Procedures: MACS Facelift, Upper Blepharoplasty, Liposuction to chin and Fat Transfer to lips and cheeks.
Like thousands of women during my early/mid 50's, I looked in the mirror and did not recognise the face that looked back at me. My only problem was that I was just not prepared or happy to live with the new mirrored image BUT equally I was afraid of the horror stories where cosmetic surgery has had dire consequences. Even celebrities paying top prices bore the results of procedures gone wrong.
I spent the next two years feeling thoroughly miserable and reading articles and websites and gathering feedback from people who had either taken the plunge or knew friends who had. After various consultations, I finally selected to have my cosmetic surgery performed by Mr. Nishikawa at The Westbourne Centre (who incidentally came highly recommended by other medical professionals).
My main area of concern was my mouth which was full of lines and wrinkles which made me look miserable and led to endless comments of 'cheer up, it might never happen'. On top of this, my face was very thin from the cheeks down. My request to Mr Nishikawa was that I wanted to look very refreshed without losing my identity and making surgery so obvious.
It was agreed that I would have the surgery performed under Local Anaesthetic with sedation. Whilst I did have concerns that I might actually feel pain during the procedures and that it was a long time to be semi awake (5 hour operation) I still felt it outweighed the risks associated with General Anaesthetic.
Immedialtely prior to my operation, I met with the anaesthetist, nurses, Mr Nishikawa and the assistant surgeon. It was strange at first being wheeled into the actual operating theatre still awake and I would be lying if I did not admit I had a rush of 'what have I let myself in for', but I can honestly say that the whole experience was very do-able. You are not awake all the time and drift in and out of sleep, but equally when you are awake you can respond to questions and even join in a conversation at times. I can specifically recall Mr Nishikawa commenting on how lovely one of the procedures looked! What and ego boost that was. Yes you do feel the odd injection, but quite frankly it was not as sore as dental injections. You can also feel other sensations but none of them were painful.
My surgery lasted lasted just over five hours and towards the end I woke to find discomfort/pain in my lower back and I was able to explain that I needed to move my legs to ease the tension. A nurse immediately put a pillow under my legs to relieve the tension and I can only comment that had I chosen a General Anaesthetic, I would not have been able to address this issue and may have woken up after surgery with unwanted back pain. I can also confirm that in spite of being in surgery for five hours, I had no real sense of time and how long I had been in there.
Immediately following surgery and once I had fully recovered to have a rewarding cup of tea, I was given clear instructions and provided with appropriate pain killers etc. Because my blood pressure had risen slightly after the surgery, the principal nurse phoned me on the evening of the surgery and the next morning to check that I was ok.
I would recommend The Westbourne Centre and Mr Nishikawa to anyone wishing to have cosmetic surgery.
