Friday 23 June : Day 18 post op (stitches out)

Friday 23 June 06 - Day 18 post op: Stitches out : Am feeling upset about right lower eyelid hollow more so than the left lower eyelid retraction as the right lower eyelid hollow is very noticeable. Have gooey ointment on eyes that Jane rubbed on.

Fri 9 June 06 - Day 5 post op: Pix for comparison purposes re lower eyelid hollows

Mon 5 June 06 - pix taken just before surgery: For comparison purposes

Went to see Jane Olver today to finally get my stitches removed. She was running late but that was fine as I read a book (as best I could with my dark sunglasses on).

When it came to my turn to see Jane, she took down a few notes though didn't seem interested in my vomiting episode; only my eyes and if any thing drastic had happened, which apart from the differences in eyes trying to stay closed, there hasn't been anything drastic in the physical sense (apart from the vomiting, the red rashes on arms and legs, the swollen eyes etc)! :)

Jane put some eye drops in my eyes - it could have been a mild form of anaesthethic - I'm not sure though at the time I wondered if it was and whether I'd be able to drive back home again when I picked my car up from the station.

The whole stitch removal process took about half an hour and it was extremely uncomfortable and painful. My eye muscles and eyelids felt very bruised, tender and sore, like they were still recovering from being cut - and they smart. Cutting the stitches felt painful in itself and they felt hot and stung. Jane had to wipe off the dried blood which I couldn't remove cos they were attached to the stitches and whenever I tried to pull the blood off it would pull on the stitch and cos excruciating pain. When Jane wiped the blood off, it seemed to take forever and she had to use a little force to get them off and it took a few attempts and it was painful to say the least.

Removing the stitches seemed to take forever per eye as there was always some other stitch that she'd missed and it was both the top and bottom and for the bottom stitches I had to keep my eyes open and it was just horrible and painful.

Then it was time for the right eye stitches to be removed and all that pain all over again including removing the dried blood. It felt worst than having the pain of the operation itself ie the episode where I felt Jane injecting anaesthesia into my eyelids and then the pain of my right outer eyelid being cut ... ouch.

I felt overcome when it was all over and my eyes felt weird and strange from the freedom of no stitches; and also the pain of the stitch removal still echoed and resonated throughout my eyes and skin. It took me a while to get back to center again. Jane took some pictures and said there was some lower eyelid retraction and for me to after 3 days, rub the outer eye upward. If it didn't work, then she said we'd probably need to consider a spacer.

I wanted to bring up the right lower eyelid hollow but it didn't feel that Jane was interested in the fat transfer issue right then and was more interested in the lower left retraction. When we took a pic of my eyes closed, she said the right eye also wasn't closing properly. No other comments.

She said that I'd probably experience itchiness over the next few days/weeks and to rub the ointment on my eyes a couple of times a day and to see her again in 6 weeks time.

At that time I hadn't seen myself in the mirror and couldn't tell whether my right lower eyelid hollow had gotten better with the stitches out. I really wanted to ask her about that but it just didn't seem appropriate and I know she was rushing as there were people waiting outside and she was in a hurry.

I'm not happy about my right lower eyelid hollow as it stands out a lot especially as the left lower hollow seems to have evened out. Jane mentioned that if the left lower eyelid fell anymore the left lump will continue to show more.

I'm not a happy bunny at all. I'm feeling ok about my uppers re the fat transfer but am feeling upset about my right lower hollow .... my eye just looks skeletal .... months of looking like this

ahead(?). (sighs).

I reminded Jane of the stitched in my left knee where the fat had been taken, and she thanked me for reminding her and took the stitches out. I'm sure if I hadn't reminded her, she would not have removed the stitches!! She said in a year's time there'd be no scar there. The stitches took about a minute to cut and remove.