ZILPHA’S PLASTIC SURGERY EXPERIENCE OR WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES!

Some months ago at a WIT Meeting we had the pleasure of a visit from a plastic surgeon from Izmir – Prof. Dr. Ecmel Songur, where we had a slideshow and heard about his professional expertise in the line of aesthetic surgery.

I think we had a full house at the meeting since - lets face it ladies - who after the age of 40 hasn’t thought about some form of plastic surgery, and obviously in Turkey the prices are a lot cheaper than in the UK, so well within our reach!

Well, after the meeting and a few discussions, I went to Izmir for a consultation with Dr. Songur. He put me so much at ease, explaining the procedure (which sounded so simple and quick) so I booked in for the surgery - “upper and lower eyebag removal”.

The 19th June soon came around, and I couldn’t wait - no apprehension whatsoever and raring to go, as they say. The hospital was just over the road from Dr. Songur’s consultation rooms. I was first to go in – great, in about 2 hours it would all be over.

The only time I actually thought about backing out was on the operating table when I was being covered in blankets and plastic sheets – I wondered what they were for?? But then thought - hey ho - I’m here now so let’s go for it.

The operation took about 2 hours, half an hour for each procedure, under and over the eye. The only disconcerting thing I can say is I had a local anaesthetic, which basically means you are awake all the way through, but can’t feel anything – it’s a bit like being at the dentist with your eyes sealed, but this would work well for anyone afraid they might not wake up after anaesthetic. You can have a general anaesthetic but it costs more and you have to wait 4 hours after the operation for recovery, with a local, you only have to wait 1 hour.

So after the op I was taken to a recovery room and ice packs placed on my eyes. This was because (a) you feel as though you have done 10 rounds with Cassius Clay and (b) you can’t see (just blurs) because you have tapes over the stitches on your eyes. Two hours later I was wheeled out to my waiting vehicle, feeling like sh** and wondering “why on earth did I do this?”

You are given instructions to sleep sitting up, to help to reduce the swelling, so I had a sleepless first night. Not unusual for me since I have difficulty sleeping lying down!! However I felt better, and could just about see out of my eyes. Then I started the ritual of the washing – with cotton wool buds - very delicately, to remove some of the crap in your eyes. Then the applying of the ice packs to get the swelling down, which helped tremendously. Plus the taking of the tablets to stop any infection.

This procedure carried on for the next week, and in the meantime lovely purple bruises appeared as if by magic on my face. Needless to say I didn’t venture out - so a good idea to stock up on goodies girls, unless of course you take this as an opportunity to lose weight – kill 2 birds with one stone as they say.

After 7 days I returned to return to Izmir for the removal of the stitches and tape – by this time you want to tear this from your eyes. Bloody itchy!

I was in his office about 10 minutes – very quick and no pain. “Great” I thought “I can move my eyes, but I don’t look very delightful – then again it is only 1 week, but I have to stand in front of the ladies at WIT tonight and show them, bare face no makeup, should put them all off”!!

I was wrong. They were all very interested, and thought I looked good for just 1 week post-op, although the final healing process can take up to 6 months, dependent on age and skin type.

Since then I have been using the ice packs for about 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the evening, and massaging. I have to admit it is a slow process of the fading of the scars and the bruises, but also it is obviously slower the older you are, since the skin has lost elasticity.

It has been 2 ½ months since my op and I can still feel slight bruising on the outside edges of the eyes, and a little numbness along the edges, but it is getting better by the day, and is great to have eyelashes that curl up instead of sticking out (the eye lid lift did this).

My family – who I had not told about my surgery - came to visit 4 weeks ago, and immediately noticed a difference with my eyes, and my oldest daughter has decided to save her money for a face lift – she is a heavy smoker and it shows – so all in all £1,000 well spent – yes that’s all it cost!

Overall I would say it was pretty painless, and quick, the operation 2 hours, recovery 1 hour, easily done in a day, and no staying in hospital or having to lie in bed after – all of which appealed to me. With bigger operations like boob jobs and tummy tucks, the operations are 4 hours and 4 hours recovery since you have a general anaesthetic, but still achievable in a day. So WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES!