TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY

It’s been two years since my lower face (neck) lift. A few things come to mind:

1. The sensation in my face has changed forever. I have given up hope that nerves in certain parts of my face (in front of the ear near the jaw) will ever regrow or reorient so that I have full sensation.

2. I have a lumpy area in my left temple, not sure why, maybe it was there all along, but I have a feeling it is a result of muscle manipulation behind the ear during the facelift.

3. I still have a feeling of “fullness” in my left ear that impacts my hearing sometimes. It’s especially noticeable when I eat salty foods; the water retention makes my face feel tight, even now.

   But the best part:

4. My neck looks amazing. No lines at all. My surgeon delivered exactly the look I wanted.

I have given up acting and modeling, for the most part, and still “sun worship” more than I should, but am super careful to use good sunscreen. Since the “big” procedure I’ve tried microneedling for small forehead lines, and that was fabulous for short term “small” line cure. I recently had a mini dose of Ultherapy for my chin and upper lip (boy do I have wrinkles; remember — face lifts don’t affect these areas!) but it didn’t do much.

I had the neck lift procedure done at age 58. I’ll soon be 60. I really like looking as young as I feel. I’ve found that at times I’m my own worst enemy — not really taking good care of my skin, getting sun, getting dehydrated and drinking a little too much yummy wine. But, life is short, and I do want to enjoy it in my early retirement years.

Bottom line, if it’s within your budget, new technologies can work wonders. I wonder what I could have done without enduring major surgery, given the many options out there that, had I spent the same money, would have given me nearly the same results, without the loss of sensation in parts of my face?

Make no mistake, the face is important. It shows the world how you feel, and if someone tries to touch your face, now maybe you withdraw; the old brain may remember what happened when you were “out”, perhaps, or the dull numbness is just not comfortable, and certainly not a romantic area anymore.

Life is wonderful and magical. I’m letting my hair try out natural gray. We’ll see how long that lasts hahaha, but my hair really did need a break from the heavy highlights I love.