For the last three years, I have noticed that my upper eyelids were looking puffy. I lost elasticity in my skin. Botox wasn’t correcting the issue anymore. I could pinch my skin and it would stay that way! Then when I had to start lifting my eyelids to put eyeliner on… I thought, “That’s it, I need to fix this!”
I used to love my eyes, they were my best feature. I feel like they have lost their pizzazz. It bums me out to look at them especially with having to wear a mask everyday…eyes are such a focal point!
I’ve tried other things besides Botox. I tried this fibroblast skin tightening procedure at a Medi-spa a couple of years ago. I hoped it would shrink my upper eyelids skin. That ended up being a huge waste of money. It’s a procedure where they do mini pinprick burns in your skin to tighten it. Even though we just did my upper eyelids … my entire face swelled up! I looked like the bad plastic surgery cat women! If someone stuck my face with a pointy object it would have exploded. Strangely, I was way more swollen from that than the upper blepharoplasty. The only result I got from that was my skin looked like an orange peel. I had little indentions from the device.
I spilled my heart out to my Botox injector about not getting the right results anymore. After that, she looked at me and said, “You should go talk to Dr. Baker.” I knew it was time. I was tired of, well, looking tired!
I’ll be 46 years-old in a couple of weeks and it’s time I make a change that makes ME feel better about MYSELF. There’s no point in looking in the mirror every morning and upsetting yourself first thing in the morning! You should be looking in the mirror, and saying, “HELLO GORGEOUS, I look good today.” That being said, I’ve decided to stop playing small and to get an upper lid blepharoplasty, aka, an upper eyelids lift with Dr. Baker at Grossman Capraro Plastic Surgery.
Consultation: I met with Dr. Baker and his nurse, Jillie. We discussed what I desired and I showed him pictures that I had of myself from when I felt my eyes really sparkled! They were also the photos that prompted me to talk to him. He explained different scenarios of how he would accomplish my goal. He also showed me pictures of past clients and their amazing results. I liked what I heard and really like what I saw. So, I decided to go big and move forward!
Consent Appointment: After my consultation appointment with Dr. Baker, I booked what they call a consent appointment. During the consent, the nurse, Stacy explained what I needed to do before the procedure to prepare. She explained things like no drinking alcohol for 2 weeks. That’s when my eyes bugged out of my head!
What… no wine?! Not going to lie … I had a come to Jesus moment with myself. And, then he spoke to me, “April, your procedure is only two weeks away … you can do this.” I took a deep breath and asked Nurse Stacy to continue. She then went on and explained the medication they prescribe to help with recovery and how I should take it. All jokes aside, the consent appointment was filled with a lot of important information, so you want to make sure you’re listening during that. The entire staff was super helpful!
I was feeling excited leading up to the big day! Not sure real nerves ever kicked in. I was confident this is what I wanted!
Day of the Procedure: The procedure was done in the office which was super nice. No anesthesia is necessary. I got to the office about 30 minutes before the procedure. Nurse Stacy gave me two medications to somewhat sedate me. I felt amazing once those kicked in! I was still able to talk and was aware of what was going on, but I was pretty relaxed! Dr. Baker could have come at my face with a machete and that was alright by me!
He didn’t, of course.
Dr. Baker explained things as he was marking my eyelids which I enjoyed hearing. Well, I was enjoying everything at that moment thanks to my pre-pre-procedural cocktail from Stacy! He then put this orange numbing solution over my eyes. After that, I’m pretty sure my medication kicked in even more and my eyes rolled right on into the back of my head.
As he was doing the incisions, I didn’t feel a thing! I didn’t even know he had started because my eyes were closed! Imagine if they weren’t. LOL. He had nice music playing which helped me zone out too. Next thing I knew … I was done and on my way home. It didn’t hurt at all.
