Flaboverfifty, Part III

Thursday, January 14, 2010

As instructed, I arrive at Dr. Giese’s office at 9:15 a.m. The operating room suite is located here, too. This is no hospital. It’s more inviting than most luxury spas I’ve visited.

Dr. Giese comes in to mark the spots on my face where she’d be operating. The surgery will take about  2 2.5 with anesthesia) hours and then I’ll be in the recovery room for about one hour. The anesthesiologist comes in next, moves me to a wheel chair and starts the IV.

I wake up in the recovery room in a modest daze, not remembering a moment beyond the IV. A removable, ace-type bandage sling is wrapped around my head and chin. I’m supposed to keep it on as much as possible, day and night.

My sister, Shelley, arrives to escort me home and off we go.

Armed with icepacks for my eyes, painkillers and attended by a caring sister, I spend the rest of the day in patient mode. I take a photo of my swollen face. I sleep fairly well and don’t need pain medication stronger than Tylenol for the discomfort. There’s no bleeding or unusual redness.

Friday, January 15

Discomfort is most pronounced in my chin, where Dr. Giese had implanted a rubber device. It’s hard to open my mouth, but overall, I feel okay.

I call the doctor’s office in the afternoon, when the swelling seems to increase. Dr. Giese’s PA tells me it’s normal.

Saturday, January 16

I shower, remove the bandage and apply a little makeup. I meet my former husband for lunch. He tells me I look great. Douglas is pretty droll. I definitely don’t look great. I look like a truck—a Mack truck—ran me over, but that’s not going to keep me home.

I have a (recommended) post-surgical facial to help reduce the swelling with charming Nathalie Dinoia at Yasmine Djerradine spa.  Nathalie uses a sophisticated Biologique Recherche machine from Paris that is designed to stimulate the lymphatic system to get rid of excess fluid, hydrate, lift and sculpt, exfoliate, promote circulation and help smooth out the skin which has been traumatized by the surgery. The machine is supposed to increase the efficiency of the Biologique Recherch products that Nathalie is using.

Natalie also wraps my feet, legs and upper thighs in a contraption that makes me look like a partial Michelin man. This is a computer controlled, compression system utilizing pumps that inflate around the limbs to move the venous and lymph flow.

I return home feeling pretty good and spend the rest of the day relaxing even more.

Sunday, January 17

Swelling seems to be decreasing and I start to see stitches dangling from my eyelids and the corners of my mouth. Lovely.

I am doing the laundry in the basement of my apartment building and two FOF women neighbors ask why my face is swollen. I tell them what I’ve done and they’re fascinated. Ronnie says to me: “I’m going to save my money to do it, too.”

David and I are out to dinner with Lois and Eliot Hess, who own the PR agency that is handling FOF, and Shirley Wexner, owner of Joseph, the magnificent store in Memphis, TN.

Jamie Dimon, the handsome chairman of JP Morgan Chase, waves to me from another table (I’m not dropping names; a relative works for him). I go to his table to say hello and explain why I look like I do.  “You look beautiful,” he says. He’s a brilliant businessman and a bad liar.

Monday, January 18

Repeat of Sunday, but my mouth looks a little lopsided and is a bit numb on the left side. For some reason, I’m not concerned.

To Be Continued