On day 4, I finally sneak a glance into mirror. I am not at all surprised to see how bruised and swollen I am. I knew this was normal- It would gradually get better over the course of the next couple of weeks.  My husband, however, is unable to look at me and is having a difficult time dealing with this.  Oh we.. He will just have to deal .. 🙂

I am feeling tired and sleep a lot.

When it was time to take a shower, I was able to remove the headdress. I decided to take a picture with my iPhone and send it to my daughter, who had not seen me yet.  My eyes are dark purple and  I am  bruised on my cheeks. My neck actually has very little bruising. I’m excited to see the outcome and know that I will have to be patient.

Having a facelift is a big deal- don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.  The older you are the slower the recovery time.

The upper left side where my stitches are feel more sore than  my right side. This is the side that bleed more, so perhaps this is the reason, it hurts more.

Showering and getting all the blood out of my hair is most difficult.. My long hair is very matted in certain areas. I’m in the shower almost 45  minutes and still feel dried blood. Ugh..

I continue to use the eye drops and am not able to put in my contacts yet.  The stitches are tugging a little, but do not really hurt.

By day 4 I am taking extra strength Tylenol during the day and  Percocet only a night.  My husband still can’t look at me.  Maybe he should sleep in the guest room. 🙂

I basically stay in bed, read, watch TV, and rest. I use the speaker phone on my IPhone since putting it up to my ear hurts.

Throughout the first week, I continue to try to get the blood out of my matted hair. With the blood comes chunks of hair, too. Good thing, I had a hair cut and color before my surgery.

My diet consists of Jello, Yogurt, Pudding, soup, applesauce, protein shakes and Gatorade.  A good way to lose some weight. I have not had a full meal yet.

My daughter finally comes by and says she expected worse. So that is a good sign the I am on the road to recovery.

I finally have first cup of coffee on day 5. I am surprised I did not have a caffeine withdrawal, since I am such a caffeine addict. It tastes good, however, not as good as I thought.Guess, I still don’t feel myself.

My ears are very swollen and look funny.  I can feel the tug of my stitches. Both sides of my face are numb as is under my chin. All of this is normal.

I have  some of my stitches taken out on Day 5  and get a make-up lesson on how to cover my bruises.  I am starting to see myself again, only younger with a tight neck.

I begin to do things around the house, but still feel pretty tired.

I am still icing, not moving my head from side-to-side, ad sleep upright . I now start putting an antibiotic gel on the stitches behind my ears and under my chin, where my neck was liposuctioned and tightened.

My right side of my face is more swollen than the left, I guess it is healing at a different rate. My bruising has now traveled down my face, but to my surprise not much on my neck. My ears look pretty weird, very swollen and they stick out.   I don’t even attempt to put my earrings on. I hope they start looking better.

I am very excited to see my new neck.

My husband finally says that he is sorry he is neglecting me , however, he is just having a difficult time looking at me. Gee, what did you expect???

I finally get all the blood out of my hair one week later. It has been difficult -and  there is no easy solution.. I feel a little stronger and take 3 extra strength Tylenol every 4-6 hours.  Nothing stronger.

I am not wearing a compression garment anymore and am wondering if I should. Some surgeons suggest it at night while others do not believe in it. I am told that I can if I want but it is not necessary. So for now, I do not get one.

I am told to eat some spinach and fish to gain back my strength. I am still feeling weak, however, I am forcing myself to walk more. Dr. ZPL’s wife, Lorraine tells me that I will feel so much better when the stitches come out.

I start taking the dog out for short little walks on Day 7. I still look puffy and my right under is very swollen. As is the right side of my neck, which is turning a yellow-ish color. I thought I got all the blood out of hair, but t my dismay, I still feel some on Day 7.

I can’t wait for all the swelling to go down and to see the fabulous results.  Hoping I start to feel stronger soon.