Well my strength is returning but must get an early night.

I have so much to tell you about my brilliant surgery with FT, that it's now bugging me BUT it will be well worth the wait, I promise you.

Nite all

Hugs

Paula

Hi everyone,

Let's get down to the nitty gritty.

As you may well know from my previous posts, I had facial surgery in Chicago - Feb 2004 and all the problems are well documented in these earlier posts.

In October 2014, the craniofacial surgeon Simon Eccles had a go at London's Chelsea & Westminster Hospital and inserted inappropriate PEEK implants which were totally pointless. He did a bit of burring in the centre of the forehead which improved the profile a little but did not have the inclination or expertise to sort out the issue of my pertruding left frontal sinus.

So effectively I went thru over 3 hours of surgery which to all intents and purposes was a total waste of his time and mine let alone my having to recover from the operation. Also because he used the existing coronal incision from 2004, I have lost quite a lot of hair at the front and down the sides which were hairgrafted very successfully by Dr Paul Cotterill in Toronto, Canada in December 2004, June 2005 and July 2006.

These grafts are being replaced by Facial Team's Dr Meyer in November 2016 and paid for by the NHS as they damaged the existing grafted hair.

In a way, I was fortunate that the NHS messed up in 2014 because they have picked up the tab for my forehead surgery with Facial Team just two weeks ago today. Cannot believe how times seems to fly by as you get older !!!

Facial Team's Dr Bellinga also carried out  a complex revision/corrective rhinoplasty to my piggy nose from 2004 which I have always disliked and was way too small for the size of my face. Also I looked like other patient's of the Chicago surgeon's with their identical noses which really angered me all these years. People would mistake these girls ( depending on their age ) as either my sister or daughter, a compliment in one way but the opposite in another as I wanted an individual nose not a cookie cutter version. This, of course, I have had to pay for cos I would not expect the NHS to pay for that and they wouldn't have anyway as it is cosmetic.

My forehead was a different matter of course as the revision/corrrective surgery was functional as I was suffering pain from the sinus cavity, nose bleeds and pain whenever I touched the PEEK implants. Not good eh?

Oh yes, Dr Bellinga also carried out an upper lip lift as well as the open rhinoplasty as the previous upper lip lift from 2004 was too conservative and the pointless fat put in the top lip made the area even longer simply by the weight of this fat. So Dr B removed the fat and moved my top lip up by 8mm !!!!

When I went down to Marbella in May last year to consult with Drs Capitan, Simon & Bellinga, they arranged for a 3D CT Scan to be done in the HC Hospital and I attach fotos of these.

They also had a 3D model made which I attach fotos of.

I also attach the fotos of the 3D CT scan done two days after the surgery on April 6th.

Finally here are fotos of the inappropriate PEEK implants that were removed during the surgery.

I will write my report of the actual surgery tomorrow but in the meantime here are the images.

PEEK Implants and titanium screws




3D Model showing forehead as at May 2015 (You can see the PEEK implants fixings clearly and forehead bony deformity)







Forehead 3D CT Scans as at May 21st 2015 ( all since the revision surgery done in the UK in October 2014)













Forehead 3D CT Scans done on April 8th 2016 post my surgery on April 6th.











From these shots you can see that Dr Capitan & Dr Simon set back my forehead, remodeled my sinus cavities using their standard procedure:

See their video: http://facialteam.eu/#499-procedures-techniques-ffs-in-3d-videos

and also opened up the angles of my orbital rims as effectively until two weeks ago, I had NEVER gone under true Facial Feminisation Surgery.

My case was not as hard as others who have had poor surgery elsewhere and gone to Facial Team for corrective surgery. One girl had holes all over her forehead and like myself Facial Team was "Our last chance saloon".

All that I can now say is that I have never been happier with any surgery that I have undergone and without the care, love and support that I have received from every single person at Facial Team and, of course Jenny and Nicola at Jenny's Nest ( I really miss Jenny's mid morning fry ups ..  ) I would probably be dead now.

Yes members, last year I was close to calling it a day and now I have been reborn for the third time in my life ...   

Have a nice evening or day wherever you are.

