I suspect that once you have washed your hair and your breathing has improved you will be in a much better place.

[Joanna]

Thank you so much to all of you who replied to my cry for help.  I do feel better now.  I needed a bit of a shake and a slap to come around to reality and just relax about the whole thing.

I was told many times before my op  by my surgeon what to expect post op.  Before my surgery I had 3 consultations with him, the shortest being 50 mins. However I have leaned that no matter what people tell you, what you read or see on the internet NOTHING will fully prepare you for the sight of yourself disfigured, bruised and swollen.  Along with meds, lack of sleep, pain and disorientation it can make for a very depressive cocktail.  This is what I am going through now.  I wasnt joking about Jocelyn Wildenstein.  Google her and you will see what I am currently faced with.

I will draw breath and cling onto my preoperative dreams of how I might look in a couple of months time.  After all I didnt pay £13k to look like the back end of a bus!

[Tristan]

I have been in your shoes before. give yourself some time hun. i looked like the final fight from rocky when i first had my surgery done. it tookk like 6-8 weeks efore i started to look normal again. the first week or to cn make you feel like you did somethingwrong but its normal to have a not so good looking face at the begining.

[Tristan]

Thank you so much to all of you who replied to my cry for help.  I do feel better now.  I needed a bit of a shake and a slap to come around to reality and just relax about the whole thing.

I was told many times before my op  by my surgeon what to expect post op.  Before my surgery I had 3 consultations with him, the shortest being 50 mins. However I have leaned that no matter what people tell you, what you read or see on the internet NOTHING will fully prepare you for the sight of yourself disfigured, bruised and swollen.  Along with meds, lack of sleep, pain and disorientation it can make for a very depressive cocktail.  This is what I am going through now.  I wasnt joking about Jocelyn Wildenstein.  Google her and you will see what I am currently faced with.

I will draw breath and cling onto my preoperative dreams of how I might look in a couple of months time.  After all I didnt pay $13k to look like the back end of a bus!

thats good price. its around what i paid too with Dr C.

[Joanna]

Hello again everyone. Just a little update. It is the 1 week mark today. I had my stitches and nose cast off yesterday. I thought I had seen it all but the worst was yet to come.  Instead of the moments you see on extreme makeover when the cast is removed and the person says "oh I love it" my reaction was just "oh ?" The small hump has gone but I have been left with a grotesquely bulbus tip that is twice the size it was before. My Dr got my before pics to compare and you could see I had a much more refined pretty nose. I know there is swelling but COME ON this is awful. Instead of a gentle slope in profile it almost looks hooked! I burst into tears in the toilet afterwards as I cannot bear this disfigured person. Rational thinking has all but left me.

I no longer look like the sweet girl in my avi. I only pray that I heal well in the coming weeks/ months. Right now I just want to hide.

To finish on a more positive note. The stitches were removed and they all look very neat and clean

[justmeinoz]

Don't panic, it will be a while before the swelling goes down and any bruising fades.  I had my nose reamed out years ago so I could breath,  and it took quite a while to return to something I recognised as a nose.    Give it time sis.

Karen.

[Nicolette]

How about the cheeks? Have they gone down at all? I'm worried because I'm having my cheeks done in the next few months and I can't have anyone questioning me.

[Shantel]

I no longer look like the sweet girl in my avi. I only pray that I heal well in the coming weeks/ months. Right now I just want to hide.

Well dear, it looks as if you are just going to keep on punishing yourself and not listen to anything your Auntie Shan and the other nice ladies have been telling you. Just stop! You have to give it a lot of time, you will look drop-dead gorgeous in the months to come I assure you.

[Joanna]

Oh Aunty Shan I know you are right!  Sometmes it's just hard to see the wood for the trees so to speak. 
Anyway here is a pic I have just taken today.  As you can see the tip of my nose is swollen as is my chin area especially the left side.  So this is me at 7 days.  I am hoping everything will get smaller and tighter in the weeks to come.

[Nicolette]

Oh Aunty Shan I know you are right!  Sometmes it's just hard to see the wood for the trees so to speak. 
Anyway here is a pic I have just taken today.  As you can see the tip of my nose is swollen as is my chin area especially the left side.  So this is me at 7 days.  I am hoping everything will get smaller and tighter in the weeks to come.

You don't look too swollen. How's the upper lip lift feeling? Should that not be pulling your upper lip upwards to show teeth? Forehead looks good.

[Shantel]

Oh Aunty Shan I know you are right!  Sometmes it's just hard to see the wood for the trees so to speak. 
Anyway here is a pic I have just taken today.  As you can see the tip of my nose is swollen as is my chin area especially the left side.  So this is me at 7 days.  I am hoping everything will get smaller and tighter in the weeks to come.

Joanna, that's not nearly as bad as I had envisioned, not bad at all considering all that was done! Now just be patient and give yourself a few months and you'll see that the changes will be dramatic! You are such a little drama queen sweetie, relax and do as the doctor had advised. You will be just gorgeous and we'll be looking forward to seeing updated pix with that pretty smile.

[Joanna]

Thanks Shan.  Yes I suppose I am a drama queen.

Tesla, my upper lip lift was done on the conservative side.  However, if I part my lips my front incisors are clearly visible.  The surrounding swelling also affects my ability to smile and talk.  There is swelling inside my mouth from 3 stitched areas in my cheeks and chin area.  This is currently affecting the shape of my lips.

[Kelly J. P.]

 So far you're looking pretty good, Joanna. When the swelling goes down, you will look even better - a truly fantastic prospect.

Best of luck.

[Ave]

Oh Aunty Shan I know you are right!  Sometmes it's just hard to see the wood for the trees so to speak. 
Anyway here is a pic I have just taken today.  As you can see the tip of my nose is swollen as is my chin area especially the left side.  So this is me at 7 days.  I am hoping everything will get smaller and tighter in the weeks to come.

this is what all the fuss was about ? -______________________________-

You look purty, now just wait to heal ^^

[Incarnadine]

Even if nothing heals, your face is definitely more feminine now, even after only 7 days, than the already-beautiful woman pictured in your avatar.  You've merely enhanced your beauty. 

The only negative I see is that you look tired in this picture, and perhaps a bit of the discouragement we're reading I see in your eyes.  Smile instead - unless it still hurts too much! 

[Tristan]

yeah. give it time to heal, i can already tell from being a scrub nurse. your going to be even more of a cutie!