"I have offered to write this for Mr Malhotra to put on his website as
although I found his site and the photos of ‘before and after’
informative, I would have found it helpful to know what it was like and
what to expect from the viewpoint of someone who had experienced
it. I hope it helps!"
Initial appointment
I had been bothered for the last few years with sagging upper
eyelids, the left eye in particular felt uncomfortable and the drooping
worsened towards the end of the day or when I was tired.
My initial appointment was with Mr Malhotra at his Harley Street
consultation offices. I was very apprehensive about having facial
surgery, but was reassured as this was his specialist area. We
discussed my eyelid issues and the different options available.
Mr Malhotra was very patient and understanding, and I found it easy
to discuss the procedures with him. He explained what each different
procedure would achieve and how they were carried out.
After discussion, I decide to opt for upper eyelid surgery, and also
have a mini brow lift at the same time. I chose to have it done under
local anaesthetic, as I was comfortable with the idea of being awake
whilst it was done, but I believe these procedures can also be carried
out under general anaesthetic, or an ‘in between’ level of sedation.
Mr Malhotra’s secretary called me the following day to confirm the
total price (including hospital costs), where the operation would be
taking place and the date. My operation was carried out at Gatwick
Park Hospital. I made the decision not to have an overnight stay, but
actually this is one thing I would recommend someone else doing
differently, especially if you have your operation late in the day as I
did.
Day of surgery
My partner drove me to the hospital, as you are not allowed to drive
yourself back (and indeed wouldn’t be capable of doing so!).
I was shown to a very pleasant room, where I changed into a hospital
gown. Mr Malhotra and another doctor came in to see me and give me
an idea of what time my operation would be carried out as he had
several procedures before me that day. At around 7.30pm, the
nurses came through to take me to theatre. I had to take my contact
lenses out at this point. I assumed I would walk but you are actually
wheeled through on the bed.
Once in the theatre, I did start feeling nervous again, but everyone
there was reassuring. There were three additional nursing staff, as
well as Mr Malhotra and the other doctor, who was observing the
procedure as she was training to do the same thing. This was actually
quite useful as, because he was explaining to her what he was doing, I
got the run through of how the procedures would take place again.
The brow lift was to be done first and so this was the first area the
local anaesthetic was injected into – my forehead in the right upper
area near the hairline and the left in the same place. This I would
describe as uncomfortable and a bit painful, but not unbearable and
not as bad as I thought it would be. It wasn’t long at all before the
whole top of my head felt completely numb – perhaps a couple of
minutes.
The next bit (sorry, I have to be honest!) was the local injections into
the upper eyelid area. This was very painful and uncomfortable. One
of the nurses held my hand which I gripped very tightly whilst this
was going on, and this really did help a lot!
At this point, I would say that if you aren’t good with pain, it would
probably be an idea if you are having the upper eyelid surgery to opt
for sedation. However, compared with childbirth, it’s a walk in the
park as I kept telling the nurses (and myself!). If you are only having brow work, then I personally I found the local
anaesthetic option fine.
The surgery itself was utterly painless. The brow work was done first,
right side then left. These were stitched with normal stitches (i.e.
that have to be taken out). I couldn’t feel anything, other than a
slight tugging. To relax me further, my choice of music was put on the
in the background and I chatted whilst the operation was going on,
which helped to take my mind of what was happening. At one point I
felt a slight twinge and mentioned it, whereupon the local anaesthetic
was topped up (which was painless). The eye surgery was also
completely painless, and dissolvable stitches were used.
The operation lasted about two hours, and I was wheeled back on the
bed. The nurses were very reassuring, as afterwards you can’t see
anything as your eyes are covered with pads to soak up any last bits
of bleeding. I was issued with paracetamol, additional dressings, saline solution and
eye ointment, along with a gel eye pack.
After eating and drinking (which the hospital insist you do prior to
leaving), my partner came to collect me. I had to take the pads off to
travel, so he did see my surgery but it’s very difficult at this point to
imagine what the end result will be.
Once at home, (apparently this is not unusual), I became slightly
tearful and worried about what I’d done – the enormity of having
facial surgery suddenly kicked in. I’m not writing this to put anyone
off - just to make you feel more normal/better if you go through it!
