Hi Girls!!!
So it's been a little while and a LOT has happened in the mean time!
First, the FFS. It happened on the 15th February. I was so extremely tired just before the operation because I had just finished a 24 hour work shift and less than 2 hours afterwards I lay on the operation table! I was operated by Dr. Bart Van de Ven, in Antwerp, Belgium. The operation lasted about 6 hours and included the following:
- Forehead recontouring type 3 (reconstruction) with hairline recontouring and browlift (including orbital
rim shaving) - Rhinoplasty
- Lip lift
- Jaw angle reduction and chin recontouring
- Lipofilling cheeks + nasolabial folds
So a quite extensive procedure... During the intervention, dr. Van de Ven had the (correct) impression that I would be left what somewhat bulky masseter muscles, giving my face an undesirably broad appearance, so he took the initiative to also surgically reduce the masseter muscles, which I am very thankful for! The wake up was uneventful and the pain perfectly bearable. The nurse removed the bladder catheter
and after spending about 2-3 hours in the recovery room, they took me to my own room, where my wife waited for me...
As I said, the pain was perfectly controllable with relatively simple painkillers (Tylenol-Codeine, Diclofenac). What I found the most distressing was having my whole face covered in cooling devices, including my eyes, and that, together with the numbness of my skin, gave my an horrible sensation of sensorial isolation. That night, for the first time in my life, I had a panic attack! Fortunately, my wife and the night-shift nurse managed to calm me down and I was finally able to sleep a bit... The other very unpleasant thing is the fact that my nose was totally blocked (because of the rhinoplasty) so I had to breath through the mouth, which became dry pretty fast, making me having to drink water every 30 minutes or so...
Next morning came dr. Bart and he told me that the operation went really well and that the result (before the swelling and bruises developed) was really beautiful. He also noticed an hematoma on the inferior part of my left cheek, which apparently is a relatively common occurrence after a surgical reduction of the masseter muscle. It would totally self reabsorb but it would probably take a little while (around 4-6 weeks) - I was totally okay with this and appreciated his initiative and honesty. I was then discharged (not normal to leave so early, but since I live a mere 20 minutes from the 2Pass Clinic, he agreed).
My condition has been progressively improving, as well as the swelling and bruises.
One week after the operation, I had my follow-up consultation and dr. Bart removed my nose cast and the very few unabsorbable sutures left in place (nose and scalp) and then proceeded to take post-op pics.
So without further ado, here are the photos, preop, 7-days postop and the last one is a preop simulation
Not bad, hum?
I think that the postop profile is really very close to the simulation and the results for the forehead and nose job are impressive! It's still soon and there's a lot of swelling and bruising that must go away in the upcoming months - I promise I'll keep you posted. Now, for the ones of you who ever wondered why I never posted a profile pic of myself... I think these pics answer that!
One thing is certain: despite the swelling, bruising and absolutely ZERO makeup, I've been so far correctly gendered 100% of the time! And that was my big goal!
Eight days after the FFS, I also did a tummy tuck with liposculpture, but that's material enough for another post, which I'll cover in the upcoming days... Suffice to say that it also went very well!
Well, Girls, I have to go now... I anxiously await your impressions and want to thank you once again for being part of my life. I don't even know if all this would have been possible without you! I love you!
Warm hugs, Sarah
