Before before before before <Day of surgery> I arrived at the hospital, filled out the surgical consent form, and met the director. I was scheduled for a forehead lift, cheekbone surgery, square jaw surgery, and facial liposuction, but during the final consultation I kept emphasizing my concern about having a large face and said it was a serious complex. Then the director and the consultant all gathered, looked at photos with me for over 30 minutes, and thought it through as if it were their own surgery (I was kind of touched then). They recommended changing the plan from a forehead lift to adding chin surgery instead. I was also concerned that whenever I took photos, one side of my face looked slightly turned and came out looking asymmetric, and they said they would correct it by slightly shifting the chin to the side! I already had unlimited trust from the consultation, so I decided to follow the director's recommendation! Even though the surgical plan changed on the last consultation day, I proceeded with surgery without much worry.
After surgery, I was surprised in the recovery room because my condition was better than expected, but then I saw my face and was shocked a second time lolololololol I had basically become a steamed bun, wrapped tightly in bandages, and my eyes and lips were all completely swollen..
They said I shouldn't fall asleep, but my eyelids kept closing so I slept a little, then my husband came, I changed clothes, got in the car, and went home.
Even on the way home in the car, maybe because of the anesthesia, I just kept sleeping, and pain or whatever, the day of surgery just disappeared because I was asleep..
<Day 1 after surgery> I was so swollen I wondered if this was even a face. When sleeping, I raised my pillow and slept sitting up, and I slept while doing ice packs too, but my lips were just incredibly swollen to about 3 cm, so they stung so much and I could barely open my eyes... lololol
In the morning I went to the hospital for disinfection, had the big bandage removed, and heard the precautions too. The nurse was so kind that the disinfection went well without hurting much.
My face was still very swollen, and while hoping time would pass quickly, I took my dogs out and started intense walks every night from Day 1, wearing a hoodie pulled over my head!!!
<Day 2 after surgery>
All night, I woke up almost every 30 minutes. Until the first day, I still kept sleeping because of fatigue and postsurgical aftereffects, but strangely, whether it was because of the incision area inside my scalp or because my teeth hurt, everything just hurt and I couldn't sleep properly ㅠㅠ
Still, they said I could shower now, so I happily showered and worked hard at gargling too!
Looking in the mirror at my still steamed-bun-like face, I was a little worried, like what if this swelling doesn't go down... ㅠㅠ
<Day 3 after surgery> They told me to remove all the small tapes too, so I removed them all, but the pencil marks from the surgical design would not come off, so I gave up while trying to erase them lololol
That day, it felt like some swelling had gone down, but my face was swollen asymmetrically, so I hated looking in the mirror lololol This too shall pass.. With that mindset, I diligently gargled, wore the compression band, and did warm/cold packs.
Still, eating became a bit easier, so I started eating pho cut into very tiny pieces!
<Day 4 after surgery> My lips, which felt like they would burst, amazingly returned to normal when I woke up!! My eyes also became normal now, and with only a mask on I could walk around the neighborhood without anyone noticing, so I really walked diligently.
And I mixed rice into mild curry and swallowed it down lolololololol My face was still a square, puffy rice-cake face, but the speed at which the swelling was going down started to become noticeable ㅠㅠㅠ
Actually, I had almost no bruising, and right after surgery even the drainage bottle barely filled, so I already knew the director's surgical skill was good because I had a friend who had surgery here. But seeing the recovery speed day by day made me really feel it.
By Day 4, my condition had returned to the point where I thought I could have just worn a mask and started work right away (of course, my face was swollen squarely below the eyes).
<Day 5 after surgery> Now I sleep almost like deep sleep, just like usual. I even turn onto my side unconsciously while sleeping. The swelling is still really puffier than my old face, but it has gone down even more than yesterday, so my husband, my child, and I are all surprised every day.. What I did nonstop until Day 5 was intense walking for more than 2 hours a day!! My condition was completely back to normal, so from this day I walked around without a mask, just covering my slightly square, swollen jaw with my hair!
The only uncomfortable thing is the stitches inside my mouth... I want to get the stitches removed quickly ㅠㅠ
<Day 6 after surgery> I slept well and ate a bowl of rice mixed into galbitang broth lololololol Until before Day 4, time passed so slowly and I was in pain and struggling, but now it's almost peace itself... What I'm thinking now is just, when will all the swelling go down? That's about it ..ㅠㅠ
Like, surely this isn't all gone already, right? That kind of feeling..
<Day 7 after surgery> I went to the hospital and had the stitches removed.
In other reviews, they said intraoral stitches are removed at 2 weeks, but I had them all removed today at 1 week.
Other reviews said it hurt when they removed the intraoral stitches, but maybe my surgical recovery was good, because it didn't hurt at all when they removed mine, so the nurse was surprised and I was surprised too lolololololol
They asked if I had walked diligently and praised me, saying there was almost no swelling inside my mouth, so I felt very proud! They also did a swelling laser treatment for 40 minutes, and after receiving it I ate Shake Shack in front of the hospital, cut into small pieces, and came home.
They say the swelling goes down even faster after stitch removal, so I'm really, really looking forward to what comes next.
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