Hugs

Paula

Oh yes, I have fotos of my surgery and if anyone wants to see them, then I can pm them as they are somewhat brutal.

But not until tomorrow as I have to make dinner and get to bed early still.

xx

PPS. My forehead is now nicely contoured, flat and properly feminised.

All my friends cannot believe how good it already looks and virtually all the bruising has now gone. They also love my new nose and top lip.

The new coronal incision which is to the rear of my head ( very clever of the surgeons) where the hair is thickest cannot be seen which is awesome. Nicola who put betadine on it during the first days after surgery said that she has never seen an incision look so nice and healing so fast. All down to my vascularity I have been told.

I will post fotos post operatively in due course.

My pre-op shots from May last year are already somewhere in this thread.

Glad everything went well Paula, I have been following your thread for some time now and if you don't intend to place the photos on here I would very much like see them via a pm

B.t.w those implants look massive I don't understand why someone even place those things...

Hi Janice,

Great to hear from you ... 

Hope all is well in your life and neck of the woods.

I will send the fotos via pm very soon.

I know the implants were totally pointless and actually disfiguring and painful to touch.

They each measure around 1 inch (25.4mm) to 1 and a half inches (38.1mm) wide by 1 inch (25.4mm) deep !!!!

Hugs

Paula

Quote from: JaniceNL on April 20, 2016, 02:13:21 PM
Glad everything went well Paula, I have been following your thread for some time now and if you don't intend to place the photos on here I would very much like see them via a pm

B.t.w those implants look massive I don't understand why someone even place those things...

Hey Paula, long time no see! lol

It was really nice to meet and hang out with you in Marbella as we recovered at Jenny's nest. I am so happy for you! You have been through quite the ordeal with various other surgeons, and I am so glad that Facial team was able to do such a great job making it right.

Hi Brynn,

Great to hear from you

Quote from: Brynn on April 21, 2016, 01:09:00 PM
Hey Paula, long time no see! lol

I agree when was it 

Ah I remember six days ago .... 

It already seems like an age has passed but those 15 days in Marbella were the best days of my life in many ways.

Hope the trip back home was not too stressful.

How's Mum?

You both really made my days there very special and thank you Sharlo for all those wonderful smoothies.

Did you get my e-mail with foto I took last Friday?

It was really nice to meet and hang out with you in Marbella as we recovered at Jenny's nest.

Absolutely and that cannelloni was so good too ..... Paula giggles    ... We sure had a lot of laughs together and Jenny and Nicola were simply great.

I am so happy for you! You have been through quite the ordeal with various other surgeons, and I am so glad that Facial team was able to do such a great job making it right.

Thank you honeybun, the last twelve years have been kinda interesting but FT sure did an awesome job on me, that's for certain.

How is your healing going?

Hugs

Paula  xx

Just a quick message to all those who kindly pm'd me about sending my fotos.

I will upload them over the next two days and send them.

It's just that at the end of the day ( nearly 8.00pm here in South West London ), I get very tired and I don't want to undo all the good work that Facial Team has done.

Rest is so vital after FFS or indeed any surgery so I had better heed my own words.

Nite everyone.

Hugs

Paula  xx

Quote from: Paula1 on April 21, 2016, 01:55:26 PM
It's just that at the end of the day ( nearly 8.00pm here in South West London ), I get very tired and I don't want to undo all the good work that Facial Team has done.

Rest is so vital after FFS or indeed any surgery so I had better heed my own words.

Sure! Take your time

Thank you ...

I think that I will take a sleeping tablet with a warm cup of cocoa.

Quote from: Fresas con Nata on April 21, 2016, 07:07:59 PM
Sure! Take your time

Good Morning Members,

Well it's nearly afternoon here in the UK ... 

I had a reasonable night's sleep but still feeling very tired so this week's endeavours has been catching up with me a little.

Having said that I will be sorting out my fotos later and hopefully get them to you later today or over the weekend.

Hugs

Paula

This afternoon I contacted my patient coordinator Laura in Marbella by phonel as I spotted a spitting stitch coming out of the open rhinoplasty incision.

She asked me to e-mail a foto which I did and very soon after I received a reply from her and Dr Bellinga saying that I should get it seen to by my GP ( local doctor ) or her nurse.

