Day 44 post surgery : Weds 18 Jan 2006

I had my 6 week post surgery follow up consult with Jane Olver today http://www.oculoplastics.co.uk.

She had a student doctor I think, who sat in with us, which was fine with me. I was a few mins early and just as I was about to sit down, Jane came out and asked me in. She kept looking at me and said I looked really good. I couldn't wait to tell her that I had a wig on and she said she had no idea! She said it looked great. I told her why I was wearing the wig and that I wasn't comfortable showing my hair in the condition that it currently is in; and until it heals I will continue to wear the wig. She said in about 6 weeks or so my hair should almost be back to normal; and said that she'd had to pull some hair out to make the incisions etc.

Jane and I went through how I was doing and I mentioned that my left upper eyelid didn't seem to be healing as fast as the right eye, that it had a bit of skin folded in half (or something like that - I don't really know how to explain it) in the upper eyelid crease - probably it's referred to as a little excess skin(?) - I'm not sure. I also mentioned that my left upper eyelashes didn't seem to curl still as much as the right upper eyelashes which took seconds and the left upper eyelashes needed lots of attempts and even then the quality isn't great and sometimes by the end of the day the curl is lost and flat. I also mentioned that my left eye just seemed to heal at a slower rate as the, geez, I'm not sure what it's called ... the area between eye and crease was higher in the left than the right upper eyelid.

When Jane examined me, she agreed with me ie re the skin fold in the upper eyelid crease, and the length of eyelid crease not being the same and eyelash etc and if I recall correctly think she said this is something we can address when I have my next surgery ie lower eyelid reconstruction and also the Coleman fat transfer (she's now thinking of doing the Coleman fat transfer instead of fat repositioning).

I asked if July would be a good time to have the lower eyelid reconstruction and Jane agreed (yeah!). She also agreed that we would do the Coleman fat transfer together at the same time as the lower eyelid reconstruction (whew) which is a relief as BUPA will pay for 3/4 of the lower eyelid surgery and about 1/8 of the Coleman fat transfer though all of the hospital costs, which would save me money.

I asked if the fat transfer, like Isolagen, needs a few injections; and Jane replied that she tries to get it right the first time as she has no storage facilities for the fat. I'm not sure if that makes the surgery cheaper than for those who have to return 2-3 times. I'm also not sure how the fat will look all bunched up and how long it'll take to return to normal etc. Guys from MMH, any thoughts on this, from your experience?

Jane was asking about my dry eyes and was asking how they were; and suggested having eye plugs to help with the dry eyes. I said yes as I've suffered from dry eyes for so long - it would certainly help with not having to use artificial tears every 3 hours or so. We agreed on a date of 21st February to have the eye plugs put in at the eye hospital; under local anaesthesia and sedation if needed.

I asked if BUPA would pay for the plugs and Jane said yes and gave me the codes. The procedure will cost about £350.

We also talked about my hair and Jane showed the 'student doctor' my incision marks and for me it was good that she was taking time to explain things to the student doctor as I got to spend more time with her and she answered my questions in more detail than she usually does (or so I felt). Jane said that in 6 weeks or so my hair should grow and I could wear it normally though I wasn't sure. I said I was going to the hairdressers nearby that deals with hair extensions for hair loss etc and would see how it goes. She asked me to try and use my natural hair when I saw her next as I'd be able to wear my hair as normal by then - I said I'll see how it goes :)

Jane mentioned my lower eyelid droop and said she'd need to pull that up during the lower eyelid reconstruction. I asked if we could finally get rid of my lump and she said we'll see and will talk about that at my next consult when I return after she's put in my eye plugs, which would be in March.

I spent some time talking to Jane's assistant after who was interested in seeing some before and after pictures of me and who was also admiring my wig and said it looked great. She saw me walk into her office with the wig off and then saw me put it on and liked it :).

Anyway, trying to keep this short, I then went to Mark Glenn's hairdressing shop in Mayfair and met with Mark himself. The upstairs was a bit noisy and we went downstairs for a chat. I took off my wig and told him about my brow lift and what I wanted ie more volume and to hide the thinning patches. Oh by the way after 3 weeks of wearing my wig and having the assistant return and scrutinise my every move etc, I felt I couldn't wear a wig anymore as everyone knew and thought perhaps having extensions would help, hence why making an appt as I was in the area.

Mark told me straight away that my hair (sniffles) wasn't suitable for his hair loss programme and/or extensions as extensions only suited the back of the head to make hair long and wasn't suitable for the top of the head which is where I needed it to hide the bald patches. He said that his hair loss programme involved use of a mesh and was more suitable for women with large bald patches or no hair and not for someone like me who already had hair as it would work out way too expensive for me and he told me to save my money and stick to what I was already using ie the wig. I was heartbroken (sniffles). I couldn't believe that even if I wanted to add volume to my hair that it wouldn't work as it'd only affect the back and not the top.

He told me to just show my natural hair as it was fine and to use some powder he could provide which would camouflage the bald patches. I looked at the ingredients and wasn't too keen on them and we agreed that I probably would have a skin reaction to the ingredients which he agreed wasn't worth the aggrevation ie using the powder if I was to suffer a skin reaction etc. I'd be better off wearing the wig. He said his ex wife had had 3 or 4 brow lifts and her hairline had increased to a crazy high position which looked silly. He told me to not have any more brow lifts as my hair line had raised fairly high though as it was it was ok right now but not to have anymore.

He did say that if I wanted to lower my hairline he couldn't help and I'd need hair grafts or stuff like that (yikes)!!! That takes like a year to grow ... eek! I've seen it on tv and it's tough going! On the way back home I saw an advert for thinning hair (which Mark Glen also recommended, though said took a few months to take effect) ie Nourkin tablets. http://www.nourkrin.co.uk/nourkrin_hair_loss.asp. Anyone used them? I'll research them a bit more especially the ingredients. I definitely wouldn't use their hair products as they contain parabens which affect a woman's estrogen etc .... (too lengthy to explain in detail about parabens as it's a whole different subject).

I was devasted though I was grateful to Mark Glen for being straight up and saving me lots of money, which I'd need for my lower eyelid reconstruction and my coleman fat transfer. 6 months isn't a long time to save up for another surgery as this one in December alone will take me a few years to pay off (whew).

I thanked Mark Glen for his honesty and walked back to the tube station with much to think about, ie having to save up for the next surgery in 6 months, how much it'll all cost, how I'll manage it, what to do about my hair as cos of L, I'm feeling very self conscious about my hair as she stares at me all the time, trying to suss out what's different about me and she's going to keep asking questions all the time and not let up until she feels she's gotten the secret as to what's different about me. (sighs).

I was doing great until she came back to work ... (sighs). I feel I've been knocked down a few steps and have to brush myself off and figure out how to proceed next as my confidence has taken a tumble.

I'm sure there's more to share though I've run out of time .... it'd be great if I had a selection of a few more wigs ie with wigs almost the same style that had the hair put up etc so I could go into work with different hairstyles etc.



Dry eyes