Eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty)

[Rorey]

25. A little update, in case I forget before your procedure

I'm doing great. I never did have any pain. There was some swelling the first few days. I was told to sleep with my head elevated, and I did that the first night. I didn't the second night, but I should have. When I woke up that second morning, my eyes were very swollen. I continued to use cold packs for the first few days, and it definitely helped.

So here I am, Day 6, and I feel great. My surgeon used steri strips over the stitches, and they're still there, so I don't still don't look presentable. I've been following the instructions about not getting them wet. Hopefully the doctor will take them off at my follow-up appointment on Tuesday. The bruising is getting better every hour, and I honestly forget most of the time that I've even got anything going on with my eyelids. Everything feels normal.

My instructions said not to shower for 48 hours, but I very carefully did shower. At first I just avoided my head altogether, but after that first 48 hours I rigged up a cover for my eyes so I could wash my hair in the shower too. I feel like a big part of healing is feeling as good as possible, and I do better when I'm refreshed.

The next time I have any need to have cold packs, I'm going to set up some ziplock bags with crushed ice so they'll be ready to just grab and add water to them when I use them. It's very important to add water. Don't just use ice. I'm sure that'll be in your instructions.

I went to the grocery store yesterday with my sunglasses on to get some produce. It worked out well, except that my sunglasses fogged up a bit because I was wearing a mask too. It felt good to get out of the house for a bit.

Oh, and protect your eyelids from the sun after you get this done! My instructions said they'll be sensitive to sunlight for a year. Honestly, though, we should all be protecting our eyes from the sun anyway, so I'm hoping I can just always be in the habit of wearing sunglasses when outdoors from now on.

I'm looking forward to hearing how everything goes for you.