(I was fine by the following morning).
I did need to use the paracetemols to get to sleep, and continued to
use them on and off for the next three days, after which I found I
didn’t need them. (I wasn’t in great discomfort, I just felt like I had a
headache.) The gel eye pack was excellent – you put it in the fridge
for a while then lay down with it on your eyes - I went to sleep
several times with this on, as it is so soothing.
Afterwards
Day 2
- I looked relatively normal in the morning, but by mid
afternoon underneath my left eye had started swelling. At this point,
it appeared the eye was more stretched upwards on the right on my
face than the left, and quite a bit more of the iris was visible on the
right eye. This led to a major panicking session on my part, and I
phoned Mr Malhotras secretary and the number he had given me.
Within 15 minutes Mr Malhotra had been contacted and rang me.
He reassured me that the uneven swelling was probably causing this
look, but would look at the photos.
I emailed him photos over.
Day 3
– Right eye starts to swell by lunchtime. Left eye very
swollen indeed. Eyes still look unbalanced. Spoke to Mr Malhotra, who
had seen the photos and was not concerned – again, he reiterated
once the swelling had gone down, the eyes should even up.
*Note – 2 points – Firstly it’s very reassuring that your surgeon is
so readily contactable ( bearing in mind that I was ringing after 10pm
on a Friday night, and over the weekend). Secondly, try not to judge
the final outcome on what you look like at this point! (easier said than
done, though!)
Day 4
- Came off the painkillers completely, still using the eye gel
pack. Both eyes are extremely swollen underneath and have gone
purple. When I use the eye gel pack, it lessens the swelling a great
deal.
Day 5 and 6
– Eyes start to look less swollen, and turn yellow
underneath. Eye gel pack is still in constant use. By Day Six, eyes are
starting to even up.
Day 7
– Back to hospital this am, for my appointment with Mr
Malhotra. By now, eyes have evened up completely. I still have the
remnants of black eyes (bad enough to make me wear Victoria
Beckham sized sunglasses whilst waiting in the main reception!). Mr
Malhotra is pleased with the results, and by now so am I. Although I
was originally scheduled to have the stitches in my forehead removed
today, Mr Malhotra recommends coming back next week to give the
wounds a bit longer. As these stitches aren’t visible, due to my
hairstyle, this isn’t a problem.
Week 2
- by day 9, I look pretty normal. I find that for the next week or so
when I wake up in the morning, my eyes and eye lids are quite puffy,
so schedule in a gel eye pack session for 20 minutes every am, which
works well. Also, as the day progresses the puffiness seems to wear
off. I experience little twinges in my eyelids (like electric shocks), which I
believe are the nerves healing. This lessens as the days go by.
I can finally (over a week after the operation) see what I now look
like. The effect is subtle, which is what I wanted. My eyes are more
open, but look very natural, and the brow lift has raised my eyebrows
slightly (which is what I wanted as they didn’t have much of an arch in
them before). In addition, I have fewer lines on my brow, but there
are still some which looks in keeping with the rest of my face. (If
they had all gone, it would have looked unnatural.)
Day 13 - I have stitches removed by nurse in the hospital.
Week 3
- 3 weeks after the operation, the eyelid twinges seem to have
gone completely. The top of my head is slightly numb but this is slowly
getting back to normal. It seems to help when I wash by hair and
massage my head. The scars on the hairline from the browlift are healing well. My
eyelids are healing well too, although the dissolvable stitches don’t
seem to have dissolved in many places. Apparently these dissolve at
slightly different rates with different people, but I am going in today
to have them removed.
The finished result is very good – the droopy eyelid thing has gone
completely which is great. The brow lift has given me a better
eyebrow arch and I do look a few years younger. It’s subtle though –
people who don’t know I’ve had it done haven’t realised, (although this
hasn’t been tested on very close female friends yet), and those who
do know (my family) think that I still look like me but a bit better
(which I think they were a bit worried I wouldn’t!)
The whole process was much easier and less traumatic than I
expected. I must also say that the level of care and support both
during and after the operation is excellent, from both Mr Malhotra
and from the nursing staff at the hospital.
