Today I received the paperwork for the surgery in the mail. It's scheduled for the 23rd of December. Hmmm. Not exactly the day I wanted but I guess it's okay. They dont have approval from my insurance yet but the surgical coordinator still thinks that wont be a problem. I wish I was as confident as she is!
The pre-op instructions are different this time. No long list of "dont's" and just slightly different in general. He also gave me 2 prescriptions. The ointment is something different this time, Erythromycin ointment. I'm hoping its cheaper! I still have one refill of the Tobradex and about a half a tube left from June. The other one is for pain pills. That's new. It's Darvocet which isnt that strong but it will probably take that little edge of uncomfortable off. Cool. I'll go with that!
So, if the insurance approves everything, it looks like I'll have a train wrecked face for christmas. Fun. Gosh I hope everything turns out right. Vacation exactly 3 weeks post op. No room at all for error~
No photos today. They look the same. I'll update as soon as the insurance approves... or denies.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
24 weeks (+1day) the second beginning
Today I met Dr. T and it appears that I'm headed back for more surgery.
Dr. T explained that Dr. L only removed the skin and none of the tissue/fat underneath and that's why my lovely xanthies are coming back. They were never fully removed!! He took some photos, felt the skin, then used a tweezer type thing to pinch the skin where the xanthies are (mimicking removal of that skin maybe?) and then we talked. He feels he can work with my eyes to fix them but says we may need to do it piece by piece; meaning that we cant just go in and pull it all out at once because my eyes wouldn't fit properly afterwards. I told him that I'm okay doing it little by little as long as the end result is that they will be gone and for longer than 5 months. It appears I have enough skin to go ahead and start this process and we have 3 potential dates, Dec 9th, Dec 18th or Dec. 23rd. The 23rd is a definite but since I have that Caribbean vacation planned (yes, again...) I'm not so sure I want to do it on the 23rd, however, he feels 3 weeks will be enough healing time. I'll go back and check the 3 week post op mark and see how I was before I agree to that though. I have to keep in mind that we are only doing the lowers this time and they did heal faster than the uppers with much less swelling etc. They were bruised and I looked a little beat up but he may be right. 3 weeks...hmmm, a tan would certainly hide any left over bruising ;). I just went back and looked at the 3 week update. Visible scars but not bad. This could work... I'm hoping for the 18th though because 4 weeks gives the eyes 5 more days and more is better for healing. My daughter is not available on the 9th and I'm not sure I want to do this without her. She may not realize it but I'm really glad she was with me before and would really like to have her with me again.
Anyway, I also spoke with the surgical coordinator. This is a different one from last time. She seemed to feel that my insurance will cover it again but Dr. T. said they may lump this into the non covered blepharoplasty category because we're removing the fat below the skin this time along with the new xanthies. We'll see. She gave me the pre-op paperwork and told me to go ahead and get it done. This time they want bloodwork along with the EKG because if they do it on the 9th, the surgi center for that date requires it. They have two that they use. I'd kind of rather go back to the same place as before--on the 18th! Hopefully my insurance sees that this is a work in progress and approves it but if I have to pay for it, I guess I'll just have to tighten up the budget and go for it. I want my face fixed.
I'll update again as soon as I get a date.
Meanwhile, take a look at todays photos. Its dark outside so this is all flash, no sunlight. You can really see the xanthies now.
Dr. T explained that Dr. L only removed the skin and none of the tissue/fat underneath and that's why my lovely xanthies are coming back. They were never fully removed!! He took some photos, felt the skin, then used a tweezer type thing to pinch the skin where the xanthies are (mimicking removal of that skin maybe?) and then we talked. He feels he can work with my eyes to fix them but says we may need to do it piece by piece; meaning that we cant just go in and pull it all out at once because my eyes wouldn't fit properly afterwards. I told him that I'm okay doing it little by little as long as the end result is that they will be gone and for longer than 5 months. It appears I have enough skin to go ahead and start this process and we have 3 potential dates, Dec 9th, Dec 18th or Dec. 23rd. The 23rd is a definite but since I have that Caribbean vacation planned (yes, again...) I'm not so sure I want to do it on the 23rd, however, he feels 3 weeks will be enough healing time. I'll go back and check the 3 week post op mark and see how I was before I agree to that though. I have to keep in mind that we are only doing the lowers this time and they did heal faster than the uppers with much less swelling etc. They were bruised and I looked a little beat up but he may be right. 3 weeks...hmmm, a tan would certainly hide any left over bruising ;). I just went back and looked at the 3 week update. Visible scars but not bad. This could work... I'm hoping for the 18th though because 4 weeks gives the eyes 5 more days and more is better for healing. My daughter is not available on the 9th and I'm not sure I want to do this without her. She may not realize it but I'm really glad she was with me before and would really like to have her with me again.