This I did earlier and my local doctor's nurse removed the aforementioned stitch.

Once again would class service from Facial Team.

Off to bed soon and I promise that I will work on those photos tomorrow.

Nite all and have a great weekend.

Hugs

Paula

Hi everyone,

Well I have all my jpg fotos pre-op, post-op and during surgery but I am unable to save them to my computer for some reason.

I am no computer buff.

So I have asked my patient co-ordinator if she can send them seperately or something, I really haven't a clue.

So it will be a few more days sadly before I can share my fotos.

Sorry.

Nite

Paula

PS. My healing is really going well and the bruising after only two weeks and three days to all intents and purposes has gone. Now I am getting those funny shooting pains in my forehead and around the orbital rims as everything wakes up which I am used to, of course. The dissolving stitches behind my ears close to the head where the cartilage was taken for my nose are settling down well too.

The upper lip lift incision and open rhinoplasty incision above the ULL incision, I have been treating since Wednesday with, as instructed, rose hip oil and then next Wednesday I will then apply Dermatix Gel , also as instructed. These incisions are settling down very well also.

The coronal incision has healed beautifully fortunately because I am very vascular. A surgeon once said to me "Don't get run over as you will bleed to death before the blood wagon arrives" ... LOL  ...    .... 

Hi everyone,

I had a fairly restful weekend but today it all seems to have caught up with me and it has been the worst day so far.

I woke up feeling tired and then had to go down to my local doctor's surgery to have a 'Shingles' jab done.

As parking is bad in my town, my plan was to walk to the bus stop, catch the bus and then walk to the surgery.

Big mistake as I found walking exhausting and when I saw the GP's nurse, she said how do you feel? I said shattered. So she consulted with my doctor(GP) and they agreed ( so did I ) to postpone the injection for three weeks because my resistance is low and as it is a live vaccine, not a good idea to inject.

Anyway I decided to have a sandwich and cuppa tea in my favourite place, chatted to the owner who I have known for over 20 years and we agreed that the 3D Model of my pre-op forehead will look good painted in a flourescent paint, insert a light in it and wear it around my neck at Halloween !!!!  LOL 



That made us both laugh and it made me feel better. I carried out some more shopping and then caught the bus home and walked a bit quicker to my place.

Yesterday I had some fotos done and last night and again today, I sent Facial Team's patient co-ordinator Laura some fotos of my nose and upper lip lift for him to give me some advice and he is going to reply tomorrow.

I am now 19 days post-op and things have caught up with me in terms of tiredness and swelling in the nose and upper lip lift area. But this almost always happens, so I was expecting it. The forehead swelling is less though but the edema usually goes downwards.

Anyway, the good news is that my fotos are now in my computer thanks to my friend in the USA who processed them for me late last night.

Here are my pre-op fotos.

While I was relaxing a few days before surgery, a mosquito bit me twice over the left eye which went down very soon after my operation as I applied lots of ointment as soon as I was bitten. You can see the fat in the top lip which was inserted in February 2004 which then negated the conservative upper lip lift done at the same time by the fat's weight ( which Dr Bellinga removed during my open rhinoplasty ), the inappropriate PEEK implants over the orbital rims inserted in October 2014 in London, too short and too narrow piggy nose from 2004 and very poor burring result in my forehead also from 2004 and partially in 2014.











Here are my post-op fotos taken after I had my upper lip lift stitches and coronal incision ones removed 8 days after surgery. My eyebrows are higher due to the forehead swelling but they are coming down now. They were on the high side before surgery. You can see how much shorter the top lip is now, the wonderful forehead shape, much better transition from the forehead to the nose, far better nose and so on. My eyes are further forward too. A bit battered but to be expected so soon after true FFS, my third rhinoplasty and second ULL. You would never know that 8 days earlier my forehead was opened up. I will send the "In surgery" fotos to those who requested them











Not too bad for a 70 year old,  71 in July thanks to HRT and my late mother's genes .....     Thanks Mum.

Next stop later in the year is to have hairgrafting done by FT to replace those damaged in October 2014 by the surgeon using the original coronal incision which was at the front of my head where the hair was thinnest. FT this time carefully made the incision to the rear half of my head where the hair is the thickest. Clever planning.