After the Procedure (same day): About 2 hours after I got home, a little pain from the incisions started to kick in. It wasn’t terrible, but my eyelids started to throb a bit. This is going to sound weird, but it was almost like my heart was beating in my eyeballs. It was the exact time that Nurse Stacy said I would probably need to take another pain pill. I popped one of those puppies and felt better in a matter of minutes. Then out of nowhere, I puked those puppies up! Thankfully, the throbbing never came back, and I didn’t have to take any more pain pills.
Don’t get me wrong, there was discomfort. It had more to do with my eyes feeling heavy and my vision is blurry. You need to rest your eyes after the procedure. You can’t go home and watch TV. Your eyes are covered with Polysporin which is like Neosporin to prevent infection. It feels like there is a coating of gel in your eyes because there is. It doesn’t burn, it’s just annoying.
I put the TV on and just listened to a marathon of Dateline shows. Don’t plan on scrolling through social media, reading a book, or fully watching TV for a couple of days. I think it took me 3 days to start doing that, but I still couldn’t do it for long periods of time.
The worst part for me was having to sleep with my head elevated. I’m one that sleeps with my face planted in my thin but squishy pillow. I hate my head is elevated. I ended up sleeping on my reclining couch, so I didn’t have the urge to turn over. By day three, the back of my head hurt more than my eyes!
Post Op Day 1: The day after having the procedure was a bit like the first. I was able to get up and make coffee for myself, but I needed to close my eyes while I was standing there waiting for my cup to fill. As you can imagine, I stayed on the couch all day again. I listened to Bravo this time. I did a marathon of Housewives all day. I’m not sure which gave me more anxiety, hearing about murders on Dateline or California wives screaming at each other. I took a half of valium and drifted off to la-la land.
Post Op Days 3-7: On day three, I could already tell a difference even though I was swollen. Although, I didn’t swell terribly. That really surprised me because I’m a sweller! I get bit by a mosquito and my entire limb swells.
The bruising on my left eye which is where Dr. Baker removed a tiny bit of muscle became very colorful that day. All the pretty colors! Dark purple, blue, and yellow. Just kidding. I looked like someone punched me in the eye. My vision was much better. I felt great. I was able to take my dog for a walk and do somethings around the house.
On day 5, I got gusty and went to the mall! Poor Denis (my other half) went with me and was getting the side look. My eyes were still purple, blue, and a bit yellow. I wore sunglasses inside like a superstar except that I’m not! I looked beat up. I went shopping for blue light glasses, so I had something cute to wear to work that helped disguise my eyes.
Even though, Dr, Baker warned me that I was going to look beat up for a couple of weeks… I didn’t believe him. I thought, “Naw, I’ll heal quicker than most.” Naw, I was wrong!
For me, day 5 was the first day I thought, “Oh God … Am I ever going to heal?” This was also the day that my eyelids got a bit itchy because they are healing.
Day 6, I was back to work! I put on all my makeup except for eye makeup, of course. You can’t do that until your stitches are out. I made sure I did my hair nicely, so I felt put together. For the finishing touches, I popped on my new blue light glasses and felt like a sexy edgy librarian all day! I had to keep that act going until day 10.
Post Op Day 10: I got my stitches out! Finally! It felt so good to have those things removed. They didn’t hurt or even look bad, but I could feel them. My eyelids were itchy because they were healing.
3 Weeks Post Op: My eyes look fresher for sure! I’m not one to go anywhere without eye makeup. Before this procedure, I wouldn’t be caught dead without mascara! But I find myself feeling much more confident. I was the girl that went to an all-female 6 am fitness class with eyeliner and mascara on! Now, I don’t wear anything. I’m totally fresh-faced wherever I go… except for my covid mask of course!
Overall thoughts: If you’re contemplating this procedure… absolutely go for it! Be patient with yourself during the healing process and get excited about putting that sparkle back in your eye!
Recommendations: Make sure before your procedure you buy 2 bottles of dry eyedrop solution. I used Systane dry eye relief. You’re going to need that! Make sure to take it to work with you. You’ll be putting drops in sporadically all day for about 2 weeks, especially if you work in front of a computer all day like me.