Anyway, I also spoke with the surgical coordinator. This is a different one from last time. She seemed to feel that my insurance will cover it again but Dr. T. said they may lump this into the non covered blepharoplasty category because we're removing the fat below the skin this time along with the new xanthies. We'll see. She gave me the pre-op paperwork and told me to go ahead and get it done. This time they want bloodwork along with the EKG because if they do it on the 9th, the surgi center for that date requires it. They have two that they use. I'd kind of rather go back to the same place as before--on the 18th! Hopefully my insurance sees that this is a work in progress and approves it but if I have to pay for it, I guess I'll just have to tighten up the budget and go for it. I want my face fixed.
I'll update again as soon as I get a date.
Meanwhile, take a look at todays photos. Its dark outside so this is all flash, no sunlight. You can really see the xanthies now.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
23 weeks (-1 day) post op
I hadn't planned on taking so long to do the next update but nothing had really changed until recently. I noticed a few weeks ago that I could see my xanthies again! What..?? For the first few days, I thought it was my imagination playing tricks on me but no, my lower lids have them again. I cant say it was totally unexpected as I was warned they could return. They are faint, and I only see them when I look closely at my eyes. What's weird is that they are the same exact shape and size as before! It's almost like there was more xanthie that wasnt removed deep in the tissues and is now coming to the surface. Interestingly, there is a nice neat incision line right down the middle of these new lesions. There also appears to be a slight return of xanthie on my left upper lid. That one kind of blends into the scar so I'm not worried about it yet. These lower lids though... ugh!
If you remember, I had said previously that I would probably go for a revision of the areas Dr. L couldn't remove but I certainly didnt expect it to be so soon. You may also remember that Dr. L left the practice and after several searches online, I cant find him in a new location anywhere near here. Bummer. I liked him. So, today I made an appointment to see the new occular plastic guy in the group, Dr. T. The appointment is for a week from Thursday, 9 days from now. I'm going to ask to have the lower lids revised or fixed but not the uppers. I'd be really surprised if my insurance covers it a second time but we'll see. If he agrees to fix them, I may end up paying out of pocket. If that happens, I would probably push the surgery out until late winter or early spring. Once again, I have vacation in the Caribbean planned for January so if we do this now it will have to be done by the first or second week of December. That would give me the same 5 weeks of healing time and that worked fine. I think I'm getting a little ahead of myself now. I'll just have to see what he says next week. It's entirely possible he'll not want to touch them...
Here are today's photos. Compare them to August's photos (from the last update) and you can see a slight difference. It appears they were coming back then but I hadnt noticed it yet.
I'll be back next Thursday for another update. Wish me luck!!
If you remember, I had said previously that I would probably go for a revision of the areas Dr. L couldn't remove but I certainly didnt expect it to be so soon. You may also remember that Dr. L left the practice and after several searches online, I cant find him in a new location anywhere near here. Bummer. I liked him. So, today I made an appointment to see the new occular plastic guy in the group, Dr. T. The appointment is for a week from Thursday, 9 days from now. I'm going to ask to have the lower lids revised or fixed but not the uppers. I'd be really surprised if my insurance covers it a second time but we'll see. If he agrees to fix them, I may end up paying out of pocket. If that happens, I would probably push the surgery out until late winter or early spring. Once again, I have vacation in the Caribbean planned for January so if we do this now it will have to be done by the first or second week of December. That would give me the same 5 weeks of healing time and that worked fine. I think I'm getting a little ahead of myself now. I'll just have to see what he says next week. It's entirely possible he'll not want to touch them...
Here are today's photos. Compare them to August's photos (from the last update) and you can see a slight difference. It appears they were coming back then but I hadnt noticed it yet.
I'll be back next Thursday for another update. Wish me luck!!
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