Then in two years time I will get a full facelift by Dr Bellinga to get rid off in the main my turkey neck ... LOL ...  . He might also have to perform a secondary tracheal shave at the same time as the first one done in 1989 was on the conservative side.

Well that's it for tonight, I am off to bed with a cup of cocoa and maybe a sleeping tablet as I seem to wake too early at present.

Goodnight all.

Hugs

Paula raccoon face ...  ( One of my favourite animals which I see when I am in the States )


PS. Depending on how the eyebrows settle down, we probably will remove them altogether by laser and then lower them with permanent tattoing over the actual orbital rims. The shape, width and length needs improving too.

Just before I retire to my bedchamber, three more fotos:

Yours truly with the lovely Laura my patient co-ordinator before my surgery



The day after surgery. You can see the cooling mask indentations. This was great to wear to keep cool and reduce the swelling



and on my penultimate day, 8 days after surgery with the wonderful Dr Simon and Dr Capitan



You can see the weather in Marbella is great but back here this week in the UK, it's winter woolies on again with the Arctic blast ... 

Last night I had a good night's sleep (without taking a sleeping tablet too) and today I feel 100% better and more like my old self.

Swelling has virtually gone from my forehead and all the bruising too.

The nose swelling/incision and ULL incision will naturally take longer.

Anyway I have sent one member my " In surgery fotos " which, of course, are explicit but if anyone else wants to see them please ask here or pm me, and I will send them.

Have a great day/evening wherever you are ... 

Hugs

Paula

They did an amazing job for you girl!  You should be very happy with the results.  I can't wait to see the results after the bruising and swelling have gone away.

Suddenly realised that I have not yet told you about my experiences upon arrival in Spain.

When I arrived at Malaga on Thursday March 31st, I quickly went thru customs and immigration and collected my checked luggage from the carousel where Facial Team's driver was waiting for me with my name on his board.

Nice guy and we chatted about his three week old Skoda on the way to the studio apartment that I had booked prior to my going to Jenny's Nest the following Tuesday before my operation on the Wednesday.

I think that I mentioned this before but I was very tired physically and mentally prior to my leaving for Spain and unbelievably I was unable to lift my two legs without assistance with my hands from below. I have never experienced this before as I am very fit and healthy for my age.

Having five days rest beforehand was essential as it happened otherwise I would not have been ready for the surgery which would have meant my delaying it to later in year which would have been expensive for FT and myself.

The lady who looks after the studio flat suggested my going for a meal at the Argentinian restaurant next door to the complex and not only was it great but there was so much of the half chicken left, I took home a doggy bag and the meat provided me with two more portions for the next two nights supper. 

This is the restaurant and it has to be booked up a few nights in advance as it is so popular.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g187439-d3396881-Reviews-Cabana_Nagueles-Marbella_Costa_del_Sol_Province_of_Malaga_Andalucia.html

I must write a report too on Trip Advisor who I booked my apartment thru at Carolina Park.

Anyway my friend who met me when I arrived ( she was recovering from a facelift with Dr Bellinga ) was unable to join me as she had her surgery two days earlier and was unable to eat solid foods. Shame cos she would have enjoyed it.

Over the next few days I relaxed by the complex's pool, got bitten twice by that pesky mosquito, shopped for food at the local Lidl and on the Sunday went along the front by the sea with my friend.

By Tuesday morning the day of my pre-op tests I was feeling much better and could not wait to have my surgery the following day.

Part 2 a little later .... 

Quote from: Paula1 on April 19, 2016, 05:44:23 PM
Well my strength is returning but must get an early night.

I have so much to tell you about my brilliant surgery with FT, that it's now bugging me BUT it will be well worth the wait, I promise you.

Nite all

Hugs

Paula

A'wwwwwwww thank you Jessie ....   

Did you enjoy the surgery shots that they took ... 

Hugs

Paula

Quote from: Jessie Ann on April 26, 2016, 02:38:13 PM
They did an amazing job for you girl!  You should be very happy with the results.  I can't wait to see the results after the bruising and swelling have gone away.