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Letter from a Happy Face Lift Patient - May 2009One Patient’s Face-lift Experience My experience with Dr. Gwen Maxwell and her staff was terrific. From the first time I met Dr. Maxwell and she explained to me what she could do with a full face lift I realized that I had been very lucky to make an appointment with her. I felt confident from my first five minutes with her and Jody Knight that everything would go well. Little did I know how good Maxwell Aesthetics really was. I first met Dr. Maxwell in November, 2008 and set the surgery date for April, 2009 to accommodate the USTA tennis season that I played in during the year. Jody Knight kept in touch with me after my first appointment and walked me through the procedure. As the April date approached I had an appointment with Dr. LuLu Yang to determine if my general health was good enough to go through the surgery. Dr. Yang was helpful, professional, and concise. On the morning of my surgery, I met with Teresa Ahlers, Lu Banks, and Maritza Martinez who helped me understand the surgery procedure and got me ready for it. Teresa Ahlers spent a lot of time prepping me for the surgery and she was so calm I did not feel one moment of trepidation. One of my questions for Dr. Maxwell was how soon I could be playing tennis again and how long it would take me to heal. Dr. Maxwell’s answers were detailed. I also asked about infection and Dr. Maxwell explained that infection would always be something she and her staff would do everything to prevent; one of the ways they did that was to start the patient on an antibiotic several days prior to surgery and several days afterward. She also explained that because the surgery was done in an operating room attached to her office that she and her staff could control everything about the operating procedure.
The night before the surgery, anesthesiologist, Dr. Monterosa, called me and talked to me about anesthesia. Her call was unexpected and she answered my questions about getting sick from the anesthesia as I had been ill years ago from it. Dr. Monterosa assured me that many anesthesia procedures were very different now and she could say that the chances of my getting sick were not likely. It was a big relief.
My surgery lasted 5 and half hours. I woke up to talk to Robin Belistos, the night time duty caregiver, who was on call the entire night of the surgery and through the following morning. Just knowing she was there was all I needed to be reassured. I had no nausea from the anesthesia.
The next morning I was released with specific instructions of what to do and not to do. I had been following the vitamin ritual for two weeks prior to the surgery and all of my high blood pressure medications had been checked prior to the surgery. I was amazed when Maritza Martinez had called the entire week ahead of the surgery to make sure I was taking the vitamins and was not taking any aspirin or anti-inflammatory medications prior to the surgery. I saw Dr. Maxwell several times in the next few weeks with all of the follow up appointments going really well. I was anxious to be released to play tennis, swim, and bike. Two weeks to the day after the surgery I was released to do all of my sports again.On day 15 I putted golf balls, swam, and hit a few tennis balls. I started back slowly and by the third week out from the surgery I was doing everything. My timing was off on the tennis court but that can happen during any kind of a lay-off from the game. It came back. Now about the results of the surgery: one completely unexpected result was that my twice weekly migraines disappeared. I had some headaches but nothing like the ones I had had for many years and these post surgery headaches required very little pain relieving medication. I was thrilled. According to Dr. Maxwell, sometimes this happens when certain muscles are cut in the forehead area. I think if I had known that I might not have serious migraines after my face lift I would have considered doing it sometime in my thirties instead of in my mid-sixties. I had inherited from both my parents the typical Czechoslovakian-German, French-Irish skin and had spent years in high school and college playing tennis with no sun protection. In those years no one ever knew about it. I had also inherited both jowls and double chins from my family. Prior to my face lift I did not even think to ever ask about the hundreds of small wrinkles that I had all over my face and neck along with a frown line that made me look as though I was always scowling. After my surgery I could not believe the difference this face lift had made in my overall feeling of well being. I will always be pleased with everything about Maxwell Aesthetics and Dr. Gwen Maxwell and her fantastic staff. How lucky could I have been to have found a plastic surgeon who not only does the most meticulous work but who understood all my questions and explained everything in layman’s terms. Thank you, Dr. Maxwell, and all of your staff, from the bottom of my heart.
Sincerely,
P.S.The 14 day do nothing period after surgery was not so bad; just me counting the days down to be able to do a sport.
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